Cho oyu choco pie team expedition report from tingri

Hi all, kit here in tingri.

We arrived here yesterday after a long drive through the tibetan plateau from nylam.

We had our first sight of cho oyu on the way in so have seen our challenge for the first time. the snow capped mountains and dry tibetan plateau make for spectacular scenery , everyone is pleased that our goal is in sight.

The team is well though a couple of cases of gi and cold symptoms mean we will have an extra day here for recuperation and extra acclimatization.

We had a couple of walks in nylam up to 4500m and will do the same today, possibly up to 4900m hopefully getting some good views of cho oyu on the way, though may be too cloudy for that.

On a side note I am currently sat at 4600m overlooking the plains, which are vast and pretty awe inspiring, chatting with stu, ben, guy and antonin. Sun is breaking through and its nice and warm, nearly sunbathing weather. We are watching the rest of the group race up the slope ahead trying to be the first to the top...... I know where I'd rather be....I may just have a nap and wait for them to descend.

We'll be moving on to chinese basecamp tomorrow so this afternoon is a final chance for a warm shower, for a while at least anyway!

From the field touring cho oyu choco pie crew in tingri

This email has been sent from KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership (which is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP), from KPMG Europe LLP or from one of the companies within KPMG LLP's control (which include KPMG Audit Plc, KPMG United Kingdom Plc and KPMG UK Limited), together "KPMG". KPMG Europe LLP does not provide services to clients. None of KPMG Europe LLP's subsidiaries have any authority to obligate or bind KPMG Europe LLP. This email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the addressee or an intended recipient or have not agreed with us the terms on which you are receiving this email any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on the contents of this email or its attachments, is at your own risk, prohibited and may be unlawful, and to the fullest extent permitted by law KPMG accepts no responsibility or liability to you. When addressed to our clients any opinions or advice contained in this email or its attachments are subject to the terms and conditions expressed in the governing KPMG client engagement letter. Anything in this email or its attachments which does not relate to KPMG's official business is neither given nor endorsed by KPMG.

KPMG Europe LLP, registered in England No 0C324045
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB

KPMG United Kingdom PLC, registered in England No 03513178
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB

KPMG UK Limited, registered in England No 3580549
Registered office: Aquis Court, 31 Fishpool Street, St Albans AL3 4RF

KPMG LLP, registered in England No 0C301540
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8BB

KPMG Audit Plc, registered in England No 3110745
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB

Update

Kit here in nylam.

All members now assembled here with antonin arriving late last night.

We have one more day here with everyone expecting a good acclimatisation hike today and great views of shishapangma.

Stu will give a bigger update later today once we can get in the internet cafe which seems to be full from dawn to dusk.
This email has been sent from KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership (which is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP), from KPMG Europe LLP or from one of the companies within KPMG LLP's control (which include KPMG Audit Plc, KPMG United Kingdom Plc and KPMG UK Limited), together "KPMG". KPMG Europe LLP does not provide services to clients. None of KPMG Europe LLP's subsidiaries have any authority to obligate or bind KPMG Europe LLP. This email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the addressee or an intended recipient or have not agreed with us the terms on which you are receiving this email any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on the contents of this email or its attachments, is at your own risk, prohibited and may be unlawful, and to the fullest extent permitted by law KPMG accepts no responsibility or liability to you. When addressed to our clients any opinions or advice contained in this email or its attachments are subject to the terms and conditions expressed in the governing KPMG client engagement letter. Anything in this email or its attachments which does not relate to KPMG's official business is neither given nor endorsed by KPMG.

KPMG Europe LLP, registered in England No 0C324045
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB

KPMG United Kingdom PLC, registered in England No 03513178
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB

KPMG UK Limited, registered in England No 3580549
Registered office: Aquis Court, 31 Fishpool Street, St Albans AL3 4RF

KPMG LLP, registered in England No 0C301540
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8BB

KPMG Audit Plc, registered in England No 3110745
Registered office: 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB

FTA Cho Oyu 2008: Visa in hand and off for the border on the 6th!

rom stu in kathmandu
Our members have been asssembling over the last 3 days in Kathmandu this
morning the expeditions got officially under way with a nice meeting with
the legendary Miss Elizabeth Hawley who keeps records on all of the major
climbs occuring in nepal and Tibet. her willingess to share things she has
learned about the climbs and routes always adds to our knowledge and safety
on the hill and we thank her in advance for heer help! After a short welcome
meeting members scattered to allparts of thamel for final shopping before we
reconvened at the hotel to find our visas already approved by the chinese
embassy. having heard of other teams being run through hoops we we held
cautious optimism in Nima T Sherpa of Su-Swagatam Trek that his contacts
could pull off a seemingly impossible task. One again Nima demonstrated why
we call him "the man" and there in black and red ink was our golden Willie
Wonka ticket of which there seem to be very few this year.
After a meeting on nitty gritty items and schedules we talked for a time
about what had brought each of us to this mountain with this group and it
was a great chance to get to knoew each other better and set the tone for a
team experience.
Clearly we will have a different experience this year on Cho Oyu with such a
smaller number of teams and we welcome the chance to enjoy less competition
for space and yet still enjoy meeting up with otyher teams and making the
community to be on th ehill this year a cooperative and successful one.
After months of working on getting our team in the right position to have a
chance to go to Tibet and have a go at Cho Oyu our trip finally became a
reality this morning with the successful granting of visas to all members of
the trip. Our final member arrives on monday and we hope he will be whisked
off to the border after a short time in KTM and make his way to join us in
Nylam that same day. With good luck the entire team will head towards Tingri
together on the 9th and our tentative schedule will look like:
6 to kodari at the border
7 to nylam
8 acclimatizing day in Nylam
9 to Tingri
10 acclimatizing day in Tingri
11 to Chinese BC
12 Acclimatizing day in CBC
13/14 two day trek to ABC
15 rest day in ABC
16 start climbing!
We will pass on word whenever we can and look for an up date in the next ew
days from chris in Kathamndu!
cheers,
stu
 

FTA Team back at base camp

FTA Spantik 2008 recap

Everyone is safe and sound at Spantik base camp. We had an excellent walk down from camp 2 yesterday and despite not reaching the summit, we all feel we had a successful expedition.

Everyone is safe, we have all of our fingers & toes and we are all great friends. The whole team put in an excellent effort and if the weather would have been more stable, I have no doubt everyone would have reached the top.

Tomorrow morning we leave base camp for Skardu then on to Islamabad for our international flights. Ian and I are flying to Kathmandu for the next big adventure. Ian to Cho Oyu with Stu Remensnyder and myself to the Annapurna range with Sean James. Keep checking back for more updates resuming the 1st week of September.

Have fun, climb hard, come home!
Chris from Spantik base camp.

Safe at camp 2, back to base camp in the am

FTA Spantik 2008 Expedition Update:

Just a quick update.

It snowed 35cm last night at camp 3. The wind was blowing a gale and despite our desire to finish off this big climb, there was no way we could possibly go anywhere but down. We were the only ones left on the mountain and the descent today was epic for some.

Everyone is safe and sound at camp 2. We will move down base camp tomorrow morning and sadly, conclude the climbing portion of this expedition. Like I always say, the mountain will always be there.

Chris from Spantik camp 2