Updates from the mountain

Tim Boelter

At 1:10 pm on October 26th Jon, Asu and I reached the summit of Danchezhengla. The climb went up a steep snow and ice face and then across a very airy knife-edge ridge consisting of hard ice blanketed by a layer of soft, useless snow. The slopes were near 75 degrees in spots with a drop close to 1000 meters. A fall here would have been disastrous. The day was absolutely stunning with winds typically gusting around 30 mph at times. When climbing in the shade you felt cold, but the sun’s rays worked magic to offset the chill.

Standing on top was exhilarating, providing views of the great 8000-meter peaks far into Tibet, including Mount Everest.

Asu and Tim on the summit of Danchezhengla
(Behind them are Markara and Yangmolong)

Our descent through the maze of seracs resulted in a race against a rapidly setting sun.  We lost the battle to get down the mountain before the sun as nightfall consumed us and headlamps pierced the void below us in dark shadows of uncertainty.

Each rappel became more difficult as the rope would not reach the bottom of the raps. We encountered severely overhanging ice resulting in free raps down and without knowing for certain that the rope would reach the bottom we had to find alternative routes. Our raps relied solely on meticulously placed V-threads in hard ice. Slowly we consumed all of our accessory line. We relied on a Russian ice screw and one that was left behind from a previous expedition. When Jon descended on the screw it started to move in the ice. I quickly pulled out some spectra webbing and Asu and I backed up the ice screw as best we could.

The descent down the ice cliffs were at times tense and the night was wearing on. Eventually we made it to the boulder fields, but the descent was steep, long and exhaustive. We bore heavy loads and hadn't eaten or drank most of the day.

By time we reached basecamp we felt like empty shells of men. Fortunately our friends had stayed awake to greet us with encouragement and food.

Descending the summit of Danchezhengla

The next morning came too soon as we were up before the sun rose above the distant ridges. Camp had to be dismantled and packed for another grueling day of descending. We had a seven-hour hike and 2200 vertical meter drop to make.

I have to say, although the day was a long and knee-jolting descent, the views made any pain irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Every turn of the trail presented us with magnificent views of Tibetan villages and colorful fall foliage. The route we took out of the valley traversed high on the ridges whereas the hike in was on a lower trail. The higher trail gave a more idyllic view of this Tibetan valley and there seemed to be a peacefulness that settled as the afternoon sun softened the hillside homes. The terraced barley fields were brown and empty. The harvest now lay stacked on the top floor of the houses, where occasionally you would see Tibetan women threshing the golden crop. This is indeed a beautiful place.

The last part of the hike descended painfully steep from the ridge to the terminus of the valley. Here is where we met up with the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the portal into Shangri-La, as I like to call it. We were finally on level ground and it felt so good.

Once back in Batang we went out for a hot pot meal of yak meat and vegetables before settling in for another quick night of sleep.

The alarm went off at 5:30 am and in a panic we discovered our bus was leaving a half an hour sooner than we thought. Jon, Asu and I would take the bumpy 18-hour drive back to Chengdu while the rest of our team would remain in Batang until the horses returned with the rest of the gear.

With India and China arguing over the fact that a high political official in the Indian government visited the disputed border region of the Assam Pradesh we were witnesses to major troop movements of Chinese military along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway. It was an impressive show of power by the Chinese and I'm sure it was done to make a profound statement on the world stage.

Our arrival in Chengdu came at 3:00 am. Once again we were tired and trashed. But for me, living with Asu did not afford me a moment of time to sleep in. Although we got to bed at 4:00 in the morning, we still had to be up by 8:00 am to meet Tselantou, an old friend from past climbs in China. Tselantou had gotten married and was in town for another friend’s wedding, so he wanted to have breakfast with us before he left.

Today, October 30th, is the first day since October 15th that I got to sleep in and, damn, it felt good.

While driving between Batang and Chengdu, Tim and Jon sent dozens of new photos from the climb, including ones that show them celebrating on the summit of Dangchezhengla. View the slideshow on our Photos page.

Tim Boelter

A lot can happen in just ten days. We are down now and back in Batong. Just ate a nice hot pot meal with yak meat and took my first shower in ten days. The hike out was grueling but the view from high above the valley was as close to Shangri La as it gets. The Tibetan villages are frozen in time along with their simple yet practical lifestyle. This is one place that needs to remain off the map. I have a swollen left ankle from all the exploration and travel up and down every valley on the south side of the massif. Jon, Lao Wang, Kang Hua and Asu are all also suffering knee and ankle pain. We did more in just ten days then most expeditions do in two to three weeks coming here.

