Ama Dablam (08.12.2018)

Written by hmsv1 (Hannah Vickers) GSM

Characteristic Expedition
Map
Ascents Ama Dablam (6,812m) 08.12.2018

For a third year in a row I found myself back in the Khumbu valley of Nepal and back to climb another spectacular mountain. After the previous two years with what I considered to be fairly successful and exhilarating trips at altitude, it felt like a tradition needed to be repeated (I like traditions) and an attempt to climb the magnificent Ama Dablam finally needed to be made. It was only about 3 weeks after having come back from Cholatse in 2017 that I’d already made up my mind that this was what I absolutely wanted to do in 2018! It also seemed like a natural objective to have since 2018 would be 10 years after my first visit to Nepal and my first glimpse of the mountain.

Once again I joined an expedition organised by Jagged Globe again since they traditionally run their Ama Dablam trips at the end of the autumn when the mountain is quiet and the majority of groups have already gone home. In fact it turned out that we were the last group on the mountain this year, so that was definitely good planning, otherwise we could have been sharing base camp with several hundreds of other climbers! In total there were seven of us in the group. Jamie our trip leader and IFMGA guide, Tony, Mark, Ewan, Andrew and Fatima. Both Tony and Fatima were “7 Summits” climbers (Fatima had been to Everest 4 times but had bad luck on each trip, either due to avalanches, earthquakes, chest infections or oxygen masks failing) and clearly quite adapted to high altitude life. Seemed like we all had a variety of experience though, some having more climbing background and others who had more general mountaineering and high altitude experience.

On the walk to Phakding
On the walk to Phakding
Lots of forests in the Dudh Kosi valley
Lots of forests in the Dudh Kosi valley
Close to Phakding
Close to Phakding

Sunday 18th November: It was noticeably quieter at the domestic terminal this year, perhaps due to it being later in the autumn than when I’d been there before. Seemed to have a few extra seats in the waiting area too, never a bad thing :) Fortunately we didn’t have to wait more than ½ hour before our flight was called up; there was however a much longer wait on the bus outside though. Eventually we took off and were on our way to the “world’s most dangerous airport” with its 527m long x 30m wide runway (according to Wikipedia). Apart from a few bumpy patches on our descent toward Lukla the landing went fine and there was no epic experience to report of.

In Lukla we did the usual small walk up to Tara Lodge where we drank some tea, ate another breakfast/early lunch and then got ready to walk down to Phakding at around 2600m. The weather was forecasted to be dry but it was pretty overcast and cool. Nice for walking in but somewhat boring in terms of the view. Although having said that the majority of the trail to Namche Bazaar follows the Dudh Kosi river; the valley is deep and narrow so you see mostly trees anyway.

New buildings between Phakding and Namche Bazaar seem to pop up every year
New buildings between Phakding and Namche Bazaar seem to pop up every year
Donkey traffic
Donkey traffic

Anyway, despite being mid November the Lukla-Namche trail was still as crowded as ever and it was a relief to get off it when we arrived at the Royal Sherpa Resort in Phakding. Sounds rather luxurious but it was just like the other tea houses, if not more basic than some others I’ve stayed in. The next day was somewhat sunnier in the morning and we got our first glimpses of the high peaks towering above the valley as we continued along the trail, often stepping to the (uphill) side to let donkeys past. All the group were doing fine in terms of health and acclimatisation and we arrived into the Sherwi Khangba lodge next to the Sherpa museum in Namche Bazaar at some point during the afternoon, though I don’t remember what time.

Our second day in Namche Bazaar (20th November) was spent doing the usual acclimatisation walk up to the Everest View Hotel, giving us a small height gain of about 400m. I can’t remember ever having previously gotten a view of Everest from the Everest View Hotel usually because its been obscured by cloud, but finally now on my 5th visit I actually got a sunny blue sky view of the mountain. It had been a crisp and fresh morning when we left - still hovering just below 0 deg. C In the shade, but once we’d ascended a little way up the sunlit slopes it was a really perfect temperature. We drunk hot lemon and ginger tea at the hotel while enjoying uninterrupted views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam. After a long break here we continued our leisurely walk down into Khumjung, passing the Edmund Hillary school and making our way back up and over the ridge and down towards Namche Bazaar again, getting back in time for a good lunch.

Viewpoint above Namche with Kongde Ri behind
Viewpoint above Namche with Kongde Ri behind
On the way to the Everest View Hotel
On the way to the Everest View Hotel
First views of Ama Dablam!
First views of Ama Dablam!
Walking up and out of Khumjung
Walking up and out of Khumjung

The walk back from town and up to the lodge - usually not one of my favourites because of the ridiculously steep and endless steps - went surprisingly easy this year. I can remember walking back up those steps in previous years and needing to stop and take a few breaths before continuing again. This year I went all the way from town to the lodge without stopping and I didn’t even feel it was too hard work either. I hoped this was a promising sign that either I was acclimatising faster this year, or just a bit fitter. We had a few hours to spare before dinner, so I took a very long and hot shower (500 rupees). Every single rupee was well spent! Early(ish) bedtime as usual once the stove burnt out and the temperature in the dining room started to fall. Not that the bedrooms were much warmer though. They were in fact super cold, but it was at least nice that the lodge was quiet and the beds were quite comfy. Fatima slept with her down jacket on……

Wednesday 21st November: From Namche Bazaar it was decided we would head to Debuche to sleep for a night instead of continuing up the valley to Pangboche but despite the relatively short day we still made an early start from the lodge. Being right on the edge of town we were not far from the main trail toward Gokyo and Everest Base camp, which we joined soon after leaving the lodge. The whole time we had the ever-inspiring view of Ama Dablam itself, looming over the valley and getting bigger as the day went on. Eventually the trail split. Instead of heading uphill toward the Mong La which I’d done the last 2 years on the approach to Kyajo Ri and Cholatse, we continued downhill and all the way to the river where we took a snack/drink break. Ahead of us we had a few hundred metres of ascent to re-gain to reach Tengboche, and now it was close to midday and getting super hot. We spent about an hour here before stretching the legs again for the long slog back uphill again.

By the time we reached Tengboche it was around 1pm and everyone was feeling in the mood for food, so we ordered lunch at one of the tea houses. I as usual ordered vegetable momos, probably the best item on the standard tea house menus ever. I have never gotten bored of these. Here we also met up with Pemchhiri Sherpa who had just been to Ama Dablam with Robert, another Jagged Globe client who was originally on the Cholatse team this year but had extended his trip to do Ama Dablam in addition. I was really happy to see Pem again, as he had been our sirdar on the Cholatse trip last year and is absolutely one of the best sherpas I’ve had the company of. He’s patient, modest, always smiling and makes sure everything runs smoothly on the mountain. It was useful to get a report on the current conditions on the southwest ridge from him too. Apparently it had been a very dry but windy autumn so far, which meant less snow up high but also lots of dry rock on the journey up to camp 2 on the mountain.

