Saari

This morning we awoke to blue skies and a sunrise filled with yellows and reds. The plan for the day, to ski the 6,100m peak outside of camp. Unfortunately, Kris would not be joining us. Kris felt that his nagging headaches were enough of a concern that he should spend a night or two at lower elevation. Hopefully, Kris, Andrew, and Alex will all be back on Sunday.

Corn Snow

We skied the peak from 5,910m (19,500ft). Whiteout conditions forced Mark, Conrad, and I to turn around very close to the top of the mountain. We dubbed the run "The Feather Duster" because Conrad hadn't skied in awhile and needed to clear the cobwebs. Conditions up high were stable, although we did find a potential weak layer 18 inches down. The last thousand feet provided for some of the dreamiest corn snow that I have ever skied. It was good enough that we did it twice. LRG [Mark Holbrook] made us look silly with his chopstick turns; Mark and I learned a few things from Conrad today.

Lessons from Conrad's Schoolhouse
1- Take the headweights off my ice axes
2- Conrad knows that I like my boots after the 20th time I've told him
3- When you spit, you lose the same amount of water as you would in a day of perspiring through your forearm
4- The little white flowers are edelweiss
5- I should lose my old plastic boots, aka mafia overshoes

Top Five Things Alex is Doing in Nyalam During his Forced Idle Time
1- 1,000 pull-ups
2- Soloing granite needles in his tennis shoes
3- Helping the locals dig potatoes — look at that gringo dig
4- Lifting weights with bags of bricks
5- Running the 5,000 feet to Base Camp for breakfast

Quote of the day: "My boots are killer." — Moi

More adventures to follow.

— Hans Saari, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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