Route To Cho Oyu Base Camp

 

Cho Oyu 1997

 

Wardrobe for Cho Oyu

My Expeditions

2006 Cho Oyu, Tibet
Succeeded, solo. Summited May 7.

2005 Mt. Saskatchewan (unclimbed), St. Elias Range, Yukon
None of the team summited

2004 Aconcagua, False Polish route, Argentina, South America
Just Shelley and I, we both summited

2003 Kilimanjaro, Western Breach, Tanzania, Africa
Just Shelley and I, we both summited

2001 Shishapangma, Tibet
None of the team summited

1999 Manaslu, Nepal
5 other team members summited

1997 Cho Oyu, Tibet
2 other team members summited

1995 Broad Peak, Pakistan
Shelley and I summited along with four other team members. First female Canadian ascent. Possibly first Canadian ascent?

1993 Denali, West Buttress, Alaska
All four of our team reached the summit.

1991 Changtse (North peak of Everest), Tibet
Another team member and I reached the North Col

1990 Denali, East Buttress, Alaska
Just Shelley and I - unsuccessful

All except Changtse and Broad Peak were organized and led by Shelley and I. None of the trips have been guided (other than the mandatory African "guide" on Kili) and we've never used sherpas or oxygen. Only Broad Peak was a commercial trip and it was still unguided and without porters or sherpas.

Gear for Cho Oyu

I spent a fair bit of thought (and money!) on gear for this trip. I wanted to go as light as I could without sacrificing safety.

I'm taking two tents - a Bibler (Black Diamond) I tent (1.95 kg / 4 lb 5 oz) and a Mountain Hardwear EV-2 (2.21 kg / 4 lb 14 oz). Both are lightweight, single wall tents. The Bibler is pretty cramped for two people but for one, it's fine (as long as you're not too tall!) The EV-2 has a built in vestibule so it's roomier. I've had a bunch of Mountain Hardwear tents over the years and I've always been really happy with them. Getting the poles inside the Bibler can be a bit of a struggle - the EV-2 has external poles which seem easier to me. Although it's normal to have three camps on Cho Oyu, I'm hoping to get away with two by going for the summit from Camp 2. If this doesn't work I'll just have to take my tent with me when I go from Camp 2 to Camp 3.

For the last while I've been using an Arcteryx Bora 80 which I really like, but it's pretty heavy (3.1 kg / 6 lbs 12 oz). This time I decided to try a Wild Things Andinista at only 1.75 kg / 3 lbs 14 oz. I was pretty tempted by the Spectra version which is 12 oz lighter, but it's also twice the price and has to be custom ordered so I decided to pass. I was able to get a large to fit my long back, but with a small hip belt to fit my skinny waist. I was a little concerned about how the Andinista would carry without any kind of frame, but I've been carrying it with about 50 lbs for 5 or 6 hour hikes and it's actually not too bad. The minimalist hip belt and shoulder straps aren't the most comfortable, but the lack of frame hasn't been a problem.

The last few trips I've had some concerns about keeping my feet warm enough. On Aconcagua they got cold enough to go numb. By itself this isn't so bad but once you lose feeling you can't tell if they're freezing. I decided to splurge and bought some Millet/One Sport Everests. These are specifically designed for high altitude climbing with a built in overboot/gaitor. They're known as the warmest boots available. The new model is supposedly 10% lighter and at the same time 10% warmer. In addition to being lighter and warmer, you avoid the hassles of trying to put crampons on insulated overboots (and having them fall off at the worst possible moment!). I ended up buying these in Chamonix on our recent trip to Europe. Probably paid too much, but they're a specialty item and at least there I could try them on.

I've got the room this time so I'm taking two sleeping bags so I can leave one at base camp and the other up on the mountain. This saves some carrying. My mountain bag is a Mountain Hardwear Quantum 3rd Dimension which is a synthetic -20 C / 0 F bag. I can't say I'm sold on the "Quantum Expander" idea - I figure the extra zipper has to add to the weight. But otherwise I've been happy enough with it. I'm a believer in synthetic bags, but they are bulky. I really want a -30 C bag, but instead I've got the Quantum 3D upgrade which is a separate inner bag that adds another 10 degrees or so. For extra warmth up high I can always sleep in my insulated pants and down jacket, since I'll be carrying them anyway. For base camp I've got a MEC Hybrid (down/synthetic) -20 C bag. For sleeping pads I've got a full length thermarest for base camp and a 10mm closed cell pad for on the mountain. The thermarest is more comfortable, but I'd hate to spring a leak up high. And repeatedly blowing it up can end up getting moisture inside which destroys the insulating value.

