#8000mskiteam

[zebblais]

Made it! So psyched to be back in Seattle. The autumn feel here is reminding me that ski season isn't far off! This is @brooks.entwistle ripping turns at about 24,000' on our descent from the summit of #ChoOyu. Ski conditions were not blower, champagne, Utah or any other type of face melting #powder, but we got a few pretty damn good turns up there. Can't complain at 8000m! #🍕🍟 @AlpenglowExpeditions #RapidAscent #8000mSkiTeam (at Frēlard Pizza Company)

[zebblais]

This is what it looks like to ski from 8,201 meters! It doesn't look that bad... But it was quite challenging! Tied for most challenging were snow surface and hauling the ski gear to the top. At 8000 meters every once counts and skiing adds a whole lot of ounces. Skis alone add at least 7 pounds (we carried real skis, not tiny ski mo skis) and leaving options open for descent lines I carried a lot of gear for crevasse rescue and rappelling anchors. As for the snow surface, in general we had a good snow season. Lots of consistent small storms without huge wind... At least right until our summit push. Just before we went up, a sizable and windy storm striped the upper slopes of the mountain and left a wind pressed and variable surface. You can't count on good snow quality at these elevations, but we were able to get a few good turns and there wasn't much dangerously firm snow. I skied from the top, arm wrapping the fixed lines through the yellow band and sticking close to @Brooks.entwistle my ski client. When we reached Camp 3 (24,300') we skied some great quality turns together to Camp 2 where we met @adrianballinger and @emilyaharrington. My skis stayed on until Camp 1, with a rope length rappel over the ice cliff. What a fun #🍕🍟 descent! Psyched to be on the #8000mskiteam! @AlpenglowExpeditions #RapidAscent #ski8000 #chooyu2016 (at Lhasa Gang-Gyan Hotel)

[zebblais]

I've been studying this picture a lot the last couple days from #ChoOyu ABC. I took it from near Camp 1. It shows the ice cliff at 22,500' before Camp 1.5 and two climbers approaching Camp 2. Most importantly it shows all of our ski descent options. It's hard not to get excited looking up to nearly 8,201m (26,900') and thinking about skiing down this face. My plan is for @Brooks.entwistle and I to start up the mountain tomorrow and use camps 1,2, and 3 on our way up to the top. Of course, staying flexible is a huge part of the plan too. There are a lot of factors we need to figure out along the way, such as other climbers, weather and snowpack. #getonup 💃 @alpenglowexpeditions #rapidascent #chooyu2016 #8000mSkiTeam (at Cho Oyu)

[zebblais]

We've been busy at ABC building red blood cells and restoring glycogen. It's tough work. 8, sometimes 10, hours a day of resting, eating and drinking coffee. I'm exaggerating, but our bodies do need to recover after the stress we've put them though the last few days. During our acclimatization rotation we hauled skis and skied above 21,000 three days, spent 4 nights sleeping 21k' and climbed through everything from scree to breakable crust in weather from cold and calm to nuclear heat. #8000m climbing isn't easy, and a lot of folks that come here thinking otherwise either need a teaspoon of cement (Rx available by doctor @MonicaPiris) or get turned around. Today we were joined by @AlpenglowExpeditions owner @AdrianBallinger and rockstar climber, skier, adventurer and #🍕🍟 proponent @EmilyHarrington. We are doing a #RapidAscent, they are doing a Lightning Ascent. They just arrived but we're looking at summit windows on the same day... Check out #ChoOyuNoFilter. Psyched to have two more members on the #8000mSkiTeam ! 📷 From #ChoOyu Camp 1 a few nights ago #AdventureDoneRight #chooyu2016 (at Cho Oyu)

[zebblais]

Just got the first tracks of our #8000mSkiTrip! We spent 4 nights at 21,000' (6400m) to acclimatize and got some skiing in along the way. Pictured are Panuru our lead Sherpa and @brooks.entwistle as we head up the first part of the route above C1. The snow and weather conditions were all over the map. We had soft snow, hard snow, breakable crust, powder, and every variation in between. Weather was clear, cloudy, complete white out, windy and calm. We even had a few hours of scorching heat. Way to keep us guessing #ChoOyu! Def #🍕🍟 style. @AlpenglowExpeditions #AdventureDoneRight #8000mskiteam (at Cho Oyu)