Mustagata July 2007

Mustagata July 2007

(photo by Jon Otto)
Mustagata: news of our expedition
1 July to 24 July 2007
Dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Peacock. He will be missed very much.
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Dispatches:

 
 
(Jon Otto)
Transcription:
 
 
Hello SummitClimb News! This is Arnold again, the leader of the Mustagata Expedition.

Right now I'm calling from Kashgar. All the members are doing fine.

Everybody is enjoying the restaurants and warm weather. We've managed to leave one day earlier from Basecamp. All of the Tibetans did a great job carrying all of the gear down in one day, so there was no need for us to stick around any longer.

We're all relaxing now and tonight we are going to have a group dinner.

Everything is fine, but if I have any more news I will call back again.
Bye, bye.
 
 
20 July, 2007
 
 
 
This was a windy and sunny summit day (J Otto).

Transcription:

Hello SummitClimb News! This is Arnold, the leader of the Mustagata expedition.

This morning at 5:30 we took off for our summit attempt with the five British ladies and Alison. Unfortunately, Maja and Jim agreed this morning to not go for the summit. Right now Jim is safe in Basecamp already and Maja just skied down to Camp 1.

The five ladies had a really hard time going to the summit and eventually they had to quit because they had run out of time. They are doing well and nothing is wrong. Allison and Carol skied down to Camp 1. All the other ladies are still in Camp 3, gether with Chiring, Lopshung and Longtong.

I'm here with Asu in Camp 2 and we are the middle support camp,so if the guys come down tomorrow we can give them some help. Also we have to carry the camps down because the expedition is finished, so that means we have to carry all of the group gear back down to Basecamp.

So, if everybody is back tomorrow, I will call in again. That's it for now.
Bye, Bye.

19 July, 2007
 
 

 
(K. O`Brien & G. Kellund)
Transcription:
 
 
Hello SummitClimb news! This is Arnold again, the leader of the Mustagata expedition, but this time I'm calling from Camp 3, 6800 metres.

We had three summits today. Edwin, Carsten, and John Pando summited. The weather was very windy in the morning and late in the day it was hot. Combining that together makes it more difficult. "Big John", as we call him, John Hansen, turned around at 7200 metres because he decided that this was enough and that's a wise decision.

So right now we are in Camp 3 with Maja from Denmark, the 5 women from the UK, Squash, Kathy, Carol, Ali, Allison, and Susie, and Jim is also here from the US, together with our Tibetan climbers Lopshung and Chiring, and our Chinese climber Longtong, and then there is me the leader of the expedition.

I hope tomorrow we can call in many more summits. First we're resting here getting rehydrated and hoping to catch some sleep. So you will here from me tomorrow again. Bye, Bye.
 
 
camp 2.JPG (39018 bytes)
Bill walking down to basecamp from camp 1, after summitting (Jon Otto). Ellen and Angela in Camp 2 at 6200 metres (DL Mazur)

Arnold called in again-


Hello SummitClimb News again. This is Arnold again.

I'm very, very sorry that I forgot to call in the name of another climber here Camp 3, Allison from the US. She is doing perfectly fine. It slipped my mind because I have been concentrating so hard on getting us prepared to go for the summit.

I'm very sorry, but everything is OK, so please put Allison on the list of people in Camp 3 also. Bye, Bye.

18 July, 2007
 
 
Arnold Reports in Live (Click Here to Listen)

Urs Skiis down from the summit on our 2005 climb (Jon Otto).

Transcription:

Hello SummitClimb news! This is Arnold, but this time I am calling from Camp 2 at 6100 metres.

I just had a radio call from our summit team at Camp 3, 6800 metres. Today they it was hot with no wind, but very nice weather. So their plan is to set off this morning early at 4:00 and to go for the summit so they can summit before noon and miss the afternoon clouds. The people up there are Edwin, Carsten, John Pando, and John Hansen, together with our Tibetans Champa, Yunden, and Asu, our Chinese climber.

I'm here in Camp 2 and the plan is to go to Camp 3 tomorrow so we can summit the day after. I'm here with the 5 UK women, Maja from Denmark, Jim from the US, and me Arnold. Everything is going great and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. For now we're sitting in camp.(Cuts out here).

