We went back to camp 1 again to acclimatise some more and the do a bit of a reccy on the Rock step that leads to the SW ridge proper. Once we’d done that we were able to descend back to BC for 2 days rest before heading back up to make our summit push. It was a brisk -15 degrees at 3 am when we headed off up the ridge in the dark – the line of head torches beneath us slowly moving from anchor to anchor. As dawn approached we were at 6200m with only 250 m of vertical climbing and about 1 km of travering ahead of us – reaching the final summit ridge was a welcome feeling as the sun warmed our bodies – a brief rest in a sheltered spot and we were again off towards the final delicate summit – over hanging corniced snow meant we could do the final 3 m to the top and that was no matter – the views were incredible – the wind lite and the sun warm on our weary bodies – all that was left for us to do now was descend – congratulating the other team members as they negotiated the final few 100m or so for their own summit and eventual descent.
Descending is actually the most critical phase of the the entire expedition / climb. Weary bodies and mind – sore feet and very steep terrain kept everybody on their toes – litterally!
A few team members were too tired to descend safely past camp 1 so they (Jerry, Janet and Andrew) remained with 2 of out Sherpa Staff (Chhirring and Pemba) before making the last descent the following morning (3rd of November)
Camp 1 and the Rock Tower
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- Rory Enjoying a brew at Camp 1
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- Andrew and Janet
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- Camp 1 – a Broad flat place to relax
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- A cosy camp with Taboche in the Ackground
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- Mal Haskins – enroute to the rock tower
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- Topping out on entrancd to the Rock tower
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- Shaun Moore at the Notch at the end of the Rock
Early Morning Starts – the SW Ridge and cold Temps
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- Dark Moonless Morning and the Glow of head torches
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- Cold Cold – Image John O’Conner
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- Steep terrain leading to the ‘Mushroom’ nd Camp 2 – Imagw John O’Conner
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- Rory and John Finally on flat terrain at the ‘Mushroom’ – Camp 2
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- Traversing under the seracs past Camp 2
The Summit Ridge Line and the Summit
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- Rory – with Shaun Moore and Pemba Sherpa – the final hard years
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- Steep and exposed – just below the summit
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- Rory, John and Shaun Enjoying a moment of flat terrain
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- Sherap Sherpa – on the ‘Tennis court’ beneath the Summit
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- A narrow precarious summit
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- Happy Crew on top at 8:30 am 2nd November 2016
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- Sherap Sherpa – Mal Haskins with Everest in the back Ground
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- The first Summit wave posing – as you do
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- Looking back up towards the summit as we descend
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- Andrew Bishop – Tamting Sherpa – exposed terrain with about 2000m of air to Andrews left
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- Janet Picket – On the slow appraoch to the Summit
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- Coming back to a warmer Camp 2 location
Of course – NONE of this would have been possible without the amazing tram of climbing Sherpa’s – a fantastic group of men – strong, motivated and always ready with a smile – Proud to have one again been working alongside of these men.
The Cholatse team enjoying the ‘glow’ of success in warm sun and being with good friends
Images – Load Carrying – Glacier Training and the Headwall to Camp 1
The Glacier leading up to the Headwall is very slow moving – any crevasing is mostly open and easily seen. The team were re-introduced to fixed line techniques – abseil techniques with heavy packs and once again moved up and down the glacier to acclimatize and tag Camp 1 Images – Acclimatization, the Approach and […]
Images – Acclimatization, the Approach and first steps on Cholatse
We were given amazing views of the surrounding peaks as we approached Cholastse – it wasn’t always easy days as we slowly acclimated on the mountain. Load Carrying, climbing high and sleeping low were the order of the day. The team were slowly getting to know each other and working out how we would work […]
Cholatse Summit Updates
Just a quick update to confirm Steve Wyatt also summited Cholatse on the 2nd of Nov Steve summited around 9:00 am with Chhirring Sherpa Steve’s name was omitted due to tiredness when typing the last update The entire team will be in Namche by the 7th of November and we should be able to post […]
Cholatse Summit 2nd November 2016
On the 2nd of November we had 7 team members, 2 guides and 4 Sherpa reach the summit of Cholatse! The summits occured in 2 waves 8:30 am Rory Mckenna John O’Conner Pablo Shaun Moore Mal Haskins (Guide) Sherap Sherpa (Sirdar HA Sherpa) Chhring Sherpa (HA Sherpa) Pema Sherpa (HA Sherpa) 2nd Wave about 10 […]
Acclimation, Rock Tower, Camp 1
We’re back down at basercamp again after our final acclimation rotation on the mountain. The team went up to sleep at Camp 1 and have look at the rock towere that need to be negotiated before reaching the snowy (icy) soaring SW ridge that lead to the final summit ridge line. The tower itself is […]
HC – Camp 1 and Rest Days
We have been making our way up the mountian over the last few days as have the combined Sherpa Climbing team. The fixing team summitted the day before yesterday at 1430 with no wind and great conditions on the summit as our team were doing the first load crry to camp 1 to stock it […]
BC, Load Carries and Rope Fixing
We arrived at Basecamp on the 23rd just as the afternoon cloud rolled in. The views as we came in were spectacular if a bit short. Comms from here are by Sat phone only so this means low res or no images Once here the team sorted themselves into their basecamp tents / sorted out […]
BC, Load Carries and Rope Fixing
We arrived at Basecamp on the 23rd just as the afternoon cloud rolled in. The views as we came in were spectacular if a bit short. Comms from here are by Sat phone only so this means low res or no images Once here the team sorted themselves into their basecamp tents / sorted out […]
Jerry Gore – Type 1 Diabetic – Himalayan Guide
Jerry is the Second guide for a team of 9 clients working with Lead Guide Mal Haskins (Vertical Resources ) in collaboration with Jagged Globe on the Cholatse 2016 Expedition. Guiding at any altitude requires taking complete responsibility for your clients lives in dangerous environments. So one has to have complete confidence in one’s own […]
Namche to Machermo – Acclimatisation
We’ve left the busier trails behind and and are now at Machermo which is on the Gokyo lakes trail. It seems most groups are going up to EBC and then to Gokyo via the Cho Lha. On the way to Mong Lha and Dole we took the locals steep trail which goes up through a […]
On the Trail – Lukla to Namche
After the hussle and bustle of Kathmandu it’s been relaxing and calm to get the crew on the way towards Cholatse. Everybody on the team is quite experienced at high altitude trips and seem to manage themselves really well. Simple things like good pacing – drinking plenty of fluid and enjoying a good laugh! We […]
Cholatse Team arrives
The last few days – as usual for expeditions have been busy with final logistics and prep. Now that is all completed and the team arrives were moving into packing duffles bags with climbing equipment for them to be shifted to Basecamp, allowing us to just be doing easy trekking with very little gear – […]
Expedition Prep – Kathmandu
Busy Times in Kathmandu! Getting ready for an expedition is always different from trip to trip. This time is no exception! Landing in Kathmandu just prior to one of the largest festivals can present interesting challenges. Right now Dashain is in full swing – this means that for the last few days the roads were […]