Walking into Tengboche for lunch
Walking into Tengboche for lunch

Our approach to Ama Dablam continued the next day with a walk up to Pheriche at 4200m. Instead of walking directly to base camp from Debuche, Jamie had discussed with us a slight detour to Pheriche where we could sleep at an “intermediate” height before going up to base camp at 4600m, which was a fairly big jump from Debuche. At Pheriche we would spend two nights and use one day to do an acclimatisation hike, aiming to reach at least 5000m before dropping back down to sleep again. I have always been convinced that I don’t acclimatise that quickly, so I was more than happy to follow this itinerary. I’d had a really good nights’ sleep in Debuche - or at least I thought I did, but for whatever reason I was feeling a bit sluggish and tired on the walk to Pheriche and I couldn’t figure out why. Had I slept too much??! Anyway, the walk seemed to take forever, in part due to the tea stop we’d had at Pangboche first, then the mega long wait for lunch we’d had later and then more stops after lunch which I got a bit fed up with. In the end I just plodded ahead at a slow pace, eager to get on and arrive at Pheriche, where we could finally chill out. Pheriche itself has a really stunning location in the valley bottom beneath the north face of Taboche and a little further north, Cholatse.

Warm sunshine on the hike to Pangboche and Pheriche
Warm sunshine on the hike to Pangboche and Pheriche
Impressive rock flows on the other side of Ama Dablam
Impressive rock flows on the other side of Ama Dablam
Soon in Pheriche
Soon in Pheriche
Fatima with Lobuche East in the background
Fatima with Lobuche East in the background

Our acclimatisation hike the next day took us up to a viewpoint at 5083m named Nangkartshang, with the aim of starting early and getting back down to Pheriche for lunch. I had slept pretty bad, not sure if it was the higher altitude or something else but either way I woke up in a bit of a bad mood and feeling even more tired than the previous day. We followed behind Ang Rinji as he set a slow and steady pace up the slopes behind the lodge. After some 20 minutes we’d reached a ridge and could now see the the trail ascending gradually upwards towards the prayer flags at the top of the hill. At sea level and ascent of around 850m (the height gain from Pheriche to the top of Nangkartshang) would probably take me just over 1 hour of hiking, but for our hike today we expected to use up to 4 hours! It was a good feeling once we’d all got up and we allowed ourselves a long break here to appreciate the morning’s efforts and gaze over at Cholatse, Taboche and Ama Dablam.

View of Dingboche from the hike up to Nangkartshang
View of Dingboche from the hike up to Nangkartshang
Taboche and Cholatse dominate the view!
Taboche and Cholatse dominate the view!
Me with Ama Dablam behind!
Me with Ama Dablam behind!

Saturday 24th November: Finally a week after having all met up in Kathmandu, we were on our way to Ama Dablam base camp today. Jamie had investigated the possibility of crossing the river from the Dingboche end of the valley but come to the conclusion that this approach to base camp was not going to work because of various rockslides further along the route (though the river was just about crossable using the old bridge there) so this meant we would have to walk back down to Pangboche first, then cross the river and follow the main trail up to base camp. Not a super long day but it would take several hours of walking, so we started early from Pheriche again, like around 7.30am and began the hike down in the crisp morning air. I’d slept better the previous night but I’d also woken up with a dry throat which was getting progressively more sore as the day went on which concerned me a lot. Surely I’d not managed to get a cold already?? :(

From Pangboche we descended a little more down to the bridge where we crossed the river and followed the path back up the other side. Now we had about 700m of height to gain straight up to base camp, but at the easy pace we were walking at it didn’t feel like that much. It was nice to turn around once in a while and admire the view back down towards Namche Bazaar and Kongde Ri, and as we got higher there was a great view of Taboche from its southern end. In all we used around 2.5 hours to get to base camp from Pangboche, so we arrived there at around midday, just in time for an amazing lunch of spam burger, chips and salad which our cook Kanchhaman had made. Kanchhaman had also been a part of the team at base camp on Cholatse in 2017, so it was great to see him again with his rather infectious grin he had on his face every time we saw him. The rest of the day in base camp was spent taking it easy and getting unpacked. We’d heard that the sun reaches base camp quite late, around 8am but when it was up the temperature was very comfortable and it was warm enough on some days to just walk around in shorts and t-shirt. Not bad for being at 4600m in the Himalaya in almost December :)

Uphill from Pangboche and on the trail to base camp
Uphill from Pangboche and on the trail to base camp
Base camp!!
Base camp!!

Apart from our camp, there were two other groups at base camp. We saw some of Phil Crampton’s team from time to time on the mountain but otherwise we didn’t really mingle too much with the other groups apart from the odd short conversation in passing. Not being unsociable at all of course….. The plan for the next few days and continuing the acclimatisation on the mountain was largely going to be dictated by the weather forecast and being able to stock the high camp (before camp 1) with water and tents, since there was no snow there to melt. About 10 minutes walk from base camp there was a lodge where it was possible to get a mobile phone and 4G signal, so Jamie often used this spot for getting weather forecast updates and keeping in contact with the JG office in Sheffield. Anyway it didn’t look like we’d be starting our first proper rotation on the mountain for another few days yet, so our first day in base camp was started off with a puja ceremony where the local lama from Pangboche walked up to base camp to hold the ceremony and bless both the climbing equipment and team members for safe passage on the mountain.

It was decided that the following day we would make a day hike up to Yak camp at around 5200m, just over halfway between base camp and camp 1 at around 5700m. This camp was approached by a very good path from base camp, which ascended very gradually up a natural grassy ridge formation and contoured around the southern side of the mountain to reach a kind of big stony plateau. Yak camp was situated at the start of a broad ridge leading up to camp 1 and the rest of the southwest ridge, so we expected to get a good view of the route. We took a leisurely breakfast at 8am and walked slowly with light rucksacks. My sore throat had eased off during the night but I had now developed a runny nose and slightly thick head. Confirmation that I really did have a cold. I guess that was why I’d felt so tired for the past few days :( The walk to Yak camp went OK but I could feel that I was very lethargic and didn’t make any attempt to go faster than necessary up or down the mountain. We had another day in base camp the next day so after an easy morning doing a bit of washing, having showers and generally taking it easy we spent the afternoon doing fixed rope practice on a crag close to the lodge about 10 minutes away. Since it was anticipated that we might have to climb the Yellow Tower just before camp 2 in high altitude boots, we also did the practice session in these as well. The sherpas had deliberately found a featureless wall of rock for us to jumar up, so getting some training done on a harder objective than what we were going to face on the mountain was quite appropriate.

