C2

A beautiful day. The sun burned. A total calm, not a slightest blow of a wind. Thus we decided to continue to the C2 in lighter wear that was more appropriate for the summiting. I can't help mentioning another beautiful and difficult part on the way up, again made of pure ice. In such weather it becomes a pure adrenaline for a climber. So we had it with Jan. It was snowing again when we were coming to the C2. I recalled Shisha Pangma where the forecast promised nice weather but in the end there was up to 1m of fresh snow. We started to perceive this climb like that. Luckily, there was only 40cm of fresh snow in the end. When we ducked into our sleeping bags a snow storm started to rage around us and it ended only in the midnight. We were at 7100 meters.

It was supposed to be a nice day

The weather forecast was just right. We packed up in the morning and even with the full load on our backs set up a higher tempo. Before that I adjusted my heart belt that was sending the heart rate data to my Suunto watch. The waking was quite alright. Waves of ices stopped in front of a vertical 30m high wall of ice. Though there was a rope left by previous expeditions it wasn't easy at all. Even with the help of the fixing rope the vertical ice and 20 kg on our backs gave some hard time. Jan was lucky since he managed the slow climbing up yet in a good weather. But when I started climbing the wall of beautifully blue ice suddenly a blizzard with strong wind came. With that heavy backpack it was a tough job. The wind kept blowing me down and snow flakes permanently flew in behind my goggles. It was quite difficult but finally we managed. Soon after that the weather forced us to build the tent at 6800m. There were still enough nice days remaining for the summit.

Headache

I had had a terrible headache throughout the whole night. I swallowed 5 painkillers but each time a pill stopped taking effect I woke up because of the pain. I drank a lot but even after cooking and consuming a liter of tea in the morning I didn't stop feeling it inside of my head. The day was beautiful but we couldn't go. I recalled a recent problem with neck spine when during long walks with a heavy backpack my head started to ache. Thus I massaged my neck and the pain diminished in an hour. In the meantime Jan discovered clouds of strange shapes in the sky. It looked like snow was coming. Yet, Jan went out to climb some 300 vertical meters. In the end he was coming back in blizzard and fog. It was no surprise that he got himself lost once since sometimes one couldn't see a foot upfront.

C1

Beautiful weather. We left for the C1 and everything went as it should. In five hours and along the ice towers we reached the altitude of 6400m. We cooked and were looking forward to the other day and trek to C2. In the evening there was a light snow fall but nothing big. Also, we found out to be alone in the altitude camp. Perhaps some people were waiting already in C3 for a better summit day.

Like with a carbon paper

We were supposed to start for the C1 but it was like at Shisha Pangma - a carbon paper copy. When we woke up in the morning there were lots of snow in the ABC and the snow fall continued on. So we postponed the start by one day. Anyway, the weather forecast from the USA clearly said that the best days would be from May 15 through 18. The French stationed a bit above us confirmed it with a forecast from their best meteo station. Well, with a slight difference the best summit days should last until May 19. In that case one day lost shouldn't be a problem.

Cho Oyu ABC

Today we left Tingri and headed for Cho Oyu. Our goal was to reach the so called middle camp between Cho Oyu BC and ABC. We were off at 6:30am of the local Nepal time and already at 8 am our jeep reached the BC at the height of 4700 m. The Liaison Officer demanded to be paid extra USD 50 but the jeep was covered by the service fee we already paid to the agency. After a short hassle he said that it is because the jeep will take us already to the middle camp and not only to the BC. He would also dispatch the yaks very quickly so we would not loose any time. Since we were acclimatized from Cho Oyu he told us to even go right into the ABC today.

Thus I'm already sitting in the ABC under Cho Oyu which we reached only in one day since our depart from Tingri. It's great. The yaks came at 5:30 pm and now we are watching the majestic eight-thousander. The weather seems to be quite good. The cook, who cooked for a month for two Italian mountaineers, was waiting for us here. He told us that during the same time we reached 7800 m on Shisha Pangma they only climbed to the C1 which is at 6400 m and then left for Kathamndu on May 7 without getting any higher then that. The weather here was the kind we fought with on Shisha Pangma.

Tomorrow, May 11, we have a day off or better a day meant for relaxation and rejuvenation. Then we want to reach and build one altitude camp per day. Thus the expected try to summit the mountain is on May 15 when also, according to a forecast, 4 consecutive days of good weather should start. Other expeditions confirmed that forecast as well so we will see. Right now we are in the ABC at 5700 m.

Miro

Summary of the first part of the Project 4-4-8: Shisha Pangma

You can do all possible and even more but still nature decides to have its own way. That is life and that is also the characteristic of Shisha Pangma or better the first part of our expedition.

