Cho Oyu
Meagan climbed to High Camp (Camp 3 at approx 7319m / 24,013ft)

Cho Oyu (6th Highest in the World)
Climbing Period:  September and October
 
Altitude:  8201m / 26,906ft
 
Route:  North West Face (Normal Route). 
 
I was really looking forward to climbing Cho Oyu. It's a great mountain, you can see much of the route from Basecamp, and in all likelihood, it wasn't going to be as taxing as climbing K2.

I arrived at base camp with a little bit of my acclimatization from all the climbing I had done over the summer. Of course, I still needed to acclimatize proper, but I wasn't fresh from the "lowlands", either.

After a couple of acclimatization runs, I was ready to push for the summit. There had been a lot of different weather reports, and conditions on the mountain were questionable. There had already been a few avalanche incidents, and I certainly didn't want to be that sort of situation. It was looking so bad that even the Sherpas of the expeditions were bailing. Not too many people were going to be making the push for the summit. But, the beauty of climbing Cho Oyu is that you can push fairly high on the mountain in relative safety before having to make the "Go-No Go" call.

When I departed for my summit push, the sirdar (basecamp manager) expressed his opinion that I don't even go. Well, yeah - that pissed me off. There was still lots of climb in me, and this "leader" had totally bailed. Well, tough, I sucked it up and headed to Camp 1 (6065m / 19,850ft). I was bummed when I left, and thought that maybe this would just be a gear-run (picking up my gear from the camps), but happily, the further I climbed away from base camp, and the down-and-out mood looming there, the better I felt. Hey, maybe this still was possible!

I headed up to Camp 2 (7130m / 23,393ft) the following day. There weren't too many people up there, but I was getting more into it. I also learned that some other folks from the same logistics company I was using were coming up. Maybe instead of going alone, I could go alone, but be in the company of these folks. That was a thought, but as it turned out, I hooked up with a guy and gal from Czechoslovakia (both independent climbers in their own right, so we all found it beneficial to be with eachother). We waited a whole day at Camp 2, as plans were changing constantly, but in the morning of my third day at C2, we headed up to Camp 3 (7319m / 24,013ft).

I was ahead of my two new "partners", and when I arrived at the C3 site, I inspected the area. Oh yeah - this was not a great place to be. I went a touch lower on the C3 ridge and shovelled out a tent platform. It was so cold. The ridge is naturally a windy area, and with the temps so low, I was really feeling it. Just as I was finishing the last touches on the tent, one of my other partners arrived. I helped him a bit, but he was in okay condition, so I jumped in the tent to get warm. I made a spot for my stuff on the uphill side of the tent, and was sure to save room for the other two climbers. The Czech guy was spending a lot of time outside, and just as it seemed he was about to jump in, I heard him shouting encouragingly to the lady Czech climber. They took a while to get squared away, but did eventually come inside the tent. We chatted for a while because we didn't really know eachother. Not the ideal way to climb, I admit, but it was the way it was. We started our water and meals, and sorted out the plan for the push later in the night.

As of this moment, there was our small team, and a team of three from my logistics company (3 pers) just below our platform. I suggested that we see what the weather was like at 0100hrs (we would need about an hour to get ready). And if it wasn't good, we could wait until a little later (I think I said 0400hrs) and see what the weather was like. Point being, it was windy out, and none of us had been on the route above Camp 3 before. Doing it in the dark would be tricky. I didn't sleep all night. I was awake when I checked my watch at 0100hrs, and at 0130hrs (watching as a headlamp went) upward past our tent. I was awake at 0200hrs (when more lights passed upward past our tent), but the weather was not for me. I was awake when the lights headed back down the hill past our tent. Some folks were bailing. Seemed like a smart decision to me.

In the morning, at 0600hrs, I was still awake, and having listened to the strong winds all night, and experiencing the cold temps (at high altitude); it was time to call it quits and head down. Going up was going to lead to frostbite, there is no doubt in my mind.

We all pitched in for the tent pack up. And we headed down. We were unclear as to who came back down the mountain, and it seemed like there were still some people up there - going for it. I headed down to C2, and packed up the rest of my gear. Then I carried on down the mountain. I had a lot of gear, and much of it was hanging off my pack (I would have used my favourite pack, but it kinda fell apart on Lhotse, so I had to buy a stand-in for the rest of the summer - I've since donated it to a Sherpa in Kathmandu - it just wasn't the pack for me). I came down that mountain and I was pooped.

I ran into Fabrizio Zangrilli's team (he was guiding a Field Touring Expedition), and even one of my logistics team mates had hitched along with Fabrizio's crew. He waited for me to come down the last bit into Camp 1. I thought it was a nice thing to do. I was tired, and seeing a friendly face went a long way. I rested at Camp 1, and even would have made camp there had I not committed to a friend at base camp that we'd head out together the next morning. I had to get to base camp tonight!

As I rested at Camp 1, I was sitting at Fabrizio's camp. Watching them pack up and so on. I was trying to keep my pack from sliding off into oblivion, while trying to repack it. At one point, one of the local folks came over and he totally packed my bag in a more manageable manner. I thought he wanted me to pay him to take it down...and contrary to my own beliefs about someone carrying my crap - I really would have like for him to do just that! But he walked away! Oi! This was going to hurt!

I got my pack on and started out. I had to deliver a message to a guy at Camp 1 (from the Czech guy at C2), so I made a short detour. In that time, Fabrizio and his crew passed by. I was on my own from C1 to Base camp, which is not a problem, I've done it many times, but this time, I was feeling the weight of that pack, and I had a deadline.

I started down the mountain, and the locals are passing me. One even made motions like he wanted to take my pack down (for a price, but one I'd be willing to pay at this point!) But he was just a tease, he ran away, down the mountain. I said to myself, the next guy who does that, I'm going to make sure he's not kidding before he runs off! And then, a little while later (about 1/3 down the huge-ass hill), one of the guys offered to take my pack, and he stopped and we negotiated. I couldn't believe he was going to take my pack in addition to the load he was already carrying, but there you go. I paid him well, like real well, not to worry - he wasn't a slave or anything. I really needed the assistance if I was to meet my timings, and he offered. I took him up on his offer. No, I'm not proud of it, but I really appreciated his help. At the bottom of the big hill was Fabrizio's team. Again, I can't express how happy I was to see these guys. It was just nice to see people I knew! We headed down to base camp, and had tea in Fabrizio's mess tent - which was just up the ridge from my own mess tent.

Well, hey, another climb that sure didn't go as planned. I really couldn't afford to lose my fingers or toes or nose or anything, and I had to make a decision that I wouldn't regret. I'm glad I decided the way I did, although I'm bummed that it meant another "no summit". I made my timings though, and was able to head out the next morning. The local guy who helped me out got a super huge tip (on top of his fee), and I got a good nights sleep.