Tuesday 27th November: Day 4 of my cold turned out to be a hard and demoralising day. We’d packed up rucksacks with some equipment to take up to high camp - ice axes, crampons, harnesses and high altitude clothes - stuff we didn’t need in base camp. Those of us who’d brought an extra sleeping bag and mat also took those up too. We didn’t start very early, perhaps around 10am, so by the time we’d got going the sun was warm and very bright. We had sun on us for the rest of the day. Partway up the low angled ridge above base camp I had to stop and take a paracetamol/decongestant to ward off the increasingly thick head I was getting. I don’t think this was an altitude headache since I didn’t have one on our hike up Nangkartshang when I was still relatively healthy.Not quite sure what happened at Yak camp, but after my lunch stop my head was feeling really heavy and generally uncomfortable. Hard to describe but it made it really hard to keep trudging up through the rocks with the rucksack full of gear. We passed a few tents which we thought were the site of our high camp, but we soon found out that ours was located about 150m higher up. I think I nearly gave up after hearing that! A bit of a break with some drink and telling myself to pull myself together was enough to get me going again and I eventually arrived at the camp where the rest of the group were waiting. After having gotten used to being one of the “faster” members, usually arriving at the next destination before everyone else - this was just demoralising. At least I could use my cold as an excuse…. ;)

Walking up the gently sloping ridge from base camp
Walking up the gently sloping ridge from base camp
The well trodden trail to Yak camp
The well trodden trail to Yak camp
Just before reaching Yak camp
Just before reaching Yak camp
Me and Pem at Yak camp
Me and Pem at Yak camp
Descent after our first hike to Yak camp
Descent after our first hike to Yak camp

Fortunately for me the following day was not a hiking day. I hadn’t slept well because I spent most of the night blowing my nose and my head didn’t feel much better when I woke up so I appreciated the rest day. Jamie was keen for us to have active rest days though and not just spend the entire time sitting and lying down, so another fixed rope practice was soon organised with help from the sherpas. We used a big boulder about 5 minutes walk from our base camp to practice jumaring and abseiling again. While enjoying the morning sunshine at the boulder we found out some pretty awful news from one of the other teams. Apparently a couple of their team had summited Ama Dablam the previous day but one of them had developed HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) after having come back down to camp 2 to sleep. Tragically he’d passed away during the night and a helicopter had been flown in to retrieve the body from camp 2 using a long line. It was a sobering sight to see the helicopter arrive back with the body.

Much of the remainder of the day was used to sort out food for our first rotation on the mountain, consisting of 1 night at high camp (5500m) and 2 nights at camp 1 (5700m) to allow us to acclimatise as much as possible without getting too worn down. There would hopefully be a day trip up to camp 2 (around 6000m) with light rucksacks. We would take up whatever we didn’t already carry up a couple of days earlier. Weather-wise, the next few days were forecasted to be windy up high with summit temperatures down to -23 and possible snow but down at 5000-6000m the temperatures weren’t going to be quite so horrific during the daytime and in addition we would be partly protected from the wind since it was blowing from the west and we would be on the east side of the ridge for much of the time. I think it’s quite difficult to know what exactly you would want to eat at altitude and I know from previous experience that sometimes I have preferred sweet things over savoury food and other trips there have been times when I just want to eat food with a high salt content. In the end I decided to stick with something simple like porridge or rice pudding for breakfast/dinner and lots of chocolate to snack on. I went to bed early in hope of getting a good nights’ sleep and some recovery from the cold before we started our series of tiresome days higher up the mountain.

Sun disappears behind the ridge
Sun disappears behind the ridge
Jamie doing his jumar practice at base camp
Jamie doing his jumar practice at base camp

Thursday 29th November: The day started with the usual routine of having breakfast at 8am, followed by last minute packing for our 4-day excursion on the mountain. I felt physically better today now that it seemed the worst of my cold was over. Had a cough and runny nose remaining, but I think those symptoms usually linger with a normal cold anyway. So, for the third time since arriving at the mountain we started to make our way up the long and gently sloping ridge above base camp, making sure to go slow and steady and not exhaust ourselves unnecessarily. We started altogether again but the group became a bit more spread out by the time we approached Yak camp. Some took a longer food break here but I elected to plod on steadily up to high camp. I was feeling good and didn’t need food so soon after leaving base camp so continued on my own with Andrew not far behind. It was a completely different experience for me today compared with 2 days ago when we’d done a load carry up here and my head and whole body felt terrible and even though it wasn’t necessary to try and get to camp first today, I have to admit that it felt like a good comeback both mentally and physically. We all arrived by early/mid afternoon and set about with unpacking mats, sleeping bags etc and boiling water to drink and adding to the dehydrated meals. It had been a somewhat windy hike up the ridge to reach the camp here, but inside the tent I shared with Fatima it was nice and sheltered and the sun shone into the porch and kept us toasty.

View from the tent porch at high camp
View from the tent porch at high camp

Next morning was a gorgeous one with not a cloud to see in the sky. No wind either. It was nice to think that we were “only” going up to camp 1 at 5700m today, and from 5500m that’s not a huge gain in altitude. However, the reality that we were now almost 1000m higher than base camp became more apparent after just walking around high camp in the morning. I felt shattered after the day’s first toilet trip. So shattered in fact that I was seriously doubting whether I’d even make it up to camp 1, which was supposedly only a 2 hour journey from high camp. After packing up our gear we begun that journey up to camp 1 which began with some remnants of a path but soon became more of a boulder hopping exercise. I really love hopping from boulder to boulder at sea level, but up here the level of exertion required for boulder hopping was one I did not have the capacity for so it was more a case of careful clambering to conserve energy to get across the boulder field. The views were getting more and more spectacular anyway, so the slow pace was a good opportunity to enjoy the surroundings and take plenty of pictures - like most days actually. Eventually we arrived at the start of some slabby terrain situated just below camp 1 where we put on harnesses and helmets for the remainder of the scramble. Fixed lines started here too, though at times it felt a bit over-the-top to be attached to a rope in terrain that appeared to be easier than a grade 1 scramble. I guess it may feel like more serious terrain when climbers are tired from the load carrying at altitude though. After a bit of steady effort and lots of breathing, I eventually reached camp 1 around 1.5 hours from high camp. The rest of the group were not so far behind. Despite it only being a very short distance from high camp, I was actually quite stunned that I’d even got this far, given how tired I was feeling earlier in the morning. Camp 1 is a bit spread out over the bouldery slopes at the start of the southwest ridge, and our sherpa team had already gone ahead and pitched tents for us at the upper end of the slopes. We could see flat platforms along the way - presumably from where other teams had camped, but it was otherwise not the flattest place in the world to pitch a tent. Above the camp there were literally dozens of black birds swooping around in the wind close to some prayer flags. It was quite fascinating to watch them, but they often disappeared out of view before I managed to get a photo of them!

We had about an hour or two here to chill out and eat some snacks before Jamie and Pem ushered us out into the wind again. The plan was to check out some of the route toward camp 2, though not go all the way. Mainly to get practising clipping in and out of the fixed lines and getting used to the traverses. We only needed a light rucksack with an extra jacket and drink, so it was actually a rather nice way to use up a bit of time in the afternoon. As it turned out, the first half of the journey to camp 2 was pretty easy, starting off with a sort of walking traverse first and eventually the odd bit of scrambling here and there. The majority of it didn’t require a using the jumar at all and with trail shoes and a light rucksack there wasn’t any need to pull on the rope to do the traverses either. Some chose to use the fixed rope more than others, but with such nice rock to move on I think it was much nicer to actually use it for handholds and use the fixed ropes only as a safety line. After about an hour we took a short break and reversed our route back toward camp 1 again, in time for some afternoon tea and an earlyish dinner. I didn’t get much sleep at all that night unfortunately since my side of the tent had a huge rock right underneath my shoulder and made it extremely uncomfortable to lie down on even with 2 sleeping mats...

