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| Three Training Peaks (continued) The next day we went up to Tsergo Ri (4910m), a baptism on snow-climbing for many of us and the most dramatic ridge-walking of the whole trip. In single file, we inched our way along the spiraled ridge until the snowline where the "fun" began. Then came the assault up a steep slope to gain the summit ridge, upon which a strong uphill draft caused an overpowering spindrift that often forced us to a standstill! Fear of someone as light as Sandy being blown off the mountain was very real then. After six hours of uphill trekking, we looked down from the summit on the valley below. The day was best summed up by Daniel: "In the mountains, always expect the unexpected". Following a rest day at Yala Base Camp, we set off to attempt Yala Peak. Apprehensively, we stumbled on to the snow slope in our plastic boots and gaiters at 2.30 a.m.. The stars were bright but there was no moon. Every step we took produced a squeaky sound in the compacted snow, in tandem with our breathing, as each of us focused on the shaft of light from the headlamp, using footprints in front as beacon. |
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We traversed the glacier basin in a zigzag manner, avoiding the crevasses
that Assim was safely steering us through. At this point a group of
Japanese trekkers in their twilight years amazed us - by overtaking
us! At daybreak we came to a steep loose rockwall which we nicknamed
"Hillary Step". After a short lung-busting effort, our line
brought us to a point above the bergschrund and we were confronted with
a 60° snow buttress of 50 metres high. |
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