| | | |||||
| | |
|||||
|
|||||||
| |
||||||
| |
||||||
| | | |||||
| | | | ||||
|
|||||||
| |
||||||
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dispatches
The Power of Partnership Thursday, July 27, 2000 "If Walter or I came down with the same infliction, I wonder if we could have carried on with the same conviction as Dan did that day...." Part IV: Not Without Being Thrown in Jail Monday, July 24, 2000 "We had done nothing wrong, and Lakpa was quaking in his boots. I started to become angry and began to check out this policeman. He had no gun and no badge, just that black beret and grey woolen shirt..." Part III: Asleep at the Wheel, Another Near-Death Experience Monday, July 24, 2000 "...the driver passed out...I looked over at him and he was a zombie, half-lidded eyes, arms twitching wildly, slumping down into his seat—not a pretty sight...." Part II: Reuniting with the Team Monday, July 24, 2000 "We were all reunited, although in the bittersweet circumstances of the motorcycle wreck and the death of the Slovenian climber, but we were together...." Part I: Dan's Harrowing Summit Day Monday, July 24, 2000 "I thought I had had a stroke, but went back to sleep anyway. Stroke, or not, I did need to get my sleep...." Surviving the Motorcycle Spill Wednesday, July 19, 2000 "As we departed down the dirt trail to the main road, it was clear the small motorcycle was extremely unstable with two passengers and a heavy backpack...." Dramatic Summit Retold Wednesday, July 19, 2000 "I hurried to the edge of the cliff to see Dan go over a steep ice/snow cliff cartwheeling, with one bag in each arm. Head over heels he went disappearing briefly..."  Challenging Days, Successful SummitMonday, July 17, 2000 "Those summit days were very challenging, but we made it, the summit at, what, 4pm, on the 16th..." So Close, So Cold Friday, July 14, 2000 "It was a good day and we are poised very close to the summit hoping for good weather tomorrow. We are all well and hope everyone wishes us luck...." Must Go All Night Thursday, July 13, 2000 "If we go all night, then we might avoid the problem of where the hell to camp out on the face...." A Rough Piece of Work Wednesday, July 12, 2000 "Tonight we did not establish camp until 8:30pm; it took us that long to try and find a place we thought might be safe from avalanches...." High on the Dragon's Spine Tuesday, July 11, 2000 "We are calling this part of the ridge The Dragon because it winds left, right, up, and a little down and has large dropoffs on both sides...." 80 Degrees, Mixed Snow, Rock and Ice Monday, July 10, 2000 "Most of the sections on the Arrowhead that we climbed were frighteningly steep...but they often had vertical dropoffs on one or both sides, making for precarious and gingerly maneuvers...." Exposure on a Knife-Edge RidgeMonday, July 10, 2000 "We just had this little ledge, kind of hacked out with our ice axes and half the tent was hanging down the slope. It was a little bit scary...." Long Day to Arrowhead Camp Sunday, July 9, 2000 "We're now up here, we call it the "Arrowhead" camp, somewhere between 5800 meters and 6100 meters — we're not quite sure...." Five People in a Three-Person Tent Saturday, July 8, 2000 "At this very moment, the evening of the 8th, we are five people huddled into the three-person tent with three stoves going...." At Camp I on the East RidgeSaturday, July 8, 2000 "We're in the tent: Jon Otto, Dan, myself, Anne and, we've been up probably to about 5800 meters...." Ferrying Loads on the East Side Thursday, July 6, 2000 "Lakpa carried a load from the base of the glacier to our present camp, so he put in a world's record long day...." Camped on the Grassy Knoll Wednesday, July 5, 2000 "We have a campsite from heaven, on a grassy patch of land with great views of the route...." Sign Language Flourishes Wednesday, July 5, 2000 "They speak Uighyer, not knowing a word of Chinese or English. Sign language has flourished when we have encountered them..." Worm in the Head Wednesday, July 5, 2000 "I think it was Greg Child who once wrote about "the Worm," an idea for a new route that just gets in your head and won't leave...." Solar Powered Hike Wednesday, July 5, 2000 "Thus, by the end of the day, though I must have looked like some kind of electronic fool, the computer had reached a 98% charge!" Searching for TeammatesTuesday, July 4, 2000 "Last night we climbed up the moraine at seven and tried to make a radio call, but we had no contact..." The End of the RoadMonday, July 3, 2000 "We're up here at the Torbulung River and we're at the end of the road. The jeep can't drive any further..." Bartering for Donkeys Sunday, July 2, 2000 "Just when you think you have settled matters, the Khirghiz