All pictures are on my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.484615241716789.1073741832.340115649500083&type=3
EXPEDITION GOAL ACHIEVED! Expedition over. Time to go home.
02/10/2015 -Friday
I had to get a heli out of BC to try to save my toe. Admitted to CIWEC hospital in Kathmandu. Suffering grade 1 frostbite (so CIWEC tells me). I should be discharged from hospital tomorrow.
I heard that Zoltan (person that slept 3m from my tent -next tent to me at BC) slept at C4 on the way down last night and died this morning (did not wake up). Jean Luc, his climbing friend was being helped by Amical at C4 and they would try to get him lower for a heli rescue. Hope it goes well.
01/10/2015 -Thursday
Woke up having hallucinations and immediately went towards getting as low as possible. Tried to follow some people with O2 down from C4 but they were too quick. I started gasping for air but to no avail. I had a stuffed nose so I could not breath through nose as an option. It was probably around 30m from C4 when I knew I was passing out! I had no air as I started to hyperventilate. I clipped my carabiner onto the fixed line, looked back at C4 and then passed out.
The next thing I knew was waking up by myself in the snow and i was breathing lightly. I was still out of breath. I had been out for around 5mins. I noticed some other climbers coming my way (Giampaolo Corona and Dawa from recollection) and I would try to go their pace as best I could. Going down was just a slog. My right toe and thumb were frostbitten.
We made it back to BC and I was in bad shape. Staying at C4 had taken its toll and being dehydrated was poor planning.
30/09/2015 -Wednesday (leave approx midnight on 29-30 night)
29 Sep night we set off for the summit. Victor shared our tent but in an emergency we could take another person in the tent (for Australian Dan Trevena if required).
Dawa and I are first to leave C4. It was a cold night (as it always is at this ungodly hour) on the approach uphill and we were soon joined by several lights an hour later. I was slow and that is why I left camp first.
I had to do a #2 which was very cold and I needed to chip some snow/ice to wipe the bottom...freezing cold but highly effective. I recommend taking toilet paper next time as light frostbite on the fingers occurred. I think maybe the stop caused my to frostbite.
When we neared the summit there was a question about which was the correct peak! I radioed down and asked what was the deal and where the fixed line should terminate (which was the correct summit). The first group was waiting as we had all congregated.
The Ecuadorian was correct to say that we needed to do the more difficult line. Fixed line was then made up the harder route to the correct summit. Refer to pictures on FB page for summit pics.
Once done, on the way down, I was severely dehydrated. I started hallucinating big time. I was hearing voices and Dawa was slow through some soft snow nearing C4. I was in dreamland. By the time we got to C4 I was gone. We should have kept going down further but decided to sleep at C4. A bad mistake and it was a terrible sleep at C4.
29/09/2015 -Tuesday
Head to C4 to sleep.
28/09/2015 -Monday
Head up to C3 to sleep.
27/09/2015 -Sunday
Stay at C2 to rest. Going down would not give benefit of acclimatisation vs energy lost.
26/09/2015 -Saturday
Dawa and i head to C2 to wait things out. There is just too much effort to go lower and to waste more energy. We hear that the next window that everyone is targeting is 30 Sep. Seven Summits' big Chinese group push is 30 Sep with lines completed just beforehand.
25/09/2015 -Friday
Heard that HIMEX are cancelling! Weather window not good.Lines above C3 have not been completed! We are sleeping at C3.
24/09/2015 -Thursday
At C2 -Nothing special today.
23/09/2015 -Wednesday
Go to C1 to get ready. Nothing special and not feeling that strong even after acclimatisation.
22/09/2015 -Tuesday
HIMEX are chasing for a 26 Sep summit night. Dawa and I are getting ready for a 27 Sep summit night. We are on our way up tomorrow.
21/09/15 –Monday
The planned summit day may be pushed back. We will head to the summit on 23 Sep. It has been interesting watching all the people with an agenda doing their rotations. There are two Bulgarians, each vying to be the first in their country to top Manaslu. The competition is definitely on between the two of them.
Bulgarian No 1 - Boyan (B1) is a ‘seasoned’ mountaineer with Seven Summits and he has sponsorship and planning behind his efforts.
