The Kunlun 2004 expedition is now underway!!!

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Journal

Friday, 23 July:

As last minute packing and preparations are underway in London, Tokyo, Anchorage, California, Colorado, and Connecticut, team members are getting ready to fly to Kashgar via Beijing and Urumqi, arriving on 25 and 26 July. After final preparations in Kashgar, our convoy of three Toyota Landcruisers and one 6x6 rugged military vehicle will head southeast on the Silk Road towards Yecheng.

From there we will head south onto the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, through Mazar, to our last outpost of civilization in the military village of Dahongliutan. We expect to pass through on 01 August, assuming there are no issues with our military permits, and no vehicle trouble on the climbs through the 5000m passes of the Kunlun West.

Last minute information is trickling in from Kashgar& A Japanese expedition just came back after an unsuccessful attempt on Aksai Chin I, which had an unconfirmed summit by the Japanese in 1997. They report that the military road we hope to follow does indeed exist, and though in rough shape, should get us within 10km of Base Camp. By the time we set up Base Camp, we expect to have been on the road for five or six days.

Armed with coordinates and advice from previous expeditions, we will have to take our chances discovering the differences between the maps and the actual terrain. Thin blue hairlines on the map can easily turn out to be impassable glacial runoff. The maps also neglect to indicate the difference between surfaces such as mud and quicksand, both of which will eagerly swallow any vehicle up to its axles.

While exploring the unknown peaks of the Aksai Chin West, the team will have limited contact with the outside world. A decision was made to leave the laptop behind, so while there will be no live coverage with photos and video, we will be sending messages from our Iridium satellite phone for text coverage right here on EverestNews.com

This is the first of our messages relayed back from Kashgar. We have internet access here, so the message will obviously be much more thorough. Monday, 26 July:

After over 48 hours of travel, the first four members of the team have arrived in Kashgar: Toma, Brook, Randall and Dale. We met Johan last night at the airport and had a wonderful Chinese food dinner at John's Cafe. Today was spent touring around the city, viewing ancient Mosques and riding on donkey carts.

Probably the greatest entertainment of the day was watching Toma, Dale and Randall all get $0.35 haircuts today at a hole in the wall barbershop while the rest of us ate melons. It was quite a site...

We also toured the bazaars - quite possibly the most diverse collection of goods any of us had ever seen: dried frogs, horn shavings, silk rugs, warrior swords, and knives formed by blacksmiths right in front of us, just to name a few. Tonight we expect the rest of the crew to arrive. After a day of rest for them tomorrow, we will depart on Wednesday in our off-road vehicles. More details to come tomorrow after our de-briefing session tonight...

Thanks!-Brook

Wednesday, 28 July:

As our departure finally approaches, we are sorting out all of the last minute items needed for the trip, from bottles of oxygen to the three sheep requested by our cook. We're not sure what the cook has in store for our fuzzy friends, but we're already placing odds on which one will be the strongest during the races at base camp. The trucks have all arrived with the drivers, including the ten-ton monster that is apparently only three months old. Tonight we will be staying in a small town without a name about 250 km from Kashgar. Tomorrow will be a long haul, as we'll start out at 06h00 and drive until late into the night, arriving near a military base which is allowing us to camp nearby. Our motley crew has already shown to be full of characters, from the hardened route-finder Johan to the bubbly English student dishwasher Akram. The stories to come will no doubt be entertaining...

Brook

Thursday, 29 July:

After leaving Yecheng and driving for a full day we managed to arrive at the first military checkpoint. They held us there for 3 hours, until their desire to get rid of us became greater than their desire to keep us&we can be quite unbearable if need be. Apparently the 3 hours at the checkpoint wasn.t enough because after finally getting back on the one lane road we ended up traveling an additional 5 hours behind 200 military trucks. Eventually we made it to our final destination for the night, Dahongliutan. Tomorrow will be another few hours of travel before arriving at base camp. More to come?

-Brook

Friday, 30 July:

Expecting a 3 hour drive to Dahongliutan. After 3 hours of bumpy roads and a 5,000 meter pass we had barely made it half way to Xaidulla. Along the way we saw feral camels, horses and yaks, .referred to by Trevor as mountain cows.. At Xaidulla we waited as the drivers repaired fuel filters and brake cylinders and we brought out the last of the town naan for road snacks. Three hours more of driving brought us to a nice grassy valley a few kilometers short of Dahongliutan where we quickly set up camp before dark and the incoming rainstorm. At just over 13,000 feet we celebrated being out of the trucks by flying kites and tossing the Frisbee with the drivers. The cook made his first meal of ramen noodles and potatoes, apologizing for the simplicity. Later that night for reasons still unknown, our liaison officer Jimmy Wong began provoking the cooks and the drivers telling them they were in for great danger at Yecheng. He told them to expect wolves, horribly cold weather and raging rivers along the way.

