SummitClimb Autumn Cho Oyu 2010: avalanche at 7700m swept a lot of Tibetan, injured 7 of them, 2 very seriously

18 September, 2010

Hi this is Max Kausch writing a dispatch for the Cho Oyu 2010 Autumn expedition.

I'm currently typing from ABC, its -15C outside my tent, I'm almost freezing my fingers.

Today I have two sad news to give you:

Mr Stephen Ranger had to leave our expedition due to a case of pulmonary oedema. A doctor from the Amical Expedition examined him and found irregular blood pressure and heart rhythm. We tried our best to keep him here, but it was impossible to keep him on the expedition without proper medical attention (reminding you that ABC is 5700m!). Steve left camp 2 days ago a crossed the Nepali border safely and went straight to a hospital in Kathmandu. He was diagnosed with having pulmonary oedema. The descent from the high altitude probably saved his life. Steve is a nice guy! We will really miss Steve and pray for a fast recovery and hopefully enjoy his company again on another trip. Steve, please send us some news!

In another unhappy event, an avalanche at 7700m swept a lot of Tibetan sherpas and injured 7 of them, 2 very seriously. After a very complex rescue, they are all stabilized at ABC or BC and are now on their way to a hospital in Lhasa. They were sent to fix the route very early in the season.

From ABC we can even see avalanches over the rockband at 7700m. We hope they recover from the injuries and don't get any more complications.

Now the good news. Our team is doing great! We all spent a night at C1. The sherpas, Raj and I worked hard to dig good platforms at 6450m, just above the normal C1. The views from there are great, I wish you could see what we see from that altitude! We even had a kitchen tent set up with our amazing kitchen boy Chiring. The members love him! Every morning, afternoon and sunset he brings hot beverages and hot food to our tents. This really helps with the acclimatization. Everyone woke up in a great shape.

Today we geared up and climbed part of the route that leads to camp 2. The weather was great (for a while). After reaching 6600m, everyone returned to C1, left all the heavy gear and continued to ABC. Our cook waited for us with meat stew and Swiss potato pancakes (Nathalie and Rolf were VERY pleased!) Everyone is in great shape and fully acclimatized to 6400m.

We'll spend another 2 nights, then head to C2 to finish our acclimatization plan, which seems to be working very well!

That is all the news so far. Steve is great guy and we will all miss him!

Regards,

Max Kausch

16 September, 2010

Hi, this is Max Kausch writing a dispatch for the SummitClimb Cho Oyu 2010 Autumn expedition. Today is September 16th 2010 and we are back to ABC.

Yesterday, all the members reached camp 1 (6400m). Our sherpa and porters worked very hard yesterday and today to set our camp and take all logistics up there so our members can go to sleep there tomorrow.

As we were coming down from camp yesterday, the weather got really bad and hasn't improved since. Our weather forecast says that tomorrow should be a good day. Everyone continues to adapt very well to the extreme altitudes. If the team continues like this, we should be ready for the summit push in less than 10 days!!

The CTMA is association with the Tibetan Climbing School became responsible this year for fixing the route. We contributed with rope, equipment and staff. The Tibetan team already fixed the route to the rock band at 7700m and surely will finish the job by the time our team is acclimatizing. We are very thankful to them for this.

Tomorrow we will have breakfast and start to move up slowly to reach camp 1 and spend 1 night there. The next day we are planning a acclimatization climb to the ice cliff at 6700m.

Regards,

Max Kausch

Millet One Sport Everest Boot  has made some minor changes by adding more Kevlar. USES Expeditions / High altitude / Mountaineering in extremely cold conditions / Isothermal to -75°F Gore-Tex® Top dry / Evazote Reinforcements with aramid threads. Avg. Weight: 5 lbs 13 oz Sizes: 5 - 14 DESCRIPTION Boot with semi-rigid shell and built-in Gore-Tex® gaiter reinforced by aramid threads, and removable inner slipper Automatic crampon attachment Non-compressive fastening Double zip, so easier to put on Microcellular midsole to increase insulation Removable inner slipper in aluminized alveolate Fiberglass and carbon footbed Cordura + Evazote upper Elasticated collar. Expedition footwear for mountaineering in conditions of extreme cold.  NOTE US SIZES LISTED. See more here.

Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   Cloudveil

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kelty

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Mountain Hardwear

   Mountainsmith

   MSR

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Patagonia

   Pelican

   Petzl

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Thermarest

   Trango

   Tool Logic

   Trekking Poles
   Yaktrax
   and more here