Bulgarian No 2 (B2) is with another group (Himalayan Guide) who is less experienced and appears to have only recently jumped into this competition ring.
I heard that B2 had a tantrum up at C1 when he made a decision to come down from C2, but then noticed that a spark of sunshine broke out at C1when he arrived. B2 then started to try to get the other expedition groups to go back up the mountain, but other groups have their own plans.
When I was having dinner with B1 I told him that nobody cared that he (or whoever) would become the first Bulgarian to climb Manaslu…it is just the same as nobody cares about being the 'first’ of ‘something’ of ‘Everest’. In the case of Everest, the game was over as Hillary/Norgay have already won…everything else was meaningless and only there to stroke one’s ego….
I was trying to stir up some trouble.
There are some extremely very fit people here, some are just smashing the rotations…not for me.
20/09/15 –Sunday
Dawa headed off early this morning to deposit gear at C3 and will return later this afternoon. I was suppose to go to C1 today but bottom lip is shattered and bleeding. Not good and need it to heal ASAP…which means no unnecessary sunlight exposure.
I have packed my summit gear. The weather has been changing like crazy (20 seasons in a day).
19/09/15 –Saturday
A rest day at BC. Nothing special except to let the sun damaged skin heal. I am already packing for summit approach and to keep it light. Reducing it to a minimum.
The weather is suppose to be bad for the next few days. Looking at 26/09 as the ideal summit window.
18/09/15 –Friday
Woke up around 5am and it was still snowing heavily at C2. Dawa saw the Ecuadorian who had been caught in the avy yesterday and they were preparing to head back to BC. This event spooked Dawa and all he could focus on was getting back to BC himself.
The snow loading was significant and the constant snowing did not help the situation. I had thought that Dawa had brought more food but that was not to be.
The decision that I had to make for myself was whether my acclimatisation from C2 would allow me to go higher than 6,560m (as C4 had not yet been fixed). C3 is 6,800m, that is 240m more than where I had got to. The problem is that the weather would not see C4 opened if I stayed.
I know how Dawa reacts when he is scared…exactly the same reaction that he exhibited after the Everest avalanche. After Everest there was false news of a Richter 9 aftershock on its way. Dawa heard this and immediately panicked and started packing hastily to get out of BC as quickly as possible, not even considering the source of the information or the options (ie. Was it safer to leave or stay?). This time around his reaction was exactly the same. At least his fear reactions are the same and easily detectable.
I had to physically stop him and go through a logical thought process. I had pretty much made up my mind to either go to BC or C1, but Dawa had failed to construct an argument for himself, but rather decided to automatically do what others had decided (Ecuadorian). Following blindly the decisions of others could be very dangerous.
I have had my first shower (bucket) since Samagaon after returning to BC. It felt so good to have a wash. Now to organise for some hot water to wash all the nasty clothes…you sleep in these clothes for days on end…it becomes a second skin that does not flake off. So ladies…here’s a catch for you ☺
17/09/15 –Thursday
Going to C3 today. A bad start as Dawa followed an Ecuadorian and his sherpa…the wrong way! We lost a hard 20mins of effort. We had to walk back through the camp to the correct route., This was a massive waste of effort and Dawa should have known better than to trust his friends on directions. This is not the first time that this has happened (mistakes on Everest). If he is going to follow somebody then he should follow one of the reputable western companies (ie. HIMEX). As we travelled in the correct direction, near the 6,560m crevasse level, I saw HIMEX coming down. I recognised a UK lady guide (Mischa) who said they were headed back to C2 to sleep.
As I climbed up, Dawa heard through the radio that the Ecuadorian climber and sherpa had encountered an avalanche. They were caught but got out of the avy. We saw them at 6,560mand they hammered it fast to C2. Dawa and I took our time (I Tweeted). Now back at C2 I need to consider our acclimatisation plan.
16/09/15 –Wednesday
Walked to C2. Very hard day of fixed lines. There is an early start (5:00am) but my gut did not feel too good. It was a 9hr slog.
