Trying and failing to acclimatize

We’ve spent the last few days trying but failing to get acclimatized around the Charakusa Valley.  It's quite frustrating that we’ve been in the valley for nearly a week now and the highest we’ve been is only 4900m.

After our wander around the Charakusa Glacier, the next day we scrambled up the lower slopes of Fati Brakk to get some height and have a proper look at the NW face of K6 West. Now the big news from the Charakusa this year is that our Canadian friends Raphael Slawinski and Ian Welstad have made an awesome ascent of the NW face of K6 West to the summit. I checked with them they were alright with me mentioning this but I’m not going to give any details as that is their story to tell.  Needless to say it is a very impressive ascent from two really nice guys and it’s great to have their company in base camp for a few days before they leave.

Scrambling up the lower slopes of Fati Brakk with K6, K6 West and Kapura Peak in the back ground (photo – Jon Griffith)

K6 West had been one of our objectives but the two lines we had in mind are, on closer inspection just too threatened from seracs this year for either Jon or myself to consider them. The only relatively safe line up the face is the line the Canadians took so we are going to concentrate on getting acclimatized for Link Sar, but you never know things can change in the mountains quite fast…

Looking across at Link Sar, 7,041m. The actual summit is the big thumb of granite under the arrow, a long way back.

After a forced rest day, a shame to waste a sunny day but our bodies felt like they needed it, to continue our acclimatization we headed up to the base of Sulu Peak to bivi then climb it and spend two nights on the summit to help acclimatize. Unfortunately it couldn’t have gone anymore not to plan! We arrived at the base to discover we couldn’t get the stove to work, after an hour of trying everything and dismantling the stove we found the one gas canister we had brought was dodgy, so that was that.  Muesli for dinner and head back down to the valley in the morning just in time for a big breakfast courtesy of Ali and Ali. Through the night it pissed it down (heavy rain at 4,750m???), didn’t freeze up high which lead to loads of rock fall so I think we’d have been coming down anyway. So we spent yesterday hanging out in base camp watching movies and listening to the heavy rain outside.

Sulu Peak, 5,950m



Setting up camp below Sulu Peak (Photo – Jon Griffith)

It does seem to be raining quite high, something that is very different to my experiences in Nepal where it always snows if you get any precipitation even at base camp.  It does mean rest days are nice and warm though. Unfortunately the high snow line isn’t ideal and is stripping a lot of the faces lower down, Raphael is pretty sure some of the pitches they climbed as ice have disappeared on K6 already.  Not the end of the world, but not ideal.

An evening storm clears of K6 West

The weather is meant to be clearing so hopefully we’ll head back up to Sulu peak later this afternoon and start to get better acclimatized.
 

Base camp!

It is great to eventually be at our our base camp in the Charakusa valley. I think it is easily the most beautiful base camp I have ever stayed at. Situated on the moraine alongside the Charakusa glacier below K7 and directly across from K6, there’s no shortage of amazing views. It’s just a massive play ground for alpinists and rock climbers, amazing!

Base camp in the Charakusa Valley - a room with a view!

The journey from Skardu to base camp was fairly uneventful. The jeep ride up to Hushe first along the Karakoram High Way and then up the Hushe valley was bumpy and dusty, but went by fairly quickly. Once in Hushe we sorted all the gear into 25kg loads for the porters to set off with the next day. The locals in Hushe were all so welcoming and friendly towards us. It is a real shame to hear how few expeditions and trekking groups have passed through this year since the terrible attack at Nanga Parbat and everyone is keen to assure us of our safety in this valley. It really is having a big effect on the local communities and a reason why most of the village men turned up hoping to be chosen as porters to take us into base camp.

The view down the Hushe Valley and the wheat fields

One of the many bridges we crossed on the drive up to Hushe

The local kids muck in to help unload the jeeps

The two day trek from Hushe with an overnight stop at Saicho was so hot, but a 4.45am start yesterday got us to base camp before the worst of the heat and let the porters easily get back to Hushe that day. It is the middle of Ramadan at the moment so everyone is fasting - no food or drink between sun up and sun down. I am truly amazed by how the porters managed to carry the loads through the heat with no water, it certainly made me and Jon feel a bit awkward stopping for drinks and eating around them.

Porters heading out of Hushe with Mashabrum in front

Which way are we off to Jon?

