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Dhaulagiri
Expedition 2002
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March
23-27, 2002
March 28, 2002
Monday,
April 1, 2002
Tuesday,
April 2, 2002
Tuesday,
April 2-4, 2002
Picture
Show
April
5, 6 and 8
Tuesday,
April 9, 2002: I
spoke with Mountain Link Expedition Leader Robert
Link, Tuesday April 9th at 6 pm PST. It was 6 am
Nepal time. He said they spent the night in Hidden
Valley.
Wonderful
Pictures...
Pictures
from April 14th
Dispatches
April 15-17, 2002 and more
Monday,
April 15, 2002: We have just arrived at basecamp.
It has been an extremely challenging journey so
far; deep snow and high steep terrain have been
slowing our progress. Fortunately for the
expedition, we are working with some of the
toughest porters I have ever seen. They are all
from the Makalu region and related to Bhoka Llama
who was part of our kitchen staff on the first
American Team ascent of Kanchenjunga in 1989.
April
18, 2002 – Jerry Clark: Attached is an adobe acrobat
file that will assist you in locating places near the
mountain. It
is in 2 parts, 8- /2 by 11 so you can print it and put
it together and see the trek from Jomosom to
Dhaulagiri Base Camp.
The mountain peak is south of Base camp... Click
here for the full dispatch.
April
20, 2002: Having
guided the longest endurance climb in America 23
successful times, Mount Rainier (a 9,000' ascent) I
already knew that an ascent to 15,900' Kalo Pani from
8,700' Jomosom was not going to be an easy day.
Click
here for the full dispatch.
April
21, 2002 – Ben Clark: The
crisp sunlight that warmed the nylon surface
of our tent this morning was enough to finally
muster my eyes open and my mind free and clear
again. Waking
to legs feeling fresh and a mental attitude
renewed, the long traverse across Dhampas and
French Pass, both above 17,000', to base camp
seemed a worthy and exciting goal for the day.
Click
here for the full dispatch.
April
22, 2002 – Ben Clark Today's dispatch is my
last until returning from the upper mountain.
For the last few days the climbing
Sherpa have made the preparations on the
mountain so we can begin our ascent.
The Sherpa's
effort has advanced as far as Camp Two
at over 19,000' and our own effort has
installed a tent full of gear at Camp One so
that we can begin the long steady ascent to
the deadly zone above... Click
here for the full dispatch.
April
26, 2002 – Jerry Clark: Ben called last night.
They are at Camp 2 at 19,000 feet.
At the present time he said they are having a
"McKinley Storm". (Last year on McKinley,
Ben, Robert Link and others were stuck for 7 days in a
high wind/snow storm at 19,000 feet) Two feet of snow
had fallen Thursday night (Nepal time).
Click here for the full
dispatch.
Saturday
Night CST- April 27, 2002 Ben Clark phone call to
Lindsay Rinehart: Ben
called last night from Camp Two, where he has been
stranded for a few days.
A blizzard hit and left the group with a fresh
three feet of snow and unable to move up or down.
Now, even though the storm is a mere memory,
the expedition has the wait for the snow to blow off
or fall off the mountain to make it safe for the group
to move back to basecamp to resupply.
Ben says they are out of food and short of
power for phones. Click
here for the full dispatch.
Hey
there. I
am home safe and sound.
Its great to see the family and my
mother is now relieved to see me! Click
here for the full dispatch.
Monday
– April 29, 2002 – Robert Link Expedition
Leader: We
had to bail out of Camp 2 yesterday. Deep snow
and dwindling food supply forced the team to
return to base camp. A big storm came through
a couple of days ago and dumped a few feet of
snow. It trapped us in camp so we spent the
time building and improving our... Click
here for the full dispatch.
Robert
and Ole punching towards Camp 3 in one meter
of fresh snow that fell at
Camp 2 Photo:
Jeff Justman
Ben
called Friday morning and said that they were planning
on moving up the mountain to make the final assault on
the summit. He
said they planned to leave for Camp 2 at 21,500 feet
on Saturday (Friday night USA).
The plan is to move straight to Camp 3 at
23,600 feet on Sunday, (Saturday night USA) Camp 4 at
24,500 feet Monday, (Sunday night USA) and Summit
26,788 feet on Tuesday (Monday night USA)...
Click
here for the full dispatch.
May
3, 2002 – Ben Clark: Situated in the safety of base camp underneath the 12,000' North Face of
Dhaulagiri, our team spirit and strength continues to grow stronger.........as
do the fierce winds from overhead. Our
days now revolve around resting and making preparations for our summit assault.
When our margin of safety is increased by a trend in the weather, which
will not leave our team up to our thighs in snow and up to our necks in peril,
the anticipation of a summit attempt will be put into action.... Click
here for the full dispatch.
7:45
AM CST May 8 – Ben Clark: Ben called last night (May
8) at 1:30 AM CST (12:15 PM Nepal) The weather was clear and
there was light wind.
The expedition had been at Camp 3 and had run
low on food. JJ
and the Greek went down to Camp 2 to bring new
supplies up to Camp 3.
The main group left Camp 3 and moved to Camp 4
at 24,500 feet. At
the time of the call, JJ and the Greek were about 3
hours from Camp... Click
here for the full dispatch.
May
10, 2002 - The Mountain Link Office: We received word
from Angie Nickamin, Dave's wife, that the group was
safe, sound, and healthy at Camp 4. The team made it
close to the summit. Click
here for the full dispatch.
May
13, 2002 - I received a message from Robert on Saturday from Camp 2. He recapped
their summit attempt stating they were a couple of hours from the summit.
However, high winds, a late departure for the summit, and snow conditions
prevented them from attaining the summit. In his message, he stated twice with
emphasis that, "Dhaulagiri is a big, hard, technical mountain!" Robert
has climbed many mountains in his career... Click
here for the full dispatch.
Dhaulagiri
Expedition 2002 Pictures from up high...
Wednesday,
May 15, 2002: It has been quite some time since we
have had a chance to send an update on what we have
been up to. A lot has gone on, but at present we are
at Base with everyone safe and sound. I will try and
recount our last foray up on the mountain, but I must
start with us at Base camp waiting for a good weather
window. Click
here for the full dispatch.
May
17, 2002 – The Mountain Link Office: Robert
called from Camp 2 this morning... Click
here for the full dispatch.
Moving
up to camp 3
The
Mountain Link Dhaulagiri Expedition has decided to
turn back.
May
29, 2002 – Mountain Link Group returns to the US...
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