-Brook

Saturday, 31 July:

By morning the drivers were reluctant to go any further. Only after hours of convincing by Randall that safety was our top priority were they willing to carry on. We drove out of Dahongliutan over another 5,000 meter pass and on to the Kunlun high desert plateau. After missing our military access road turn off we spent several hours scouting off road in an attempt to short cut and intersect the road. As the sun was getting lower in the sky we carried on in search of our lake passing nothing but dried up river beds along the way.

Just as we began entertaining the possibility that our lake had completely dried up appeared a mystical green lake much larger then any of us had envisioned. Unfortunately we quickly discovered the lake to be brackish and were forced to carry on in search of a fresh water stream feeding into the lake. After another hour of brutal driving, making it 10 for the day, we found a tiny stream no more than 6 inches across at its widest point. Again we quickly set up camp in the dark with strong winds filling our gear with a super fine dust.

We dammed up the stream to allow enough water to fill our kettles and bottles. Most members of the team, including the cook and drivers were feeling ill from the altitude&having gone from 13,000 feet to over 16,000 feet in just 1 day. The team went to bed after another makeshift meal&this one including canned fish and eggplant. Everyone was in dire need of a rest day!

-Brook

Sunday, 01 August

Nothing like a rough day at 16,000 feet, especially after a close call on water the night before. Everyone slept in, and aside from the ubiquitous headaches, all felt better. As a plan of attack materialized, it became clear that we would need another day before attempting base camp at all. The rest was interrupted by unrest from the drivers. Two wanted to continue the journey, and the drivers were looking for bribes. It quickly became clear that the drivers would get their way, as one started emptying his land cruiser of all expedition gear.

We asked for 30 minutes to come up with a plan and to see if we could pin point the mystery peak our selves. The drivers nixed that plan, and after a bit of yelling from both sides, we broke camp and headed back to the road before we were abandoned.

The drive back to Dahongliutan was dusty and bone shattering on the dry roads. The highlight was seeing beautiful peaks to the north, where they shone like pyramids at 22,000 feet. We rolled onto town to catch the truck and feed ourselves, at the last outpost this side of Tibet. Our cook was sent in to assist with dinner and after we supplied our own cooking gas, the process for preparing dinner for 18 commenced. We thought soon the chickens would be beheaded with a cleaver would be exciting, but we were wrong. The excitement was when Jimmy Wong, our liaison officer, picked up the cleaver and made a run for Johan. I disarmed Jimmy with the knife before he could throw it, and someone managed to take away the rock he picked up next. We separated the two and managed a nice meal be fore headed toward the peaks. One last bribe of 1,100 RMB and we were on our way. We followed the West Side of the valley and set up base camp there. Forming a fire line, we unloaded the truck and watched as it sped away into the darkness with our money. Tents were set up and a path to the stream was found. I shook hands with Johan, and we all looked forward to making our new base camp home. What a long day!

Randall

Monday, 02 August:

Last night did not end so peacefully as hoped. After Johan was all set to leave, none of the drivers would take him back to Kashgar. Scared out of their wits, they made up feeble excuses like poor headlights and a rattling radiator so they could not drive. Johan flashed his own knife, screaming about how Jimmy would get 7 years for armed assault when they got back toe Kashgar. Our driver then threw the knife into the darkness. Johan threatened to walk back to town and take care of Jimmy, if one of the drivers did not take him away. . I am leaving now&do not make me walk. I am not a coward, I will wake him up before I kill him!. Johan slept in on e land cruiser; Dale and Toma kept watch in the other. In the morning Johan and the remaining driver were gone. We were finally free from the psychotic adventures of our ground crew. Celebratory fireworks from Akram, our translator, then drew us from our tents.

Randall

Tuesday, 03 August:

Today we decided to start moving base camp farther up the valley. Exploration yesterday showed that the other side of the valley Alluvial Fan reaches more than a kilometer further upstream, and that the land cruiser should be able to make it most of the way.

