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HADT - DIARY UPDATE FOR: DAY 16 - WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL 2004 |
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| Camp Location: | Mera La (5300m) | |||||
| Major Occurrences: | Nil | |||||
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SUMMARY OF ACTIVITY BY TEAM |
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| 06 Apr 04 - After a frenetic few hours packing
our mountain kit we moved up the Mera Glacier reaching, after 4
hours, the spot were we would establish our high camp. At an altitude
of 5800m it was situated on a rocky island in the middle of the
glacier and consisted of a number of tiny ledges, barely large enough
to accommodate our tents. The situation was compounded when a 6-man
group from Eire turned up as well! Our daily weather forecasts from
FLEET Headquarters had warned us of a probable change of weather
and by late afternoon it was snowing heavily on the mountain with
intermittent thunder and lightening directly overhead. We therefore
took to our sleeping bags with some concern as to our chances of
success the following day. Our Sherpa staff and a small kitchen
retinue accompanied us to the campsite and despite the miserable
weather conditions managed to provide a service not dissimilar to
the valley! 07 Apr 04 - 0300 breakfast in bed - well a 'boil in the bag' was thrust through the frosted doorway! There had been a large dump of snow overnight and although it was still dark there was a very low cloud base and a very cold wind. The decision was made to proceed and by 0415 most people were outside their tents booted and spurred. We set off in three roped parties with the front team including our three young Sherpas who did a fantastic job of breaking trail through through the deep fresh snow. Route-finding was far from simple with complex snow-covered crevasse systems to negotiate. There were many false summits but eventually by about 0900 the Central Summit (6464m) came into view. The final sting in the tail was a huge crevasse almost girdling the summit block. This stops many parties at this point but we were determined to get to the real summit and after climbing some steep neve and the judicious use of a short length of fixed rope all 11 members of the HADT stood on the summit. Although Mera Peak is not technically difficult it is the highest 'trekking peak' in Nepal and the altitude and associated shake-down of equipment will hopefully stand us in good stead for the greater challenges of Baruntse to come. |
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PHOTOGRAPHS
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