Cho Oyu Expedition News August 2010

Team leader and updates: Sean James
View Cho Oyu details and book online

The Team: Jerry Cronin, Barry Griffin, Paul Hunt, Robert Power, Hugo Hunt
Sherpa Staff: Nuru Wangchuu, Dorjee Khatri, Gyan – Cook

28th Sept The team are now down at BC. There has been a sherpa & rope fixing meeting and due to the recent avalanche activities, the result of which it has been decided that there will be no further rope fixing for the foreseeable future. This has resulted in the majority of the teams, including our team, on the mountain deciding to abandon any further summit attempts and  head back to Kathmandu. This is a very tough decision for the group but understandably the right decision. The Adventure Peaks team would like to congratulate all the team on their efforts and determination to stick it out in some very poor conditions. The team are now relaxing with a beer at ABC now that the pressure is off. They would like to thank family and friends who provided so much support by email during the expedition.

24th Sept The team are sitting it out at ABC at the moment. It has been snowing quite heavily for the last 24 hours and this has put a stop on any further rope fixing. They think the rope fixing will start again on the 27th, with the first summit attempts postponed to around the 3rd – 4th October. Sadly Jerry has decided to head back Kathmandu after a bout of sickness, he will arrive in Kathmandu today.

21st Sept The team are now back down at ABC having spent some time at Camp 2. They are looking forward to at least 3 days rest and depending on the weather aim to summit around the 27th/28th. All being well the rope fixing will be completed in the next couple of days.

19th Sept Cho Oyu has been getting some snow every day over the last few days, but this is not preventing the sherpa team from getting camp 3 established ready for Monday. Today the team are moving up to camp 1, continuing onto camp 2, with the possibility of spending the next 2 nights at camp 2.

17th Sept Sean emailed in today to say: The team are now having a well deserved rest back at ABC after having pushed up to 6700m and sleeping at camp 1. All the camps will be established by the super strong sherpa team in the next couple of days. The team will head back up again soon and aim to spend Monday and Tuesday night at camp 2 pushing up close to camp 3. They will then head back down to ABC for a further rest before making their summit attempt.

14th Sept Sean emailed in today to say: The weather is following the same pattern with afternoon snow showers.  All of the team have done several acclimitisation walks from BC and established C1 at 6400m.  We are currently watching dvds on our rest day and will move to sleep at C1 tomorrow then push to 6800m.  Everything is running very smoothly and our nepali staff are great!

11th Sept The team are now at ABC and have been out on a skills day on the glacier to refresh their minds on the skills.  They should be moving up to camp one in the next couple of days.  More will be put up on here next time we hear from them.

5th Sept The team have traveled through China and are now settled into basecamp. They have also managed 2 acclimatization walks up to 4900m along the way. Tomorrow they aim to reach above 5000m on another acclimatization walk. Everyone is fit and well, and excited at seeing Cho Oyu and Everest for the first time.

31st Aug  The team have all arrived safely and have made their final preparations in Kathmandu. they will depart for Tibet today.