Some shitty French climber nearly removed my safety carabiner from the fixed line up an ice face. I was letting him overtake me which is an easy process, but we were on very soft snow and unsupported vertical surface. I let him know all about it when he reached for my safety carabiner! If he had released my safety, and the weak snow gave way, I would have plummeted to my grave. This so-called ‘Chamonix’ climber expert said that he had not used a ‘jumar’ before when I confronted him at C2 later. Even I as a non-numnut know not to touch another climber’s safety…French expert my ass!
15/09/15 –Tuesday
Plan was to go from C1 to C2 but it snowed around 10cm all last night. Heard around 8 huge avalanches on either side of C1. C1 is a safe spot. Other climbers are at C2 but not sure if they go up or down for acclimatisation. C2 is in an avalanche fall zone so better to get to C3 or back to C1. Weather was suppose to be good from 15-18 Sep but it has turned out to be the complete opposite. Dawa and I are bunkering down as we need to get to C3/C4 for acclimatisation, and we have enough food for 6 days.
14/09/15 –Monday
Weather was raining at BC but we headed up to C1. Another long day carrying ‘sherpa load’. I was tired when I got to C1.
13/09/15 –Sunday
Stayed at BC waiting for the weather to clear. Packing for acclimatisation.
12/09/15 –Saturday
4:00am –Still snowing and upper mountain fully cloudy. We have decided to sleep-in instead and not head up the mountain. This is our first day of not actually hammering ourselves since this expedition commenced. We will head down to BC later today.
BPM (5:00pm) =86, SPO2 =67.
11/09/15 –Friday
I headed up to C2 but did not reach it. I started way too late on the snow at the steep sections and it was like water/slush. Everytime you took a step it would just give way. I was so close. Went back to C1 and slept there again.
Saw Dawa come up later that day. We plan to go up to C2 tomorrow early morning 4:00am to avoid the heat.
When I came down from C2 I was told by the HIMEX team that the weather was coming through and that was why they were headed lower.
10/09/15 –Thursday
We load carried to C1. Heavy carry of 20kg. I was wrecked in the hot glacier sun. I slept at C1 whilst Dawa went back to BC to collect the tents.
09/09/15 –Wednesday
Today we went to BC. It was a bad start as I had to tell Dawa off for taking a risk in navigation. Dawa did not know the correct direction and was over-confident of taking the wrong path, that would have led to another area that would not have joined up to the BC route. I made the call to wait for another group to come through (Tsering group) who told us we would have gone the wrong direction! I did not hire Dawa for his guiding or navigation skills, I hired Dawa for his high altitude horsepower!
I am now doing my own acclimatisation plan as the Nepalese are way too relaxed in their approach. Many westerners are already sleeping high, which is what I should be doing. Nepalese do not understand the science, they mimic what they have done in the past. They do not take the opportunity when the weather is good.
BPM (5:00pm) =88, SPO2 =88.
08/09/15 –Tuesday
Today was an easy 1:45hrs of downhill walking to Samagaon. Given how difficult it was yesterday, today got to do some clothes washing and some basic comforts. Tomorrow we head to Manaslu BC. Ran into Seven Summits (Dawa, Tashi’s/Minghma’s brother). He says that it would take 4-5hrs for his clients to reach BC. His clients are helicoptering into Samagaon (21 clients!). I hope it takes me only 4hrs as have at least gone up to 5,100m, BC being only 4,800m.
Dawa (7S) says that C2 has not been setup yet but that could only be 7S’ group, others such as HIMEX tend to be much more prepared.
07/09/15 –Monday
Wow! This was suppose to be a pretty difficult day trekking over the Larke Pass (5,100m), but darn! It was supper tough. We had to gain 1,400m from Bimtang and it took us 5.5hrs to crest the pass. The porters and other Sherpa that was following us were also wrecked (so was I). We then had to trek to Samdo…on the map it was only around 20km but it took Dawa and I 11hrs! My feet is in a lot of pain and we are both tired. We waited for the porters (extra hour) who arrived into Samdo at 5:30pm.
Coming from Canberra and slowly making your way to 5,100m was tough. If you ever go from Bimtang to Samdo, expect one hell of a day. We started at 5am and finished at 4pm. Big mountain pass and glacier to get through.
BPM (5:00pm) =90, SPO2 =84.