We started with carries and our driver Tom made it right down next to the river on his first try. After a little trouble finding a way back up through the sandy surface, Gus made it back down to Base Camp 1. Two more runs in the truck tomorrow, and a few more carries to shift cam from 14, 300 feet to 14,800 feet. Everybody is healthy and happy.

Randall

Thursday, 05 August:

Officially a rest day&everyone is relaxing at base camp 2. It.s nice to finally have a day of no obligation, no camp to move and no drivers to argue with! The water here is just as silty as below but this morning Ben was up early and discovered a small spring where the water was clear. Three liters later Ben and Randall headed up towards the ridge of the west side of the stream. A few hours later they managed to scribble down sketches of the valley from their 18,000 foot vantage.

After our nightly meal of veggies, noodles and eggs, Annie took her turn singing us her favorite rendition of Blue Moon. After the applause had subsided we all noticed that the afternoon glacier run off had swollen the rivers to twice its size and was consuming the bridge to our tents. Gerard and crew did their best to hack away with the pick ax at the river bed, attempting to divert the flow but eventually we got everyone to safety and turned in for the night.

Brook

Friday, 06 August:

Since we don.t have any maps for the Dahongliutan a lot of reconnaissance will be needed to determine our ideal route to the tops of these mountains. Brook, Trevor and myself left base camp at noon local time with our high camp food and fuel to deposit in a cash up the canyon&to ease the burden of getting gear to 19,000 feet. I was setting the pace and apparently was going to fast, although I thought the guys were doing great.

We made it all the way up the valley when it turned left to reveal a 150-200 foot tall glacier. We decided to skirt the right edge of the glacier which we felt was a little dicey. It was sketchy climbing with brittle shale rocks on our right and glacial walls and towers on our left. Brook, Trevor and I pushed to new record highs for all of us . over 17,000 feet. After soaking in the views, we turned around and headed back to base camp where I drew a map of our findings.

- Toma

Saturday, 07 August:

There was a bit of excitement around camp today as several parties readied themselves for a carry up to 16,800 feet. Knowing that the glacier (named Dr. Seuss) comes down so far will make the adventure of route finding a little more exciting.

Ben, Dale, Gerard, and I took a carry up to the tow of the glacier and then split up for more exploration. Dale and Ben headed up the left (SW) side of Dr. Seuss, while Gerard and I climbed the ridge opposite.

The ridge is comprised of broken rock but we managed to get to 19,000 feet where we could look at the north east and see the 3 peaks we can see from base camp: Lefty, the Matterhorn, and Nevis. All names subject to change upon summitting!

We could not retreat the way we came, so we scrambled down 2,000 feet of scree and popped out where yesterday.s reconnaissance ended: the perfect place for our next camp!

-Randall

Sunday, 08 August:

Today most people made their 1st carry up to high camp. There was some debate over whether to do carries or work alpine style but as we need to acclimatize anyway, carries seem ideal.

Brook, Karen, Toma and Trevor got an early start and explored past high camp along the lateral moraine of Dr. Seuss. They made it up over 19,000 feet and had great views of all 3 summits and potential routes.

Ben, Dale and I had a late start and were last to arrive back at base camp. Toma met us and informed us that the chaos had broken loose again and this time our camp staff had been drinking for hours and had a mutiny in hand for me as expedition leader.

After putting myself in the most apologetic mood I could find, I wandered over to the nest tent to be faced with 3 charges&. using the ---- word in the morning, having a hard face since arriving in base camp and being a dictator when it came to trash blowing around base camp.

Faced with 3 highly intoxicated people, we were basically held hostage by our own crew. The verdict was that I would apologize and that we would collectively pay .tips. of $100 each for a ransom of $900 just to ensure that the cook, driver and translator did not run off with our vehicle in the morning&although several members were of the opinion that we did not need a cook, driver or translator anymore. In the end the money was not accepted and we were able to come to peaceful terms.

-Randall

Addendum: Toma and Brook contributed by drinking late into the night until Akram.s head hit the table and they knew we would be on cordial terms the next day. Generous hangovers all around!

