DISPATCHES

Ziel

We thought the weather turned in our favor the night before last. At least we fooled ourselves into thinking so. All of us want so much for the snow to stop, any opportunity to climb this route is a reason to act.

The logic, or lack thereof, behind decisions to justify another sortie up our orange fixed lines can be convoluted. Here is my personal interpretation. We seem to have adopted the classic, pre-dawn "Alpine Start" approach to climbing this big "mutha." If it hasn't snowed too hard in the last couple days (those that sleep all day in their tents tend to underestimate snowfall), there may be a developing window of opportunity to climb. If this happens, we tap out the next climbing team in the rotation who do an early a.m. (climbing) reality check and they go up if the signs are good.

For many reasons, 4am seems to be an efficient time to make the final decision to go up. (Around here we often confuse the time because there is Pakistani time, and Xinjiang time, and Beijing time; i.e., 1am, 2am, and 4am (regardless of which you pick, it still is "zero-dark:30.") Back to the reason for the "Alpine Start."

Firstly, you are half asleep and have not had enough coffee to think. (I do this all the time when I start for work.) Secondly, and probably most important, it is dark. Dark makes decisions easier. You can't see how much snow is on the mountain. Same is true with the clouds and just how fast the snow is falling. Dark makes barometers useless. If it's dark enough you can keep your pack extra light ('cause you can't find all the essential things in your tent you want to take up.) Moreover, dark hides the boulders on the moraine and makes the crevasses on the glacier walk up go away. (Come to think of it, dark is also essential for growing mushrooms. We should have some growing here in ABC soon 'cause there is a plethora of the mushroom's essential substrate here.)

Back to the original point though. Dark is essential for the classic "Alpine Start" because it makes motivating oneself to climb and start up our thin orange line a whole lot easier.

The Chinese and Japanese expeditions both must agree with our "Alpine Start" approach 'cause when we start in the dark they tend to wait till it's light out. Then if we are up the ropes a ways (and nothing bad has happened) they follow us.

With that in mind, just the other day (and of course at 4am), Paul, Shawn, Gillie, Ivan, Jeff Rhoads, and I were sitting in the cook tent with all the essential elements for another "Alpine Start" in place: darkness, sleep deprivation, minimal coffee, "light" snow falling, cloudy skies, and empty packs (all we need to climb is in the cache at the base of the route except, of course, mushrooms). Helping us decide were the Chinese, waiting for us to push the ropes to Camp 2. A bright light in the Japanese cook tent pierced the darkness. What element was missing for another "Alpine Start"? Nothing! So off we went, stumbling in the dark. What could possibly keep us from punching the thin orange line through to Camp 2?

Digging out destroyed tents and searching for gear and food in the chaos of Camp 1 all afternoon, gives one plenty of time to reflect on that important question. Watching the clouds accumulate and turn into yet another whiteout brings one closer to the answer. Waking up several times in the night to dig the deep white stuff away from a collapsing tent, brings one closer still. However, contemplating the soft underbelly of a spindrift avalanche as it flew over my head (off the semi-protective serac-roof of Camp 1) brought the answer into clear focus. Why? Snow! Because it won't stop snowing (and avalanching)! This is a lot of shit! So why aren't there any snow mushrooms on this route? Ergo; snow is a four-letter word.

— Fred Ziel, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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