December 20 If I Survive The Night.
It only took two hours to reach the top of the pass this morning, it's pretty much just a lump so it was nothing more than a crampon-assisted plod. There were some dicey ice sections early on but it a relatively easy pass these days, just the approach on both sides and the altitude (5755m) make it difficult. I feel really good at altitude these days, but I still get mild headaches most afternoons which is no fun. The camp. Well, it's about fifty metres below the pass, to the north (awesome band) and golly it's terrible. Trashy (as always, it seems) and under a big, dirty rock overhang. So basically, we could get crushed at any moment (not really, but, well, maybe...). It's also pretty blowy out at the moment, very blowy actually, and cloud has closed in. Not looking good for our climb tomorrow, hopefully clears overnight. Currently trying to kill time in the tent with nothing. It's fun.
December 21 Oh, Now I Get It.
Arose at the magical time of 4:30am after a largely sleepless night of wind and a little snow. It's pretty clear now, the wind has dropped and it's warm (relatively speaking) and looks like a go to climb. Parchamo is it's name, 6273 glorious metres above sea level is the height. Started around 5:15 with a little pre-dawn light and head torches, which was pretty special. It is a technically more difficult climb than it looked yesterday afternoon when we scoped it out, definitely not a snow plod. The snow was good though, the crampons and axe bit and held very well and the crevasses were no problem. We were roped together for about half the climb which is necessary, but a massive pain but the climb was super fun. Summited about 8:30, little wind and almost perfectly clear morning. Honestly, I'm surprised at how easily I made it up, especially taking my Tashi Kang effort into account, we all basically went straight up, taking only a couple of short rest breaks. The view from the top was pretty special, this is why it's one of the more popular trekking peaks (which are below 6500, the permits are cheaper and you don't need a three month expedition to summit). Complete, 360 views of the Himalayas including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and loads more I can't remember or don't know. We did the obligatory photos then as I got up, my crampons got caught in the token prayer flags and I fell to my death. Not kidding. I would have, only I landed in a foot of the only powder snow on the mountain, stopping my slide to infinity. I guess it looked a lot worse than it actually was and Chhiri dove feet first to save me stopping my lack of slide by cramponing straight into my hand. Which is now all swollen and impressive and a little sore. But thanks Chhiri. The climb down was then disappointingly uneventful, Chhiri and Ganesh didn't even bother with rope, we were more than comfortable with that, and got back to camp around 10:30. Were supposed to make it down to Thyongbo this afternoon but getting down off the pass was horrible. All scree and loose rocks, ice and glaciers, ups making for more painful, awkward downs and general exhaustion from the climb, Chhiri piked out and we made camp about halfway down. We have pretty much run out of food.
December 22 The Tale Of The Unexpected Chicken And, Wait, What Does That Say? Citrus Odour? Huh?
Walked on our own today. The morning plan was to go as far as we could, the end of porter time, but Chhiri and the others were pretty keen on us waiting for them at Namche and we ended up doing so. Yesterday was supposed to be the last guided day, but Chhiri and Ganesh offered to get us a campsite and make dinner. As if we're going to refuse that. Finally got off the last glacier after about a half hour of walking, so unbelievably happy for that, easy as trail down to Thyongbo. The town is abandoned over the winter and it is eerily beautiful because of that, probably the nicest village in Nepal, all stone walls, lovely homes and a gorgeous river. Took a little longer than expected to get to Namche and had to wait about two hours for Chhiri and the porters to show up. Namche is pretty nice, very touristy as it's on the way to Everest so we saw our first fellow tourist folk since the Koreans and had first wash in a freezing and very scummy 'shower' in about a week. Binod cooked a massive dinner. It wasn't his tastiest effort but it was enough feed a small galaxy. Last night in tents for a while.
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