The team slept until 0700 and enjoyed sweet rice for breakfast. The plan today was to cache at ~15,200 ft. This is a critical point on the route because it enabled a descent to the West Buttress base camp. This provided a nice sense of comfort knowing that we could always bail if there was a huge snowstorm or medical emergency. Another new experience we got from this camp was our bathroom arrangement. Rather than having to pack our poop in the green mountain can we got to poop on a snow plate and chuck it over the cliff. I was a little nervous of missing the plate and having to pick up the poop, but my first shot was successful.
I packed up 2 days worth food for the cache. We left around 0900 and switch-backed our way up to a small bergshrund, which was a little tricky to climb over. Just above the shrund was an ice slope that was steeper and icier then the team expected. I was happy to have some ice climbing experience, as the protection was minimal at best. We cleared the ice and then navigated through some rocks and eventually reached the cache crossover point. On our way down, the guides decided to rappel down the ice slope because the risk of falling while down-climbing was too great. We returned around 1700. Overall I was feeling pretty good from the altitude. We had mashed potatoes with veggies for dinner and went to bed around 0900. Tomorrow would be our move to high camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment