Cho Oyu Expedition News Aug 2006

Team leader and updates: Stu Peacock
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11 Summit Cho Oyu this morning 1st October 2006
3rd October: Everyone is safely back at Intermediate Camp, midway between BC & ABC. They’ve managed to strip the mountain of all their equipment and the transport is organised to head back towards Kathmandu tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll enjoy a well deserved shower and a beer or two. Well done to everyone who’s overcome some very demanding conditions and returned safely.

1st October: Adventure Peaks Team of 11 Summit Cho Oyu this morning 1st October, they included: Stu Peacock, Pam Davies, Richard Griffiths, Colin Lively, Dan Tebay and our six strong Sherpa Team. Well done to everyone. All are now safely back at camp three and currently descending to camp 2, more news once they are back at BC.

29th September – 14.00 GMT: Just in from the Cho Oyu. The whole team (Stu, Colin, Dan, Pam & Richard plus the Sherpas) have safely reached Camp 2 (7127m) and are getting a brew on!  Everyone’s doing fine and the weather’s looking good. They’re still planning to move up to Camp 3 (7500m) tomorrow with the summit attempt on the 1st. We’ll keep you updated as soon as we hear any news over the next few days.

28th September: The delights of Himalayan climbing! With the team resting at base camp and everything in position for a summit attempt the snow began to fall. The mountain is now a very different proposition with more than 4′ of new snow having been laid down. The team have had a long wait for the slopes to stabalise but things are looking a lot more positive now. Stu, Colin, Dan, Pam & Richard plus our Sherpas are now making their way upto camp 1 hoping for a summit attempt on the 1st October. The slopes above Camp 3 are still an unknown quanity but we should have some more information before summit night and we wish them a safe and successful climb.

25th September: Our latest update has indicated that heavy snow is falling meaning the team have had to suspend their planned summit attempt until they can assess the conditions and the state of the route higher on the mountain.

19th September: We’ve just recieved the latest update from Stu at ABC. Most of the team have just returned from spending a successful night at camp 2 (7100m) and are now resting up at ABC. There’s been a lot of snowfall in recent days but the forcast is looking promising, with a gap between two weather systems in the next few days. The provisional plan is to have an extra rest day at ABC before moving up through camps 1 & 2 on the 25th & 26th respectively. From there they aim to use camp 3 (7500m) as a spring board for summit attempts on the 27th & 28th.

16th September: The team is now resting at ABC, with plans starting to form for summit attempts. We expect the group to split into two summit teams with the first going around the 27th September.

15th September: The team have all stayed overnight at camp 1 and have been to the bottom of the Serac Wall. Stu Peacock (leader), Dan & Colin climbed above the Serac wall to around 6830m. Yesterday(14th Sept) the sherpas fixed rope to camp 2. Everyone will now have a few days rest down at ABC before heading back up to stay at camp 2. If the last couple of days is anything to go by the monsoon appears to be subsiding, with clear sunny days and cold nights.

6th September: The team had a good journey into base camp, doing regular acclimatisation walks each day.We have now arrived at ABC. The weather has been great the last two days, however we had some hail & rain on the acclimatiser days at Chinese base camp. Everyone is looking forward to a couple of days rest at ABC. The route to camp 1 is mainly snow covered. The views from ABC are quite spectacular. There are some very big teams on the mountain this year and ABC space is limited, the sherpas have done really well to get us a decent spec. After a rest day tomorrow we’ll head up to the base of the route for a bit of exploration.