Page 28 - 2014 AMA Summer

looked like paupers despite all 8 of us having our own 2 man tent and having a heated Mess tent (sorry environment but it was worth it), 2 huge stores tents, a hand pumped shower, along with a toilet - well a barrel with a plastic bag in it.
The day came when it was time to begin the rotations but before we left, the mandatory Buddhist blessing ceremony -Puja took place, a Lama carried out the blessing as the prayer flags were raised. As part of the ceremony our boots, harness and crampons were also blessed and liberally covered in rice that we would continue to find for weeks to come. After a couple of hours the ceremony came to a finish the Sherpas settled down for some serious Chang drinking and we gathered our kit together for the first rotation to camp 1. The plan went along the lines of:
• BC (4750m) to C1 (5400m) stay overnight, back to BC,
• Rest day/s
• BC to C1, sleep C1, touch C2 (6200m) then return to C1, sleep,
then to BC,
• Rest day/s
• BC to C1, sleep C1, to C2, sleep C2, touch C3 (6800m) then
return to C2, sleep C2, to C1, sleep, to BC,
Following this we should be ready to make a summit attempt.
As it turned out, Chris C and Ben required medical attention in Kathmandu and the schedule had to be amended as Rob (the exped medic) and Chris A shuttled individuals down to Sama Goan for a MEDEVAC. Unfortunately this resulted in both Chris and Ben ultimately being returned to the UK. They have now made a full recovery.
Back on the mountain, we slowly we made our way to camp 1. The first 30 minutes from BC was spent walking through other expeditions camps as they stretched over the narrow moraine ridge that provided the only safe area from the avalanches of Niake to the North and the main Manaslu glacier to the South. A further hour was needed to get to crampon point - the edge of the glacier. From here it was a gentle 2hr walk through the crevasse field until you hit a long steep hill with C1 at the top. The hill was only about 250m long but took about 30 minutes to get up it. C1 was objectively safe (which proved very useful later in the expedition) and afforded spectacular views down across to the Tibetan plateau.
The route from C1 to C2 was the through a large icefall and arguably the hardest day on the mountain. With ice frequently falling around
26 ARMY MOUNTAINEER
us, and the constant creaking of the tottering blocks that made up the icefall, we tried not to hang around for long, although this is easier said than done jumarring vertical ice carrying 30kg at 6000m. A long day saw us into C2 on our first visit and not many had the energy or inclination to tag C3 the following day.
We required five days of good weather for a summit bid and waiting in Base Camp after our acclimatisation, we realised from the weather forecasts we were receiving (mdekeyser@weather4expe- ditions – brilliant service, accurate and highly recommended) that it wasn’t coming soon. In need of a change in scenery and to further aid our body’s recovery we headed to Sama Goan for two nights. After much forecast perusal and discussion we decided to start our summit attempt on 2nd October.
We knew that the weather could delay us at one of the camps and we were prepared for this but, we would be in the right place for when the weather was good. Winds and snowfall throughout the mountain saw us marooned at C1 waiting for the avalanche risk to reduce, whilst at C2 the Sherpas (a day ahead of us) escaped a huge avalanche by 5m that buried our previous sleeping platforms. After 24 hours of consolidation, but still in marginal conditions day we headed through the icefall again to C2. The route was much harder now, with the fixed ropes buried and loaded slopes requiring ballet dancer footsteps to cross. The only positive aspect was that some of the avalanches had filled in some difficult crevasses.
Moving up to C3 was relatively easy and not as technical climbing, with just a couple of steep sections, however a large crevasse had opened up just above C2 and having run out of ladders we required a long detour to bypass it. The weather as predicted wasn’t the best and the winds were picking up and expected to be high during night but easing off during the early hours of the 9th.
The team had elected to sleep on oxygen1 at C3 &C4 as the loss of Chris C and Ben gave us some spare, the sleep in the storm at C3 was made a fraction more uncomfortable by a nasal cannula, (softest silicone it may be, but sorry gimps it’s just not normal to have a tube up your nose) but significantly warmer from the extra oxygen circulating around our bodies. The wind battered the tents throughout the night and when morning came it didn’t ease at all. We delayed our start for C4 as long as possible and amid a slight easing of winds we began the journey to C4 (7600m) in late morning.