Daglige updates fra Ted Callahan (Mountain
Madness) via satelittelefon til EverestNews.com
Omtale af vores vores danske ekspedition er
markeret med rødt
Dispatch One: Mustagh Ata Dispatch #1 6/21/04
Despite Northwest Airlines' best efforts to derail the expedition,
I - and more importantly, all of the gear - managed to arrive in
Beijing on 19 June - only a day late, which is not bad by Asian standards.
My three days in Beijing have been consumed with last-minute shopping
at expat grocery stores, whirlwind visits to various tourist sites,
and copious consumption of ridiculously cheap food and beer. The
train ride to Kashgar begins on the 23rd - three days of non-stop
fun, fun, fun, made all the moreso by my travelling companions -
10 duffel bags filled with various sundry high-altitude climbing
items. Until Turkestan, Ted out.
Dispatch Two: Mustagh Ata Dispatch #2 6/28/04 News from Tartary
My arrival here in Kashgar yesterday - after 48 hours on the train
from Beijing to Urumchi and then another 22 hours from Urumchi -
was somewhat anticlimactic. After countless hours spent studying
the languages
and history of the region, there was no reaffirming epiphany awaiting
me - only a sullen Chinese railway official who informed me that
my 600 lbs of luggage was "somewhere on the road between Beijing
and here." Not very encouraging words. With the fate of the expedition
hanging in the balance, we - my trusty native guide and I - debated
the best course of action. For, as the Taoists long ago noted, given
enough time, water will wear down even the highest mountain. Each time
we returned to her little cubby-hole, the official yelled a little
louder, a little more shrilly. We, on the other hand, kept our cool:
polite - deferential even - and all-smiles. On our sixth visit, perhaps
forgetting that the microphone she spoke through amplified her voice
on our side of the glass partition separating us, she began screaming
in earnest. This had the desired effect of luring out her superior,
who was able to locate our gear within five minutes.
Things are hot here in Kashgar but at least there isn't the humidity
that is afflicting the team as they assemble in Beijing. By tomorrow,
the 29th, everyone will have arrived in China and on the 30th the
whole team will finally be here in Kashgar. And then, job's on.
Dispatch Three: From Ted: July 2: As I write this, the alpin glow
is shining upon Kongur and Mustagh Ata and the team is eagerly
scanning the route where faint ski tracks can be seen. Excitement
is running
especially high since 2 groups who successfully reached the summit
pass through camp, bearing good news about the route and the snow
condition
upon it. Looks like good skiing!
There’s been no shortage of excitement since our arrival in Subashi
from Kashgar yesterday, Friday the 2nd. We camped alongside the Subashi
River. The inhabitants are mostly trans-himalaya pastorial nomads who
spend summers higher up in the mountains and then over winter in Kubash.
However, many will remain in the village during the summer season to
provide camels for climbers to carry their gear from the route to base
camp.
Yesterday it began to rain in the afternoon and then continued
through the night. At around 11, some Danes
that we were camped next to raised
the alarm that both mine and Bob’s tents were in danger of being
flooded. We hastily dragged them to high ground as the Danes, bearing
the brunt of the flood, waded thru almost knee-high water trying to
salvage their gear. The next afternoon, despite clearing in the weather,
a distance rain shower produced a flash flood, only this time threatening
to inundate the entire camp, including the cooking and dining tent.
Emergency engineering plans were devised, and near inches from disaster,
a series of dikes and diversion channels saved the day. Thanks especially
to Denny who worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon.
Culturally the team has some interesting experiences both here
and is Kashgar. Jim struck up a conversation with a local woman,
only
to discover that not all observant Muslims are partial to conversing
with
unrelated, much less unknown men. Bob has proven to be partial
to local head gear and proudly wears his new found attire. Denny
and
JD spent
the afternoon visiting a local household where they were treated
to yak milk
Overall health and moral are both high. We know definitively so
about the former because of Bob’s enthusiastic use of his oxy-stat
device. Bob’s has been recording everyone’s readings, and
we are already handicapping each other and to see how well we will
do high-up. Tomorrow we will get to find out as we move from our 12,250
foot camp to our 14,850 base camp. More in a couple of days.
Dispatch Five: Dispatch 5
We back here at Base Camp are enjoying one of our last rest days
before our final push to the summit. Yesterday we went about three
quarters
of the way towards Camp 2 despite several inches of new snow and
windy conditions. Our efforts were rewarded with fantastic skiing
under the
sun. The excursion also was Denny’s new high point at 19,000
feet – way to go Denny!
The team had spent the night before in Camp 1, which was our first
overnight on the mountain. Despite some minor insomnia, loss of appetite
and a too close for comfort lightening storm, everyone weathered
the night well. Tomorrow we head up again with the intention of sleeping
at Camp 1, then sleeping at 20,232 ft. Camp 2, and finally an acclimatization
trip to Camp 3, before returning to Base Camp. Bob has taken to predicting
weather conditions and has called for good weather, but al least
we
know who to blame if this prediction does not pan out. Tim, a retired
meteorologist, is deferring all the weather predictions to Bob.
Both JD and Bob are doing well and say hello to friends and family.
