Cholatse (22.10.2017)


Start point Lukla
Characteristic Expedition
Map
Ascents Cholatse (6,440m) 04.11.2017
Cholatse (left) and Taboche seen from Gokyo Ri in November 2008
Cholatse (left) and Taboche seen from Gokyo Ri in November 2008

The first time I saw Cholatse was from the top of Gokyo Ri during my first visit to Nepal in 2008. We then saw it from the Cho La Pass, Lobuche East base camp and the walk out from Island Peak, all during the same trip. It really is a magnificent peak from every angle I’ve seen it from. Since then it had been a peak I’d really wanted to climb but not really found an opportunity to do until more recently when some commercial operators started to run expeditions there, including Jagged Globe who went to Kyajo Ri with in 2016. I knew immediately after coming home from Kyajo Ri that I wanted to go back to Nepal in 2017 and climb something a bit higher and harder. I had initially had Ama Dablam on my mind (who wouldn’t want to climb it??), but after considering the crowd potential of that peak it seemed like a better idea to take up the challenge of Cholatse. So then I had to find a persuasive way to ask my boss if I could maybe take a month’s unpaid leave again for the second year in a row (I have an great boss!) and by the end of January I had decided to join the Cholatse expedition with Jagged Globe in October.

I left Tromsø on the 18th October to fly to Kathmandu via London and Delhi while the rest of the group were arriving at different times, with Arie arriving from the Netherlands and Alain from Canada. Trip leader Matt was travelling from Heathrow a day later than me with the final team member Mike, but by the evening of 21st October we’d all been united at the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu. We took a quick dinner together in the evening which also included a brief conversation about the sort of training we’d been doing in preparation for the expedition. It soon transpired that both Arie and Alain trained pretty intensively to take part in 1 to 2 Ironman competitions each year, so it was obvious that they were both incredibly fit. When asked what training I’d done, I was like, ‘um, well I do a bit of ski touring in the winter and some hiking in the summer…….’ i.e. nothing in comparison with the training these guys had done. But I held onto the hope that having been on several trips to altitude in the last 15 years, this might play in my favour higher up the mountain.

Anyway, after dinner we had to make a dash back to our rooms and get everything packed for the next day’s usual early departure to the airport again for the flight to Lukla. It was pretty overcast as we left the hotel at 5.45am and began driving out to the airport, but it wasn’t raining. Nevertheless I did begin to wonder if the flights out to Lukla might be affected. The usual process of getting all the bags weighed followed and we soon found out that even though we would be getting to Lukla, our bags wouldn’t be coming on the same flight with us. With that in mind I hurriedly grabbed some things from my kit bag that I might need in the event the bags got very delayed.

Cholatse seen from the trail between Machermo and Gokyo (2017)
Cholatse seen from the trail between Machermo and Gokyo (2017)
At Tara Lodge in Lukla at the start of the trip
At Tara Lodge in Lukla at the start of the trip
Walking towards Phakding
Walking towards Phakding
Namche Bazaar
Namche Bazaar
Acclimatization walk above Namche Bazaar
Acclimatization walk above Namche Bazaar
Me on a random rock above Namche Bazaar
Me on a random rock above Namche Bazaar

At Lukla we took a short walk up to Tara Lodge where we met up with two of our sherpas, Pemchhiri (our sirdar) and Ongdik. Our cook team on the mountain and the third sherpa Ang Ringi, who was also Pemchhiri’s younger brother, would be meeting us at base camp. After drinking some tea at Tara Lodge we embarked on the trek in towards Cholatse. The first few days or so was spent walking along the usual trail from Lukla, and we spent the first night at down at Phakding (2600m). There are some small uphill bits along the way, but the general theme of the walk from Lukla to Phakding is down. From here we continued the walk along the river the next day before ascending up the hill to Namche Bazaar at 3400m. To allow for good acclimatization most people spend two nights here and we did the same, using the first afternoon to chill out and rehydrate, and the second day to take a walk to Khumjung, visit the monastery at Syangboche and the Everest View hotel up at around 3900m before returning back to the Sherwi Khangba tea lodge where we were staying. Some of us also took the opportunity to take a last hot shower while facilities were still good! From Namche Bazaar we had a short 2-hour walk to Mong La (3970m) before making a group decision to push on straight to Machermo the following day, since it seemed a bit meaningless to stop at Dole which was at virtually the same altitude as Mong La. So then it was downhill again from the Mong La to Phortse Tenga at just under 3700m before the gradual ascent back up to Dole on the pleasant forest footpath which was now feeling very autumnal. Since we’d started early and made good time to Dole, we took a break here to have soup and/or lemon tea before pushing onwards to Machermo. I really like the walk between Dole and Machermo since it really feels like the big mountains are drawing closer and the majority of the crowds are left behind. It’s not like there are no other people on the trail and some queues still form on the uphill stretches, but at least it’s not nearly as frustrating as walking between Lukla and Namche Bazaar. Already at Luza there are good views of Phari Lapcha, Taboche and the expedition objective Cholatse. The southwest ridge itself doesn’t stand out very prominently from this angle, but at Machermo we were soon looking straight up it, and it looked terrific! It was also really great to be back here again to see Kyajo Ri from its eastern side, the first glimpse we’d got of the mountain last year. Only this time I had the smug feeling of having been to it’s summit and remembering all the fantastic views we’d had on the climb up there.

We planned to take a minimum of 2 nights at Machermo since this would allow us to go for an acclimatization walk above the village the following day before moving to base camp on Cholatse. We were staying at the Yeti Lodge, on the northern side of the river and from here it was only a 10-minute walk to the Porter Shelter and Mountain Rescue post a bit further up the river. There are some British doctors who were giving free talks about altitude illness here (they do so on a regular basis, alternating between Gokyo and Machermo) so since there was nothing else to do in the afternoon I took the opportunity to attend it and also mingle with some chatty British girls who were also staying at the same lodge. There are several positive things I could write about Machermo, but the tea lodge is not one of them. I think we all concluded that good food and quietness was not one thing that could be found at this place…..

