Rocks, Glaciers, Snow Walls and Seracs - our journey to Camp 1

Must. Take. One. More. Step. Gasp. Gasp. Gasp. 

Yes, sadly, despite the comforts of Advanced Base Camp the time has come for us to make the hot slog up to Camp 1… Our initial round of acclimatization up to ‘Crampon Corner’ did prepare our bodies for the initial part of the push up to the Camp but the real fun began (eg. High altitude reality check) when we strapped on our spikey ice-walking crampons and began our move across a giant dry glacier. It’s easy to be distracted by the views and clearly impossible to forget why we’re ‘there’ – eg. Makalu couldn’t be more prominent in our view..! But it’s hard to concentrate on enjoying the view AND walking at the same time… So, I kept my head down, focused on putting one foot in front of the other.  

It was an enjoyable climb up and we took it nice and slow on account of the searing heat which bounced off of the snow. A tan can be charming but not especially becoming on the underside of your tongue and nostrils..!!!

If you don't count the effects of altitude, the route up to Camp 1 is relatively straight forward – an initial climb over the huge bouldery moraine up to "Crampon Corner" where simple walking attire eg. sturdy shoes is replaced with some more 'hardcore boots' and crampons, our climbing harnesses and helmets.  Then we cross a dry glacier and move up to a headwall of snow. Up to this point we are moving together on straight forward terrain using fixed lines when crossing a few open crevasses. Upon reaching the headwall at around 6200m, we don our ‘jumars’ which allow us to ‘pull’ (am sure that is not the technical term!!) up a 60-degree wall of snow up to a snowy plateau. Here you’re met with the most amazing views framed by some icy-blue seracs and deep crevasses. The terrain is once again made safe thanks to the amazing work of the Sherpas. After moving through some undulating terrain of ice and snow you get the first views of Camp 1 perched high on a snowy plateau overlooking the Barun valley and providing a spectacular view of Baruntse and Ama Dablam... 

It was a fun but challenging climb  - made even more enjoyable thanks to the company of Valdiz, Corbin and Chad plus the entertainment provided by Adrian and Sergey with their skis. Needless to say, arriving at Camp was a welcome event as we dove into our tents, turned on our stoves and bunkered down for a chilly night..! It was the first of many above 6000m and a reminder of all that needed to be done to focus the mind (and body) on the tremendous challenges ahead.

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Acclimatisation Walk to Camp 1, 6300m

 Today we hop-skipped-and-jumped our way up to ‘Crampon Corner’ as part of an acclimatization walk which granted us our first views of the route to the summit of Makalu. I say ‘hop-skipped-and-jumped’ because it was all we could do to stop the giant glacial boulders from slipping from under our feet and careening down the to the glacial lakes about 200 metres below. We could definitely feel the altitude but kept a steady pace along a trail marked by cairns set up by Adrian and the Sherpas who began to set the trail a few days before us. It was a thoroughly stunning walk surrounded on either side by giant penitents (20 - 30 meter ice seracs) along our boulder-y trail. It was not dissimilar to the penitents on the North side of Everest between Base Camp and Advanced Base Camp. 

Along the trail we met with Kari Kobler’s team where were just coming down from their acclimatization push up to Camp 3 – they have a truly epic challenge ahead with an attempt to summit without the use of supplemental oxygen. It was a spectacularly sunny day so thoroughly enjoyable to stop along the trail, make initial introductions and discuss conditions and camps. When we got to Crampon Point, Adrian and Sergey, anticipating fresh powder and the opportunity to carve ‘fresh tracks’ quickly geared up with harnesses, La Sportiva skis and walked onto the ‘rather dry’ looking glacier. It wasn’t long before they reported a 3cm layer of snow over an icy base (of the glacial variety). “Fresh tracks” wasn’t going to be an option this morning. Still,  it made for quite interesting and entertaining viewing.

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Showering at 5700m - not for the faint hearted….!

I’ve gone on quite extensively about ‘Advanced Base Camp Hilton’ that we are quite comfortably occupying here at 5700m.  With it’s 5* high altitude kitchen, 5* tent accommodation, 5* ‘lounge’ room, and 5* toilet facilities it’s worth paying special mention to the 5* shower… yes, in spite of the temperature range between -5 and +15 we do have a particularly luxurious shower – complete with hot water, luxury spa products with which one can ‘lather up’ and a high altitude sauna (aka, the lounge room).

