July 17, 2010

Don’s Home Team Reports:

Don called at 2:45 pm PKT to tell us that even though it was a “blue bird” day for summiting – no wind, no clouds, no precipitation -  he and Alexey could not reach the top. They were 100m from the summit ridge, could see it, but could not get there; the snow was chest deep. After many exhausting attempts of pushing the limits, they could not wade through it to reach their goal. Disappointed, they have returned to Camp 3. After a short  rest, they will head back down to base camp.

July 15, 2010

Don’s Home Team Reports:

Don called at 9:30 pm PKT to report that he and Alexey were in Camp 2. They are doing well and have enough Pringles to sustain them for the rest of the climb. They will rest tonight in Camp 2 and then head up in the morning. Check Don's website within the next 48 hours for a further update. 

July 10, 2010

We got up early the morning of the 10th. With this being our first time at C3, we knew that we were not super acclimatized and thought we would just go for it and see how high we could get. Visability was clear. The winds picked up and got reasonably high. Snow conditions were mixed - bullet hard snow and ice/very soft slab. We felt good, yet at times it was a little hard having gone up so fast. We reached 7500m. At this altitude we decided this was good acclimatization prep, and it was time to head down to C3. We will spend the night here at 7000m and then head down in the morning to Base Camp to rest and wait for another weather window opportunity.

July 8, 2010, 10 pm PKT

Phone Dispatch from Don:

"Alexey and I are currently at C2. We climbed through a fair amount of snow in the ice field. We took it slow and didn't encounter any problems with the crevasses. Planning to head up to C3(7000m) in the morning."