I've got two MSR Superfly butane stoves with the hanging kits (which I hear are no longer sold, unfortunately). Butane stoves have their drawbacks, especially when it's really cold, but for ease of use and safety cooking inside the tent, it's really the only way to go. For the first time I've rigged up some copper strapping to attempt to transfer some heat to the cartridge since otherwise they tend to freeze up. Warming the cartridge with your hands or (carefully) with a lighter works but it's not ideal. I'll see how well it works in practice.

For clothes I've got Arcteryx goretex bib pants, Alpha SL goretex jacket (only 347 g / 12 oz!), Mountain Hardwear Alchemy soft shell jacket (a favorite), and some old Mountain Equipment Coop fleece bibs which I've had for years and am quite attached to. Up till now I've avoided down suits. Maybe if I was going to Everest, but I'm not. Instead I've got MEC primaloft pants, a lightweight primaloft pullover, and a lightweight down jacket. If it's windy I wear my goretex over the insulated pieces. And of course, synthetic long underwear - for up high I prefer one piece "union" suits. I recently picked up an N2S (next to skin) windstopper shirt which seems pretty good. And of course, a selection of gloves and mitts, including, for up high, Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero mitts.

Miscellaneous gear includes: Black Diamond Alpine Bod harness, Petzl expedition ascender, figure 8 descender, Grivel Airtech Racing ice axe, Black Diamond Flick Lock expedition ski poles, Petzl Tikka Plus and Myo 3 headlamps, and Black Diamond expedition duffles.

I almost forgot the gadgets. First, what I'm NOT bringing - no satellite phone, no laptop, no internet or email, no solar chargers or generators. We had all this stuff on our first trip to Cho Oyu and I swear I spent more time messing with it than I did climbing! I have a Suunto Observer watch with compass and altimeter and a Garmin Geko 301 GPS with compass and barometric altimeter. Hopefully these will keep me from getting lost up high! My camera is a Canon Powershot S1 IS digital camera with 10x zoom and image stabilization. I've got four 1gb memory cards for it. I'm using lithium AA and AAA batteries in everything - expensive, but pretty much a necessity in the cold.

I've probably forgotten stuff, but that's the bulk of it.

Three Weeks to Go

Recently an old climbing friend emailed me to find out how things were going for Cho Oyu. Here's what I told him:

I leave in less than three weeks (April 4). It's the usual mixture of excitement, nerves, and the occasional tendril of fear if I let my mind wander to thoughts of getting whited out on the summit plateau at 8000m. Everything's booked, my gear is all ready to go (not that that stops me from fussing with it!). I'm at the point in my training where nothing I do now will make much of a difference. You always wonder if you could have trained more, but I'm feeling pretty strong. Up and down Blackstrap for two hours today with big boots and pack and no breaks. But the real test will be on the hill.

It's strange to be going without Shelley, she's been my constant climbing partner for 10 expeditions over the last 20 years. Also strange to not have a team for the first time, but I'm kind of looking forward to that part. No one else to worry about, no one to fall behind or get ahead, no big logistics. It's a much simpler game, just me and the mountain, and that's appealing. With the right partner can be better than solo, but big teams can be worse.

Of course, so much of it is a crap shoot - I just have to hope I acclimatize, stay healthy, and get decent weather.

Unfinished Business

Here is a brief article I wrote for our local alpine club section newsletter:

As usual, people keep asking, “Where are you going next?” Well, this spring I'm heading back to Cho Oyu on the border between Tibet and Nepal. Nine years ago, in 1997, Shelley and I organized and led our first big expedition there. A lot has changed since then.

That was one of our first expeditions. This will be my 11th.

It took us a year of unreliable long distance faxes and snail mail to arrange things with the Chinese Mountaineering Association. This time I simply emailed Asian Trekking in Kathmandu and told them I wanted to go.

Then we had a group of 11 people. This time I'm going on my own.

High altitude doesn't seem to agree with Shelley any more and rather than organize another group I decided to try a new challenge and climb solo. Cho Oyu is normally climbed unroped anyway and I'm familiar with the route so it seemed like a good choice.

Asian Trekking will arrange transportation from Kathmandu and provide a cook at base camp. After that it's all up to me - no sherpas and no oxygen. I'll be carrying all my own loads and setting up my own camps. Not that I'm likely to be "alone". It’s a popular mountain and there will be other climbers around.

In '97 our group was successful in getting two people to the top but neither Shelley or I summited, mostly because the weather turned bad and we ran out of time. Cho Oyu is known as the "easiest" of the fourteen 8000m peaks but that doesn't mean it's easy - just that the others are even harder.