Boulders before camp 1
Boulders before camp 1
The mountain keeps getting closer
The mountain keeps getting closer
Slabs below camp 1
Slabs below camp 1
Birds above the camp
Birds above the camp
Camp 1 (5700m)
Camp 1 (5700m)

The next day we had of course planned to go all the way up to camp 2 and return to camp 1 to sleep another night for acclimatisation. I was so tired in the morning that I seriously considered going back down to base camp from camp 2 while the rest of team stayed in camp 1 that night. I couldn’t see how another night of poor sleep would be more beneficial. But since it was still early in the day I decided to do the trip up to camp 2 first before making any decisions about where to sleep for the coming night. Camp 2 is only some 200-300m above camp 1 and wasn’t supposed to take more than 3 hours, so we left late at about 9.30ish and took it easy along the fixed lines. As usual we all set off together as a whole group from camp 1, but after a while got spread out with Pem, Andrew, myself and Fatima some way ahead of Ewan, Mark and Tony. The first hour or so of the journey we already were familiar with after having checked it out the previous afternoon, so this was fairly straightforward. And luckily the energy gel I ate before not so long after we left camp 1 had kicked in by this time so I was feeling less fatigued when we reached our stopping point from the previous afternoon, though still tired of course. From here there was another short traverse to do to reach the start of steeper pitch of fixed rope where jumars came in useful. Was still scrambling/easy climbing type terrain so with one hand to move the jumar and another on one of many good handholds it wasn’t too strenuous. On the way up this section and just short of reaching the ridge crest we met a couple of other people from Tim Mosedale’s team, two of whom I knew. We heard that they had not attempted the summit from camp 2 because the winds were much too strong, so they were now returning to base camp. They seemed understandably gutted about not having had the chance to summit, but it seemed like there hadn’t been a lot of weather windows where the forecasted winds had been low this season. We could only hope that the winds would at some point reduce enough to allow us a small window for summiting after our acclimatisation period! But in any case, the winds on this side of the ridge were more or less nonexistent today and we had near enough perfect conditions all the way from camp 1 to camp 2.

The views were terrific as we moved further along the ridge, with a couple of gendarmes jutting out behind us. The route went round into the west side for a short time but not long after this chilly, shaded passage we had soon reached the start of the infamous Yellow Tower. This is a fairly steep rock wall of some 15 or 20m (felt like more of course...) which is estimated to offer around HVS climbing if done free i.e. without the aid of a jumar. Both Jamie and Andrew opted to free climb it, though they were always attached to the rope with the jumar. As with some earlier sections I personally found it was easiest tackled with a mix of actual climbing and jumaring. Trail shoes worked really nicely to climb in and even with some thin gloves on there was still good grip for the fingers on the rock. I enjoyed it, even though it was quite strenuous at this altitude which we’d not yet been to. After Fatima had hauled herself over the edge we continued to make our way up to camp 2, which was only a very short distance along the ridge from the top of the Yellow Tower. The rest of the group arrived about an hour later, so we were well rested and a bit better rehydrated by the time they came.

Fatima on one of the easy traverses
Fatima on one of the easy traverses
Pem's wondering where everyone has got to
Pem's wondering where everyone has got to
First section with jumaring
First section with jumaring
Fatima on the ridge
Fatima on the ridge
Fatima on the ridge #2
Fatima on the ridge #2
Andrew climbing the Yellow Tower
Andrew climbing the Yellow Tower
Fatima jumaring up the Yellow Tower
Fatima jumaring up the Yellow Tower
Camp 2
Camp 2

By around 1.30 or 2pm we had begun the descent back down to camp 1, but I was starting to feel really sleepy and wasn’t in the mood for prolonging the journey back. So I got on with the descent back down the fixed lines at a somewhat speedier pace than others and finally arrived shortly before 3pm or something like that. It was a nice time to be back and plonk myself down outside the tents and spend a good hour or so gazing at the landscape and eating Pringles :) Afternoon sunshine at camp 1 was definitely one of my better memories of our time there. Once all were back it was starting to get chilly as sunset was approaching, so it was time to get to work boiling water to drink and add to our dehydrated meals. Fatima kindly donated her chicken fried rice since she didn’t want it and I didn’t want to eat my rice pudding either. For some reason my appetite was different this time. Anyway, I went to bed not expecting to sleep great, but it was calming to know that all we had to do the following day was walk back down to base camp, which was not strenuous.

Camp 1
Camp 1
Pem enjoying som tea in camp 1
Pem enjoying som tea in camp 1

Sunday 2nd December: Fatima and I cruised back down to base camp pretty efficiently and I think we only used about 2-2.5 hours from camp 1. It was a great to stroll into the mess tent and Kanchhaman was already waiting to feed us with hot juice and noodle soup with the usual big smile on his face. Just what we needed to revive us after the tiring 4 days away :) Now we were back down in base camp we had to plan our final trip up the mountain which would depend on the weather for the coming week. Ideally we would have liked to recover in base camp for no longer than 2 days, but with the current forecasted high winds on the summit looking like they would last for the majority of the week it was looking like we would be aiming to make an attempt on the summit no earlier than saturday 8th December - and even then it was currently forecasted to be around 30kph wind and -24C according to mountain-forecast.com. I was personally not too disappointed that we would have to stay in base camp and take it easy for 3 days since it meant more time to rest and try and recover as much as possible from the cold I still had - and most importantly catch up on some sleep I’d missed!

The first day after coming back to base camp was a total rest day for the majority of people. We used the time to do wash clothes, wash ourselves and drink and eat plenty. It was good to go for a stroll around to avoid complete inactivity - and on the tuesday we all went for a very gentle walk back up to Yak camp again to stretch the legs. As we checked the forecast every day to see if the weather window had moved forward, it became clear that saturday might only be the only opportunity we had to summit in reasonable wind conditions. This would mean leaving base camp again on thursday and walking direct to camp 1, progressing up to camp 2 on friday and then making a summit push from camp 2 on saturday morning. We would not be able to use camp 3 this year because of the dry autumn which had created too icy conditions for making a camp there. The importance of waiting for the wind to reduce was emphasised as we heard reports that only two members from the other team had managed to summit in very windy conditions the same day we went up to Yak camp, but one had got snow blindness as a result. The other had developed HAPE and both had to be evacuated by helicopter from camp 2. This news put a bit of a damper on the mood within the group as several of us began to wonder seriously whether it would be possible to summit Ama Dablam and return without any illness or injury - especially since hearing of the death of the other guy only a week earlier. The whole group were back down in base camp the day after - and the following day they all got a helicopter from base camp and straight to Kathmandu. So then we were the only team left on the mountain with our summit attempt remaining.

Back in base camp
Back in base camp

As the time for leaving base camp approached, Mark and Ewan made the decision to not return back up the mountain again, their reasons being that they had simply lost interest to go to try and summit Ama Dablam. This came as a surprise to several of us, but I guess we’ll never know if there were other reasons. The remainder of us were still motivated and eager to get going again, so wednesday was used to repack rucksacks and sort out food supplies. I made sure I packed some “proper” meals instead of eating only porridge or rice pudding for dinner!

