Simonson

The 1999 International Mountain Guides Cho Oyu expedition was on its way! After months of preparations and weeks of travel, we were finally walking under our own power towards our goal! Behind us were the jeeps and trucks, Chinese and Tibetan liaison staff, and extra gear that we left at Base Camp. There was enough there, including tents, bags, food and kitchen equipment, to enable us to come back down if necessary or in case of illness or emergency. Our plan, however, is not to come back until the end of the expedition. We have three cases of Chinese beer in a barrel to look forward to (Pabst Blue Ribbon, brewed in Guangdong)!

The Start

The trip to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is quite a long distance, close to 15 miles. Our yaks had already been up once. Pa Nuru, Tashi, Da Nuru, and Lhakpa stayed up there to build the camp. Now we were moving up with the yaks and Sherpas Ang Pasang, Kami, Nima, and Pemba. All 12 of us Americans started hiking ahead of the yaks and Sherpas. Our route took us up the broad outwash plain of the Gyabrag Glacier to a point where we had to cross the river to get to the east side of the valley. We looked for a wide shallow place, then changed into tennis shoes to wade across the ice cold water, which was less than knee deep. There were several channels of the braided glacial stream to cross before we reached the safety of the east bank.

Back into hiking boots, we continued across expansive boulder fields, past the abandoned village (rumored to be from Chinese/Tibetan fighting in the '50's) of Gabrok, the site of one of the largest piles of mani stones (flat stones, each carved with a Tibetan prayer) that I have ever seen. This used to be the last stop for Tibetans traveling south over Nangpa La to Khumbu, so you can imagine that they would want to add a prayer to the pile before crossing the treacherous pass. Ang Nima, our oldest Sherpa and climbing partner of expedition member Henry Hamlin, recounted how he had crossed this pass when he was 20 years old, 37 years before. (He's now 57 and a veteran of over 30 expeditions).

From Gabrok, we ascended to the snout of the Gyabrag Glacier, all dirt and rubble, with a well-defined yak trail. The rest of the day would see us traveling up along the east side of the moraine, on and off the dirt, and finally up a long valley that paralleled the moraine to our campsite at about 17,300 feet in a beautiful meadow area.

Interim

The Sherpas and yak drivers had passed us hours before, so it was great to roll into a camp that was already set up. Pemba gave us all tea and we sat around chatting until an afternoon snowstorm drove us into our tents. A couple hours later the Sherpas served us dinner in the tents, and then, just in time for dessert (canned fruit), the sky cleared to reveal a magnificent Cho Oyu, entirely white, thrust into a darkening sky. Soon the stars were out and we were asleep.

The yak rodeo began again at first light. The yak drivers took over an hour to find all the yaks, which had wandered quite a distance from camp during the night. After morning tea (served to us in bed, in the tents...we're getting quite spoiled at this point), we were up and packing — taking down the tents to get the loads ready. As we were having breakfast (French toast and rice porridge) the yak drivers were saddling up the critters.

Like yesterday, we started hiking ahead of the yaks and Sherpas, only to be passed in the first hour. There is just no way that meagerly acclimatized Westerners carrying backpacks can keep up with yaks, yak drivers, and Sherpas in rugged terrain!

And rugged it was. Shortly after leaving camp, we crossed the moraine of the Gyabrag Glacier, then dropped down to cross a side glacier coming in from the east. More boulder fields and moraines finally took us to the big glacier adjacent to Nangpa La. This glacier, descending from the east, leads up to the site of ABC.

Again, we stayed on the moraine, and after several more hours of rugged hiking, we pulled into camp. Lhakpa greeted us with cups of juice and tea. It was great to be here. For Craig and me, there was a heavy dose of déjà vu. For everyone else, it was exciting to finally replace an imaginary place with a real one.

ABC sits on the moraine on the south side of the glacier that feeds from the east into the huge Gyabrag Glacier, just adjacent to the famous Nangpa La. Our camp is totally buffed out. We have a huge Mountain Hardwear dining tent, a big Chinese cook tent in which the Sherpas built stone benches, shelves, and tables. On the periphery are individual Eureka sleeping tents. The Sherpas are especially proud of the gravity water system that they put together with several hundred feet of hose and a 50-gallon plastic barrel. Hauling water in jugs is a thing of the past.

They also built a real nice shitter for us, along the lines of those built at the Khumbu Everest Base Camp. We "go" in a plastic barrel, which gets changed when it is full. These will get sent down on yaks to Base Camp, where it will get buried. Not all the teams will be doing this, but it is our hope that it will start to catch on. Already ABC looks a lot better than it did a few years ago.

We also erected our big Eureka Titan tent as our communications facility and additional storage for the medical supplies, Gamow bag, repair materials, emergency oxygen, etc. This is also home to our 12-volt power system, fed by five solar panels outside. During the afternoon, we put this all together, including our VHF radio and yagi antennae, AC/DC inverters, computer, and phone. We have a table and chairs inside, so it is quite comfortable to sit here and get creative!

In the mess tent, we have a huge table big enough for all 12 of us to sit around comfortably. Around the perimeter, we have laid out the eight, 70-pound fish boxes of goodies we brought from the States, which includes most anything you might like to eat. Food will not a problem on this expedition. I just hope we can still climb when we are done eating!

So that's the lay of the land here at ABC. Tomorrow we will have our Puja ceremony and will begin packing loads to go up to Camp 1. For now, however, that's tomorrow. All we need to do in the present is eat, drink, and get a good night sleep. At 18,400 feet, that may be a bit optimistic, but we'll do our best.

— Eric Simonson, MountainZone.com Correspondent

EXPEDITION DISPATCHES