At 8201m, Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world and although it's not technically difficult, it's still a very big mountain and the altitude and the weather are tough obstacles to overcome.

It never seems like you can train enough for these kinds of trips but you still have to try. In the fall I did lots of running, both hills and longer (e.g. 25 km) runs. Now I'm concentrating more on stairs and carrying a 25kg pack for 15 to 20 km hikes.

I leave on April 4, flying from Saskatoon to Los Angeles to Bangkok to Kathmandu. After a few days in Kathmandu to make final arrangements I'll travel by road across the border and through Tibet to the mountain. Even on the drive you gain a lot of altitude so we’ll have to stop extra days along the way to acclimatize. From the end of the road it's a two day walk to base camp with yaks to carry everything. Then I'll have 25 days to work my way up and down the mountain, gradually acclimatizing to higher and higher altitudes, resting at base camp in between. Then it's a matter of hoping for three or four days of good weather to go for the summit. (And get down again!)

Full Conditions

I was out training (walking up and down with a big pack) today at Blackstrap, our local ski hill. It was very windy. One of the staff said the wind at the top was 110 km per hour (70 mph). I'd believe it - the last 10 m to the top is steep and icy and you had to be careful not to get blown off your feet. I could have used my crampons. On top it felt like you had to lean about 45 degrees into the wind to not get blown over. Luckily it was only about -5 c (20 f). If it had been much colder the windchill would have been brutal.

Of course, this is the prairies so the ski hill has a whopping vertical of about 90m. Still, it's more realistic than running up and down stairs in an office building.

Beginnings

I guess I should start with a bit of an introduction. My name is Andrew McKinlay. I grew up and live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada - the middle of the prairies. Not exactly what most people would think of as an adventurous place. My earliest claim to "adventure" comes from my parents. I was born in Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa. My parents lived in East Africa for 10 years, but they left when I was only a year old so I can't claim any memories of Africa.

My favorite brand of adventure is mountain climbing. People think that's a little strange for a person from the prairies. My mother claims it's a result of being born next door to Kilimanjaro - the highest mountain in Africa. Neither of my parents were climbers. My father tried to climb Kilimanjaro once when they were living there, but turned around short of the summit. That was the beginning and the end of his climbing career. But they were supportive of my adventurous streak from an early age. Of course, that support got tempered by fear for my safety as my adventures got more serious. I remember before my first Himalayan trip asking my father what he thought of me going to a big climb in Tibet (Changtse). His response was short and sweet: "Don't be ridiculous!" But in the end I think he was proud of my accomplishments.

My first big trip was to Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Not wanting to go on the "tourist" route, we chose Catacomb Ridge on the East Buttress. We trained hard, climbing in the Rockies in the winter to get used to conditions but we had no idea what we were getting into. Our third person cancelled, leaving just two of us. Then we couldn't land near the base of the route as planned which meant to lot of dangerous glacier travel with two people. We barely managed to get on the route itself. But it was a great learning experience. A few years later we went back and had a great time succeeding on the West Buttress "tourist" route.

When I was younger I had typical fantasies about becoming a world famous mountain climber. When I succeeded on my first 8000m peak (Broad Peak) it fueled these fantasies. By then I knew I'd never be a world class rock or ice climber, but I did seem to do pretty well at altitude. We were even asked to give a presentation on our climb at the Annual General meeting of the Alpine Club of Canada. But my lack of success on the following three 8000m expeditions (Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Shishapangma) pretty much eradicated any remaining fantasies. On the positive side, we managed to get someone to the top on three out of four 8000m peaks (all but Shish). From a team leaders point of view I guess that's pretty good.

My climbing partner on all of these trips was Shelley Ballard/McKinlay. I proposed in base camp at Broad Peak soon after returning from the summit. We got married later that year. I joke that it was the lack of oxygen at altitude but I think it had more to do with narrowly escaping getting killed in a storm on the descent from the summit. Seven people were killed in that storm next door on K2. It was a sobering experience and it reminded me we don't live forever.

Unfortunately, on Shishapangma Shelley started to have problems with the altitude. It didn't seem to be life threatening (i.e. it wasn't cerebral or pulmonary edema) but puking all the time doesn't make for a fun time. So we gave up on 8000m peaks for a while.

Instead, we visited East Africa to see where I'd been born and to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro (highest in Africa). We successfully climbed the Western Breach route.

Our next big trip was to Chile and Argentina where we climbed the False Polish route on Aconcagua (highest in South America).

It was nice to be successful on Kilamanjaro and Aconcagua after our lack of success on the last three 8000m expeditions.