Anyway, after the first night at Machermo we took a 7.30am breakfast before heading up the ridge above the village to gain some height. Already within the first 10 minutes I realized that I had no strength in my legs, so the uphills felt like a real drag. Still, we had the whole day to spend acclimatizing so I didn’t feel like there was any rush to catch up. After some time slogging upwards and eventually reaching the 5000m mark, we took a good long break to gaze across the valley at Cholatse. From here we really got a great overview of the mountain’s southwest and west ridges and west face. They were looking a good deal steeper from up here than when we were down in Machermo! The guys were keen to keep going upwards for a bit longer to get a bit more altitude so somewhat reluctantly I followed on. Surprisingly something happened about 10 minutes after leaving 5000m and I actually felt pretty energetic. Or maybe less lethargic is a better description. Maybe it was the energy gel I ate at our 5000m rest stop which did the trick. Whatever it was, it meant that I could enjoy the last 10-15 minutes of ridge walking up to the small summit we’d reached at about 5200m. There were only very brief views of Kyajo Ri from here, but the ones we did get were pretty impressive. We didn’t spend too long sitting around though since there were a few hungry people who wanted to get back down for food! The descent involved some hopping between the rocks and boulders and then jogging down a nice grassy ridge which was really good fun, and we were soon back down in time for a decent lunch. Having gotten a bit dehydrated after the morning walk I spent a good part of the afternoon getting through a flask of hot water and fortunately the mild headache I’d felt coming on soon wore off, but otherwise it was another long afternoon to try and get through.

Team picture on the way to Khumjung and the Everest View hotel
Team picture on the way to Khumjung and the Everest View hotel
Descent into Khumjung
Descent into Khumjung
Walking up to Mong La from Namche Bazaar
Walking up to Mong La from Namche Bazaar
Mong La to Dole
Mong La to Dole
Descent from Mong La to Phortse Tenga
Descent from Mong La to Phortse Tenga
Scenic walk between Phortse Tenga and Dole
Scenic walk between Phortse Tenga and Dole
Arie on the trail to Dole
Arie on the trail to Dole
Mid morning break in Dole
Mid morning break in Dole
Walking out of Dole
Walking out of Dole
View of Thamserku
View of Thamserku
Chilling out in Luza
Chilling out in Luza
Kyajo Ri: been there!
Kyajo Ri: been there!
First views of Cholatse from Luza
First views of Cholatse from Luza
Close up view of the southwest ridge - third ridge from the left (photo by Arie)
Close up view of the southwest ridge - third ridge from the left (photo by Arie)
Acclimatization walk up the hill above Machermo
Acclimatization walk up the hill above Machermo
Getting good views of Cholatse
Getting good views of Cholatse
Team picture :D
Team picture :D

Saturday 28th October: Machermo – Cholatse Base camp
The next morning was exactly a week after we’d all met up in Kathmandu and we would be making the short(ish) walk from Machermo to base camp at around 4700m which was supposed to take anything between 2.5-4 hours. The weather was on the cloudy side which was a bit disappointing so we didn’t see much in the way of any mountains on the walk to base camp. Alain, Arie and I walked with Ongdik for the majority of way there, first following the river up towards Gokyo, then eventually crossing before the Gokyo lakes and walking parallel with the river again for a while. After some time we headed up the hillside to the top of a sort of ridge overlooking the valley where base camp was placed at the foot of Cholatse. It was a pretty open spot and we could see the tents belonging to the Altitude Junkies team, the only other commercial group on the mountain at the same time as us. We’d bumped into their team leader Phil Crampton on the walk from Namche to Mong La and found out that they were a day or two ahead of us with respect to arrival at base camp. Sherpas from both teams were already on Cholatse and working together to fix the route on the mountain, which starts from the bottom of the headwall below the col on the southwest ridge where camp 1 is placed. It was great to finally arrive in base camp, even if it was cloudy and we couldn’t actually see the mountain yet! Now it felt like the serious stuff was starting – and I could finally unpack my kit bag properly and leave it unpacked for at least a week.

We each had a spacious tent to use which came equipped with a proper comfy sleeping mat and pillow; a very welcome surprise. At base camp we were also introduced to the rest of our support team, including the cook Kanchaman and his two assistants, plus our final sherpa Ang Ringi. Our first lunch of chips, beans, Tibetan bread and veg plus all the unexpected tent luxuries indicated that base camp life might prove to be very comfortable. After lunch Mike and I did some stretching to ease a bit of backache I’d been having for some reason while Alain, Arie and Matt opted for a bit more exercise and went to check out the route to high camp, where we planned to spend at least one night before the summit push. I was quite happy to chill out and take it easy to be quite honest, I was pretty sure we’d be making enough trips up the same trail within the week or two to come.

Sunday 29th October: Load carry to high camp (5100m)
Next morning I woke up much too early to 1) a good covering of fluffy new snow on the ground and 2) a slightly upset stomach that resulted in a 4am visit to the toilet after having not really slept well the whole night anyway. The new snow (and blue sky) was a nice surprise but I spent much of the morning feeling a bit sleep deprived. It later transpired that Arie was also suffering with much the same stomach symptoms. Matt reckoned it could be adjusting to the glacial water which had a high mineral content, which seemed like a believable explanation so I was hoping that it would be a very short lived episode of whatever it was. Anyway, after a breakfast that I didn’t manage to eat much of we had a puja ceremony in the morning sunshine. The rest of the morning was spent packing up climbing equipment which we were going to take to high camp after lunch. High camp was going to serve as a kind of intermediate camp we would use as part of the acclimatization since we had not yet slept above base camp. The plan was to carry up stuff like helmets, harness, crampons and ice axes and drop them off there, then the next day we would go back up with sleeping gear and clothes. Fortunately it wasn’t too far away, roughly 1h 15 according to Matt who’d wandered up there the previous afternoon with Alain and Arie. This was good news since I was not feeling at all great and generally lacked energy, not helped by the fact that my stomach was still a bit uncomfortable and I couldn’t manage any lunch either apart from a couple of small potatoes. We left base camp at about 1.30pm and started walking slowly up a sort of moraine ridge, following a vague path which was marked in places with small cairns.

For the first half of the hike up I think the exercise did me some good and I didn’t feel too terrible and the backache didn’t seem to be too much of an issue. However, the final part of the hike up to high camp was tough going and I felt like I’d been zapped of energy again, especially the last 10 minutes or so. High camp itself was placed in a sort of boulder field and didn’t look like the most comfortable location ever, but it was a relief to drop my rucksack and chuck all the climbing gear in the tent. I was feeling really tired and didn’t linger for long before making a start on getting back down to base camp a.s.a.p. It would have been very tempting to sit down and rest for a bit, but I find that that’s never a good idea when feeling very tired. I’d probably never have got going again! Fortunately I could let gravity do most of the work going down and all I really had to do was stay awake enough to let my brain steer my feet in the right direction :-) I more or less collapsed into the tent when we got back to base camp and rested until it was time for dinner at 6pm. On the bright side, I was so tired when I went to bed that I ended up having a great night’s sleep and felt much more refreshed the next day.