Tuesday, 10 August:

Today is Brook.s birthday (27) and to mark the occasion the 3 musketeers, Trevor, Brook and I left camp at 6 AM in the most bitter cold conditions we had seen yet. So glad I carried the warmest stuff to the cash last night. Gus drove us to the base of the mountains to our south and the 3 of us set off for the summit from 14,000 feet. The climb was cold in the beginning as we were shrouded in the previous nights snow clouds. We couldn.t see but 100 meters ahead or behind. The 1st half of the climb was spent with me setting the pace, with Trevor behind and birthday boy in tow. As we approached 1,000 feet from the summit the skies began to clear, revealing amazing views in every direction. As we glanced back towards base camp, we were captivated by the view of the 3 mountains we are to climb in the coming weeks&simply magnificent! Brook now took the reigns for the final rush. The last sections of the ridge did not give way easily as we worked hard for the finish. We summited just under 4 ½ hours from the start&better than 1,000 feet per hour pace. Adding to the celebration was the rest of the team at base camp who we had on radio&they could barely see us with binoculars. The descent was not easy given the route we chose but we arrived back at base camp to cheers and congratulations some 8 hours after we left. Happy Birthday Brook!

-Toma

Saturday, 14 August:

An hour before sunrise on 14 August, nine people trickled out of Throne Camp up a long scree valley before arriving to an even longer snowfield after about two hours of travel. Two members turned back before the snow because of stomach problems, and the rest plodded on slowly, taking two breaths for every step, through an interminable white slope. Things got much better a short ways up when we hit the sun, and were able to remove some of the clothes, and start thawing our frozen fingers. I needed help opening my pack because I could no longer squeeze the buckles!

We slogged through nearly 3,000 feet of endless snow until the summit ridge. We waited at rocky shoulder near summit, those arriving first taking advantage of the warm sunshine at over 21,000.. When the last of the team made it to the rocky shoulder and rehydrated, all seven topped out together! At 15h25 first unnamed unclimbed peak of the expedition was summated in perfect weather, low wind, no clouds, and 100-mile view! GPS reading: 21,793. (6642m). We spent 45 minutes on the summit taking photographs and enjoying the views, followed by a long glissade down to Throne Camp.-Randall

Sunday, 15 August 2004:

After a disappointing turnaround for Karen and Dale during the team's summit of "Nevis", they decided that they would push on the following day and try again. Unfortunately Karen was still suffering the effects of her stomach illness and had to turn around again early. Dale decided to attempt a solo, while maintaining contact via radio with advanced base camp. The team watched Dale cross the endless snow field by binoculars and cheered him on via radio. He successfully reached the summit at 15h30, flying his kite from the top and taking pictures of himself doing handstands (as he does).

The entire team returned to our base camp for recovery, save Trevor who chose to stay at advanced camp and nurse a sore ankle.

-Brook

Monday, 16 August:

Rest day at base camp for the team - laundry and showering for everyone (sorely needed at this point). Randall and Dale join Trevor at advanced base camp to explore routes for the summit of "the big one" - currently named Dahongliutan One.

- Brook

Tuesday, 17 August:

Toma, Brook, Annie, Ben and Gerard join the team at adv. camp. Randall, Dale, and Trevor find route to high camp on glacier, hiking up to the top of Sam-I-Am reaching over 19,500 feet.

Update Wednesday, 18 August 2004:

Team rests at advanced base camp preparing for push to high camp. Karen joins the team as she is beginning to finally feel better. Great morale all around for the team!

Thursday, 19 August 2004:

Approach to high camp for the team - long push through deteriorating weather while we cross Sam I Am glacier. Beautiful views down the valley and clouds roll in. Team sets up camp as the sun drops along with the temperature& much anticipation for the following day to potentially summit.

More to follow... Brook

Friday, 20 August, 2004:

After a long hike up to high camp yesterday, the team set up camp as the sun was setting at over 19,500 feet on Dr Seuss glacier. The night proved to be fairly restless for many of the team as a storm blew snow throughout the night and the altitude did little good for our slumber.

We awoke to find a few inches of fresh powder and thick clouds filling the valley below. Waking up earlier than usual at 19,700', we made our way to the base of the summit ridge. As we embarked on our summit attempt, the weather worsened rapidly, and we were pretty much caught in a white out.

After only a couple hours, the team gathered to rest and debate the feasibility of continuing. We decided to wait rather than continue, and for one hour we sat at 20,320 (the height of Denali). After an hour the weather showed no signs of turning, and the team agreed that a decent back to high camp was the only safe option.

The team debated whether it was worth waiting it out another night to see if the weather was clear and after some coercing by Trevor and Toma, it was decided that the team would stay. The afternoon was spent trying to pass the time with name games, playing I-Spy and other boring games to pass the time in our tents at nearly 20,000 feet, as many were suffering from cabin (and / or summit) fever.

