#chooyu2016

[zebblais]

Daily convection above Camp 2 on #ChoOyu taken from 24,300'. #beauty eh? 🌄 @alpenglowexpeditions #AdventureDoneRight #chooyu2016

[zebblais]

#8000m on #ChoOyu just after dawn on October 1. The summit plateau is almost never ending, but the backdrop is spectacular. So it's OK 😁. We were alone with nothing in view but the massive Himalaya and Tibetan plateau. It was a beautiful and humbling experience. @alpenglowexpeditions #AdventureDoneRight #chooyu2016

[zebblais]

A huge shout out to our #sherpa team who make all of these #8000m dreams possible. I'm continuously amazed at their strength, ability and patience at these incredible altitudes. Seeing our crew from #everest this spring at #ChoOyu base camp made me so happy! It's so easy to work with these guys- I can't wait to do it again already. Pictured here is Panuru our Sirdar (leader of the Sherpa team) at the base of the ice cliff 20,500' between Camp 1 and Camp 2. Just follow the yellow line to camp 2 :), blue is for rapping. On this trip our team was Panuru, Palden @namgye, Pasang Ringi and Panuru's son @lhakpagyaljen. It was Lhakpa's first 8000m peak and great to have him on the trip with his dad. It was Panuru's 14th time to the top! @AlpenglowExpeditions #AdventureDoneRight #climb8000 #chooyu2016

[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]

It's been a whirlwind. Today I left #ChoOyu ABC exactly 3 weeks after arriving at Cho base camp. While it seems like weeks ago, I shot this photo yesterday at 21,000'. The calendar hasn't changed much, but @brooks.entwistle, @adrianballinger , @emilyaharrington and I are worlds away from where we were just hours ago. We're halfway to#Lhasa and tomorrow they will be on planes home (I'm headed to #Kathmandu for a night). What an amazing and crazy world we live in! More photos and stories from the expedition to follow #chooyu2016 #🍕🍟 @AlpenglowExpeditions #RapidAscent (at Shigatse)

[zebblais]

Camp 1 - Home for the night! We're heading up the hill in a few minutes to begin our #summit push. A good omen appeared as we woke this morning at #ChoOyu ABC: the summit poked through the clouds for the first time since we descended from our acclimatization rotation. We're well rested and psyched to begin our climb to the top! #getonup @alpenglowexpeditions #rapidascent #🍕🍟 #AdventureDoneRight #chooyu2016 #ChoNoFilter (at Cho Oyu)

[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)