Monday 30th October: Base camp – High camp
It was back up to high camp today, this time with sleeping gear and clothes, a bit of lunch and drink and anything else we were planning to leave at camp 1 when we made the trip up there the day after. Conditions were much the same as on the day before, with the new snow level about halfway between base camp and high camp. We made a relatively early start so that we could get up to high camp before the late morning/midday cloud arrived. The plan was to get some jumaring practice done on the lower glacier once we’d arrived and had a short snack break. Today’s hike up to high camp went a lot better and I arrived into high camp still feeling relatively full energy, in contrast with the previous afternoon when all I really wanted to do was sit on a rock and go to sleep. We took perhaps ½ hour to settle into our tents before putting on helmets and harnesses and making the walk across the boulder field to the start of the Cholatse glacier which needed to be ascended in order to get to camp 1 the next day. This section between high camp and the lower glacier was quite possibly the most dreaded section of the route for me, especially after a snowfall. Unfortunately we had to make several trips back and forth during the course of the climb!

First morning in Cholatse base camp. Fresh snow!
First morning in Cholatse base camp. Fresh snow!
Alain and Arie take morning coffee
Alain and Arie take morning coffee
Views westwards
Views westwards
Inside the mess tent.
Inside the mess tent.
Puja ceremony
Puja ceremony
Hike up to high camp #1
Hike up to high camp #1
First trip to high camp to stash climbing gear
First trip to high camp to stash climbing gear
Matt on the second trip to high camp from base camp
Matt on the second trip to high camp from base camp
A sun cream break on the way up to high camp
A sun cream break on the way up to high camp
Arie on the snow-covered trail close to high camp
Arie on the snow-covered trail close to high camp
At high camp again (photo by Arie)
At high camp again (photo by Arie)
Full moon at high camp
Full moon at high camp

On this particular journey between high camp and the glacier it was baking hot and I regretted not having taken my rucksack with a drink packed. Ang Ringi, Pemchhiri and Ongdik had been ahead of us fixing some ropes on an appropriately steep and icy wall in the icefall so when we got there Matt went over the basics of jumaring, clipping in and out at anchors and abseiling down the fixed lines since not all of us had had experience with using jumars before. Then we each did a round or two each to make sure we were all familiar with the procedure of switching over the jumar at anchors – and also making sure footwork was precise. In practice it’s not about hauling yourself up fixed lines with a jumar but more about using the jumar as a safety point and letting the feet and legs do the majority of the work. Anyway, once the midday clouds made their first appearance we didn’t hang around much longer before trudging back down and across the undulating snow-covered boulder field to high camp. It snowed for much of the afternoon and my tent was at least 10 or 15 metres away from the guys so I made an attempt to keep myself amused by listening to some music. A good book would have been handy to pass the time perhaps?? Dinner was a ready-cooked bag of beef stew of some sort which I heated up in a pan of hot water. I didn’t manage to get it piping hot but it tasted pretty OK. The clouds cleared during early evening and gave way to a nice moonlit sky, so I spent some time wandering around taking some pictures after dinner before it got dark.

Tuesday 31st October: High camp – Camp 1 – Base camp
I got out the tent shortly after it got light, 6.15am ish or something like that. Boiled some water for a mug of hot chocolate and porridge, then set about getting my rucksack packed with climbing gear and some things I was going to leave at camp 1 later in the day. Arie, Alain and Matt had each brought a separate sleeping bag for use at base camp and another for the mountain, so they were taking one of their sleeping bags up to camp 1. I only had one, which I would need to use at base camp again so I left mine behind at high camp and would collect it on the way back down in the afternoon. Everyone was more or less ready to go just before 8am, so we left then and started the tedious journey across the snow-covered rubble between high camp and the glacier once again. Being still in the shade it was rather chilly, but I felt more or less at a good temperature to keep moving in with only the fleece vest and primaloft jacket I had on me, but it was really smart to have mitts on, if only to keep the fingers warm enough before and after having to put the crampons on at the foot of the glacier. We made our way slowly up the glacier, finally emerging from out of the shade and into some sunshine after some 20 minutes or so from where we’d put on crampons. The trail was reasonably well trodden by the Altitude Junkies group who’d been up to camp 1 a few days before us and was marked in places by small flags on thin wire-like poles. Although there were a good number of crevasses to walk around, we each walked independently rather than roping up. From what I gather this was the norm, but in places the trail goes very close to the edges of some of the crevasses.

I wouldn’t say I was feeling like I could sprint up that glacier that day, but despite having not slept that great and not having had any caffeine to start the day (coffee had started making me feel nauseous after my slightly upset stomach episode so I had given up trying to drink it) I was actually not feeling at all bad. It was hard work but I felt in a rather good mood. The views across to the other side of the valley were pretty great now after all and I do love a good mountain view! Back in the shade again at the start of the headwall I decided to put my big down jacket on. Despite the early morning sun it was still cold and I wanted to keep my fingers alive for jumaring up the fixed lines. The route up the headwall was slightly different compared with what had been used in previous years by other groups climbing Cholatse. Instead of ascending the snow flutings where the snow was soft and protection was poor, this year’s route that had been fixed by the sherpas went up the rock outcrop to the right side of the flutings. The first set of fixed lines went up an easy snow slope to reach the start of a sort of ledge feature that had to be traversed for a couple of metres. Above this the route went more or less straight up, and the climbing was either solely on fairly solid snow or in other places over snow-covered rock. Overall it was fairly straightforward climbing, mixed in places but the last long stretch of fixed lines ascending the snow slopes up to the col felt strenuous and it became very warm again where the sun was shining. God knows how many times I paused for a breather, but there were a lot of them! The other slightly frustrating thing was when there was another person behind using the same set of fixed lines at the same time, which meant that the rope got swung around a lot from underneath while sliding the jumar up….. It was good to get off the fixed lines at the col and be greeted with a cup of hot orange by Matt who’d already arrived some time ahead, along with Alain who had been in front of me.