The weather cleared up in the afternoon, and we were able to see the summit ridge in the evening sun. It was quite spectacular as it arced upwards through several rock bands and past several cornices to a narrow, snowy summit. It looks certainly worthy of another day up high to try again!

-Brook & Randall

Saturday, 21 August, 2004:

Although the morning weather appeared to be as bad as the day before, we received some encouraging news from our friends at Jason's Deli who had been sending us text message weather updates from the FAA. There was a chance that the weather would clear intermittently in the afternoon, potentially providing an opportunity for a summit.

We arrived to where we waited yesterday, and we could see all the way up to the corniced ridgeline, so we zig-zagged our way up onto the ridge. The gang started out once again making fairly good time up onto the ridge, but the weather deteriorated rapidly again. While on the ridge, the snow began accumulating faster and the winds picked up, providing horrible visibility during the ascent.

The weather turned worse, and again we were forced to travel from rockpile to rockpile. After an hour or so climbing along the ridge, the gang again gathered to debate the feasibility of continuing on. At 21,210' we were again stopped by the weather. There were many differing opinions about the severity of the weather, and the fact that this would be some climbers. last chance for a summit was doing little for objectivity. We waited again for an hour, only to have the winds pick up to 35+MPH making visibility even worse. Entertainment was provided by Dale and his colorful foil kite, sometimes hidden by the hundred foot visibility.

Three members decided to make their way down, while the other six continued to wait it out. Forty-five minutes later, as if scripted by the FAA, the clouds began to break and the sun started shining through. With periodic breaks in the clouds it became apparent that we were closer to the summit than we had previously realized. As the summit was teasing us only 1000 vertical feet away, the six quickly realized that a summit attempt was in order. We promptly got on our way and made steady progress as the ridge became steeper with every step.

The last 500 feet were climbed on all fours, with every other cramponed kick-step slipping and not finding traction. Finally, after so much debate and our failed attempts, we reached the summit to find the elevation reading on the GPS to be 22,222 feet! The team spent about a half-hour on the tiny summit, carefully slotted between the giant cornice on one side and the 2000 + foot drop on the other. In true form, Dale flew his kite high above the ridge losing it a couple times over the cornice only to have it kick back up as we cheered him on.

From our perch, we could see down to the glacier below, and we spotted two dots proceeding up a ridge to another peak to the North. Instead of heading back to camp upon retreat, Ben and Karen decided to take advantage of the clearing weather, and headed off to this beautiful corniced peak. After a two hour slog post-holing through heavy snow, the gained a ridge (named Cosmos Ridge, after Karen's dog), and eventually the summit of what they named Mount Wyatt. Ben recorded their previously unclimbed elevation at 21,150' on the GPS, a fourth first ascent! Congratulations Ben and Karen!

The decent to high camp was fairly quick, with a couple sections of nice glissading. One section Randall and Dale pulled nice aerials jumping into their glissades off a 10-foot cornice. The team quickly broke down high camp and continued on our way to advanced base camp. After a very long day, the crew made it back right at sundown at nearly 22:00.

-Brook & Randall

Sunday, 22 August, 2004

Long day of double carries and heavy loads as the team broke down advanced base camp and returned to base camp. We were greeted with a fantastic display of fireworks by Akram, the cook and Gus as each member made their way into base camp.

One highlight was Dale's attempt at getting into the Patagonia catalogue by jumping into an icy glacier river bath in his skivvies, making it look like a typical day in the mountains!

-Brook

Monday, 23 August, 2004 - Colorado Kids and Karen

Toma, Brook, Trevor and Karen left to catch early flights to Beijing with Gus late in the afternoon after much debate over who and how much could fit in the battered Land Cruiser. After leaving, the jeep quickly started on a long path of deterioration getting a flat tire and breaking the rear window after jumping a ravine that Gus misjudged, sending the gas barrel through the rear window - all within the first two hours of our journey. That night we slept at the border while waiting for the military guard to arrive/awaken.

-Brook

23 August, 2004 The rest of the gang

After two successful new summits, the whole team descended to Throne Camp at 17,400 feet on the evening of 21 August. Yesterday we broke camp where we have been for over a week, and brought everything down to Base Camp at 14.800 feet. It is surprising how much stuff you can end up with when running back and forth between camps! Most managed to get everything through Dr Seuss in two carries. There has been significant change in the glacier since the last time we went through...