06/09/15 –Sunday
Karche to Bimtang was only 10km or so mapped distance but it was definitely a tough 4.5km. There are no villages between the two areas so you need to reach your destination. Going over steep valley peaks is tough work as the uphill sections just keep going onwards. When you think it is over another section presents itself. Today started cooler but it didn’t take long for me to be covered in sweat. A little bit past 70% into the trek the temperature cooled down a lot due to a persistent fog. It was pleasant to have a cool change that saw us to Bimtang. Bimtang is much cooler as one would expect at 3,700m.
Tomorrow is going to be tough. Bimtang to Larke Pass (5,100m) to Samdo is a lot of uphill and downhills. Distance on the map is around 20km not factoring for the terrain.
BPM (5:00pm) =80, SPO2 =90.
05/09/15 –Saturday
Today was an easier day. Dharapani to Karche (2,700m). Last night was the first time I saw a map and recognised the route we were taking. Basically it is part of the Annapurna route and then hang a right towards Manaslu. Part of the route today suffered a landslide a few days prior, which meant another dubious steep and soft-sand crossing. I hate these sandy crossings, but it definitely gets you thinking about how solid underfoot the rest of the trail is. The weather started nice and cool and overcast as we left Dharapani, but around 6km into the 10km trail, the sun started blaring away and it was back to having an unwanted sweat shower. I couldn’t even use my sunglasses as they would instantly fog up, and start collecting sweat.
My body is a little stiff all over, but it is the perfect training I was looking for. It so far looks like the potential blister from yesterday is disappearing. It feels really good writing in a journal instead of typing in a keyboard. My Sony A7RII is still on its first battery (at 40%) which means that I am not taking enough pictures ☺
The satphone has been having trouble getting a connection due to the steep mountains (and I being in the valleys).
BPM (5:00pm) =85, SPO2 =95.
04/09/15 –Friday
Today we went to Dharapani. It was 14km of the hottest and most humid trekking I had done. Starting at 8am and after an hour I was drenched in sweat. Crazy humidity.
It was a tough 14km hike which took approx 6.5hrs. We ended up wasting a further 2hrs on getting an additional porter as Dawa had miscalculated the impact that the heat and humidity would have on the porter. We also lost 1.5hrs on a long lunch that took forever to prepare.
Tomorrow we depart from the Annapurna trail and head towards Manaslu. The weather should be hot and humid again, but I am told that there would be less water crossings. We expect to gain approx 900m in 10km. I have a blister developing on the inside right ankle as it got wet in the water crossing.
Today was a great hit-out with me carrying over 18kg. Dawa was feeling pretty ‘tender’ on the legs by the end of the day…this will teach him to wear slipper-like sneakers…he should have worn something more supportive.
Dawa, the 2 porters and I are ready for another ‘sweat fest’ at 30C temps. Bring it on!
Apparently Tsering (Dawa’s friend) is around 1 day ahead of us with another client group. We will most likely catch up with them in a day or so.
I have heard that some of the wealthier groups have helicoptered into Manaslu BC. Their camps have already been setup. They will probably be dealing with the politics of who is fixing the lines. Hopefully when we arrive into BC the lines would be nearing completion. I need to commence my acclimatisation rotations immediately.
Going through the Larke Pass will be higher than Manaslu BC but we cannot sleep up there…we sleep at the village that is lower down. To top-off a rough day, along the trail, a friggin monkey threw a stone at me after I passed him! I should have thrown a stone right back but because I am more evolved, I could not do so. Lucky monkey!
03/09/15 –Thursday
Another stinking hot and humid day. Nothing better than spending it on a bus from KTM to Besishahar (5.5hrs). The minivan was packed full and it was slow going through the country side. Nice to see the transition from city to country farmland.
When we arrived into Besishahar at approximately 2pm we had to wait for a compliment number of passengers to fill a Mahindra 4x4. To compound things, there was a truck blocking the route, which would add to further delays.
We finally left Besishahar at 5pm after all passengers and tonnes of luggage on the roof (12 passengers in a converted 4x4).
We went on the gnarliest 4x4 (2.5hrs) off road run. The vehicle was being hammered with its totally bald tyres running over massive rocks, water crossings and mud on its lowest transfer case. It was non-stop nearly rock crawling for the entire 2.5hrs.