Up at camp 1 at the col we could now look straight up the route on the southwest ridge. The ridge was massively foreshortened from here, but we sort of got an idea of what we’d be dealing with on summit day. Apart from dropping off gear, rehydrating and taking a couple of photos there wasn’t a lot else to do at the col, so after some 15 minutes or so we each began the descent back down the fixed lines.

The snow-covered rubble on the way to the glacier
The snow-covered rubble on the way to the glacier
Pemchhiri and Matt on the lower part of the glacier
Pemchhiri and Matt on the lower part of the glacier
Plenty of crevasses
Plenty of crevasses
Arie at the first anchor on the fixed lines
Arie at the first anchor on the fixed lines
Snow slopes below camp 1
Snow slopes below camp 1
First trip to camp 1
First trip to camp 1
Descending the fixed lines from the col, with the southwest ridge behind
Descending the fixed lines from the col, with the southwest ridge behind
Matt descending the fixed lines from camp 1
Matt descending the fixed lines from camp 1
Ang Ringi on the walk back down the glacier
Ang Ringi on the walk back down the glacier

Anyway, once down the fixed lines and back at the start of the headwall we began the walk back down the glacier, which was now a hot experience under the strong midday sun. Still, with the walk being mostly downhill it wasn’t too hard work, but a bit of concentration was needed. So then it was off with the crampons again for the less-than-enticing walk back over the rubble field again and over to high camp to collect any remaining gear we needed to have at base camp. The final small hill in the rubble field was not one of my favourite memories, having by now gotten a bit fed up. I managed to rather elegantly fall into the rocks whilst slogging up the last few metres to the top of the hill, but thankfully I was still a bit ahead of anyone else so I am hopeful that no one saw this ;) Coincidentally my backache also disappeared after this!!?. From there I picked up my sleeping bag and some other things and trundled back down to base camp. I’d realized that despite having started the day feeling pretty good, I was now feeling physically a good deal more tired so I was keen to get back to base camp as fast as possible.

Wednesday-Thursday, 1st - 2nd November: Rest days in base camp
Originally we’d planned to follow a similar ascent strategy to the Jagged Globe group who’d been on Cholatse in 2016. They’d done one night at high camp, then gone to camp 1 (without sleeping), back down to base camp and then one more trip up to camp 1 to spend a night there before descending back down to base camp again before the final summit push. However, we’d heard from Phil over in the Altitude Junkies camp that strong winds were forecasted to arrive around November 5th/6th and last for at least the next week or so. Since we all were acclimatizing reasonably well and making good progress between camps, Matt discussed with us the idea of dropping the extra trip to camp 1 and instead take 2 days rest and make our way up the mountain again with a view to going straight to the summit from camp 1, so we would be down again before the strong winds arrived. This is basically what Phil’s group were also doing, but they were 2 days ahead of us. So while we enjoyed 2 relaxing and quiet days in base camp – washing, eating and drinking copious amounts of lemon tea/hot chocolate/other beverages, the AJ group were back up the mountain for their summit attempt. We later heard that some of the group had been using a whole 8 hours to get from base camp to camp 1, which wasn’t so promising in terms of making the summit in good time from camp 1 the next day (I think half of them ended up at the summit and several turned back due to fatigue). I’d spent some time just going for short walks in the river valley during these two days and looking up at the mountain which seemed pretty daunting every time I glanced up. After hearing the progress of the other group I was feeling slightly dubious about how tiring summit day was likely to be and if I had the strength to make it myself. But there really wasn’t much point stressing over what we had to climb ahead of us. I made up my mind to try and enjoy the journey along the way and get rested enough while we were still down at the relatively ‘low’ altitude of 4700m. Sorting out food and snacks was done again on our final rest day and rucksacks were packed as much as possible for the relatively early 7.30am start from base camp next morning.

Friday 3rd November: Base camp – Camp 1
Finally the day had come for setting off on our summit push after two relatively long and uneventful rest days. I’d slept very well after deciding to take a Benadryl allergy tablet the previous evening, something which I’d held off using until now since anything that suppresses breathing rate (i.e. stuff that makes you drowsy) is supposedly not very beneficial to acclimatization. However, since I really wanted to make sure I was well rested before heading off up the mountain again it seemed like a worthwhile trade-off. I woke up feeling good and very psyched up for the days ahead of us. However, despite a good night’s sleep and plenty of psychological motivation it seemed that my body hadn’t quite switched out of resting mode and into climbing mode yet and the hike up from base camp to high camp felt pretty heavy going. Our climbing gear was still up at high camp from the first journey to camp 1 a few days ago, so we were only carrying up mostly warm clothes and sleeping stuff plus lunch, snacks and drink. The once-irritating boulder field was now actually not such an unpleasant experience since a lot of the new snow had been melted off by the last few days of sunshine, so we made pretty good time across here on this final journey. I’d by now also caught up with Matt and Alain so we put on glacier gear and started making our way back up the glacier again, retracing the same trail as last time. The main difference was that we were on the glacier at a slightly later time in the morning, so it was a really pleasant temperature and I only had on a long sleeved top and fleece vest. I think I was more worried about baking in the heat of the sun but fortunately it never got that hot while we were there, which was a relief because it was hard enough work just walking in a comfortable temperature.

Rest days in base camp
Rest days in base camp
Pemchhiri on the third (and last) trip up towards high camp from base camp
Pemchhiri on the third (and last) trip up towards high camp from base camp
View of the Cholatse glacier and headwall beneath the col
View of the Cholatse glacier and headwall beneath the col
Mike and Pemchhiri just before high camp
Mike and Pemchhiri just before high camp
Back on the glacier again
Back on the glacier again
Alain and Matt on the lower part of the glacier
Alain and Matt on the lower part of the glacier
Weaving our way around the crevasses
Weaving our way around the crevasses
Couldn't resist a selfie with this combination of colours on me!
Couldn't resist a selfie with this combination of colours on me!
Approaching the headwall and fixed lines
Approaching the headwall and fixed lines
Need to get past a few more crevasses first....
Need to get past a few more crevasses first....

