September 4, 2010

Mike Hamill reports by sat phone that the team all made it up to ABC in good shape and that everyone is doing well.  The IMG Sherpas did a great job getting the camp set up and all the yaks up there with the gear, so everything was looking good for the arrival of the climbers.  Cho Oyu ABC is quite high, at nearly 18,500 feet, so one thousand feet higher than Everest Base Camp.  That is why it was super important for them to move up there slowly, with lots of acclimatization hiking along the way.

The team will now do their puja at ABC,  the sherpa blessing ceremony that which marks the traditional beginning of the climbing.  Then, over the next few days, the Sherpas will start working on putting in Camp 1 and the climbers will continue their acclimatization with several day trips up toward Camp 1, before they move up there for overnight.

So far so good!!

Eric Simonson

September 3, 2010

Mike Hamill reports by sat phone that the climbers had a good night at Interim Camp (IC) and now they are on the way to Advanced Base Camp.  Everyone is doing well, the weather remains good,  and they expect to reach ABC later today.  Interim Camp, as the name suggests, is only used for one night.  Situated on the east lateral moraine of the Gyabrag Glacier, it has a good water source and space for camping.  In recent years the Chinese have built a rough jeep road all the way to IC which is useful for emergency evacuation, but our climbers are walking from Base Camp. After all, they are trying to get acclimatized!   The yak drivers will also stay there and go up to ABC and back tomorrow,  so they don’t have to haul extra yak food up to ABC.

Eric Simonson

August 31, 2010

Loading a yak - what a view!

Mike Hamill reports from Cho Oyu BC at about 15,500 feet that everyone is doing very well. Today the team took another acclimatization hike and the Sherpas continued to pack up yak loads and get ready to move to Advanced Base Camp (ABC).  Later in the afternoon they had some rain with some fresh snow on the higher hills above camp.  Overall, however, the weather is quite good on the Tibet side of the range (unlike Nepal where the monsoon is still going strong).

IMG Sherpas Mingma Tenzing, Mingma Dorje, and Nima Karma and the Tibetan yak drivers made it up to ABC with 30 yaks today and are working to get that camp established.  Each yak can carry about 60 kg (in the autumn season, when they are strong from summer grazing) with one 30kg load on each side.  Tomorrow the yaks will come back down to Base Camp and then the next day (Sep 2) the members and remaining Sherpas will move to Interim Camp (IC), and then to ABC the following day.

Eric

August 30, 2010

Yak drivers dividing loads.

IMG Cho Oyu team leader Mike Hamill reports by sat phone from Cho Oyu Base Camp that the team is doing well and the base camp is looking good after the Sherpas went ahead and got it established. After travelling halfway around the world the team is all looking forward to spending a few days at BC relaxing, acclimatizing, and getting organized.

Mike says that it rained last night and today it is clear, with fresh snow on the hills above BC.   They are doing an acclimatization hike today.   Tomorrow the yak drivers will start hauling loads up to ABC with the Sherpas so that camp will be all ready to go in a few days when the climbers move up.  The only other climbers currently on Cho Oyu are a large Chinese expedition.

So far so good!

Eric Simonson

August 28, 2010

Mike Hamill reports that the team had two good acclimatization nights in Nyalam with a nice hike yesterday.  Weather is good.  Today the climbers reached Tingri (over 14,000 feet) and the Sherpas continued on and have now established the Base Camp.  Other than a few small headaches, the team continue to acclimatize well. After two nights in Tingri and some more acclimatization hiking, the team will head for Base Camp.

Eric Simonson