FTA Ama Dablam 2011 - in C1 on summit push!

from stu in the usa office
Nov 22, 2011

Ben called in a few minutes ago to let us know that everyone was feeling great in C1 and they are planning to move up to C2 tomorrow. They had a great weather all day long but for a few clouds in the afternoon. When Ben called they were brewing up tea and and enjoying a beautiful and clear sunset. 

Setting sun along the ridge between C1 and C2 © stu remensnyder

If the winds remain calm they'll aim for the top on the 24th or 25th.The last few days have seen very calm winds but they are unfortunately looking to pick up a bit for the next 4-5 days so our team will have some wind for sure and we hope not too much. The predictions are for winds between 15 and 30kmph at the 7000m level and depending on how much shelter they get from the wind they may not even feel much of it till the summit plateau. 

Ama Dablam from just above base camp © stu remensnyder

I recall in 2005 having nearly no wind all the way to the top but just after cresting the ridge with winds were so strong you could not hear another person talk and spending more than 5 mins on the top made no sense. After dropping down just 50 meters it was once again quite calm and nice. We'll hope our team sees such a pattern enabling them to climb with little or no wind for most of the day.

climbing above C2 © stu remensnyder

The teams coming down have mentioned that the mushroom ridge is quite soft and it has been difficult to manage with big packs so our team is looking to summit from C2 to avoid the need for heavy packs to C3. As such they will have to depart at 2am and manage the cold of the early morning before catching and warming rays if sun. Our team in 2010 did this as well so it is something Siddhi is ready for and has good experience doing! 

the awesome traverse just below the mushroom ridge © stu remensnyder

The team has spare days yet so they will be cautious about pushing through cold and wind and if this bid does not go they will rest up a few days and try again.


Ben plans to call in from C2 with the latest on the plan for  a summit bid and we'll have that tomorrow!