After about an hour from the bottom of the glacier we’d reached the start of the fixed ropes again. Mike, Arie and the sherpas were still a bit behind us so we had plenty of time to take a drink and eat while waiting for them. Amongst my mid-morning snacks was a generous slice of apple pie that our cook had made the previous evening, but there ended up being plenty of leftovers; perfect for extra breakfast and occasions such as this! Once refueled we started making our way up the fixed ropes toward camp 1 again, eventually reaching there at around midday. Now it really was super hot, but the usual afternoon clouds and snow showers were on their way nevertheless. We spent some time filling up some plastic bags with snow so we would have a supply of snow for melting on the stoves and using for hot drinks/boil in the bag dinners/instant porridge later on. But otherwise it was yet another long afternoon in the tents and it was spent resting. I’d got a rather bad headache, probably the first proper headache during the whole trip so I took some Nurofen to try and get rid of it. So the plan was to get up at 12.30am and leave by 2am so that we could allow ourselves enough time to get up to the summit and back down to camp 1 again before getting caught out in the snow which was forecasted to come in the afternoon. For some reason my stove was taking an eternity to melt enough snow to fill up a 1l bottle of water in the evening so I ended up sitting around for an hour after everyone else had gone to sleep at around 6pm. Somewhat frustrating, but at least I had a hot water bottle to keep my feet warm in the sleeping bag.

Saturday 4th November: Camp 1 – Summit – Camp 1
I spent a lot of the previous evening awake and was a bit concerned that I’d end up lying awake in my sleeping bag until my alarm went off at 12.30am, but as things actually happened, I found myself in a somewhat drowsy state at 12.40am listening to something that seemed to resemble the sound of an alarm clock on my mobile phone. So obviously I had fallen asleep at some point or another. It took a while to realize that I was in a tent at camp 1 on Cholatse and I was also supposed to be getting up and boiling some water. Surprisingly once I did wake up a bit it didn’t really feel like I’d been woken up out of a deep sleep, but more like I’d just woken up from a short power nap. Fortunately yesterday’s headache had disappeared and it was clear and still outside - but quite cold. The stove I’d used the previous evening was even more shockingly slow to melt snow this morning as well. However, after sitting around for about ½ hour and realizing that I still only had cold water in my pan it became obvious that this was not normal. Since the guys had already finished with their stoves I managed to borrow Matt and Mike’s stove and boil some water for a quick coffee, but I was by this time getting somewhat slightly stressed since everyone else was more or less ready to go and I still hadn’t put any of my climbing gear on yet. Anyway, I left camp 1 a few minutes after everyone else with Pemchhiri and we made our way slowly up the snow arête towards the start of the rock buttress. Alain and Ang Ringi were at the front of the group, followed by Arie and Ongdik, then Matt and Mike.

Since it was taking some time for everyone to climb one by one up the fixed lines on the slabs, I had soon caught up and was in the queue at the start of the lines. The mixed ground on the slabs was actually not as difficult as I was expecting it to be. It was fairly steep and it required some clean footwork while climbing in crampons, but there were definitely some good handholds to be found so I climbed mostly with my right hand sliding the jumar up the fixed lines and my left hand free to find flakes to hold. Soon the day’s most interesting part of the ridge was over and we’d crested the ridge. From here there was a small downclimb to a ledge system where we traversed around a kind of corner to access the back (east) side of the southwest ridge. Once we’d got to this point it was a gradual climb upwards toward the notch in the ridge that marked the transition from rock to snow. This part was quite easy, and in places it was nice to scramble with both hands instead of having one hand on the jumar all the time. In retrospect I probably would have preferred to just have had one karabiner clipped into the rope here so there wouldn‘t have been the hassle of having to move the jumar up the rope all the time. In other places however there was some loose rock around, so some care was required to not kick anything down on the person behind.

Ongdik and Ang Ringi at the start of the fixed lines
Ongdik and Ang Ringi at the start of the fixed lines
Ongdik and Ang Ringi on the way up the headwall
Ongdik and Ang Ringi on the way up the headwall
Even further up the fixed lines below camp 1
Even further up the fixed lines below camp 1
The snow slope to the right of the picture gives an indication of the kind of gradient of the headwall beneath camp 1
The snow slope to the right of the picture gives an indication of the kind of gradient of the headwall beneath camp 1
Evening at camp 1
Evening at camp 1
Pre-bedtime picture
Pre-bedtime picture
Matt on the rock slabs above camp 1. Just what you'd want to be doing at 2am!
Matt on the rock slabs above camp 1. Just what you'd want to be doing at 2am!
Traversing around the buttress to the east side of the ridge
Traversing around the buttress to the east side of the ridge

Once we’d reached the end of the rock ridge and reached the start of the snow arête there was a distinct wave of colder air. Up until then I’d felt quite comfortable climbing in a long sleeved top and my down jacket, but I was unsure if I’d need to put on another layer or not at that point. Anyway, I had to take a quick toilet stop here before carrying on up the snow ridge. To start with the gradient was pretty easy going and there were some rock steps and traversing round on some snow ledges. Not so much front pointing yet. Just before around halfway up the gradient steepened and we had to climb a short, steep section (60 degrees-ish?) where I caught up with Arie and Ongdik. Arie wasn’t feeling too good this morning so he let me past and I carried on moving up the fixed lines on the ridge. Here it had narrowed into a really elegant arête and it was matter of front pointing for the rest of the way up to the plateau at around 6200m where a camp 2 has previously been placed. It was also very cold and the majority of my focus was on keeping moving and trying to keep the hands warm. The full moon lit up the snow faces and ridges around us even though it was still very dark, but to both sides of the ridge it was possible to see the long drops down to the left and the shadow of Taboche to the right. As I started the final section of fixed lines below the plateau I caught sight of an orange stripe on the horizon behind Taboche. I got ever so slightly motivated by the thought that sunrise was on its way and we might finally be able to get a decent view and a bit more warmth!

Before that though there was a good deal more front pointing. Every five to six steps up I’d take a short stop to catch my breath and take my hands off the snow to clap them together and keep the fingers warm. Then five or six steps more and do the same again. Behind me, lower down the ridge I could only see the headtorches belonging to Arie and Ongdik and Mike and Pemchhiri further behind them, but as I neared the little plateau there was much much more to see and hundreds of mountains to the west were lit up by early morning light. It could have been nice to hang around and admire the view here a little longer but it was way too cold to be doing nothing. While front pointing up the snow ridge I’d spent a lot of time thinking about how much I really wanted to put on another jacket underneath the big down jacket I already had on me but in practice didn’t do because a) there was nowhere to flat to stop and put my rucksack down and b) I didn’t actually want to take off my down jacket while it was so cold. At least my thoughts were diverted from thinking about how tiring it was to be climbing up a steep snow slope at over 6000m! But up until now it hadn’t really been too bad. Yes, it was tiring, I was moving slow and breathing like I was doing an intense workout (which I was not) but nothing unusual taking into consideration the altitude and I was otherwise feeling quite OK.