The porters heading up to Base Camp on the second day

Walking alongside the Charakusa glacier (photo – Jon Griffith)

Ali, one of our cooks, chilling with the porters before they head back to Hushe

Jon taking a chilly dip in a glacier pool below K6, yes it was very cold!!

Today we headed up the Charakusa glacier to have a look at Link Sar, there’s no need to go anywhere to look at K6 as it dominates the view from base camp. Although you can’t get to see much of Link Sar, it was good to have a look around and try to take it all in, it really is an impressive valley with massive granite pillars and big alpine faces everywhere, so much to do! Jon thinks everything is a lot drier than last year which is a bit of a shame, but nothing to worry about and it is great not having to suss out the approaches with Jon’s knowledge from last year. The only annoying thing is we seem to have arrived towards the end of a really good weather window, but hopefully it will last a couple more days to allow us to get out and start the acclimatization over the next few days.

Jon dwarfed by the massive north face of K6

At the head of the Charakusa glacier trying to get a view of the summit of Link Sar, its somewhere back there! (photo – Jon Griffith)

Days in Skardu

Jon and I have spent the last couple of days in Skardu, the small mountain town most expeditions heading into the Karakoram start from. Set along the banks of the massive Indus River which flows from the heart of the Karakoram down the entire length of Pakistan to the Arabian Sea, Skardu is a dusty place with the man-made irrigation systems breathing green life into the otherwise rocky and barren landscape.

Landing in Skardu on after the flight from Islamabad

View from the hotel down towards the river

The mighty Indus River, flowing all the way through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea

Jon taking an afternoon stroll down along the Indus

Today we visited Ghulam’s (our agent, Blue Sky Treks & Tours) house and went over the food our that Ali, our happy cook, has bought for our next seven weeks in the Charakusa Valley, adding extras and getting rid the unwanted bits. Let’s just say there is going to be a lot of rice being eaten in the next couple of months! A whirlwind tour of Skardu this afternoon buying up last minute supplies and getting our trekking permits for the approach finished the day off before hurrying back to the comfort of fan cooled rooms to escape the heat, the sun is so powerful here, so hot.

 Ticking off the expedition food (photo - Jon Griffith)

Jon and Ali going through the food

Wandering through the bazaar in Skardu

Tomorrow we have an early start and a six hour jeep ride up to Hushe, the small mountain village at the end of the road. From Hushe we will start the two day approach to our Base Camp in the Charakusa Valley and eventually get to see our objectives, Link Sar and K6. After all the ups and downs of the last few weeks of organizing the expedition we’re both pretty excited to be off and seeing our objectives soon.

Pakistan bound!

Well we are eventually off!

As I write this Jon is already in the air somewhere and I will be flying out this evening to Islamabad to meet up with him in the morning.  We'll hopefully be flying straight up to Skardu to get all the final stuff sorted and then start the approach to the Charakusa Valley which will be our home for the next 6 weeks or so right under Link Sar and K6, our objectives for the expedition.

It feels like everything has been against us so far with this trip and I'll be completely honest that I was loosing motivation for it in the last couple of weeks.  The terrible terrorist attack on Nanga Parbet base camp put a lot of doubt on the trip and in my head.  Luckily we had time to make a sensible rather than rushed decision and it has taken time and a lot of chatting through with family and loved ones as well as friends with a lot of experience of the area for me to get it clear in my head that I still wanted to go.  Thank you to everyone who has listened and chatted to me about this for the last few weeks, it was a big decision to make and I'm happy I'm making the right one and that my family and friends understand why I am still going.

For a knowledgeable article on the back ground and politics behind some of the unrest in Pakistan have a read of Steve Swenson's blog http://steveswensonsblog.blogspot.fr/2013/06/attack-on-climbers-in-pakistan.html

Eventually after missing our first flights last Saturday (due to a lack of Visa) and wasting a lot of time at the Pakistan High Commission in Bradford I received my Visa on Monday and the psyche is back!

I'll be e-mailing updates back as regularly as possible which will get posted on here and on The North Face's new local news page here http://localnews.thenorthfacejournal.com/category/united-kingdom/

Loving The Lycra!

Yes, it’s true I’m loving the lycra, not of the running variety this time (ankle still says no to running after the Fellsman) but road biking and after four days cycling in the Alps I am officially hooked.

