Last Day to Basecamp
Leaving Shersong for Baruntse basecamp
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Sunset on Makalu
There is nothing like watching a long sunset on a mountain over 26,000′ tall capped with 6,000′ of granite. Makalu.
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Lower Morraine.
Approaching basecamp on our next to last day, vegetation dotted the sandy shore of the Barun river.
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Happy Porters
A happy porter carries a load at nearly 16,000′, almost to Makalu basecamp.
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The Black Mountain
Over 26,000′ tall,Makalu looms over Jon and M’lin on the approach to basecamp.
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Dispatch 8: 4/24/09 Merek
Dense soaking drizzle envelops us as it rides on swirling white clouds that whisp from ridgeline to ridgeline and the settle at nightfall on our apricot colored tents…soaking every surface. We are soggy, but our appetites for mileage and altitude are merely whetted. We are 2 days from basecamp, it has been epic getting here, todays 4 hours of sunlight revealed why it is so worth it .
Yesterday we traversed three 14,000′ passes in a whiteout. Time stood still as visbility dropped to less than 60 feet for much of the day. The hush of fog and deep labored plunges into dirty white snow contrasted occassionally with the whoops and hollers of the porters. A true adventure is what we wanted, I would think only getting to Baruntse could top the fun we’ve had on the approach.
We are now only two days from our basecamp. The team is happy to be covering the ground and a little sad to be saying goodbye to the local porters and cook staff who have really helped make this leg of the journey possible. Delightful giggles are never too far away as these men and women carry 100lb. loads using nothing more than a basket secured to their heads by a tumpline, a headband, that wraps their forehead. Simply amazing. Above basecamp we will be shouldering all of our equipment, but to get there and set up to stay for a stretch, these wonderful people have made it possible.
Some other very noteworthy folks to thank are my sponsors (www.skithehimalayas.com/sponsors/). I got an e-mail from a friend who is following the trip and he expressed how amazing it was that we were here despite this economy. He’s right,without financial backing from Mountain Hardwear and Osprey backpacks I’d be in a cubicle right now at a job I really like…but it isn’t the Himalaya. I truly consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to be sponsored and awarded these opportunities. Hard work,committent and persistence have made this dream possible. Ten years of it and it only gets better! I’m thankful for my partners too,we’ve all made sacrifices to be here to enjoy the priceless value of climbing and skiing the Himalayas.
We will check back in upon our arrival in a few days. In the meantime please visit the homepage at www.skithehimalayas.com I have posted some new photos and hope you enjoy them. As we settle into basecamp I will send more and larger ones. Once we enter the alpine zone the photos will be incredible! I can’t believe we are almost there.
Live the Dream,
Ben Clark
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First view!
Eight days of trekking led us to the first view of a 6000 meter peak,2 days from basecamp. The peak is in the right hand corner of the photo.
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Mumbuk
The morning of 4/24, the team dropped back down to 11,200′ before seeing our first rays of welcoming sun in over 4 days.
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Himalayan scale
Porters took shelter under this enormous granite boulder during the heavy rains the team experienced on the approach.
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4/22/09 CNN interview from Khongma
Here is a 5 minute video update from CNN:
Click here to watch on cnn.com or just watch in the video player below:
[cnn=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&vid=/video/living/2009/04/22/dcl.ben.clark.intv.cnn" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a>]