At the plateau I caught up with Matt who was waiting for the rest of us to catch up and decided that here would be as ideal a place I was ever going to get to put the extra jacket on. It was painfully cold for the few seconds I took off my down jacket and only had the long sleeved top on, but after taking the primaloft jacket on and putting the down jacket back over the top it was suddenly so much more pleasant. Arie and Ongdik came and joined us a few minutes later but there wasn’t too much chat before we carried on and started the long traverse out across the upper part of Cholatse’s west face. From the little plateau this involved a short, steep climb up an icy step (maybe only 3-4m) then a gradual rising traverse that wound around toward the right to gain the finaly headwall leading up to the summit ridge. By now the views were pretty fantastic and the seracs looming over the camp 2 plateau provided a somewhat dramatic backdrop. If it wasn’t so cold I’d probably have taken more pictures, but despite the fact the sun was now up we were still in some sort of cold air sink in the shade, so it was a matter of keeping moving and treading carefully in the soft snow. From a distance the headwall didn’t look too long, but once I’d started making my way up it I found out that it was both steeper than expected and it seemed to last forever. I was also feeling physically very tired now as well, but this gave me a good excuse to stop more frequently and take photos! Just before topping out onto the summit ridge there was a small bergschrund to get over, so one last bit of effort was needed before I could collapse onto my bum at the next anchor on the summit ridge. The first warm rays of sun to hit my face were like a dream come true and the views on the other side were just undescribably good. Huge snow faces and sharp ridges that fell away and down to the valley some 2000m below; Taboche on the other end of the dramatic ridge that connected it with Cholatse and in the distance Ama Dablam being bathed in the morning sunshine. And then there was the undulating and elegant snow ridge leading up to the summit of Cholatse itself.

Dawn breaks just before arriving at the little plateau at 6200m. View northwards
Dawn breaks just before arriving at the little plateau at 6200m. View northwards
Arie and Ongdik on the upper part of the snow arete
Arie and Ongdik on the upper part of the snow arete
Arie and Ongdik with an incredible view behind them!
Arie and Ongdik with an incredible view behind them!
Arie traversing the upper part of Cholatse's west face
Arie traversing the upper part of Cholatse's west face
Matt on the summit ridge, taken from the headwall just beneath it
Matt on the summit ridge, taken from the headwall just beneath it
No complaints about the views from here!
No complaints about the views from here!
View along the ridge toward the summit. Not far now!
View along the ridge toward the summit. Not far now!
Everest pops into view too!
Everest pops into view too!
Interesting cornicing on the summit ridge
Interesting cornicing on the summit ridge
Jaw dropping views of Ama Dablam, Taboche and fantastic ridge between Taboche and Cholatse
Jaw dropping views of Ama Dablam, Taboche and fantastic ridge between Taboche and Cholatse
Who wouldn't be smiling on a day like this?!!
Who wouldn't be smiling on a day like this?!!

After my brief break being parked on my bum where I clipped back in to the next section of fixed rope, I also took out the sunglasses before continuing along the ridge where I could see Alain and Ang Ringi a little way ahead, who were both on their way back down from the summit now. We had a high five, I congratulated him on making the summit and was encouraged to hear from Alain that the top was only “15 minutes” away – though I’m pretty sure it took me much longer before I got there. I’d more or less lost track of time by now and was more interested in trying to enjoy the last section of ridgewalking up to the summit. The summit ridge of Cholatse was a pretty spectacular place with lots of quite fascinating snow features. It was nothing like the homogeneous snow slopes we’d climbed on Kyajo Ri last year. There were cornices, crevasses, snow mushrooms and other snow-related formations that caught the eye. Rather than stopping to catch my breath now I was stopping more to gaze at the surroundings and take yet more photos. It’s not every day I get to see this kind of view! But at last, after getting up the last part of the ridge I reached the summit plateau where I joined Matt again. The highest point on Cholatse is actually just above the plateau on a narrow ridge, kind of like an icicle. We’d heard from Phil that they’d fixed lines partway up the icicle – but not all the way to the far end of the cornice since they’d deemed the snow to be too unstable here. I guess it would have been a bit of a shame to fall through and all the way down Cholatse’s north face. So after leaving behind rucksacks on the plateau (can’t even remember why now) we finished our ascent by surmounting the little summit icicle and stopping where the AJ group had also stopped, a few metres away from the end of the ridge. Now at this point I probably should have been feeling elated and really, really happy to have gotten to the summit of Cholatse, after 9 years of dreaming about wanting to climb this mountain. But in all honesty I was just really tired and pretty much the only things that were on my mind were getting something to eat and drink and getting back down to at least camp 1 again. I’d stashed a Mars bar in one of the pockets in my down jacket in the hope of keeping it from freezing but it was still a real effort to chew with a jaw that was a bit stiff from the cold! Must have taken me at least 5 minutes of munching before I’d managed to eat it all. Arie and Ongdik had by now arrived and we’d also heard that Mike had turned back at the top of the headwall at the start of the summit ridge. I wasn’t feeling as cold as earlier on in the day by this point, but I didn’t feel like I could get warm either, even though we were now in the sunshine and I still had the primaloft jacket and down jacket on me. So it seemed appropriate to start the journey back down.