Mountain biking was probably the first outdoor sport I got into as a teenager, avidly reading MBUK, glued to the television watching their legendary mountain bike film Dirt and saddened by the tragic death of Jason McRoy – a hero on the bike to many teenagers at that time. The mountain bike got side lined and more recently I bought a second hand road bike – it seemed like the most time efficient and effective option to grab an hour’s training after work.

I still reckon that for me road biking is probably the most effective training I can do for alpine climbing living where I do, mainly the ability to get long days in without putting major stress on your joints. Whether it is the most effective or not it seems to work for me and more importantly I’m motivated to do it and enjoy it. It’s no use having the most effective training plan possible if after a long day in the office there is no motivation to do it, it just won’t happen.

First day in saddle in the Alps, heading up to Plain Joux with Ross and Michelle - check out the Scarpa road cycling jerseys! (photo - Ross Hewitt)

I had an amazing four days biking out in Chamonix with good friends. It started off with a blast down the valley and the steady climb up to Plaine Joux above Passy with Ross and Michelle. The next day Josie and I headed through to Italy with Steph, Emily, Misha and Tom. After the obligatory coffee to start the day we set off from Nus just below Aosta and started climbing up the very sunny south facing side of the Aosta Valley.

Misha and Steph in the small village of Saint Barthelemy high above the Aosta Valley

For some reason Misha and myself were under the impression it was only a short climb so set out at a pretty fast pace pushing each other all the way. Unfortunately, the short climb wasn’t so short and 14km later we had a tactical stop at a road junction to ‘consult the map’, a misunderstanding or complete sandbagging?! Steph quickly caught up with us and we carried on for the final couple of kilometres to the top and the small village of Saint Barthelemy for a well earned coffee and an amazing homemade strawberry and rhubarb tart.

Just reward after a hot 16km climb!

Feed and watered and ready for the long descent back down to the Aosta Valley

Josie and I had planned to go skiing on the Sunday but with conditions looking 50/50 we had a last minute change of plan and chucked the bikes in the car instead of skis and headed down the valley to join a group of friends for a ‘Tour de Mole’. I’d never heard of the ‘Mole’, but it turns out I’ve driven past it literally hundreds of times on the Chamonix – Geneva airport shuttle run. It’s the hill just above Bonneville on the right as you drive towards Geneva. It was a great ride and really sociable to be out with a great bunch of friends. Being the newbie to riding in a mini peloton I had no idea what all the hand wafting was about and was a bit bemused by it all until Michelle and Josie explained the peloton sign language to me! Pretty scary at first riding so close together, but amazing what speeds you can keep up on the flats working together.

Relaxing in the beautiful old town of Aosta after a good days riding

After three days on the go the legs took a bit of warming up on Monday with an afternoon ride up to the Col de la Forclaz and back. A long climb, but stunning views down to the Sion Valley and an exhilarating descent back down into Chamonix.

I can’t wait to get back out biking in the Alps, I just loved it. It’s so different to riding back home, loads more smooth tarmac and a distinct lack of pot holes compared with here. You can’t begin to compare the climbs out in the Alps with the hills round Yorkshire, the longest climb near me is Greenhow Hill which at 4km isn’t even a warm up in the Alps. But on a short ride the other evening round Nidderdale I think I was out of the saddle more in 28 miles than in the four days of riding I did in the mountains, they may be short but they don’t half pack in a punch!
Thanks to everyone who lent me their expensive carbon bikes for four days, bit of a shocker back on my trusty old alloy bike now!

Back riding on home soil - and evening ride up to Middlesmore at the head of Nidderdale

The Fellsman - an alpinist dabbling with ultra running

The start of the Fellsman in Ingleton, Yorkshire Dales

So the Fellsmam - a 61 ish mile run/walk/hobble round the Yorkshire Dales with endless bogs and 3000m of ascent throw in. 

Before I begin to describe my Fellsman story/thoughts I’d just like to say thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who make this such a well run event. It really was so well organised and run, with loads of great food stops, pasta, hot dogs, sausage rolls and bean casserole amongst other things and on top of all the food a smiley face and loads of encouragement from the cheery volunteers at each checkpoint. Thank you.