Below Dr Seuss some managed to get their things to base camp in a single carry, but it was certainly not fun, walking through boulder fields with over 100 lbs on one's back is not advisable! Dale, Ben, and Randall all left a cache at the split of the canyon, about 500 feet above Base Camp. The plan is to head up the unexplored canyon and look for access to the peaks nicknamed Lefty and Left of Lefty.

After requisite fireworks and nasty vodka last night, four members of the team, Karen, Brook, Trevor, and Toma, headed back to Kashgar to catch earlier flights. They left with the driver Gus, who has spent the past three weeks with us at Base Camp, mostly singing songs from "The Sound of Music" and taking care of vodka consumption while we were up higher.

Now we will be down to five. The highest peak in the area has been climbed, and with four virgin summits for the expedition we will split up and see what else we can find worthy of a summit. This evening Dale and Randall plan to head up the left branch of the canyon, and camp at 17,000 feet. Ben and Gerard will follow in the same direction tomorrow.

-Randall

Tuesday, 24 August, 2004 - Colorado Kids and Karen

We woke up at 08h00 only to find out that we would have to wait until the following day before we could be allowed to pass through Mazar. After 11 ½ hours of waiting, complaining, and card playing we left with a couple hours of sun still left - a full 12 hours ahead of schedule! We made it about 1 hour before the truck sputtered to a halt, just below the top of the pass. After a replaced fuel filter and a cleaned carburetor, we were on our way once again.

At about 22h30, we lost sight of the road and were forced to do some route finding before we could continue. Another half hour later we came upon a massive road construction project which threw us another two hour delay. Slow progress continued until about 02h00, while making our way up the second high pass as the jeep once again sputtered to a stop sounding more like a two-stroke than a straight-six.

Gus worked for two hours under Karen's headlamp rebuilding the distributor cap at least six times before an electrical fire finally caused him to call it a night. We all slept cozily through a cold night at over 15,000 feet. The next morning Gus managed to get the car going again and we were on our way until halted by military at the next village. They told us we would have to wait 8 hours for a road construction project to be completed. Luckily (if that's what you could call it), we got through after only 4 hours of waiting.

FINALLY...we were seemingly on our way to Yecheng. However, after about a half hour of cruising we were flagged down by a motorcyclist with blood on his shirt. He had crashed while carrying his wife on the back of his bike and he said she was badly injured and asked if we could take her in our jeep. We made room in the back as Karen put on her Florence Nightingale cap and did her best to clean the blood from her head and keep her conscious as we made quick time over the roads. The woman had clearly suffered from a severe concussion and possibly had head and neck injuries. We met her family in a village before Ye Ching and she was transferred into another vehicle as they sped off towards the hospital. Hopefully everything turned out OK!

Excited to be so close to warm water and cold Coke, we made our way back into Kashgar at around 22h00. Many pi-jius were drunk in celebration as we feasted with John Hu, telling him of the many adventures during our trip.

Wednesday, 25 August, 2004 . The rest of the gang

After an incredibly windy night camped on a glacier at 19,300 feet, Dale and Randall made what has become known as a "Kunlun start" and headed up the West face of Lefty. Following a snow couloir up 1,000 feet, they ran into the end of the line and cramponed through broken rock to another 70 degree couloir on the South Face of Lefty. Arriving at the top of the climb at 20,560 feet, it became apparent that this point was not the highest, but a long ridge headed higher to the North. After a water break, and views of an unknown team member heading up the South Face, Dale and Randall continued North along the top of the unclimbed ridge.

The high point of the ridge, heavily corniced from the high winds, measured 20,800 feet, but from that point it started to become clear that the broad peak at the head of the cwm was not a separate mountain, and the ridge dipped negligibly in between. Heading onwards, the ridgeline narrowed to a sharp apex with 60 degree snow sloped dropping 1500 feet on either side. This made for exciting climbing, and luckily clear skies and low winds cooperated. After only two close calls with crevasses near the summit, Dale and Randall achieved yet another first ascent of a virgin peak at 17h00 on 25 August. This one measured 21,500 even on the GPS, and constituted a broad East-West snow ridge which was reached via the South off Lefty Ridge.

From the summit a third team member could be seen approaching along Lefty Ridge. Descending to meet the mystery member, Dale and Randall discovered that Gerard had been following their tracks all along the ridge. After sharing water and stories, it was discovered that Gerard has started at Base Camp at 9h30 in the morning, and had already climbed 6,000 feet in under eight hours! Gerard continued to the summit, and reached it at 18h00, to fly his Irish flag before a quick glissade back down.

