Summitclimb Cho Oyu 2009: advanced basecamp

Today all of our members climbed to camp 1 at 6400 meters/21,000 feet and everybody did very well. Everybody made it within 4 hours, so I think we have a very strong, motivated group and they will do well going up to the next camp. Also, we brought about 500 kg of gear to camp 1, so we have a good stash of supplies now to make camp 2 and camp 3 in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow all members will rest in ABC to do small things like laundry and washing before we go up to camp 1 again this week. The plan is that we are going to sleep in camp 1 on the 16th.

All members are strong, their spirits are high, and I’m very happy to be the leader of this group. Until I have more news, that’s it for now. Bye, bye

11-Sep-09: Dear SummitClimb news readers,
 
Today we had our first full day in ABC at 5750 metres/18,900 feet. Most members spent their day getting settled in their tents. After all, this is our home for the next month! I think we have a great ABC with all the comforts we need. Every member has their own tent, as well as the team’s large dining tent, kitchen tent, storage tent, toilet tent and even a shower tent. ABC is like a small village.
 
Tomorrow all sherpas from all teams will have a meeting about fixing the ropes to the summit of Cho Oyu. Our team will have a rope practice to go over all the rope techniques again to make sure everybody can travel safely on the mountain.
 
Sunday we will have our ‘puja’ ceremony. In this Buddhist ceremony we ask the mountain god for safe passage, but it's also a social gathering and helps breaks the barrier between staff and members, so we all feel like a unified team.
 
I think we have a very strong team with high spirits.
 
Stay tuned for more news.........
 
Arnold Coster - expedition leader

12-Sep-09: Hello to all from advanced basecamp on Cho Oyu, Tibet. This is James Wilde calling in on the 12th of September.

The weather has been good except for some light rain and snow showers. The views of Cho Oyu, surrounding mountains and glaciers were phenomenal today. We went ahead with plans and practiced on the fixed lines using ascenders, rappelling and making sure everyone is set for going further up on the mountain. It was good times. We took a lot of photos and video, which we’ll try to send in as soon as possible to post.

After our successful training session we returned to ABC and life at 5750 metres/18,900 feet. We told a lot of jokes and stories along the way down and I can honestly say that this is a fun group and everyone has a great sense of humour. I think I’m speaking for all of us when I say that the team is having a tremendous time. We all miss our family, friends and loved ones and are looking forward to seeing you all soon. Best regards, Jamie.

Earlier: Hello SummitClimb news. This is Arnold Coster, the leader of the SummitClimb Cho Oyu expedition calling from advanced base camp at 5760 metres/18,900 feet and today is the 10^th of September.

We made it to ABC today. It was a long day for most members and also for the yaks. We left early this morning from interim camp and some of the yaks didn’t arrive in ABC until 5:00 in the afternoon, which created a bit of difficulty because those yaks were carrying our kitchen equipment. All are members had to wait until they arrived to melt water and get dinner, but everybody is doing fine now and our cook managed to make a very good meal late in the evening.

Tomorrow we are just going to relax, make ourselves more comfortable in ABC, put up and use the shower tent, and make our camp really nice. The day after we are going to do our ‘puja’ blessing ceremony because our sherpas won’t go up on the mountain until it has been performed for the team and all of our equipment. Then we’re going to do some rope practice and a bit of training.

When I have some more interesting news to share I will call in again. Bye, bye.

Hello SummitClimb news. This is Arnold Coster, the leader of the SummitClimb Cho Oyu expedition calling from intermediate camp at 5380 metres/17,600 feet and today is the 9^th of September.

We spent the morning organizing and weighing our equipment for the yaks. In total we had to bring out 3600 kg/7900 pounds of equipment and we had to load 60 yaks to get here, so we were busy with that all morning.

All of the members hiked up here to intermediate camp pretty fast and everybody is doing great and all healthy.

We will wake up early tomorrow and continue our journey to ABC at about 5800/19,000 feet. After tomorrow we can finally settle in one place. ABC is going to be our home for the next 3 weeks. I heard we already have good spot at ABC, so no worries about that.

Everybody is healthy and we’re just relaxing. Samdien, our Tibetan cook, made a delicious meal for us tonight, which was great. So, everybody is strong and eager to go up tomorrow.

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.

A cold weather, high altitude double boot for extreme conditions The Olympus Mons is the perfect choice for 8000-meter peaks. This super lightweight double boot has a PE thermal insulating inner boot that is coupled with a thermo-reflective outer boot with an integrated gaiter. We used a super insulating lightweight PE outsole to keep the weight down and the TPU midsole is excellent for crampon compatibility and stability on steep terrain. WEIGHT: 39.86 oz • 1130 g LAST: Olympus Mons CONSTRUCTION: Inner: Slip lasted Outer: Board Lasted OUTER BOOT: Cordura® upper lined with dual-density PE micro-cellular thermal insulating closed cell foam and thermo-reflective aluminium facing/ Insulated removable footbed/ Vibram® rubber rand See more here.

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Atomic

   Big Agnes

   Black Diamond

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   Chaco

   Cloudveil

   Columbia
   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Exofficio

   FiveTen

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Gregory

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps

   Hestra
   Helmets

   Helly Hansen

   HighGear

   HornyToad
   Ice Axes

   Julbo

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kelty

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Life is Good

   Lowa

   Lowe Alpine

   Lowepro

   Millet

   Motorola

   Mountain Hardwear

   Mountainsmith

   MSR

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Osprey

   Outdoor Research
   Patagonia

   Pelican

   Petzl

   Prana

   Princeton Tec

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Royal Robbins

   Salomon

   Scarpa

   Scott

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Sterling Rope

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Teva

   Thermarest

   Trango

   Tool Logic

   Trekking Poles
   Yaktrax
   and more here