generally tend to throw in a twist and you have to start all over...." Shuttling the Gear Saturday, July 1, 2000 "...Walter K., Anne and Jon headed down from Mustagh Ata to the road to meet up with our jeep and the Chinese member of our team whom we hired to help shuttle gear...." Next Goal: The East RidgeFriday, June 30, 2000 "...hang in there with us for the remainder of the expedition, as we go around to the new route and really throw ourselves at it...." Heading Around the MountainWednesday, June 28, 2000 "We are going to spend the last couple of days preparing all the gear for the new route, and we're going down today, and we're going to start heading around the mountain..." Van der Plas Summits Wednesday, June 28, 2000 "Dutch diplomat Mathijs van der Plas, who has never climbed a mountain in his life, reached the summit of Mustagh Ata on June 27th...." Back from the Summit Monday, June 26, 2000 "While on the top, I lowered Jon Otto the length of a rope down the East Ridge to examine the new route...I got one view which seemed to show the East Ridge route is feasible..." World's Highest Pool TableSaturday, June 24, 2000 "Somehow, a pool table has been hauled up here and games are going for about five jiao a piece, which is about two cents in American currency...." Cold Night at 6200 MetersFriday, June 23, 2000 "Despite the bitter cold, Jon reports that the weather is holding, conditions being much improved from the whiteout conditions only a few days ago...." Moving to Camp IIThursday, June 22, 2000 "The team is getting ready to go up to Camp II, which is at about 6200 meters..." Summit Push: Full-on Siege StyleWednesday, June 21, 2000 "...we're just going to go up there and do it like full-on siege style. I'm bring a pack with a week worth of food in it and I'm just going to sit up in Camp II, and push and push..." Khunjerab: Chaos, Customs, Culture Wednesday, June 21, 2000 "...a Michael Jackson tape was playing on a scratchy cassette player, men were dancing, tripping over their pajamas, an angry grunt, a scuffle in the broken bricks of half-constructed trader's quarters, the ringing sound of metal on metal, a moan coming from a swollen cheek pushed into cold, hard concrete..." Recalling the Road Trip Monday, June 19, 2000 "It has been an incredibly busy period for me, what with getting everyone moved into Base Camp at 4400 meters, establishing Camp I at 5300 meters, and Camp II at 6200 meters...." Moving to Camp II Friday, June 16, 2000 "Hopefully tomorrow we'll have made our way to Camp II to set up camp and maybe sleep there if conditions are favorable...." Logistics and Preparedness Thursday, June 15, 2000 "Walter and Lakpa engaged themselves shopping for Lakpa's kitchen and essential expedition supplies such as bamboo for marker flags...." Establishing Lower CampsTuesday, June 13, 2000 "If the weather holds, we are going to seek out the route to Camp II, and hopefully be able to set up a tent there....." Cleared in PakistanTuesday, June 13, 2000 "They made some noise about our having too much equipment, saying they would have to confiscate everything. Then they changed their minds...." Arrived at Base CampSunday, June 11, 2000 "We got here late last night. We're up at 4400m and we were all feeling pretty sick last night. Went to bed — barely got the tents up — and today we're just getting Base Camp sorted out...." The Perils of Travel Monday, June 5, 2000 "I examined our Indian train ticket and it seemed bona fide. The bus ticket he presented me with, on the other hand, was more of a scribbled note than any guarantee of an onward journey...." On to Base CampMonday, June 5, 2000 "And then after that we'll be moving up the Karakoram Highway. It takes about four days to make the journey up to Base Camp from here...." Across India with Dan and Lakpa Saturday, June 3, 2000 "As Dan returned to his seat triumphantly, the local passengers smiled with pleasure at Dan's actions, one man saying, 'These agents are not good men.'..." Crossing IndiaThursday, June 1, 2000 "We're all really tired. There's three of us: there's Walter Keller, Lakpa Tamang and myself, Daniel Mazur. Got here late last night on the 31st, and, you know, crawled into the hotel and crashed out...." Departing Kathmandu Sunday, May 28, 2000 "The train route is not totally known to us and perhaps not decided by even the top brass at Rail India. However, we believe it is going to drag us through the throbbing twin cities and national capitals of Old and New Delhi...." Arrived in KathmanduSaturday, May 27, 2000 "It's boiling hot here in Kathmandu and it's been raining very hard with sunbreaks. On the flight in yesterday, we had a gorgeous view of Mount Everest poking above the clouds...."
|
