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Sign Language Flourishes East Ridge Mustagh Ata Amphitheater Camp - Wednesday, July 5, 2000
We finally met up with Dan, Jon and Lakpa yesterday. Ann, Yang and I have been ferrying gear up the Kuksay Glacier, the last couple of days, waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. During one of the carries, I dropped the radio and we lost our radio capabilities. Yesterday, while scanning the glacier through binoculars, I spotted Jon and Dan from our camp at over 15,000 feet above. I hurried across the glacier to a joyous reunion with Jon, Dan and Lakpa. We had begun to worry a little about them. They were supposed to have arrived a couple of days ago. Our camp is situated on a flat, grassy spot above the glacier with the most idyllic panoramic views of four surrounding peaks over 7000 meters (23,000 feet), and an unclimbed beauty of almost 6900 meters (22,600 feet). None of these peaks have been climbed from this glacier. It is a climber's paradise. My only regret is that we don't have the whole summer to stay here and climb. It's an amazing place. There are a group of shepherds, from a local village, a couple of days walk away, who have been carrying wood scraps up to the meadow near our camp to set up a summer settlement to graze sheep. They speak Uighyer and do not know a word of Chinese or English. Sign language has flourished when we have encountered them as we carried our bags and they carried their wood. They are extremely friendly, but I figure they are a little perplexed by our presence in their valley. The weather today is immaculate and we've gotten a great view of the new route through the binoculars. There are some difficult sections for sure, but the route looks feasible if we can get some good weather. We're all looking forward to the challenge. The excitement is obvious, in the air around camp, as we gaze at Mustagh Ata's summit towering above. All the best from the Kuksay Glacier, Xinjiang Province, China.
— Walter Keller, MountainZone.com Correspondent |
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