Thursday 6th December: Finally the day had come to leave base camp and make our summit attempt; I was feeling both eager but also anxious since I wasn’t sure whether I was recovered enough from the cold to be strong enough to summit. Even the easy hike up to Yak camp a few days earlier had felt surprisingly tiring for the first half of the day. I’d slept really well down in base camp though, a sign that we were well acclimatised to base camp altitude. I probably ought to have felt more refreshed than when we’d set off for our first rotation but actually I wasn’t feeling very energetic, something which did concern me a bit. Today was also going to be a long walk up to camp 1 and even though we’d left the majority of our equipment there I still felt like I had quite a lot to carry in my rucksack. Mainly warm clothes and summit day “spares” - extra hats, mitts, gloves, batteries, hand warmers, jackets etc. Small items but several of them amounted to noticeable extra weight. Even though Ewan and Mark were not going to make a summit attempt, they would still be making the trip up to camp 1 with light rucksacks so they could collect some equipment they’d taken up earlier and bring it back down to base camp. Unsurprisingly they both ended up ahead of the rest of the group since they had nothing to carry! I took it easy going up the first ridge from base camp and held myself back from trying to keep up with Fatima’s usual sprint-start-pace which I was pretty sure was a bad idea. This later appeared to be true. Strategy today was to go as slow as possible, stop as little as possible and not exhaust myself before getting to camp 1. With a bit of music to listen to on the way up, the first half of the ascent went by quite easily and I was breathing only lightly all the way.

From the exposed site of Yak camp at 5200m the remainder of the hike was cold and windy, which in some ways was not a bad thing since it meant I had to wear several of my jackets instead of carrying them. Took a short stop halfway between Yak camp and camp 1 to eat an energy gel, then continued upwards past our previous high camp site and eventually over the boulders to the start of the slabs. By now Fatima had dropped behind and I passed Andrew somewhere in the boulders. Ewan and Mark appeared to be on their way down but without full rucksacks. Apparently they had gotten so cold that Ewan was worried about his hands and they had never reached camp 1 and decided to return to base camp. It was a bit chilly but not that cold I thought, but perhaps they’d not packed a couple of extra jackets like the rest of us who were going further up the mountain. Anyway, they wished us well and I plodded on to our gear stash at the slabs, put on harness, helmet etc and wearily continued up to camp 1 where Rakesh and Ang Rinji were waiting for us with hot mango juice :) In total it had taken something like 5 hours so it was around 2pm when I finally got there. Andrew appeared about 15 minutes later and Fatima eventually arrived about 1 hour after me, by which time I’d already moved into our tent and got out the sleeping bag and boiled some water. The three of us were still wondering what happened to Tony and Jamie though. We knew Jamie had set off later since he wanted to get an updated forecast before leaving base camp, but no one had seen Tony since leaving base camp. Was he just being slow or had he turned around somewhere? Eventually we heard their voices as they both arrived well after sunset at nearly 6pm. Can’t even begin to imagine how chilly it must have been to be going so slowly without sunshine and in that strong wind - it was chilly enough even when we had the sun on us. Well, it turned out nothing particularly dramatic had happened. Tony was just going very slowly and Jamie had caught up with him somewhere along the way and accompanied him for the remainder of the hike. Remainder of the evening was spent in the sleeping bags listening to music as usual.

Back in camp 1 again for the summit attempt
Back in camp 1 again for the summit attempt

Since both Tony and Jamie had had somewhat less recovery time than the rest of us, we made a relatively late start again from camp 1. The journey to camp 2 was short anyway and we didn’t want to be sitting around all afternoon once we got there. It had felt a bit colder than when we’d been up here a week before, but with the sun shining right down on us from around 7.30am the air soon warmed up quickly and it was more than comfortable to sit outside the tents and eat breakfast with a down jacket on. Ate an energy gel before we left camp 1 and hoped that it would do its magic like it had done last time I was feeling tired and lethargic at camp 1. The journey took about 2.5 hours despite having to carry all our gear to camp 2 this time - less than the first time we’d gone up with only light rucksacks, so definitely a good sign that the acclimatisation had worked. I felt really good (probably only thanks to the energy gel) and found myself cruising ahead of everyone else without even trying. I thought I was going at a really slow pace actually, but perhaps it wasn’t quite as slow as I imagined. Waited for Pem and Fatima after the first jumar section, before the continuation up to the Yellow Tower. Got some nice pictures of them moving along the ridge with some low valley clouds drifting in from the west side of the ridge which made it seem a bit more atmospheric :) Pem helped us out at the Yellow Tower by getting us to attach our rucksacks to a line which he could haul the rucksacks up on, so essentially we could climb the Yellow Tower without the full weight of our rucksacks. Did feel a bit like cheating, but I didn’t mind getting any help if it was being offered. By now the clouds had begun to rise up a bit from the valley, so we eventually got engulfed by the time both Fatima and I were finished at the Yellow Tower. Didn’t need to hang around and wait any longer there so we went straight to camp 2 and got settled into one of the precariously perched tents.

Finally Pem and Fatima catch up
Finally Pem and Fatima catch up
Fatima making her way over the traverse to the Yellow Tower
Fatima making her way over the traverse to the Yellow Tower

Since I was first to arrive I made sure to choose a tent which had good access to some potential toilet ledges and had a decent bit of head space too. We were eating lunch and snacks by 1pm and spent the remainder of the afternoon resting and drinking. I had a few things on my mind about the next morning and decided that a solution for this particular issue would be to eat an early dinner at 3pm, but since it was only a short time after having lunch I was still a bit full and didn’t really manage to eat more than half the meal. But anyway, at least there was one less thing to do in the evening. Plan was to get going by 2am, so I set my alarm on my phone for 12.30am. From previous experience, getting ready for a summit day while sharing a small tent with someone else can take far more time than you might think, especially when you’re still half asleep and it’s freezing cold outside.

To my surprise I did manage to get a few hours of sleep before my alarm started ringing. After a quick toilet trip I came back and started to get some water boiling for drink flasks and a mug of hot chocolate. An hour of faffing around in the tent - getting dressed, and putting on harnesses, helmets, boots etc - seemed to pass very quickly and it was already nearly 1.45am when I had the majority of kit on. Fatima was still faffing around with her kit and I got a bit impatient with all the hassle of her stuff being strewn around the tent so I got out and packed the remainder of my rucksack there. I’d forgot to even eat any snacks for breakfast, but I wasn’t in the mood for anything anyway. Pretty much a standard summit day morning so far!

There was some confusion about whether we ought to to put on crampons before leaving or wait until we’d come further up the Grey couloir which was currently free of snow according to Pem. Usually it is a mixed climb but due to the dry autumn it was now bone dry and rocks were loose. In the end Pem told us it would be better to put them on at camp 2 since there weren’t many convenient places to stop and put them on once we were on the route. It was slow going out of camp as we scratched our way along the ridge to make our way up toward the couloir but in some ways I didn’t mind the slow pace to start the day since my legs felt as heavy as lead and I was generally feeling like I had no energy at all. There was first a small traverse followed by a small descent down to the foot of the couloir, then it was more or less slab-type climbing in the lower part of the couloir before it gave way to looser blocks in the upper section. Pem was at the front re-checking anchors and ropes so he was also able to shout down to the rest of us if there were some blocks that needed avoiding.