We had been fighting with unfavorable weather for the whole 42 days. At the beginning the eager and energetic Jiri Jakubec was lot of help and motion setter in our team of three. It was no surprise since he was best acclimatized out of us and he is truly a grinder. Based on my past experience from 2002 (expedition with Milos Palacky) I knew that coming early under the mountain and getting acclimatized well would pay off. Thus we decided to come to Shisha Pangma as early as March 30.

Yet incredible weather changes started right after our arrival to the Advanced Base Camp. The weather changed even few times throughout the day and after two weeks in the ABC I even ceased on 'reading the sky'. Still, I could rely on my Suunto and alarm that would start beeping if a considerable increase or decrease in barometric pressure would have occurred. The Internet gave it straight then - unstable weather. Only after a week we knew there was no sense in waiting for a better weather. Every altitude camp meant an unbelievable struggle or, better, a fight on rounds. Without the help of Sherpas we felt like mountaineering pioneers in the old times. First round was to break through the ice labyrinth which was accomplished by Jiri and Jan. Another round was to reach the C1 during which we fell into hidden cracks for at least five times. Jiri had a dangerous one - he was hanging only by the poles over a deep hollow. But the rounds continued.

The ice labyrinth: quest to find the best way through

Anytime we reached C1 again it was only to leave another equipment there but the weather never allowed us to move higher to C1. Only upon the fourth time we managed to set C2. By that time we stopped counting falling into the cracks covered with fresh snow. But I will never forget the one time I was with 20 kg backpack hanging on an edge of one of those - half body out, half body in the hollow.

Note the crack in the lower right corner

Nothing really changed after other expeditions also came to the mountain. Most of them just kept waiting for better weather and relaxed. We fought for every vertical meter meanwhile. A team of French mountaineers heightened our spirits with weather forecast that was really accurate: wind that had been whipping us for about four weeks was to end. Though correct about that one, they didn't predict snowfalls bringing 20 to 40 cm of new snow every day. Some of it melted in the warm weather but not all. The remaining volume of snow was the stopping limit for reaching the summit, to climb Shisha Pangma. Our Suunto wristops kept rising by 2 milibars while falling by 5 milibars afterwards.

In the ABC I spoke to Italians whom I met while climbing Cho Oyu in 2002. All of us could agree that Shisha Pangma is from the climbing technique point of view the easiest eight-thousander but only during optimal weather conditions.

The mountain covered in clouds: wind and snow raging up there

I'm glad me and Jan turned back at 7800 m and made it back relatively safe. Back in the ABC we learned about the Slovak expedition that wasn't that lucky. They climbed a different route from another side and the tragedy with one mountaineer dead happened at about the same height where we turned back. They decided to break up, one continued up and the other one was to return. Only one came back.

Consecutive snow storms and strong wind forced us out
of C1, C2 as well as C3 altitude camps for many times.

When we came with the yaks to the Base Camp we learned about another tragedy when a Sherpa and his Korean client fell into a crack and after three days they showed no signs of life. It almost seems that Shisha Pangma decided this year to show everybody that she may be the last eight-thousander on the list but definitely not the least. Simply an uncompromised eight-thousander with all that it means and brings. All I can say now is: Thank you Shisha Pangma for letting us back alive!

Best regards,
Miro

Yaks Are Here

The yaks came already on the 5^th and spent a night in the ABC. In the morning, we had same traditional hassle and argumentation about the maximum weight limit for each yak. But in the end the yaks carried all of our equipment from the ABC at once. At this moment I'm already sitting in the town of Tingri. Few days of necessary relaxation and then Tally Ho! on Cho Oyu. Tomorrow I will try to sum up the Shisha Pangma climb and tell a bit more about what will follow.

Yours Miro

Finally Back at the ABC

The sun woke me up in the morning and shortly after two load carriers came to help us with all that equipment from the three altitude camps we brought down with Jan the previous day. If I try to sum it up, Jan took 20 kgs yesterday by himself from the deposit camp to the ABC. Today, three of us still carried each some 15 kgs. The total sum we carried with Jan the day before from C1, quite a load then. At a normal pace we reached the ABC by the noon. On the way I met another mountaineers and learned that a Slovak climber was missing. 200 vertical meters under the summit he broke from his fellow who continued up and since then he had been missing. I recalled that also us were thinking what to do and if and how to continue some 200 vertical meters from the summit. Other mountaineers in the ABC told us that our decision was right, even to give up more tries and pack up our altitude camps. For the following seven days the weather forecast showed rain over Shisha Pangma. At the end of the day our cook lifted up my spirit with some warm and non-instant chow. The yaks were to come the other day.