Showers on previous expeditions (if showering was an option) included the very basic ‘gets-the-job-done’ potato-pan and an ingenious (but perhaps slightly inefficient) system whereby one of the kitchen-staff stands on a large rock next to the shower and holds a garden-hose through which he pours luke-warm water…

Here at ABC not only do we have an array of spa products from which one can choose to wash away that high-altitude ‘build-up’ after days of suffering sub-arctic conditions, we have a shower (JUGS Sport Shower) that you can use ‘on the move, anywhere’…. Even at 5700m in the privacy of your own base camp.

The showering… errrr…. Spa system is of the ‘pump’ variety. A plastic container which resembles a giant plastic gas-tank is filled with luke-warm water in the kitchen. The pump and ‘shower head’ is then connected, carried to the shower tent and then ready for use..! One full container will be enough for a luxurious 5 – 7 minute shower – more than enough for a deeply nourishing lather, rinse, repeat.  Several notes of caution – avoid cold gusts of wind, frozen zippers, and don’t lose track of time as it’s not a place where you’ll want to run out of water!

For the ‘piece de resistance’, after one is showered, primed and powdered, one can then go into the bright yellow, sun-attracting dome tent, close the doors and windows and have a sauna…

Seriously… could it get any better than this?

The Sacred Pilgrimage of Adventure – The Puja Ceremony

Central to the Buddhist religion and forming an integral part of any Nepalese or Tibetan expedition is the ‘Puja Ceremony’, during which the Sherpas pay homage to the mountain deity. The ceremony is the starting point for all Himalayan expeditions. The ceremony conducted by a Llama or Sherpa trained in conducting the Puja ceremony reads from a book of sacred prayers while sitting in front of a stone altar covered with offerings of cookies, chocolate bars, popcorn, rice and beer.. and whiskey. During this ceremony all climbers and equipment are blessed before beginning the ascent of the mountain. Marking the end of the formal ceremony, ‘tsampa’ (a roasted barley flour) is thrown into the air and rubbed on the faces of fellow team-mates and everyone is given a silk scarf as a symbol of being blessed.

Our puja was conducted by one of our Sherpa’s, Pasang, who had been trained in conducting the puja ceremony at a local monestry.  At one stage in the ceremony he began to chant louder in what appeared to be the climax of the puja as his well worn fingers followed the Cyrillic liturgy on the prayer book in front of his knees. He sat cross legged in front of the stone "stupa" (a sort of stone alter) which was covered from top to bottom in offerings flour, cakes, precious oils, cut up Bounty bars, Mars bars, Snickers bars… as well as an assortment of beverages including the finest whiskey as a sacrifice to the Mountain gods.

Pasang’s intonation increased to an even higher, louder decibel as he threw his arms in the air releasing handfuls of tsampa flour as clouds of yellow dust high into the sky. The Sherpas, fully prepared for the move, eagerly followed his lead. An arc of grey 'dust' flew through the air and for one brief moment seemed suspended in time - a halo of flour superimposed over the omnipresent plume of spindrift coming off of Makalu.

The ceremony lasted about 1.5 hours in total and ended formally with the flour throwing and informally with a ‘brunch’ which consisted of gorging ourselves on chocolate, and shots of whiskey. It was an extremely enjoyable and fun-filled yet richly symbolic morning. The end of the puja ceremony symbolised that we were officially allowed to begin our ascent of Makalu and that the appropriate prayers, blessings and sacrifices had been made.

The whole expedition now seems even more 'real'. The 1.5 meter stone monument stands as a prime focal point in the middle of our 'tent city' giving the skyline a truly authentic look as 5-streams of prayer flags in the colors of red, green white, blue and yellow radiate from its core to various points in the Camp.

It felt "humbling" to be a part of something which is so clearly an integral part of the Sherpa tradition and Sherpa beliefs. There is a certain indescribable 'power' surrounding Himalayan expeditions that certainly puts into context the significance of such a ceremony. As I look out at the panorama from my tent - the stupa with its realms of multi-colored prayer flags flapping in the breeze against the clear blue sky and in the shadow of the mountain herself, I can not help but feel part of her spell, her magic, her power.