Randall

Friday, 27 August, 2004 . The rest of the gang

After our latest summit, everyone make it back to base camp without incident, even Ben. Dale and Randall took longer coming down than the rest, camping out one last night in the canyon, and spending an hour photographing the ice formations in the shadows of Ice Canyon. All that is left is to pack up and hope that our ride comes this afternoon... A hearty thanks to our equipment sponsors for helping make such a spectacular trip possible: Cliff Bar, Dana Design, Salomon, Sierra Design!

There was a final welcome from our crew, including the last of the firecrackers and yet another huge lunch. We were cutting it close on potatoes, and Gin Gong threatened to go to Dahongliutan to buy more, despite some 20 kg of pasta being left. Between washing clothes and ourselves, we have managed to find time to learn hurling tips from Gerard, who brought four hurleys all the way to Base Camp. Chasing a slitter through scree at 14,800 feet is not easy, even after four weeks of acclimatizing!

We are all looking forward to heading back to the civilization of Kashgar, hopefully following a smooth ride back. The weather has definitely changed from the clear blue summer of our arrival to a stormier autumn. We hope that the others have by now made it back to Kashgar, and the two 5000m passes will not cause problems on the road.

Randall

Sunday, 29 August, 2004 . The rest of the gang

We are finally back in Kashgar after five weeks in the mountains! Our vehicles arrived in the afternoon of 27 August, and after ferrying loads from camp to the Dong Feng "truck", we managed a 17h00 start. The 4x4's were Mitsubishis in far better shape than the Land Cruisers we rode out on, one even equipped with a television in the sun visor!

We spent the night in Xaidulla, where we caught the first of the Olympics on CCTV, with a definite slant towards diving and women's volleyball. Yesterday we managed an early start, and made lunch at the Mazar checkpoint, and our evening checkpoint destination by 16h30. Our drivers were eager to continue, so we rolled on to Yecheng, and had dinner there at 18h30. Only four hours to go, so we made it all the way back to Kashgar for a 700km day. (That's a lot when the roads are rarely paved!)

At John's cafe we met with Trevor, who had been on the earlier return, and he recounted their tales of woe, including sickness, breakdowns, one night in the Land Cruiser, and problems at all the checkpoints. What took us a day and a half took them more than double, and those flying out barely made their flights!

Tonight the six of us left in Kashgar (Annie, Ben, Dale, Gerard, Trevor & Randall) will go out and celebrate with Johan, Akram our de facto translator, Gin Gong our cook, and Gus the driver. Let's just hope there is not too much bai-jiu!

Randall

Monday, 30 August, 2004

Well, suffice to say, there was in deed too much bai-jiu, followed by too much pi-jiu. I ended up waking up at 07h30 this morning to chunder on the cockroaches in the commode, but there was plenty of action before that& With Brook, Karen and Toma already in Beijing, we were six for dinner, accompanied by Gin Gong, Gus, Akram, and Johan. At the restaurant we were allocated our own Karaoke room, which was the first sign that should have set alarm bells ringing. The second was a bottle of bai-jiu which appeared almost instantly after a few whispers from Gin Gong to the waitress. For the uninitiated, bai-jiu is a vile form of Chines alcohol, often referred to as .rice wine. while in reality it is much closer to turpentine.

Through copious amounts of food, the bai-jiu and the toasts kept on coming. I recall looking at my watch at 7:45 and remarking that we were all pretty smashed and working on our third bottle of turpentine. There seemed to be one .ganbei. after another as the shot glasses were raised and toasted. Annie later confessed to pouring half of most of her shots into her tea, which she then strategically spilled.

The dishes kept coming, more vegetables, ducks, chickens, fishes, and then finally beer. In China beer doesn.t seem to be available in sissy 12oz bottles, but always in 22oz size, so those started rolling out without being counted as well. Things went from merriment to mirth, and soon Gus was singing songs with the microphone. All the Chinese took their turn at the mike, and then it was time once again for Trevor to lead us through all seven versed of American Pie, followed by Gerard singing Irish folk tunes in tongues.

Upon request from Johan, Gerard reluctantly sang an Irish rebel song, and things started to get political& The sequence of events starts to get fuzzy here, but the restaurant was closing down and invited us to leave, while Gus was commenting on the political situation in Ireland, and Akram begrudgingly translated.