Rakesh in the early hours of summit day
Rakesh in the early hours of summit day
Ascending the Grey Tower
Ascending the Grey Tower
First light
First light

Out of the couloir we got onto a traverse which took us across a somewhat narrow system of ledges before we were back on mixed terrain again. Around here there was masses of both old and new fixed ropes and various anchors which made it a confusing sight. I was grateful that Rakesh was climbing ahead of me and making sure I was clipped into and out of the right ones, else I could well have clipped into some pretty dodgy old fixed ropes which might not have been so fixed as they looked. It wasn’t long after completing the traverse and the final mixed couloir that we were finally on more continuous snow leading up to Mushroom Ridge. Faint orange and blue tones started to light up the horizon and it looked like sunrise was finally on it’s way! Now we were out of the couloir it was noticeably colder as the wind blew over snow covered slopes. Soon the colours in the sky became truly superb with lots of orange, pink and purple. Seeing dawn over the Khumbu is one of those memorable sights which I felt really thankful to experience. Ahead of us we could now see what lay between us and the upper part of the mountain; the Dablam was still over an hour away at least, and there were some pretty amazing tiers of ice on the way to it! But I soon realised that even having been moving for some 4 hours at least up to this point, we still had a very long way to go. We hadn’t even reached the site of the old camp 3 below the Dablam at 6300m yet.

As we continued upward from Mushroom ridge (currently mushroom-free this year) there were some steeper sections which were pretty exhausting at times, but we soon reached a sheltered spot in the morning sunshine where we could stop and take a break. I suspect this might have been where we would have camped if it had been possible to make a camp 3 this year, but after seeing how the snow (or lack of it) actually was here it was easy to understand why we didn’t make a camp here. The ice had formed into a carpet of fine spikes, some 20-30cm tall that were difficult to walk on - let alone dig a platform out of for sleeping on! But it was lovely just to take a short break here before the rest of the climb ensued. From the little ice cove we’d stopped at there was a more or less vertical corner to climb up, maybe only 5 metres of it - but it was actually quite tricky to jumar up. Above this, more steep ice and snow followed then a few metres across a flat ledge before pulling over about 2 metres of slightly overhanging ice to (finally!) reach the plateau at 6300m. It really was the flattest piece of ground that can be found between camp 2 and the summit. Everywhere else was just upwards…… Now it was also pretty chilly again with icy winds blowing down the steep slopes beside the Dablam. The next 300m or so looked like they were going to be cold. Very cold. We didn’t stop at the plateau but continued upwards toward the bergschrund that separated us from the steep passage above. To get over the bergschrund was both awkward and exhausting since it had to be approached from a slight angle to the line of the fixed ropes. I made several unsuccessful attempts to get over it before realising that an ice axe would be very useful at this point. Rakesh must have been wondering why in the world I couldn’t climb over this thing without an axe (like he quite easily did) but it was worth stopping to get it out an use as an extra anchor to pull up on. After a last massive last-ditch effort I was up and promptly had to take about 2 minutes break just to recover from being out of breath.

Pem and Fatima
Pem and Fatima
Andrew in front with Ang Rinji
Andrew in front with Ang Rinji
Pem looks warm enough in that down suit :)
Pem looks warm enough in that down suit :)
Mushroom Ridge at sunrise! Possibly the most beautiful memory of summit day?
Mushroom Ridge at sunrise! Possibly the most beautiful memory of summit day?
Progressing up to camp 3
Progressing up to camp 3
A break in the sunshine. I think this is where camp 3 would have been if we'd been able to use it
A break in the sunshine. I think this is where camp 3 would have been if we'd been able to use it

By now Andrew and Ang Rinji were some 50 metres above Rakesh and I, but still no sign of Fatima, Pem and Jamie. We continued upwards anyway. I assumed they would catch up at some point. The next few hours went by very slowly and it was freezing cold with the wind stinging my eyes and bothering me a fair bit. I had a buff over my mouth and nose to stop them from being cold but this meant that my sunglasses steamed up immediately every time I breathed and I couldn’t see anything. On the other hand without the sunglasses on, it seemed almost like my sight was a bit blurry from the wind stinging my eyes. I was really quite worried about this after we’d heard someone had gotten snow blindness a couple of days earlier so I decided in the end to keep looking down instead of upwards. It was demoralising to see how far we still had to climb above us anyway, so it seemed like the best strategy both for my eyes and motivation! I think these hours moving up and past the Dablam were probably the least enjoyable of the whole summit day; my legs felt like lead again and it seemed like we were never reaching the sunshine above. As we approached the top of the Dablam, Jamie caught up and passed us (by which time I realised I must have been going really, really slow) but fortunately it wasn’t long before we’d emerged into the sunlight and onto a relatively flat spot where we could comfortably take a short break again. Realising that I needed some sort of energy boost I decided to eat an energy gel and drink some water, though both didn’t seem to get welcomed so much by my stomach. The gel made me feel pretty nauseous and drinking the stove gas-flavoured cold water didn’t help this too much either. Anyway, on the positive side it was now a lot warmer and the views were simply stunning. Above us now were some 250m of steep snow (a common theme for summit day), the first 100m of which went quite OK after having been revived by the energy boost I got from eating the gel. We climbed steadily and slowly, not taking so many pauses.

More steep and spiky snow!
More steep and spiky snow!
Looking down to the plateau at 6300m
Looking down to the plateau at 6300m
The Dablam. It's difficult to comprehend just how massive this thing is from a photo.
The Dablam. It's difficult to comprehend just how massive this thing is from a photo.
View DOWN the snow flutings!
View DOWN the snow flutings!
SUMMIT!!!! With the Norwegian flag (donated by my good friends Elise, Renate, Siv Hilde, Johanna and Kine) and the big E in the background too :)
SUMMIT!!!! With the Norwegian flag (donated by my good friends Elise, Renate, Siv Hilde, Johanna and Kine) and the big E in the background too :)

After a couple of pitches though, it did seem like the summit was never getting any closer. Looking up at the snow flutings was almost mesmerising and beautiful, but energy was lacking and I did start to wonder whether I would ever make it. But then I remembered that I had brought a Norwegian flag with me inside my rucksack and I felt like that was one very good reason not to quit. Getting the flag to the summit became my main priority :) The last 100 metres or so to the summit took what seemed like an eternity. I’d climb perhaps 4 or 5 steps up then take 1 or 2 minutes to recover and let my breathing settle down before repeating what seemed like a thousand times over. But eventually Ang Rinji and Andrew came into sight as they were now making their way back down from the summit. Neither seemed particularly enthusiastic to chat when we met them at the anchor though! Finally - and after some 11.5 hours since leaving camp 2 I slogged my way onto the summit of Ama Dablam where I saw Jamie waiting for us with a smile. At this point all I had on my mind was that I wanted to sit down, but resting was going to have to wait until we returned back to camp 2. Summit photo with flag was taken and I took a couple more pictures of the views which for some reason turned out terrible when I looked at them the day after. More stove gas-flavoured water was consumed but with unfortunate consequences after the first abseil down from the summit; I was somehow sick but with nothing coming up. Not a great experience, although after that I wasn’t feeling so nauseous anymore so I guess it had to be done.