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The People You Meet: The Alpenglow Expeditions Makalu 2012 Team

Expeditions would make a fine social psychology experiment – You take a group of people from different nationalities and backgrounds who don’t know each other and you put them together under challenging conditions for 1 – 2 months and get them to work together. They will all have their own personal objectives but must work together to reach one common objective – to summit and descent safely both as individuals and as a team. And then, of course, even more importantly, they must bond as a team and be ready to celebrate in the after party!  For a leader or guide ,this presents a tremendous challenge. Similarly for the individuals on the team, it can be a daunting prospect. If you all get along – fantastic – if not, then you must learn to compromise and work together regardless. 

So, when I received the initial email from Adrian Ballinger, the guide for the expedition, which ‘introduced’ the team, it really made the expedition feel ‘real’. This was actually happening! Having said that, it did feel like the start of a joke…. 

“SO, there’s a Latvian, an American, a Russian and a Canadian and they all decide to go to Makalu… they have two American guides and one Spanish doctor…..”

In all seriousness, in spite of the fact that our team sounds like a make-shift United Nations, I couldn’t ask for a better group. We met as a team for the first time in Kathmandu over a fantastic dinner where we gelled immediately, sharing stories, experiences,  and a love for the mountains. In spite of the fact that we all come from different backgrounds, I’m confident that we will get on brilliantly and will make a fine strong team for this exciting ascent of Makalu.

Team members are:
Heather Geluk - Canada
Corbin Olsen - USA
Voldemars Spruzs - Latvia
Sergey Baranov - Russia (attempting ski)

Guides:
Adrian Ballinger - UK - team leader and ski guide with Sergey Baranov
Chad Peele - USA - climbing guide with main group

Doctor: 
Monica Piris - Spain

Sirdar: ('head honcho sherpa')
Dorji Sonam Sherpa

Climbing Sherpa: ('legendary climbing sherpa)
Dan Nuru Sherpa
Nima Tsering Sherpa
Palden Namgyal Sherpa
Pasang Rinzing Sherpa

Cook (Haute Cuisine par excellence)
Tashi Ram Basnet

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The People You Meet: The Sherpa People of Nepal

I opened my eyes, shuddered and wiggled deeper into the down depths of my -30C sleeping bag. The wind was howling and I could tell by a dark-ridged shadow along the outside of my bright yellow tent that a fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight. Ice condensation lined the inside dome - sparkling in the light coming from my headlamp. Over the sound of the wind I could hear a 'crunch crunch' - it sounded like someone walking over styrofoam. Early morning chatter was heard coming from the tent next to mine and then suddenly there was a rustling at my tent-flap. 

"Heather di-di - Good morning to you..!" sang a cheery voice as my tent was unzipped and a thick-gloved hand lay a tray of biscuits and a cup of warm tea at the foot of my Thermarest. I smiled to myself as I fumbled for the warm thermos, marvelling at the gracious hospitality of the Sherpa culture. I couldn't believe that I was actually getting tea and cookies in bed..! I don't even get this kind of first-class service at sea-level, let alone 6000m..!!

There is something about Everest and its neighboring cultures that intensifies our desire to better understand it. Its profound presence, geography, glaciology, the Sherpa culture, Buddhism, the mighty Yak and even legend of the Yeti seems to draw us deeper into Everest's mystique. The 'social geographer' in me prompts me to include an entry here on the Sherpas culture and the Sherpas themselves - the local people who are employed as guides for mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas and who will form an invaluable part of our climbing team on the mountain. They are, for me, an awe-inspiring part of the 'Mountain Experience' -- or the "Nepal" experience for that matter..!  

Sherpas are highly regarded as elite mountaineers and experts in their local terrain, renowned for their hardiness and experience at high altitudes and were of immeasurable value to early explorers of the Himalayan region, serving as guides and porters at the extreme altitudes of the peaks and passes in the Himalayan region.

While the climbers use their base camp as a place to acclimatise, recuperate and make training runs up the mountain, the Sherpas will be busy servicing the camp and looking after the climbers. More importantly, they will constantly conduct essential repairs to the route up the mountain - fixing ropes, breaking trail and conducting crevasse reconnaissance. 