I abseiled some parts of the ridge back to the start of the headwall, but on other parts where it wasn’t so steep I just clipped into the fixed rope with two carabiners and moved carefully along the fixed lines. The abseil back down the headwall went quickly and soon I found myself back in the shade and plodding through the soft snow along the traverse back down to the camp 2 plateau. I knew I was also mentally tired at this point so I had to try and wake up from walking in a trance at times on that traverse. Fortunately it wasn’t too long before I’d descended back down the final ice step and down to the sunlit plateau where I caught up with Pemchhiri who was descending the ridge with Mike. Since they were using the fixed lines below the plateau I took the opportunity to take a short break here, put on some sun cream, drink a bit of water and take off the down jacket while waiting for the rope to be free before I could start the next series of abseils. This was more or less how the descent continued until we’d got about halfway down the ridge, but once past the steepest section of the ridge I continued past Mike and Pemchhiri and just focused on getting back down to camp 1. I managed to save some time by just clipping into some sections of rope and downclimbing carefully instead of abseiling, but generally I only did this if I was sure it was relatively easy ground. Back at the notch in the ridge I knew it wasn’t too far from camp 1 now, but the rock was distinctly looser now that the sun was beating down on that side of the ridge – and I still had the crampons on. I think it really did make a huge difference when we’d climbed this in the early morning and the majority of the loose rock on the ridge seemed better frozen together. Anyway, it was in some ways fortunate that I was alone here and there was no one below me or above me with all the loose rock around. Finally, after ascending the few metres back up to the start of the traverse it was only a short time before I’d reached the top of the last abseil back down the rock slabs and was walking down the snow slopes into camp 1. It was a relief to put the abseil device back on and see both Ang Ringi and Alain not that far away in camp 1 from there! Plodding back down the snow was uncomfortably hot and I was truly grateful for the mug of hot orange that Ang Ringi welcomed me back into camp with, I was so thirsty. But at long last the descent was over. I’d made it back down to an approved resting place!

Just a few more steps to the summit plateau. Look at this ridge!!
Just a few more steps to the summit plateau. Look at this ridge!!
Matt on the summit plateau, walking across to the summit icicle/cornice :)
Matt on the summit plateau, walking across to the summit icicle/cornice :)
First we had to cross a small crevasse
First we had to cross a small crevasse
Matt at the highest point the ropes were fixed to, a few metres away from the furthest end of the cornice
Matt at the highest point the ropes were fixed to, a few metres away from the furthest end of the cornice
Me at the same point
Me at the same point
View down the ridge on the descent
View down the ridge on the descent
Mike and Pemchhiri at the next anchor
Mike and Pemchhiri at the next anchor
Morning in camp 1 the day after summit day
Morning in camp 1 the day after summit day
Ongdik at camp 1 just before I left for base camp
Ongdik at camp 1 just before I left for base camp
Back on the glacier again, on the walk back down to base camp
Back on the glacier again, on the walk back down to base camp
Last glimpse of the route down from high camp
Last glimpse of the route down from high camp

It was around 11.30am when I got back into camp, but already the afternoon clouds had been brewing and creeping in from the south, so even though the heat of the sun felt overpowering it wasn’t long before the temperature dropped and the sun had disappeared again. I made the ever-classic mistake of getting into the tent, taking off my boots and getting into the sleeping bag to rest. I could feel the toes in my right boot were a bit sore, but after taking off my boots it was like having a pain explosion in my toes. Not very comfortable at all. So when Matt arrived back along with Mike and Pemchhiri some time later and announced that he was keen for us to pack up and descend back to base camp that afternoon, I wasn’t feeling entirely enthusiastic. Not just because I dreaded trying to put my boots back on painful toes, but also because I was just plain tired and wanted to stay inside the nice and comfy sleeping bag. We’d anyway packed enough food for 2 nights here so I really didn’t see the need to rush down to base camp in a fatigued state. Plus camp 1 is a nice spot and I quite liked the thought of being on the mountain a little bit longer. The guys were all tired as well but seemed more eager (or just less stubborn???) than me to rest properly in base camp, so they all headed down later in the afternoon. It was snowing by then so it seemed like an additional excuse for staying inside the tent…. Ongdik stayed at camp 1 too whilst Ang Ringi and Pemchhiri went down with the guys so it was a quiet afternoon. I thought I’d easily doze off to sleep at some point but I found myself quite awake and thinking back to everything we’d climbed and seen along the way to the summit. It had been a day to remember! I also probably should have made a better effort to rehydrate but was a bit unmotivated by the fact that drinking lots would result in peeing lots which also meant I’d have to put on boots frequenty to go outside. And quite honestly I just wanted to keep boots off my toes for the rest of the afternoon. I took a few Nurofens in the hope that it would bring down a bit of the swelling in the toes which was making it agony to put even the inner boots on. Thankfully it worked to some degree and by the next morning I managed to put both inner and outer boots on without excruciating pain.

Sunday 5th November: Camp 1 – Base camp
I had slept semi-well and woke up at around 6.30am to a 10cm covering of fresh snow and a plan to head back down to base camp at around 8am from camp 1. My thoughts were that descending back down the headwall and glacier while it was still in the shade would make it cold enough to need a down jacket. And wearing my down jacket was probably a better idea than carrying it in my rucksack in my mind. After some hot drinks and a sachet of Oats-So-Simple I was more or less packed up and ready to go. Ongdik however seemed less than keen and wanted to wait for the tent to dry out in the sun first. So I said I’d make my way down by myself and he seemed OK with that. I was initially a bit concerned that the fresh snow might have covered up the trail back down the glacier but thankfully this wasn’t an issue. It was also quite nice to be abseiling the fixed lines alone while they were empty, no waiting today :) The other thing that did occur to me while walking down the glacier was that I was really quite glad that I’d had a decent rest by sleeping at camp 1 that night. Being alone on the glacier made me a lot more aware of how close to the crevasses the trail goes at some points. I honestly don’t think it would have been all that difficult to accidentally trip up or just fall over while walking down there in a heavily fatigued state while carrying a heavy rucksack. Well, once done with the glacier it was time to face the nightmare boulder field for one last time, now with a marginally heavier rucksack since I’d packed away my crampons, ice axe and down jacket. It wasn’t my all-time favourite part of the walk back down, and it was in places a bit difficult to find the route back across the rocks to high camp since the old trail had been completely covered in new snow. On the small downhill part just before the final rise up to the site of high camp I think I’d more or less gotten completely fed up and almost resorted to trying to slide down the snow-covered scree on my bum instead of being sensible and walking down carefully. It was such a relief to stumble into high camp where one of the cook’s assistants had come up with some hot orange (the wonders of a mug of hot orange should never be underestimated!) and to take back the last tent that we’d left there with some kit we didn’t end up using. I picked up my extra ice axe and walking poles here before starting the final descent back down to base camp. This also turned out to be more interesting than usual, also because the fresh snow had hidden the old trail. Nevertheless, I arrived back into base camp feeling both relieved and happy at 10.30am. I was also rather looking forward to brushing my teeth! But before that Kanchaman insisted on making some omelette and pancake for breakfast which I felt I couldn’t turn down even though I’d already had some porridge a few hours earlier. Surprisingly the second breakfast went down pretty easily, and quickly! Maybe I was hungrier than I realized.

