Page 70 - KRH Regimental Journal 2022

68 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
Mess tent at Base Camp
appreciation that from here on in the days were going to be far harder.
We began climbing from Kakkot, up scrubland, DIY ladders and bridges and up onto a narrow ridge. We crossed our high pass at 4,650m and descended into Pangi Camp.
We woke at Pangi Camp to hear the cries of the Yak herders call- ing to their Yaks who had spread out over the mountainside dur- ing the night (they don’t tether them).
Opening up the tent showed a fair bit of snow had fallen over night, unsurprising at this height (4500m).
After a few concerns about ground conditions we set off on the long haul to Base Camp and it was noticeable immediately the effect of the altitude, even simple tasks produced heavier breath- ing as we coped with the reduction in oxygen.
The ‘path’ to BC now became very broken as we approached a high alpine yak pasture called Yak Kharka, which had a few huts to shelter the herders.
The ground now was very broken with ravines to cross and a short scramble across a spur...all the time, the yaks just carried on their easy pace (with 60kg on their backs).
The porters, cook boys and Sherpas had forged on ahead to start setting up BC and it was a very welcome sight after 7 hours of slow trekking uphill (and down...and across).
Our home for the next two weeks was spectacularly set at the base of the Ghandeu Glacier at a height of 4950m.
Phase Two. The Mountain.
A frosty start to our 2nd day at Base Camp and an important one...the Puja!
A very interesting ceremony led by Dorje (our most devout sherpa), where our mountaineering kit was blessed and we have prayers for our safety on the mountain...finished off with a spoon- ful of Nepalese rum.
After the ceremony concluded we hefted our bags for our first load carry to Camp 1 and set off (very slowly) into the mist and followed the Ghandeu Glacier to approx 5200m where we stashed the 35kg loads before a short break and heading back down to BC.
An absolute stunner of a morning finally revealed the mountain to us...towering 2km above us at Base Camp.
The teams ascending the fixed lines to Camp Two
With the weather so good, the team where all in great spirits as we did our second load carry to Camp 1. It was amazing what good weather and being able to see the mountain did for the team morale, the day before felt like back breaking work but today eve- ryone was optimistic even with a second load.
After the optimism of reaching Camp 1 and completing all of our load carries in great weather, we are dealt a huge blow in losing one of our rope leaders, Sgt Mitchell. Severe D&V overnight com- plicated by the altitude meant we had been advised by our medi- cal support in the UK that we needed to evacuate him to a hospi- tal. However due to our very remote location and the fact that the nearest airstrip was 5 days trek away meant the only option was to get a helicopter into BC to extract him.
Absolutely heart-breaking to lose a team mate, not to mention a personal friend but sadly this is part and parcel of high altitude mountaineering in remote locations, ultimately Sgt Mitchell’s health trumped all other considerations.
After waving goodbye to the guys, our minds turned to the job in hand as we finally left the ‘relative’ comforts of Base Camp and headed to Camp 1 with all of our sleeping and mountaineering kit, big loads once again but we knew this was the start of actually getting onto the mountain itself.
A day of conflicting emotions, sadness and excitement...a weird mix.
Load carrying from Camp 1 (5250m) to Camp 2 (6150m) proved a hard day on the hill, as before we started, we lost another member
Capt Turner KRH and Sgt Sudlow LD forcing a smile at Camp Two