So why did I enter the Fellsman? At just before 4am last Sunday morning as I hobbled rather than walked (running was distant memory at that point) into Threshfield 18hr 52min after starting and in a fair amount of pain I was certainly asking myself that question! I think I've always had a bit of a hankering to have a go at an ultra marathon and after spending so much time in Chamonix the UTMB in particular so the Fellsman seemed as good a place as any to start. By 4.30am on Sunday all aspirations of the UTMB were definitely gone, for a day or so at least ;-)

Unfortunately the ‘off the couch’ attitude did not pay off, as was to be expected. I’d signed up with all the good intentions of putting a lot of time and training into it and trying to get a good (for me) time – the training never happened... It also wasn't a particularly good idea to run it on a recently sprained ankle, 61 miles over rough moorland and bogs didn't aid the recovery process and in the last ten miles my ankle had definitely had enough and told me so. Excuses over, lessons thoroughly received.

Anyway excuses aside I found it a really good experience, it was something completely new to me that I knew absolutely nothing about it. I had no idea how to train for it, no idea how to approach it on the day, no idea how to pace myself and inevitably set off way too fast and no idea how much to eat – a lot. But what surprised me the most was I had to dig far deeper than I ever thought, mentally, to finish it. I kind of went into it a bit over confident maybe… thinking along the lines of I've had some pretty hard, long both mentally and physically tiring days in the mountains so how hard can 61 miles round the Yorkshire Dales be?

Humble pie eaten with a massive helping of seconds, need I say more…

I think my problem was it would have been so easy to quit - you had to really want it. At any road side check point you could quite easily jump on a mini bus to the finish where as on a big mountain face in the middle of the Himalayas this just isn't really an option, (there also isn't anyone handing you a cup of warm tea and hot dog after every pitch, bit of a shame really I got quite used to that!). At the end of the day I approached it thinking there would have been a lot of similarities to big alpine days, which there are, but they are also two completely different ball games, which now my eyes have been opened is pretty obvious! And I have a new massive respect for ultra runners.

It probably sounds like I didn't actually enjoy the Fellsman which is completely untrue, how can a sunny day in the Yorkshire Dales be unenjoyable? Yes the endless bogs wore me down but the views were just stunning and I got to parts of the Dales I’d never visited before and certainly ticked a lot of the peaks.  It really reminded me what a beautiful part of the world is on my doorstep.  The company was great, I bumped into Ant, Sally and Ant at the start and let them drag me round for the day.   And you got to meet loads like minded folk from all walks of life throughout the day including the rest of our night group Mick, Paul, Nick and Geoff that we joined up with who all helped the night time rush by.  OK the last couple of hours were pretty miserable but there had to be some proper suffer time in there somewhere.  And then of course the achievement of just completing it, and trust me it felt like a big achievement, congratulations to everybody who finished.

Will I be back? maybe... probably!

For anyone interested in the kit I used here's the list with a few notes:

Ultra Guide running shoes 
Winter Warm Tights 
AK Stormy Trail Jacket 
AK Stormy Trail Pants 

Hydrogen Jacket - couldn't decide whether to take a light windproof as well as a waterproof but glad I did, much more comfy to run in all day and kept the initial hail showers out 

GTD Long Sleeve Shirt 
Better Than Naked Short Sleeve Shirt 
Base Layer light long sleeve 
Anamagi Jacket – nearly took a lighter top instead but so glad I took this for the cold night section 
Apex Gloves – only took these initially to cover the waterproof glove rule but was glad of the warmer gloves at night 
Runners Gloves 
Dipsea Cover-It
Beanie

BD Spot Headlamp

I borrowed a OMM pack which was the perfect size, the only problem was I couldn't reach my water bottle without taking the pack off or someone else grabbing it for me, I'd definitely make sure I had a pack which I could reach the side bottle holder on next time.  I had a water bladder too but used the bottle more as it was easier to refill at the checkpoints.  I also took my super light Black Diamond Ultra Distance poles but hardly used them so wouldn't both next time unless there was a lot more ascent.

Food wise I found the feed stations provided enough for me with a constant flow of High 5 energy drink and a few caffeinated gels for an extra boost every now and again - but food is such a personal choice.

Before the start, definitely a smile....

....during (00.30), not quite a smile

and finally after, definitely a smile again
(well for 5 minutes whilst I forgot about the throbbing ankle!)