Countless abseils followed. Jamie, me and Rakesh descended together, but each section of fixed lines had to be abseiled one at a time, so it took some time before we were all down at the first “milestone” - the flat terrace between the top of the Dablam and the start of the snow flutings. A short break here, then we continued down the next slope with a never-ending series of abseils. The big flat plateau of the old camp 3 site was still way below - and looked like more of a hill from above! By the time we’d done the final abseil down and over the bergschrund to arrive at the plateau I think it was around 4pm. 14 hours since leaving camp 2. It felt like late afternoon and as much as I do like being out on a mountain at sunset, the reality was that we’d be finishing the descent in the dark. We had a decent break here and then we continued to abseil down the icy pitches towards Mushroom Ridge; most of the ridge we just about managed to descend under the last rays of sunlight, then we had the remainder to do in the fast-approaching darkness. I think we spent most time descending the Grey couloir compared with the abseils on the upper part of the mountain. With the distant lights from camp 2 within sight now it was at least nice to know that it wasn’t a million miles away now. Would have been great to have been descending the Grey Tower/Couloir in the light to be able to see the exposed position of camp 2 - but not this time. But at last, around 8pm in the evening and 18 hours after leaving we were finally back and the sense of relief was enormous. I think this may have been a strong contender for one of my longest ever summit days!

One of 48563 (??) abseils!
One of 48563 (??) abseils!
Old camp 3 plateau still far away
Old camp 3 plateau still far away
But finally we got there and took a break
But finally we got there and took a break
Jamie descends back toward Mushroom Ridge
Jamie descends back toward Mushroom Ridge
Rakesh at the start of Mushroom Ridge at sunset
Rakesh at the start of Mushroom Ridge at sunset

Pem was already back in camp 2 after he and Fatima had turned back at around 6400m earlier, so he welcomed us with some hot orange juice. My throat was so dry from being thirsty at this point that it was almost hard to swallow but I definitely needed it. Probably spent about 10 minutes just sitting with Jamie and the sherpas outside the tents just trying to absorb the fact that we could finally rest and summit day was over. But sleep was beckoning and I made my way to the tent I shared with Fatima. She then told me that she’d decided to turn back not far after getting over the bergschrund above (old) camp 3 because she was too cold and she was starting to lose feeling in her toes. I’d noticed a couple of toes on my left foot had been numb at around the same place, though I hadn’t thought much more about it because I usually get numb toes at some point on summit day on 6000m+ peaks, without any long lasting consequences. It was one of those “it will probably be fine tomorrow” thoughts I’d had at the time.

Sunday 9th December: A deep sleep was rather interrupted by desperate thirst and dry throat, plus the need to make a visit to the ledge outside our tent. I’d drunk probably no more than about 750ml during the 18 hours we were on the move and it was now also about 36 hours since I’d actually eaten anything significant - early dinner at camp 2 during the afternoon before summit day. I’d had only one and a half energy gels during the entire summit day too, so the toilet visit was a bit unexpected. Anyway, I didn’t manage to sleep much again after that because I was too hot and too thirsty. When the sun finally came up at around 7am it was a relief that there was now a good excuse to get out of the sleeping bag and start melting some snow to make some hot water. The feeling of fatigue was really immense this morning though, so even doing simple tasks like this seemed too tiring.

While making some hot water for a breakfast of rehydrated beef stew (I needed some proper food!) and talking with Fatima, she once again mentioned how disappointed she was feeling about not having pushed on to get to the summit because she was worried about her feet. I hadn’t even thought to check my own feet before now but since I still had numb toes I wondered whether I should just take off my socks to inspect them. My right foot looked normal and then taking off the sock on my left foot revealed an unexpected sight; the three biggest toes were looking suspiciously grey at the tips and it took me some seconds to figure out that this was not normal. It was one of those “hmm…….” moments which soon became “...oops”. A couple of metres away from our tent porch I saw Jamie outside his tent so I thought maybe to call him over and get an opinion on my toes. He looked and he prodded a bit before giving more or less the same response I had. “Hmm……”. Pem was called over next. “I think you have frostbite” was his conclusion. Well, there’s not much that can be done for frostbite when you’re still up on a mountain at 6000m, but protecting the toes from rubbing against each other is one thing that can be done. Fortunately we did have a group first aid kit with us at camp 2, so after breakfast Jamie did some simple dressings on the toes before we continued packing up and getting ready for the descent back to base camp. I was still so lethargic from the previous day that the packing took an eternity in itself and provided some distraction from being concerned about the toes.

Descending the route from camp 2 to camp 1 took probably just as long as it had taken me to climb up. Shoulders were aching, the whole body was tired and after at most of the anchors I just want to sit down for a rest. Felt more tired than on summit day itself, but after a couple of hours we were back in camp 1 and had time to take a longer break inside the tent while collecting up stuff we’d left here a few days previously. Then it was the long slog all the way back down to base camp, first down the slabs then across the boulders and rubble ridge and finally picking up the dusty path at Yak camp. The long and slow plod down to base camp gave me plenty of time to think over the previous day, but mostly I was trying to figure out why I’d gotten frostbite only on the left foot and not on my right foot. The only thing I’d done differently on Ama Dablam this year was to wear an extra pair of socks underneath my thicker ones, but I’d already tried out this combination of socks in my boots in the hills around Tromsø. I knew my feet would swell at altitude so I made sure I had enough space in the boots that they felt roomy at sea level so that when I used them at altitude they wouldn’t be too tight. Nevertheless, I think the problem was that my feet just swelled up more than I’d expected and since my left foot is 0.5cm longer than my right foot, the extra sock was just one sock too many to have on this foot, so most likely the circulation to my toes got cut off during summit day - and being out in temperatures of below -20 degrees for 18 hours was probably not ideal.

Andrew on the way back to camp 1
Andrew on the way back to camp 1

I was happy about having summited, but the fact that I’d managed to get a cold injury in doing so made me feel like I’d not done it perfectly, which bothered me a lot. Nevertheless, the expedition had been a success in many ways (at least no one had to get long-lined out of camp 2 by helicopter!) and we’d shared some really good times with our terrific team of sherpas and cook team. My main worry before the expedition was about getting a cold or some other virus that would make me ill and too weak to be able to get to the summit. This trip at least proved to me that with enough recovery time during the trip and good base of fitness it was still possible to summit the mountain even after having had to fight off a cold, though I guess it made it harder work at times.

Celebratory cake in the dining tent
Celebratory cake in the dining tent

The next morning at base camp is where my expedition to Ama Dablam ended. With still two long days of walking to reach Lukla, both Pem and Jamie thought it would be a bad idea to walk on the frostbitten toes as it would most likely lead to further tissue damage. As a result they’d decided that the best course of action would be to arrange for a helicopter flown in to base camp to get me to Kathmandu for immediate treatment. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I left base camp the following morning by helicopter and was back in Kathmandu just over an hour later. It was a bit of a shock to have been transported from the freezing cold, but tranquil surroundings of Ama Dablam base camp to 16-degree and chaotic Kathmandu. I got taken to CIWEC hospital and was seen by a doctor specialising in cold injuries and who has links to Jagged Globe’s medical advisor in the UK, which was very fortunate.

