Back at Basecamp

Hello Everyone,

 

This is Chris's sister, Amy - I heard from Chris this morning and he and his team are back down at base camp after a successful climb to Camp 3.  It was hard to hear everything he said, but I believe he said they had beautiful weather for the climb up, but had bad weather on their climb back down to base camp.

 

I think their maybe some bad weather coming in so I think they will rest up in base camp for a couple of days before heading back up the mountain.  Hopefully Chris will post more later today - but I know I was very excited to hear his voice and to hear they are safely back down so I thought I'd send his blog a post.  Chris sounded in good spirits, so keep the positive thoughts going their way!   PS - I know they all enjoying getting email up there, though its hard for them to respond -so if you get a chance please send emails to the guys!!! 

 

best,

Amy

Dispatch from Camp 1

Eric and I are sitting at camp 1 enroute to camp 3. Chris W, Mike F, and Paul all passed us on their way down from spending 2 nites at C1 and 2 nites at C2. Great job guys.

Hope all is w ll in the world, how is Obamaa doing against McCain in the election? Any Veeps yet?

Camp 2 Again

We returned from Camp 2 yesterday. This was the second trip for Fred, Eric, Chirring, and I. It is part of acclimitization schedule that we are trying to mainitain so that we can be in a position for a summit attempt towards the end of the month. Right now we have two tents set up at camp2 and they are fairly bomber proof. We have pitons, snow stakes, and snow chutes holding them onto the mountain. The views from Camp 2 are really spectacular and when it is clear it is supposed to be amazing. I have yet to be up there when it is clear.

We came down yesterday for a bit of R and R, and plan to head back up the mountain on the 15th to get all the way to up to camp 3. It will be a 3 days to get to camp 3 and the hope is that the weather provides us with a great day to make the climb through the feature known as the Black Pyramid. We were thinking about attempting this yesterday, but we received over a foot of new snow and there is some minor avalanche danger in the black pyramid. Hence, we moved down the mountain instead of up.

Right now Mike, Paul, and Chris W are at Camp 1 and heading up to Camp 2 for the first time today. The weather today is very nice and it should be a great trip up for them. In fact the weather today is what we were expecting yesterday.

Climbing is all about having the mentality of being focused on what is you are doing right at that moment. If it is clipping a carabiner onto a line, securing a tent anchor, or placing your crampon on a rock to ascend a narrow chimney. If you do not have that focus then you should always make the decision to stop climbing at that particular time. Most people think that climbing is a physical activity, but in truth it is entirely mental. Without the ability to focus to the exclusion of all else you will not have success. So as people are climbing and making decsions to stop climbing most of the time it is a mental hurdle that they cannot overcome,not physical. There are all kinds of distractions that can creep into a climb, being seperated from your family and loved ones, business issues, physical issues, and a host of other things. That hard part is deciding which things you can exclude out of your mind for an extended period of time. Because the one thing you have on an expedition of this length is time to think. You have the hours lying in your tent waiting to go to sleep. You have the hours when you wake up early in the morning, and you have all the time when you are climbing. An ipod is not an option while climbing on K2 because you need to be constantly aware of your surroundings, who is above you, who is below you, and if you there is any rockfall danger. There is so much time to think it is hard to remained focused on what is right in front of you.

Thanks for all the offers of Coke and Pringles upon my return, but I will probably be a little burnt out on it by that time.

Climb Hard, Climb High, COME HOME

Chris

Camp 2

Fred and I spent the nite up at camp 2. We had a super long day, starting from ABC and heading all the way to camp 2 for the first time. Averaged about 10 hours on the way up, which was nothing compared to our Speedy Nepali (Chirring) He made it up from BC to Camp 2 in a total of about 8 hours. That is how big a difference acclimitization can make in your performance. Camp 2 is nicer the camp 1 but it still not a very nice place to hang out. Most tents are set up on the piles of old tents that have been destroyed by the wind over the years. Fred and I spent a very unrestful nite as the wind kicked up and spindrift pelted the side of the tent. In the morning we tried to establish a second tent platform, but every time I got one half of the platform dug out the wind had filled up the other half. So I gave up on that idea and decided to head back down to BC, where I had my special post climb recovery regimine. A coke and pringles. Normally, I am not a big pringle fan, but something about the salt combined with the Coca Cola makes it very good for recovery. Luckily I brought a six pack of coke from Skardu for just this purpose. You can in fact by a coke at BC from visiting porters, but the price tag is about $15 USD for a liter. Even I in my desperation will not buy a coke for that much.

Right now we are on a weather hold for a day or two. The weather reports we have been getting from Jamie McGuiness have been right on target and have been a huge help.

Climb Hard, Climb High, Come Home

Chris