More Snow And Less Altitude

Another 40 cm of snow by the morning, but the morning itself was nice and sunny. We said farewell to our French colleagues and set for the climb down planning to make it right to the ABC. On the way from C2 to C1 I think we hadn't experienced less snow than up to our knees. And on our backs each of us carried the full load of equipment from both C3 and C2 which already meant quite some weight, which was to be added to by equipment from C1. After 4 hrs of struggling through, I feel ashamed to keep repeating the same weather conditions on and on, a snow storm we closed onto the C1. After crossing three new crevasses we were packing up our last altitude camp for another hour in a strong wind. With an ironical smile we teased each other: "Show me boy, can you at least pick up your backpack?" Jan managed as the first one. At 5 pm both of us made it through the ice labyrinth and reached the tent in the deposit camp. Jan dropped some weight from his load and continued to the ABC while I stayed overnight.

Bulldozing Down the Mountain

When we woke up in the morning it wasn't even possible to leave the tent. The snow reached up to two thirds of the height of our tent thus after unzipping it we had to dig out. We were still at 7450 m and thus in the night I got the idea to try again and divide the try into two parts with one more sleeping over in between. Well, the morning cured my mind. Ten meters from our tent I ditched in the snow up to my waist and on the way back from C3 over the saddle we waded through 50 cm up to 1 meter of fresh snow. The bulldozing to the relative safety of the C2 altitude camp took us, with 20 kgs on our backs, some 7 hours. In C2 we experienced a terrific welcoming from the French expedition whose members, after seeing the two of us in the respective shape, hosted us for about two hours with tea, soup and some biscuits as the last course.... Truly some excellent people! Upon standing up Jan got a twitch from all that exhaustion so our sitting stretched by some additional 10 minutes. While we were diving into our tent we felt totally exhausted and we were glad that we disapproved a second try for the summit.

Trying For the Summit

It was snowing for the whole night again thus it was impossible to leave very early in the morning. About 4 am the snow started to stop falling and at 4:30 Jan found the sky to be clear. Time to go for the summit. We prepared 2 liters of tea (1 for each of us). But cooking / boiling of water at such height means at least 1,5 hrs of time. More to that it was impossible that two people could get ready in the small tent at the same time. Thus Jan left at 6 and I did at 6:30 am. The weather was beautiful. Jan was ahead by tens of meters but his hunger for the summit was stopped by the first eave that was quite a difficult one (combination of steep angle and lot of fresh snow). I took the lead and laboured among the unstable boulders up towards the summit. After that followed a steep slope with some 40 - 50 cm of snow. My walking pace shortened from 20 to 10 steps, at difficult parts even 5 steps, then breathing out. Climbing started to change into a continuous struggle.

And in the sky clouds started to cumulate. At one point Jan even exclaimed: "I'm not going any more". But I still felt that it was possible to reach the peak. Jan changed his mind after a while saying: "I'm not going down without you, I will continue". Through the veil of fresh snow we felt under our boots the old frozen snow which wasn't really helping our will to go on. This deep avalanche snow then changed into ice on a small ridge. That was much better and safer in a way. I stopped counting the steps in between the breath outs, I already broke my limits. That was at the height of 7750 m. After few more vertical meters a second veil arose in front of us. Lot of fixing ropes melted into the ice told us that it was the most difficult point on Shisha Pangma. I entered the area cautiously and tried few meters. But immediately it was clear: "With the unstable layer of all that fresh snow it's impossible to pass through here". Anywhere I put my boot clad with crampons the feet started to drift along with the snow under it. The smooth rock was impossible to recognize under the snow. Any major slip could have ended up in falling from the mountain.

I proposed to try to go more to the left and try from another side and I also tried. But when I saw the slope angle with a literally 'ripe' possibility of an avalanche breaking off under some of the bothering steps or moves I recalled what the Australian mountaineer said about lot of snow and high avalanche danger. I sat down exhausted from the climb and from all those tries to bulldoze the way up through. The Jan said: "Hold on, I will take a picture of you". After a while I turned my head and understood: behind me a giant accumulation of 'ripe' clouds was swiftly climbing up from the valley. In only about twenty minutes the snow started to fall again. When we were coming to the C3 tent it was a total snow storm raging around. The height border of 7800 m was unsurpassable on this mountain.

Finallly C3?

In the morning Jan peeped out of the tent and reported an empty sky without a single cloud. Good, we could try for C3. We packed quickly and 'hurried' up towards C3, at certain points we sloshed through knee deep fresh snow. The moderate but long slope took us whole 5 hours to cross. On the way we dismantled and picked up the C3 tent left there the day before during the storm. We reached the saddle and kept wading when some time after the noon the snow storm hit back and took as at 7450 m. After short consultation we decided to keep on.

Six more hours over the saddle full of snow under which the feet can hit anything or nothing at all. Ice once, then loose rocks or the old corn snow covered with the thick layer of new white powder. Simply the best conditions for an avalanche to be started. But we went on very cautiously on the other hand, we had to. Then in the early evening we built our tent at some 7450 m, the C3 finally. In the tent we talked about the weather and it seemed that the snow storm was starting about the noon. Hence we decided to leave for the summit as early in the morning as possible, even at 4 am. That was our agreement before the sleep.