Dan Mazur's Kangchenjunga Spring 2002

Dispatch March 9th, 2002: The weather dawned, sunny and beautiful and warm and there was no wind. We had a big breakfast of cheese omlettes, pancakes, fresh bacon, tea and coffee, then set for training and equipment review. Each member showed their equipment and we worked to fine tune each sling, jumar, descender, ice axe leash, crampon, etceteras, to make everything as perfect as possible. Then we practiced rope travel across the rapidly melting, newly fallen snow around basecamp, and made our way over to a safe looking gully where there were some ice patches to be found. Everyone practiced setting up a belay using pitons in rock, and ice screws in ice. Then we fixed 100 meters of rope over two ice bulges, and everyone practiced ascending and descending fixed lines using safe techniques, and practiced using all of their bits of kit. It was a warm and beautiful afternoon. We returned to basecamp and had a massive lunch of fresh vegetables, noodles, rice, and soup, then reviewed our walkie-talkie radio procedure. All the snow had melted by now, and we went to bed. The night was a bit warmer with temperatures around -5 degrees centigrade [see note below].

Thank you very much. Cheers for now. Yours
Sincerely, Daniel Mazur from http://www.SummitClimb.com

Please join us in watching the "live-update" status of 2002 climbing
expeditions to Nepal and Tibet on: http://www.everestnews.com/kang2002.htm

Note: In March of 2002, this team is attempting the 7200 meter Mount Nojin Kansa (picture below), a moderate peak near Lhasa Tibet, which has never had a western ascent. In April-June of 2002, they will be attempting Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, located in Eastern Nepal.

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