The treatment and recovery from frostbite would form another long story in itself but would probably detract from the more important and good memories of the trip to include here. Let's just say it wasn't the worst frostbite ever (second degree) but the toes have gone through some rather sore and colourful transitions during the long healing process. It was of course a bit of a bummer to go home with slightly poorly toes, but I was still very content that I’d achieved what I’d set out to do. It’s sort of like the nurse at CIWEC told me; “...there was this guy who had been on Everest and came down with frostbite, but he was so happy because he’d been to the top!” I know this won’t have been my last trip to Nepal and definitely not the last time I go to altitude; I also hope I’ll meet up again with the sherpas we were so fortunate to have climbing with us too, since I think they are what makes trips in the Himalaya so special and memorable an experience. But next time I’ll most likely have to wear heated socks ;)

User comments

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    Flott turrapport!

    Written by Olepetter 08.12.2023 17:53

    Hei! Ser det er på dagen 5 år siden du registrerte Ama Dablam i Himalaya som besteget. Pussig at jeg skulle komme over denne flotte og grundige rapporten din akkurat i dag. Et fantastisk vakkert fjell, synes jeg, og bildene dine er jo bare å nyte. Moro at du tar deg så god tid til å fortelle detaljer fra turen - jeg har lest hvert ord. Det tok litt tid, selvsagt, men det var SÅ interessant! Men, unnskyld for at jeg spør: Hvordan er det med tærne dine nå, 5 år etter? Ble de helt ok igjen, eller?

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      Re: Flott turrapport!

      Written by hmsv1 08.12.2023 18:27

      Hei! Ja jeg var overrasket at noen leste turrapporten på akkurat denne dagen. Den er en dag jeg aldri kommer til å glemme :)

      Tærne som fikk frostskade er helt normale igjen, men jeg får takke plastikkirurgisk avdeling på UNN i Tromsø for at det ble bra. Fikk behandling med botox som hjalp med å øke sirkulasjonen i tærne så tilhelingsprosessen gikk raskere. Nå er det faktisk lenge siden jeg måtte bruke varmesokker på topptur om vinteren!

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    Fin rapport

    Written by toraab 07.11.2022 09:23

    Artig å lese rapporten din. Jeg kom hjem fra Nepal forrige uke etter tur på Ama Dablam 23.10. Vi akklimatiserte ved å gå et par uker gjennom Rolwaling og over Tashi Lapsta-passet til Namche før vi gikk opp i basecamp. Da følte vi oss såpass ok akklimatiserte at vi gikk direkte til toppen via leir 1, 2 og 3. Snøforholdene var gode, så vi fikk etablert en leir 3. Vi var heldige med været, samt at vi var litt foran det store innrykket av klatrere.

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      Re: Fin rapport

      Written by hmsv1 07.11.2022 18:29

      Takk for hyggelig tilbakemelding! Og gratulerer med vellykket bestigning av Ama Dablam. Det høres ut som om du var heldig på mange måter! Rolwaling er en dal jeg har veldig lyst til å besøke, så jeg håper at det blir ny tur til Nepal om ikke så mange år. Må vel bli ferdig med et annet prosjekt i alpene først :-)

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    Missing title

    Written by JPV100 12.02.2019 08:18

    Flott rapport, og fantastiske bilder av et imponerende landskap! Gratulerer med bestigningen, dette må ha vært litt av en opplevelse!! :)

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    Fantastiske bilder!

    Written by Þróndeimr 11.02.2019 20:34

    Får veldig lyst til å bestille noen flybilletter til Kathmandu med en gang når jeg ser og leser meg gjennom dette. Synd at det ble en såpass alvorlig skade av det, men det ser jo ut til at du helbredes ganske bra med tiden.

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      Re: Fantastiske bilder!

      Written by hmsv1 11.02.2019 20:55

      En tur til Nepal kan anbefales på det sterkeste :) Jeg synes skaden ser verre ut enn den er. Var jo litt kjipt at jeg ikke fikk stå på ski på litt over en måned, men det var også fint å ha en god unnskyldning for å få litt restitusjon etter turen og prøve andre aktiviteter (f.eks sykling) mens tærne ble friske!

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    Jeg sliter litt med å forstå

    Written by Snilen 11.02.2019 19:06

    at det er forlokkende å reise tilbake til slike ekstreme fjell etter en såpass seriøs skade. Gratulerer med toppen forresten, men jeg må innrømme at det var de siste bildene jeg la mest merke til i rapporten.

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      Re: Jeg sliter litt med å for

      Written by hmsv1 11.02.2019 19:30

      Ja, skjønner at det kan være litt vanskelig å forstå det, men høyfjellsturer og de gode minnene jeg får fra dem har vært en del av fritiden min i 18 år nå. Man blir litt hekta på det etter hvert :) Tenker at kanskje jeg burde fjerne de siste bildene...?!

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        Sv: Re: Jeg sliter litt med å

        Written by Snilen 01.03.2019 16:50
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    Ama Dablam

    Written by opps 10.02.2019 20:28

    Kjempeartig å bli med deg via denne turrapporten til Ama Dablam, flotte bilder og det herlige turværet da. God bedring og takk for at du delte turen med oss.

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      Re: Ama Dablam

      Written by hmsv1 11.02.2019 19:16

      Takk!

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    Gratulerer

    Written by kobbenes 10.02.2019 20:27

    Endelig kom rapporten, er jo som å følge kvart skritt dette :-) Veldig imponerande - virkar som vanvittige fysiske og mentale anstrengelsar.

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      Re: Gratulerer

      Written by hmsv1 11.02.2019 19:15

      ja, det var til tider en veldig slitsom opplevelse men det er jo akkurat det som gjør turen minneverdig og artig å se tilbake på :)

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    6812 moh

    Written by otto 10.02.2019 19:42

    Imponerende bilder - bortsett fra de 5 siste. Så ikke gode ut disse tærne. Glimrende bilder og litt av et vær.. Gratulerer..

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      Re: 6812 moh

      Written by hmsv1 10.02.2019 19:55

      Takk :) Ja, jeg lurte litt på om jeg skulle inkludere de siste 5 eller ikke, men tenkte likevel at det var en del av turen. Og hvis noen andre skulle være så uheldig å få forfrysning på tærne i fremtiden, da får de vite litt av hva som kommer!

      Tærne er forøvrig ganske bra nå og tåler litt skikjøring og fotturer.

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    Im excited for this report!

    Written by Skippy 04.02.2019 17:19

    Almost two months without your reports Peakbook is pretty strange!!

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      Re: Im excited for this report

      Written by hmsv1 04.02.2019 18:12

      Been a bit busy and slightly injured ;) Report is in progress!

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        Sv: Re: Im excited for this re

        Written by Skippy 04.02.2019 19:17
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    Rapport

    Written by Garm 10.12.2018 18:07

    Sett fb bileta, ser fram til turrapport frå denne. :)

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      Re: Rapport

      Written by hmsv1 11.12.2018 15:43

      Tipper at det blir mange flere bilder i rapporten som kommer etter hvert :)

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