Outside Johan urged us to go back to John.s Café where he was quite certain that we would be able to keep drinking, (not that there was any necessity at all!) Meanwhile Akram was urging us to go to a Uyghur nightclub with certain urgency. Nobody is quite sure what happened next, but Johan, Akram and Gus suddenly went at it! I was sitting on a railing awaiting some consensus on where the night would take us, and it suddenly became clear that it was taking us to a streetfight in downtown Kashgar!

Johan locked into a full-nelson and was separated from the others by Trevor, and Dale and Gerard managed to split up Akram and Gus. Somehow Gerard caught a chair intended for Gus, as it flew from Akrams hands. This was turning into an around-the-world wrestling festival! Johan stood surrounded by Ben, Trevor, and I, and insisted on walking back to where Gus was last seen. Because we did not have those nifty security earpieces (or even the SECURITY T-shirts for that matter) we had no idea what happened to Gus and Akram, but we had quickly sobered up enough to know that a screaming Johan should not be following them.

As Johan insisted, Trevor took control and said, .Johan, you are drunk and you are being violent, you will not cross this line!. To which a drunk Dutch voice responded, .It is a free country [still under contention . Randall] you can not tell me what to do. The secret police are watching and they will find you tomorrow.. I looked around, and saw only the stunned looks of passerby.s, who had surely never seen a white brawl in the middle of town.

In one last effort to get even with Gus and Akram, Johan obstinately tried to shove Trevor aside, and was met with a swift and brutal takedown. Ben and I were shocked as he once again got Johan into a full nelson, then took his feet out with precision and crumpled him to the ground! Completely immobilized, Johan could not give up. As he struggled in futility, Trevor informed him, .Johan, you are in a full nelson. There is no escape. If you calm down and agree to go back to the hotel, I will let you up.. We onlookers (Dale had joined us at this point) looked on in slight amusement as Johan stated, .I could kill you right now if I wanted to!.

Looking at our logistics coordinator sitting on the ground with his head doubled over between his knees was a bit of a sad sight. The fact that we had actually given this man our money, and trusted him to organize the groundwork for our expedition was at this point a bit shocking. We did not get within 50km of our intended mountains, and to the bitter end, Johan denied any responsibility for that failure. His reaction to accusations of violence was consistently, .He started it..

Gerard.s perspective of the events is as follows:

The chaos continued and attempts to divide them on the street failed intermittently. Akram was finally convinced to take a taxi with me and so we sped away from the calamity to a Uyghur (non-Chinese!) restaurant of his choosing. Out of the Taxi into even more fire as Akram managed to immediately insult a member of the staff. Moments later the same waiter came by our table. Akram, with all the sincerity he could possibly deliver, apologized for his behavior to which the waiter responded (as you do?) with several opened handed slaps across his face. Initially I thought through a slightly inebriated pi-jiu state that permitting the insulted party to deliver such repeated blows must have been somewhat of a Uyghur custom.

Akram simply remained tolerant through the Monty Pythonish scene and continued his hearty apology through the myriad of them all. Suddenly I found the waiters arm in my hand as apparently some part of my arm had decided that was enough. It was met with a threatening look to which I responded hopefully with an even more apologetic 'please don't hit me' smile. His frown slowly morphed into half a one as he reached into his pocket for pen and paper and schizophrenically proceeded to take our order. Like nothing happened. The rest of the night melted very laboriously away as I sat and listened to various (but very similar) monologues on all the Uyghur- Chinese issues.

The rest of us eventually got Johan into a taxi and walked back towards the hotel ourselves. To our amazement, when we arrived, Johan was sitting out front having a beer with Gus and Gin Gong. Johan actually then had the audacity to tell me that he was .disappointed in the way some of the team members reacted.. I wasn.t disappointed; I was mightily impressed and thankful. .Not bad for a ski racer on whippets. was Dale.s reaction.

Forced to defend myself and the entire team, I then spent the next two hours soberly and methodically tearing Johan and his business apart. Everything from his lack of contingency planning to his violence to his alcoholism, from disrespect for nature to disrespect for people.

I know that it all just went in one ear and out the other. Perhaps Johan was drunk enough not to remember, perhaps his memory is extremely selective, but this afternoon when I saw him in John.s Café, he asked me if we would be going to Shipton.s Arch with him& My tirade made me feel marginally better, but frightened me to know that Johan will probably keep getting by and keep leading unwary travelers on adventures. Whether on purpose or not, he certainly led us on an adventure!

Randall