We got into Syange at 7:30pm when it was dark. At one stage the driver gave his ‘lucky charm’ on the rear view mirror a squeeze! If he needed to do that then he shouldn’t be driving, and I was better to take his place. At the end of the day he got us to our destination. It was a long day but tomorrow we start trekking.
On the bus ride to Besishahar, Dawa told me how a western couple had stolen a $600 watch from his store. Apparently he had been showing a customer a range of goods when they were distracted by their crying daughter. Dawa had just asked Pasang to keep an eye out on the stuff on the counter but she had said that ‘westerners’ are trustworthy. The couple had left the store and a little bit later he noticed that the Suunto Ambit 2 watch was not on the counter. It had been flogged.
*The moral of the story…don’t trust anybody. Criminals are everywhere. That is a hard lesson to learn.
I arrived into Kathmandu late last night. Left the airport at around 11pm. I noticed that the airport cash payments counter has changed locations from earlier in the year. It is no longer located with the visa counters, but relocated to the back corner nearer to the electronic standalone immigration kiosk machines and the other offices. I rushed off the plane as it can take a while to get through Nepal immigration due to the inefficient manual processes. It still took me around 20mins to clear immigration even though I was one of the first people there. Lucky I was one of 'those' people that rushed off the plane.
I was surprised that I could not pay for my 90 day tourist visa using Nepalese Rupees! They accepted USD and other currencies but not their own currency! Crazy. Carry USD all over the world because everybody accepts it.
I got to Hotel Friends Home (my accom) and Dawa dropped by. Dawa had just got back into Kathmandu from training along the route to Manaslu. He was at over 5,000m so he should be well acclimatised. It would be difficult to keep up with him (as is the case with most sherpas and porters -strong and well acclimatised). I gave Dawa back his sleeping bag and some gear (that he had left in my duffel when I returned from Everest earlier in the year) and gave him a brand new Powertraveller Powermonkey portable solar charger (the one that Powertraveller warrantied new). This would be good for Dawa and his GoPro.
I had a great sleep in room 404 (4th floor looking over the street that took you to the hotel). The room was super quiet...which made it strange to sleep in...I'm used to more noise, especially in Thamel. I woke up at 5:30am and could not go back to sleep...so I repacked my bags. I think that when you are that tired, a power sleep is all that is required, and the timezone shift of around 4hrs isn't that difficult to deal with.
The room was clean and very good. I had a good breakfast. There is a reason why this hotel is so well rated. Cleanliness, service and breakfast was very good. Hygiene is most important to me! It is definitely no Hotel Shanker which has the most amazing breakfast buffet known to mankind (but you pay for it), but Hotel Friends Home is excellent value. I will definitely stay here again.
Today I am going to test out the new Sony A7RII. I have already tried out the SEL1635Z lens to take snaps of my hotel room, and the 16mm truly lets you capture so much more than a 35mm lens. Naturally some compromises with such wide zoom -big heavy lens and straight lines are no longer straight -not 'fisheye' effect but heading towards that direction. I still like using my tiny 35mm :-)
I have not taken a laptop with me on this expedition but using a tiny bluetooth keyboard with my Sony Xperia Z Ultra smartphone instead. With its large 6.4' screen it seems to be doing well for writing this update.
Time for me to relax and plan to see something new in Kathmandu.
Tomorrow we head off to Manaslu so it could be a long day, and I am not sure when the next update will be.
Given all the gear that was lost on Everest due to the earthquake, I still have some gear left for this expedition:
All my other personal gear has been replaced and just setting them up for my personal liking.
Training has been going OK (not as well as I had liked). The weather has been cold and work has been busy. Frame of mind is good and these last 2wks will be hard training to build 'toughness'...because I am a pudding cake.
Full gear packing should be completed by next weekend.
Now, to get motivated to do some house cleaning :-)
Saturday 15 August 2015
Only a couple of weeks left before I fly out to Kathmandu to meet up with Dawa. Dawa has started up his own company, but we are using Seven Summits for our logistics.
-TopOut mask x1 (for Dawa usage left in KTM)
-Regulator x1 (for Dawa usage left in KTM)
-Oxygen bottles x4 (for Dawa usage left in KTM)
-Bought 4 new tents (TNF copies)
-Energy food (left in Kathmandu)
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