The remainder of our final day in base camp was a chilled out affair and people spent the time mostly airing sleeping bags and other kit, washing and packing away. I hobbled around with my still-sore toes that didn’t like my trail shoes any more than they liked my high altitude boots. Since we’d completed the ascent of Cholatse way ahead of schedule it meant that we effectively had 10 extra days before we were actually supposed to fly home from Kathmandu. Initially there had been some suggestions that maybe we should head back to Kathmandu and buy a flight ticket to Thailand and spend a week in Phuket (!) though nothing really materialized out of this for some reason..… A few of us had also mulled over the idea of ascending one of the easier trekking peaks such as Lobuche East or Island Peak to make the most of the extra time away in the mountains, but since the weather forecast for Cholatse was for high winds and snow later in the week it was likely that the conditions would be more or less the same on the other 6000m peaks in the Khumbu. So this plan was eventually dropped as well. Back to Kathmandu it was then.

Celebratory cake!
Celebratory cake!
Group gathering on the final night in base camp
Group gathering on the final night in base camp
Matt with Cholatse behind
Matt with Cholatse behind
Back in Machermo again
Back in Machermo again
On the trail back to Dole
On the trail back to Dole
Chilled out morning in Namche Bazaar
Chilled out morning in Namche Bazaar
A slight hold up on the way back to Phakding and Lukla
A slight hold up on the way back to Phakding and Lukla
Waiting in Lukla airport for the flight back to Kathmandu
Waiting in Lukla airport for the flight back to Kathmandu

Our final dinner was finished off with a gigantic cake that Kanchaman had baked and a bottle of whisky which there seemed to be a good supply of in the cook’s tent. We were never disappointed by some of the delights that he managed to produce on these days we were in base camp, it was going to be a bit sad to leave! Our yaks that had been arranged to transport kit back to Namche Bazaar had already arrived in the afternoon, so our departure from base camp the next day was more or less definite. I went to bed some time after 9pm, which was really quite late compared with the standard 7.30pm time we’d normally been disappearing off to our sleeping bags at.

Monday-Wednesday 6th – 8th November: Base camp – Namche Bazaar – Phakding - Lukla
Probably the most strenuous day of the trip so far; I don’t think I’d realized how tired I was until we started the small uphill to gain the ridge at the end of the river valley that overlooked base camp. Far from being filled with energy from the oxygen-rich air nearly 2000m lower than the summit of Cholatse, I was feeling just plain worn out really. Going downhill was agony on the toes and going uphill felt such hard work. And there were plenty of downhills and uphills between base camp and Namche Bazar! I did my best to hobble along, trying to ignore the pain in my toes on my right foot but mostly I was really dreading the “big” hill going up to Mong La from Phortse Tenga. Needless to say I was really really happy to get to Mong La, where we stopped to have lunch and I refilled on much-needed carbs by ordering a plate of boiled potatoes (yep, this is actually a standard dish on tea house menus in Nepal) and pain relief in the form of Nurofen. Both seemed to do their job pretty well and after having walked unknowingly for most of the day the familiar colourful buildings of Namche appeared out of the murky fog a little before 4pm. The sun had long disappeared behind the clouds by now, but it was a welcome sight and it was a relief to know that there was absolutely no more walking for today. We were staying at the Khumbu Resort tea house tonight, a bit closer to the centre of Namche than before. There were a lot of other hikers staying here, so dinner had to be ordered early. I’d ordered a plate of momos as usual, though in hindsight I think I should have ordered two servings again. I was so hungry!

The final leg of the journey from Namche Bazaar to Lukla was split up over to days instead of doing it in one since our herd of yaks carrying our kit bags needed time to catch up. Cholatse base camp to Namche Bazar was apparently quite a long journey in terms of yak mileage. Since the walk down to Phakding was only a few hours we could afford to have a relaxing morning in Namche Bazaar drinking good proper coffee and having lunch at one of the bakeries. The guys all had pizzas while I went for the lighter option of a salad sandwich. By the time we got going it was maybe 1.30pm-ish. The trail from Namche to Phakding was no less busy than on the walk up and we got held up in places by either queues of hikers or queues of donkeys. Nevertheless we arrived in Phakding before 5pm and had time for a long-awaited shower! It was wonderful to have clean hair again, and a clean t shirt which I’d bought from the Sherpa shop in Namche Bazaar. The final day of walking back to Lukla was more of the same, lots of people and lots of donkeys. On the bright side our kit bags made it to Lukla at the same time as we did, and in the afternoon we heard from Pemchhiri that we’d got a place on the flight back to Kathmandu the following morning. I had been somewhat concerned that there might be poor weather which might prevent flights to and from Kathmandu, but fortunately that wasn’t the case. So after the usual check-in chaos at Lukla airport and a lot of standing around waiting for our flight number to be called up, we eventually boarded the plane and arrived back at the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu a short time before midday. Unfortunately there wasn’t actually any rooms available for us there since we’d arrived back some 10 days ahead of the original itinerary, so we ended up staying at the Hotel Utse in the Thamel district of Kathmandu. Only then did I realize that the Summit Hotel really was an oasis in comparison. That didn’t stop some of us taking a trip across Kathmandu the next day to spend a day chilling out at the Summit Hotel of course……

All in all it had been another terrific trip to Nepal with a really great bunch of people, yet another superb sherpa team and ideal conditions and weather on the mountain. It doesn’t always happen that you end up spending a month away with a group of total strangers that gel really well personality-wise, but on this occasion that was the case. Not only that but I’d had another enjoyable experience at altitude and on a peak that I’d long dreamt of climbing, even if it did result in being apprehensive for several weeks before and during the expedition itself. Nepal, I'll be back!

User comments

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    wow

    Written by kobbenes 10.12.2017 21:53

    such amazing picures, and the dimensions are enormous! congratulations with the summit! how cold was it up there ca?

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      Re: wow

      Written by hmsv1 11.12.2017 06:31

      Thanks! I think it was forecasted to be -19 or -20 (according to the forecast we saw) with no wind, but it's difficult to say how cold it actually was.

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    Litt av ein tur :)

    Written by Eikås 10.12.2017 21:27

    Berre ein ting å seie...Fantastisk flott! :)

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