17 July, 2007
 
 
 
 
Dan skiing down from the summit (Richard Bothwell)
Transcription:
 
 
Hello SummitClimb news. This is Arnold, the leader of the Mustagata expedition. Right now I am calling from Camp 1 at 5300 metres.

I just had a radio call from our team in Camp 2 and everybody is doing fine. The people in Camp 2 are Edwin, Carsten, John Hansen, and John Pando, together with our leaders Asu and Tibetan climbers Champa and Yunden. They are in great shape, they're feeling good, and tomorrow will try to reach Camp 3.

Unfortunately we met Brianna on her way down while we were climbing up to Camp 1. She decided to stop climbing because after everything that has happened recently, she can not find the motivation, which is completely understandable.

So I'm here in Camp 1 with our 5 British woman team members and Alison and Maya,. So there are 7 women here, which for me is very special. Luckily Torstein and Jim are here, so we can have some great conversations.

Tomorrow our plan is to set out at 8:00 in the morning and climb to Camp 2. We are the B-team and one day behind the A-team. So let's see what happens. The weather looks good and I think we have a reasonable chance to summit and finish this climb.

I will call again from Camp 2. Bye, Bye.
 
 
14 July, 2007
(Dan Mazur)
 

13 July, 2007
(Dan Mazur)
 

11 July, 2007
 
 
 
 
Photo: Urs Jaggi
Transcription:
 
 
Hello SummitClimb news readers! This is Arnold again, the leader of the Mustagata Expedition.

Yesterday all members came back down after spending their first night at altitude. For some members this was their first experience with the highcamp life, melting snow for water, and trying to cook a decent meal.
This is an important part of high altitude mountaineering. Think of the fact that each person drinks 4 litres of water a day. That means you have to melt 12 litres of snow for that.

Luckily all this hard work was rewarded the next day with a fresh layer of powder snow. Our members on skiis hiked up to almost 6000 metres and put their signatures in the powder on the way down.

Today our first team went back up to Camp 1. Their plan is to finalize their acclimatization and sleep in Camp 2 at 6200 metres, which was established by our Tibetan sherpas yesterday. After sleeping in camp 2, our plan is that our members will come back to Base Camp for a rest and then they can go for the summit. Tomorrow our second group will set off and do exactly the same.
 
 
So when this is finished, I'll call back with more news. Bye Bye.
 
 
6 July 2007
skier.JPG (10359 bytes)
Dan skiing with the Kongur massif behind (Richard Bothwell)
 
 
 
 
Transcription:

Hello SummitClimb news readers.

We arrived in Base Camp and spent two nights here already. Our Base Camp is very nice and comfortable. We camp on grass here, which makes everything really nice. Base Camp is at 4500 metres.

After resting and organizing the gear and tents yesterday all members walked to Camp 1 today at 5350 metres. The walk to Camp 1 is gentle on an easy walk path. It takes about 4 hours from Base Camp to get there.

Also Jon, Sue, and Arnold scouted a way to Camp 2 already. After Camp 1 the snow starts and they wanted a safe route to Camp 2. The route is pretty gentle with only one big crevasse on the way. On the way down, Sue and Arnold had the privilege to make the first turns on the verge of the snow. We are the only team on the mountain so every where we go the terrain is virgin.

When we camp down the cook had a nice surprise for us. Fresh goat meat and deer. So everybody’s stomach is full now to go up to Camp 1 tomorrow and sleep there. So until tomorrow when I tell you some more news, Bye Bye.

4 July, 2007
(Jon Otto)
 
 
Transcription:

Hello SummitClimb news readers. I’m Arnold, the leader of the Mustagata Expedition 2007.

Yesterday we left from Kashgar to begin our approach to the mountain. After a nice drive through the mountains, we reached our first camp at the Karakul Lake. We arrived at the edge of the lake and when the sun set we could see the reflection of the mountain around us in the water.

Tomorrow after we spend our second night at the lake, we will pack camp and set up Base Camp the next day. Our gear will be transported by camels to get there. So lets see how all of that works out and I will send the next dispatch from Base Camp. Bye Bye.

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