Spring time in Chamonix

I've just got back from a couple of weeks in Chamonix and the late season skiing has been amazing.  Although I’d wanted to head out and get some climbing in I ended up skiing all the time with the only climbing action been a quick nip up the Swiss Route on Les Courtes on the last day.

So lots of days skiing of the Midi and up at the Grand Montets along with some big days out touring trying to get some miles back in the legs with amongst others a trip up the Aig d’Argentiere which gave a great ski down from the summit on spring snow and a quick sprint up the Col du Tour Noir (although snail pace compared to Killian Jornet and friends who arrived just after me – very inspiring to see how fast those guys move).

Josie and I made use of one of the short weather windows and headed through to Italy to the Gran Paradiso 4060m, the highest peak solely in Italy.  We only had one good weather day so decided to go from the valley to summit in a big day, great effort from Josie considering she’d just spent the last two weeks at sea level in Norway!  We stayed at the Victor Emanuele hut on the way down to ski out via the Tête du Grand Etret the next morning before the weather came in.  As long as you leave relatively early this is a much better option for getting back to the valley rather than skiing straight down to the approach track from the hut in the late season.  Back in Chamonix the next day we woke up to 20cm of fresh snow in town so more powder days – you got to love spring in the Alps.

To round off a great trip Charlie Boscoe (http://chamconditions.blogspot.co.uk) and I nipped up the Swiss route on the North Face of Les Courtes, a classic face in the Chamonix range I’d never got round to climbing.  Although it’s not a very technical route it had a couple of good steeper pitches and was just so fun to be back climbing in the mountains again with amazing weather and some good banter from Charlie.  It was obvious I was going to be really late for a final meal with friends in Chamonix that evening so we skipped the summit and traversed just right and high tailed it back to the valley as quick as Charlie’s little approach skis would allow!  I’d taken my Black Diamond Verdicts up the route which at 102mm under foot aren't exactly a light weight mountaineering ski but made the ski down a lot more enjoyable in the saturated afternoon snow pack and where Charlie had been glad of his short approach skis on his back on the climb up they were giving him a proper run for his money on the decent, I'm sure he was still loving it though?!  Really it is way too hot to be coming off the south sides in the late afternoon at the moment and we had a pretty spooky and slow decent trying to manage it safely in the roasting afternoon sun with wet snow slides everywhere.

It was quite surreal to be fighting my way through the London Underground the next day on the way up to Manchester for the first of the two Ellis Brigham Adventure Talks – definitely know where I feel most at home.  The evenings in Manchester and London went really well with a great atmosphere and big turn out last night in Covent Garden, thanks to Ellis Brigham for putting on the events and to the other inspiring speakers who took part.

Next up is the Fellsman tomorrow – a 62 mile ultra trail round the Yorkshire Dales.  Signing up to this back in December seemed like a really good idea at the time… forward to t-minus 1 day before the event and I've got no idea of why I signed up!  I've managed a fraction of the running I’d hoped for over the last few months and the longest run I've done up to now is a mere 17 miles so my plan of trying to get a reasonable time is definitely out of the window and coupled with a sprained ankle last week whilst running in Chamonix think I’ll just be settling for completing it at a fast walk if atoll.  

IF – and looking at the forecast its a very big if -  the rain holds off it sounds like it should be a fun and social event and will hopefully give me a bit of incentive to have a proper go at a ultra trail one day.  And if/when it does rain its just going to be dam right miserable!

Storm clouds rolling in skiing off the Midi

Heading up to ski the Col du Diable with Ross, Dave and Davide - we bailed due to the temperature, so hot!

Having bailed on the Col du Diable Ross headed off to ski the shoulder of the Aig du Tacul and Davide, Dave and myself went sniffing out powder....

....and found it, eventually

Dave following Davide's big GS turns

Josie heading up from the valley to the Gran Paradiso, 4061m

Josie enjoying the final summit ridge of the Gran Paradiso

well earned turns in good spring snow after a big day from the valley to the Gran Paradiso

Josie heading up to the Tête du Grand Etret before heading back down the valley behind to Pont

Charlie starting up the Swiss Route on the North Face of Les Courtes

Charlie approaching the steeper section on the Swiss route

The upper part of the north face - bailing out right under the summit trying to not be too late for dinner!

the mighty Grandes Jorasses

Mont Blanc sitting above an afternoon cloud inversion