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This August/September this team of six international climbers
will be attempting to climb Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world,
without either the aid of oxygen or sherpas.
THE CLIMB in their words !
The climb of an 8000m
mountain is, still today, a major achievement. Even
though all the mountains above 8000m have been climbed
many times and by many routes, none of them can be
considered trivial.
A climb of this
nature requires special equipment for high altitude:
clothing, tents, sleeping bags, super-light climbing
gear. The gear must be tested beforehand, the food
chosen for its weight as much as its performance (to
provide for aerobic work with lack of oxygen and
serious dehydration). Physical fitness is paramount,
since you cannot rely on any kind of external help on
short notice.
The key to high
altitude climbing is acclimatisation. During
acclimatisation, the body slowly adjusts to lack of
oxygen, creating a greater number of red blood cells
in the body. Good acclimatization involves at least
two or three weeks between the altitudes of 4000 to
7000 meters.
To counter this, the
approach to the mountain will be gradual: we will
arrive in Base Camp at about 5000 meters. From there,
with the help of yaks for carrying gear, we will get
to Advanced Base Camp up on a rocky moraine at 5700
meters of altitude.
At this point, we
will start installing the higher camps, first at
6400m, then C2 near 6900m and last C3 at 7400m. The
camps will be stored with everything necessary for
summit bids and some parts of the route will be fixed
with rope in order to facilitate the transport of the
loads. The ascent includes a few technical passages in
the seracs above Camp 1, a delicate rock passage above
Camp 2 and the crossing of steep snow slopes also
above Camp 3. Major risks on this route are strong
winds (frostbite) and heavy snow falls (avalanches).
Everything we use on
the mountain will be removed upon completion of the
climb in order to leave the place exactly as we found
it. The climb will be organized around the fitness of
individuals, the conditions of the mountain. The
weather, if bad, can cancel any kind of effort. At
those altitudes the last words always comes from the
mountain.