It might be difficult to get JD back on the mountain, noting as he
did the other day, “Is that a girl?” as other teams moved
up the mountain. Anyway, rap it back to you in 4 days. Quick note from
Bob – “I’m having a blast, even thought yesterday
we stopped a little short of Camp 2, I felt real strong, even with
this minor cold bugging me. And I wanted to let you know that Ted is
a great Guide. He continually discusses his options with us and isn’t
afraid to let us know that he can sometimes get tired too.”
Dispatch 4: We arrived Base Camp four days ago though it seems like
we've been here much longer. In all, our accommodations are pretty
luxurious. We are camped on grass alongside a stream, below the moraine
where the trail to the summit begins. We have electricity (courtesy
of the generator we brought ha, ha), awesome food, satellite phones,
and even beer though the team has been forbidden the latter. We also
have two sheep (Polly and Molly) are soon to become dinner night
after tomorrow. To get all of the two and a half tons of these things
up
here required 25 camels, lead by Turkish herdsman. It presents an
impressive sight a long camel train winding through the dessert wastes
of Central
Asia, a scene unchanged for hundreds of years. On the climbing front,
we spent most of our time acclimating at our 13,570-foot base camp.
Yesterday the team had its first carry to Camp 1 at 17,500 feet.
Denny and Ted both of whom are using skis rather than shoe shoes
have enjoyed
skiing on near perfect snow.
Today was an unplanned rest day owing to various maladies (we decided
to spare our readership the grim details of our various gastro intestinal
ailments those who want explicit details will have to wait until
we return stateside) and so that we can all be refreshed for our
move
to Camp 1 tomorrow with the intent to spend the night there and then
try to do Camp 2 the following day before returning to Base Camp.
So far the weather has been great, somewhat unseasonably warm and
very
stable with only occasional wind and precipitation. Let's hope it
stays that way for the next couple of day.
Dispatch 6 & 7: Dispatch 6 – Microbes and Man
Our final rest here at Base Camp before we push to the summit. Spirits
are high as apparently are hemoglobin. At this point, everyone,
except Denny, is on one sort of antibiotic or another. Fortunately,
both
Bob and JD have cleared the hurtle of their respiratory infections
and
they’re ready to go. I am a little under at this moment but is
recovering well. Jim, coming off the heals of a difficult expedition
to Bolivia, has not been feeling well and has decided to quit the mountain.
He is now focusing his energy on trying to arrange an operation for
a 2 year old Turkish girl who has the four fingers of one hand fused
together. Jim is currently down in the village of Subashi trying to
locate the little girl’s parents to discuss options with them.
He is planning on having the girl’s hand operated on in Beijing
sometime in the next year. Everyone applauds his efforts.
While Bob recovered from an upper respiratory infection at Base
Camp, Denny, JD and I made the arduous 7 hour trek from Camp 1
to Camp
2 where we slept the night. We descended back to Base Camp to rest.
Bob,
a little behind on the acclimatization schedule, has gone up to
Camp 1 a little early. Ted, JD and Denny will head up there tomorrow
afternoon.
After a night at Camp 1, the four of us will move on to Camp 2,
sleep there and then on to Camp 3. And if will and weather remain
stable,
then to the summit.
Wish us well and hopefully we’ll come home with brave tales of
adventure.
Dispatch 7 – Monsoon Blues
First off, the good news! We’re all back safely at Base Camp
having sat out 3 days of foul weather at Camp 1. And the bad news – the
expedition is over. Mustagh Ata has been getting pummeled for the past
5 days – snow, lightning, whiteout conditions and spindrift have
combined to shut down any upward movement beyond Camp 1. This is, it
should be noted, extremely atypical weather. The snow has been so extreme
that our tents at Camp 2 are completely covered (A team descending
from Camp 2 was kind enough to take digital photos.) As soon as (if?)
it stops snowing and conditions are good, we’re planning to push
to Camp 2 with our Tibetan “sherpa” to retrieve our tents
and the gear cashed in them. Unfortunately, that’s the best we
can hope for. It will probably be days before the route to Camp 3 and
the summit is reestablished and we have to back in Kashgar on the 22nd – in
3 days.
Aside from stripping Camp 2, the team is planning a visit to
the City of Tashkurgan and the lake of Karakul before packing
up and
heading
back to Kashgar. Denied the summit, we’re going to compensate
with these excursions and then some serious feasting back in Kashgar.
So, the score stands at Mustagh Ata – one, Mountain Madness – zero.
Despite that, we all had a great time here in Western China – skiing
down from 6200 meters, haggling with the local kirghiz, enjoying beautiful
views across into Tajikistan, and a fantastic farewell Chinese banquet.
Till next year then, Mustagh.
Note from Bob:
Bob here – Finally back at Base Camp, after 3 days snowed in
at Camp 1. It’s Sunday morning, snowing heavily and we’re
now into our 5 day of this weird monsoon-like weather pattern. No clue
how much longer this weather will last – could be days. Mustagh
Ata is not supposed to get the summer monsoon as it is too far northwest
and blocked by K2. Why then does this bizarre weather seem to be exactly
what I’d expect from a monsoon? I’m looking forward to
being back home and analyzing this semi-permanent storm.
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