July 13, 2010

Our trip up to Camp 3 on GI was a very enjoyable climb. Unfortunately, there were many old ragged ropes hanging in the Japanese Couloir - some of which we used to our advantage climbing on the rock to the left of the main chute. The upper part of the couloir is narrow - perhaps 3 meters wide in places - and really nice climbing on steep snow and moderate ice.

As we neared the top of the couloir, I began to feel the altitude, and by the time we crested the final slopes both of us were definitely feeling a bit sluggish; this was the first time either Alexey or I had been above 6400 meters on this expedition, and we had now reached 7000 meters.

It was immediately obvious we were at the main Camp 3 spot, as garbage, old tents, gas canisters, and oxygen bottles were strewn about everywhere. It's rather sad commentary that this remote and beautiful place is subject to such neglect. We found the lowest of all the old tent platforms to be the least exposed to the wind, and promptly set up our tent. As I unloaded my stuff inside, Alexey wandered about and discovered many things - a few unmentionable. Among his findings were enough gas canisters to keep us burning the stove for a week straight. My excitement at his find soon gave way to concern, as I wondered whether it was Alexey's intention to see if we could actually stay at or above Camp 3 for that long.

Our plan was to sleep during that evening, wake up at 1am, brew up, and head out by 2am for a little "hike" toward the summit. We knew we were pushing things a bit acclimatization-wise, but since we were already here we figured, "Hey. What the heck."

It has been said that a "plan" is simply a list of things which do not occur. I have personally tested this adage repeatedly, only to find it absolutely true. When the alarm went off at 1am, the first conversation emerging from icy sleeping bags went something like this: "Did you sleep. No. You? No. Ok, let's go." As we dressed, we scarfed down handfuls of Fruit Loops and Cheese Pringles amidst slugs of lukewarm tea.

By 2:15am we were outside the tent and struggling in the cold to put on harnesses and crampons. The night was crisp and clear as we prepared under the expansive blanket of stars. The Milky Way appeared as an astonishingly bright, glowing sheet from this altitude - so vivid against the black backdrop. We departed camp with headlamps on, the mists of our laboured breathing rising like smoke in the beams. These times always feel so surreal to me, slightly separated from myself - like diving in the ocean or walking in space, or painting without sufficient ventilation.

Immediately above camp the terrain steepens through rock steps and a snow ramp. I remember trying to remain focused on every move on the firm snow, as a fall here would be def. not a good idea - and I still needed to get warmed up bit. We switched leads breaking trail, although we mostly ascended on firm snow and ice, climbing with no rope.

After 2 1/2 hours our pace began to slow. Both of us were feeling OK, but tired, and we knew that the pace was slow for us at this altitude. Above, the obvious route followed a wide couloir up the final 500 meters to the summit ridge where the winds were now whipping the snow around fiercely. A long flag of blowing snow had formed off the summit ridge, and was clearly visible in the morning light. Wind speeds were forecast for +65kph at the summit - which we knew beforehand - and it would take well acclimatized strength to wrestle those conditions at 8000 meters.

I looked at my watch. It was only 5:30am and we were already at 7500 meters. We both agreed that it was still early in our trip and we could wait for better conditions. So we turned and began down-climbing to the tent below. By 7:30 we were already warm again in our sleeping bags - content with our acclimatization efforts, but wondering if maybe we had more strength than we thought.

The truth is, we ran out of Pringles - the mainstay of mountain performance cuisine. How could anyone be seriously asked to climb any high mountain objective without a sufficient supply of Pringles? Not to worry; we have many more tubes stashed at-the-ready in base camp, where we headed the following day, July 11^th after a final night at Camp 3 to ensure our acclimatization.

The truth isAs a consolation prize, we found the kitchen crew at base camp preparing for us a lovely, semi-vegan, goat-head stew- the mainstay of mountain gross-ness cuisine.

Admittedly, I added the semi-vegan part, but it's still gross.

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."