In a single day the Sherpas may make multiple trips up the formidable mountain to fix ropes and the ladder bridges across the crevasses and to maintain the supplies on the higher stages of the climb - with loads significantly heavier than my own and at triple my speed..! It is not a wonder that during the first Everest expedition in 1921, the skill, expertise, honesty and dedication of the Sherpas impressed English climbers such as George Mallory on his early Everest attempt. From that point on, the Sherpas became an integral part of international Himalayan climbing as guides and partners. The affinity of Westerners for the Sherpa/Buddhist civilization eventually grew into an increasingly close sharing, understanding and friendship between these two cultures and today form an integral and vital part of many Himalayan expeditions.

Sherpas moved to the Everest region from Tibet over 500 years ago.  The name "sherpa" literally means "people from the east" because they originally came from the Kham in eastern Tibet and went on to settle in the mountain valleys of northern Nepal. Today approximately 30,000 Sherpas live in Nepal, and around 3,000 of them live in the Khumbu region, the gateway to Everest.  Sherpas are traditionally farmers and traders, raising yaks and growing and trading barley, buckwheat, potatoes, wheat and animal products however since the 1950s, tourism has become the dominant source of employment and income in the area.

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Advanced Base Camp Hilton / Hyatt / Four Seasons / W …….

I know that I can be a bit of a diva… and there is something to be said about creature comforts on a mountain… maintaining a degree of comfort (while pretending to be ‘roughing it’ and suffering terribly in blogs!) is something that I’ve managed to achieve over the past few expeditions. The Alpenglow Advanced Base Camp at 5600m takes luxury to a whole new level…. Our ‘ABC’ is base camp on steroids. I have never quite seen anything like it and it could quite easily become my very comfortable ‘home away from home’.  It’s bizarre to think that I’m actually nearly 6 kilometers ‘above’ my actual home… and enjoying similar comforts even though the nearest we are to ‘civilization’ is a 10 day walk away!

Makalu’s steep face dominates the Advanced Base Camp skyline – and is absolutely massive. In spite of the creature comforts it would be absolutely impossible to forget why you’re here! The mountain face looks almost blue-grey against the clear-blue sky.  The rocky terrain for our camp has been carved into the landscape by the glacial activities thousands of years ago, leaving trails of scree and moraine in its wake.

Our Camp is made up of our individual (gigantic!) Salewa tents (covering real estate that would easily make it into triple figures were it in Central London!).  The tents are clustered around our main ‘mess’ tent where we take our absolutely delicious meals (we had pizza yesterday!!).  There is also an impressive toilet tent - well constructed and fairly secure (thanks to some strategically placed boulders) and an equally impressive ‘shower’ which would rival the water pressure in many homes but with slightly more ‘baltic’ temperatures!

The ‘piece de resistance’ of our little luxury camp is the ‘Hang Out Tent’ (which we are looking to rename to something that better captures its sheer excessive ‘OTT-ness’ (over the top-ness) – a giant yellow dome tent complete with carpet, lounge pillows, an ‘internet’ table (where I’m currently perched!), screen where we can watch movies, heater…. And, last but not least, a giant pink ‘bean-bag’ like chair… Awesome. Life is tough up here… seriously!! Sometimes it even gets cold!!

This fantastic set up will no doubt will feel more and more like The Hilton as the expedition progresses and as we are faced with much more difficult conditions higher up the mountain. Until then, I will continue to revel in these creature comforts and enjoy my afternoon latte and biscotti with sheer, unadulterated pleasure.

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A Vision of Home - Makalu Base Camp At Last!

This morning we woke to rain and fog – not ideal news given our previous track record of helicopter flights and rain. We looked out at the heli still ‘parked’ in the rapidly growing swamp and wondered how we would get out if the rain continued… One option was to start the two-day walk up to Base Camp which, in the freezing cold rain, wasn’t an especially appealing option… particularly when a helicopter and a 15 minute ride up the valley was the second option (weather dependent!).

Suddenly a smile broke across Captain Ashishs’ face and he pointed to a break in the heavy clouds. Within seconds, the heli was prepared, loaded and Adrian, Corbin and I jumped in for the first flight out.  As we took off for our ‘base camp or bust’ ride, we were again treated to the most spectacular views of rocky outcrops, massive waterfalls, and lush green vegetation which became more and more sparse as we headed up the valley toward the mountain. Giant glacial lakes with aquamarine waters appeared below banked on either side by steep walls of rocky moraine.  When the bright yellow tents appeared in the distance we couldn’t help but give each other ‘high fives’ and smile from ear to ear – BASE CAMP and wow, the very impressive South Face of Makalu what an absolutely spectacular view..! And even more impressive, sunshine at last!!

