September 5, 2011
Team after Puja. (Photo by Ang Jangbu)
With their pujas behind them, it is time for the climbing to start! Mike Hamill on Shishapangma and Ang Jangbu on Cho Oyu report that both teams are on essentially the same schedules. Today the sherpas from each team made it up to their respective Camp 1 sites, and got those camps put in. Meanwhile, the climbers did some more acclimatization hiking and training, in preparation for moving up to Camp 1 in the next day or two. On Shishapangma the route to Camp 1 is simple snow travel on the lower part of the glacier. On Cho Oyu the climbers ascend a (normally) rocky slope leading up to the ridge crest. However, Jangbu reports that there is a lot of snow this year below Camp 1, and today the Cho Oyu sherpas fixed 150 meters of rope below the campsite.
Eric Simonson