Sitting at 21,790

We are currently waiting at Camp 2 for a break in the weather to go up the Makalu La. Snow and wind are oour constant friends. Hopfully our better friends Sun and stable air will visit soon.

Chris Klinke , Camp 2, Makalu

Then and Now

Hello this is Brad Johnson writng. Today, April 30th, is our last rest day at basecamp before going up the mountain for the next 4 days or so. Our intent is on reaching Makalu La at 7400m (24,400ft,) and spending the night there for our final acclimatization bid. Then returning to basecamp for a good rest and waiting for summit weather.

The last time I was here was in 1989 and 1992. Both of those expeditions were with 5 other friends, no Sherpa support and only one other expedition on the moujntain. On each of those trips we did not have the luxury of heated dining tents and satelite weather forecasts to pinpoint our summit windows Instead we relied on our altimiters to watch for the oncoming of high pressure and guessed that it was time to go for the summit. In 1989 we had guessed corrrectly but were stopped at 8100m (26,600ft) by dangerous slab avalanche conditions. In 1992, we waited one day too long to depart basecamp for our summit bid and missed the summit by one day, again reaching 8,100m but turned around due to high winds.

I have witnessed big changes since 1992, not only in the technology world and what people bring to basecamp, but also in the journey to basecamp. On the trek from Tumlingtar to basecamp in 1992 the small hamlets of Num, Sedua and Tashigoan, consisted of 3 - 6 houses, now they are villages of 15 - 20 houses and hundreds of people.
Beyond Tashigoan there was nothing but trail and difficult places to camp. Now there are tea houses and cleared out areas in the forrest to camp.

The biggest change I have seen is that advanced basecamp is located 2 hours walk further up the glacier and several thousand feet higer from where we camped in 1992. The glaciers have receeded not only in length but in depth as well, by as much as 300ft lower in depth.

In 1992 the glacier was smoother and we walked on hard snow, this year the mountain is very dry and we are walking on white ice and sometimes blue water ice on the glacier.
Camp 2 is still in the same place we used in 1992.

I am anxious to reach the Makalu La and see what the upper part of the mountain to the summit looks like from there.

Thanks for keeping track of us on our blog and sending us your thoughts and good cheers.
If you don't hear from us for the next 4 days it is because we are out for a new adventure.
Have a great day and big hugs to you all.

ABC to Camp 2

The day started sunny and bright, we left camp with loads of food, sleeping gear, and great attitudes. Chhiring had left at about 6:30 am to put in a new route from depot camp to Camp 1. At this point we have two separate depot camps. Depot camp is where we store our light weight hiking boots, our harnesses, and ice axes. No matter what Depot Camp we use it is always a pleasure to arrive. It signifies a transition to actually getting on the glacier and moving up the mountain. The route up to Camp 1 requires crossing the Barun glacier, keeping an eye out for new crevasses that might have opened up and being aware of your surruoundings.

There has been some debate about whether it is easier to climb rock and scree, or hike ploddingly up the glacier to Camp 1. I prefer the rock ands scree because it allows me to put off putting on my heavy mountaineering boots until almost 6200m (high depot camp) versus at about 5900m (low depot camp). The time differential is not that significant, but energy savings is the debate. I like hiking on the rock and jumping from one rock to the next, other prefer to french step up the glacier. I think my preference is ingrained in me from spending my summers in northern michigan at my cabin, which is surrounded by rock.

As we climbed up the mountain yesterday we saw the weather changoing with a sun dog and high mares tails lining the sky. We left AC about 8:15am in the morning and after a leisurely stroll up reached Camp 1 at about 12:15pm. The wind had started to pick up and some light snow was blowing across the top of the Barun glacier and we decided to push on to Camp 2. The route up to Camp 2 takes you up a moderate ice fall, with ice ramps and glacial walls all around you. As we were ascending up to Camp 2 the winds really started to pick up with grapple blowiing and hitting us. Grapple is similar to hail, but it is snow. I can speak from personal experience and say that it hurts when it hits you.

We reached Camp 2 at about 2:30pm and dropped our loads in preparation of spending two nights there when the weather clears. This is a big part of our acclimitization plan that includes us climbing the Makalu La and returning to Camp 2. After that we will decide if we will spend a night above Camp 2 prior to going to the summit. Our French teammates spent two nights at Camp 1 and returned this morning.

We returned to ABC at about 6:30pm last nite, exhausted and happy. We had a fantastic dinner with spaghetti, french fries, veggies, and a fruit cup for desert. This morning I woke up at about 5:30am, went in to the mess tent, and switched the tanks on the heater. Yes, Klinke and Klimek fixed the heater. What an amazing addition to our lives. I made a cup of espresso and wrote in my journal until 7 am, when I did the radio call with the French who were still up at Camp 1. The snow we were expecting did not materialize, although they got about 10cm at Camp 1 and we got about 3 cm at ABC. Then I opened the Espresso bar and made Café Latte's for my teammates in bed. Then since it is a rest day we took a leisurely brunch when the French arrived into ABC. It was then clean up time. The sun was out and there was no wind, so we lined up for showers. It is amazing how a little thing like a shower can make such a difference in your personal attittude. Some people did their laundry others read, then we had lunch. With Sandrine from the French Team providing Foie Gras for the team. What a treat.

Life is great at ABC and we are waiting on the weather gods to provide us with a clear picture of what will happen next.

Chris Klinke, Makalu ABC

April 27th mid morning... ABC

Good day all, Robbie writing today the 27th of April and it is a windy/chilly morn. Temps are in the high teens (-8 deg C) right now and we received a light dusting of snow. It is supposed to get a lil' warmer before the weather changes. Scuttlbutt around the camps pertains to a weather pattern that is not in our favor for the upcoming three days. Snow and higher winds from the NW are to come in this evening. We we are trying to plan for tomorrows move up to Camp 2 with this in mind. Yesterday was stunning for mountaineering!!!! Too bad we weren't acclimitized for a summit bid for there was 0 wind and Mediterranean skies til 1100 hr... Basically we were climbing thru the pages of National Geographic... We were all able to move efficiently and confidently to camp 1 and all were feeling well. Camp 1 is @ 21,000' & change... It is situated on a spectacular bench that over looks the upper 2/3s of the route... There is a stunning couloir that we will ascend that feeds us to a summit plateau that then leads us to the summit ridge. The climbing yesterday was all glaciated with a section of 100 meters of 65 deg blue ice as well. There were 4 other expeditions ascending /descending which made for rush hr traffic at the fixed lines... Plans are to have a couple of us set up another fixed line system to alleviate the clusters @ the toe/head of the lines just below Camp 1. Highlights are as follows... Heavy laughter with the French (quite the eclectic group of individuals), stunning 360 deg views, route finding discussions and tactics for how we wish to climb the upper mountain, gourmet high altitude pizza, the Klinke/Klimek morning lattes, and lastly,assisting with some altiude related medical issues... Right now we are reconfiguring the mess hall in anticipation of the storm that is coming in. Thanks to all that have written back to us... It is always a pleasure to hear from our friends and loved ones... Keep it coming.