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The People You Meet: The Himalayan Helicopter Master, Captain Ashish Scherchan

With nearly 20 years of experience, Captain Ashish Scherchan was the man for the job in ‘rescuing’ us from leech central with his trusty engineer, Anil Basnyat in a 9N AKA helicopter. We could not be in better hands for the precarious journey through the Barun valley up to the final destination of Base Camp at an altitude of 4700m. Flying at altitude presents more than its fair share of challenges primarily due to the ‘thinness’ of the air.

Captain Ashish is a pilot with Fishtail Air - a helicopter charter company operating within Nepal, with its base in Kathmandu. The company operates primarily throughout Nepal with occasional trans-border flights to Bhutan and India.  With a fleet of four helicopters, which includes two AS 350 B3 "Ecureuil", one AS 350 B2 "Ecureuil", and one Bell 206B III Jet Ranger helicopter, they have established themselves as one of the largest helicopter operators in Nepal.  Fishtail Air operates flights for sightseeing, rescue, medical evacuation, corporate movement, project support, expedition works or any other purposes that need the services of a helicopter.
Our next shuttle from Leech central was a 15 minute heli-ride to yet another thriving metropolis – this one with a population of about 5 with about 15 children. The weather was certainly changeable as we began to gain altitude. The pockets of air made for a bumpy ride and you could certainly ‘feel’ the changes in the weather and hear the blades of the helicopter go into overdrive as we gained in altitude (clearly I’m not a helicopter techie!!).  Captain Ashish seemed relaxed and controlled so in spite of the tricky terrain and conditions we knew were were in good hands. 

I could see Monica’s bright pink hat in the distance as we neared our ‘landing pad’  - a giant green marsh / waterlogged field (would make a fabulous cricket ground when drained!! Perhaps the next Bunbury match?).  We were assured by Captain Ashish that it didn’t have any leeches however he did mention that he did find 3 of them hiding in the heli that morning..! Now that leeches were no longer a threat, my next area of concern was the fact that our heli would ‘drown’ in the marsh..!

We landed gently on the grass and unloaded the bags before the heli took off and headed back down the falley to collect another load of bags and the fuel required for the final and subsequent shuttle to Base Camp. Sure enough, as if right on schedule, the weather closed in again leaving us ‘stranded’ in the swamp, staring anxiously at the sky waiting for the cloud to part and for the heli to reappear. Amazingly it did…! But just in time for the weather to close in again. Ashish indicated that the 11am flight would almost certainly be the last flight of the day unless the weather cleared. We unloaded the last of the bags and settled into the lodge for what was suspected to be the remainder of the day. Whilst the thriving metropolis of Yanglekharka didn’t seem the most comfortable place (eg. It certainly wasn’t the Hilton!), it was a leech-free, cozy, dry and relatively clean little stop off on our journey into Base Camp. The other advantage of Yanglekharka was that it was at an altitude of 3500m so proved to be a great step in our acclimatization process.

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The Yanglekharka stopover on our tour of the Barun Valley… with the eventual destination, Makalu Base Camp

 “OK, everybody up! The heli is ready to gooooooo” sang Adrian at 5am. I genuinely couldn’t believe my ears after what had seemed like non-stop torrential rain all evening. Stuffing my sleeping bag and bedbugs into my duffel bag I couldn’t help but wonder what adventure the day held. The morning sky revealed patches of blue sky between the thickening cloud. It was obvious that more rain was on its way however the main question was no so much ‘if’ but ‘when’. All that stood between the lodge and the helicopter was a field of leeches – the final obstacle to safety We made a run for the heli with our socks strategically pulled to our knees, our packs on our backs. It wasn’t long before the first leech sighting was called – a leech at Chad’s knee moving alarmingly quickly up his leg. He handled it well and we let the Usain Bolt of leeches continue to make its way up his leg while we looked on and took photographs in sheer horror…. Base Camp has never looked more appealing..!!