I have a lot to reflect on about this trip and will get it down in writing soon. In the end, it was only Jon, Asu and I who really wanted to make it work. We suffered long and difficult days scrambling over massive boulder fields, weaving through a maze of crevasse fields, and eating far less than what we burned. There were moments of sheer terror as we climbed 70-degree ice headwalls without rope for 185 feet, not realizing just how committed it was getting the higher we went. Rocks and ice pummeled us in the narrow couloir on Yangmolong. We traversed a knife-edge ridge that had so much exposure that if you contemplated where you were long enough you would have decided to take up golf.

We had a lot of obstacles thrown at us, but somehow the three of us kept looking for another success story, and I think we got it. Sure it wasn't Yangmolong, but it still felt good to stand on top of a peak and be able to know you didn't give up. Perhaps we'll return again at a different time. For now, Yangmolong remains an elusive summit for those looking to bag it.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(1.1 MB MP3)

We’re at basecamp. We had an epic descent last night. We didn’t get back to basecamp until 12 o’clock at night. I‘ll go into details about this at a later date. It was probably the most dangerous part of the entire climb, believe it or not.

We are packing our bags. The horses will be here tomorrow, but we’re all going to walk out today. This may have been a short climb when you look at the duration of it but I will say it’s probably been the gruelingist. These moraines have trashed my ankles. I don’t have a broken hand but it is… the swelling is going down, so that’s good. Dangchezhengla has an easy side and a hard side, and we decided to do the hard side.

But everything’s fine. We’re getting ready to take our bare essentials and go to Batang today. Hopefully we’ll get all the way down to Batang today and take a shower. We all need one; we stink.

Jon did a really good job yesterday climbing the mountain. On the descent we were trying to take shortcuts out of the glacier valley and we ended up having to make what we call v-thread belays to repel down this deteriorating glacier. And we kept getting caught in this maze of overhanging ice. It was just an unbelievable experience. This moraine… it’s not a moraine, it’s boulder fields. The Germans took one look at the mountain and left. So that tells you what it’s like here. It’s an incredible place. We’ve pretty much traversed the entire south side of all three of these mountains. We’ve been up all the valleys doing research, trying to figure out which way to climb. Markara, the central peak, is very difficult to climb. We figured we’d better go for the one we knew we could get a summit. So we did Dangchezhengla.

Hopefully the footage I have from this trip is going to be spectacular. I think it’s some of the best footage I’ve ever taken.

At this time we’re leaving basecamp and headed to Batang. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into a self service and start doing some updates.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(.3 MB MP3)

We are on top of Dangchezhengla. We reached the summit at 1:10 and we’re taking pictures. I can see Mount Everest. I can see Namcha Barwa, Kangchenjunga. It’s unbelievably clear but very cold and very windy.

All three of us made it. Jon did a great job leading this mountain, just like on Siguniang. It was not easy at all. I think we did a new route, also. We have to check that when we get back.

Asu is the first Chinese. Jon and I are the first Americans to climb this mountain. So at least we did something good.

Jon Otto

Listen to this audio update
(1 MB MP3)

Hi, this is Jon Otto calling in on October 25th. This morning we left Mount Yangmolong. Yangmolong is finished. It’s just too risky, too unpredictable, because of thin ice and bad rock, bad everything.

So we traversed a rocky moraine and boulder field to a glacier two mountains over and started up the glacier, which was filled with crevasses so we were going back and forth, back and forth. Finally came up to the headwall, which we free climbed. It was about 70-degree thin ice and snow. (Unintelligible.)

We’re just below the col between the central peak (Markala) and Dangchezhengla. I think tomorrow we’re going to go up and get Dangchezhengla, mostly because of our timeframe and we don’t know what the issues of the central peak can be. There was rockfall coming off of it today, rock falling and ice failing. (Unintelligible.)

Alright, hopefully tomorrow we’ll have good news.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(1.5 MB MP3)

We’re leaving the south side of the mountain right now and headed around to the central peak. We’re still in the process of figuring out what we’re going to do. My left hand is pretty swollen we’re not sure if it’s broken, I can’t put any pressure on it, from an icefall. It was not a rock; it was ice. Just want to clarify that. (Laughing) Jon says, “Knocked down by Jon Otto.” But it wasn’t his fault. The ice underneath him totally gave out and I was about 90 or 100 feet below him, and he did yell. Fortunately it missed my head by a few inches. On the other note, as far as rockfall, I had a piece of rock come down at probably 120 miles per hour narrowly, narrowly hitting my face. That shocked me.

We’re bailing on this route. It’s too dangerous. One of our routes turned into a waterfall — I may have told you that already. The route we were trying was a difficult alpine rock and ice route.

I do want to make something very clear. We have come up this mountain and been working and traversing the south side of this thing back and forth, reconning, doing a hell of a lot of work. The German team took four days to get to basecamp. We took two days. They got up here, looked at the mountain, and decided to go home. So this isn’t anything to sneeze at. (There was a German team attempting Yangmolong at this same time.)

I think everybody’s motivation is a little low because these boulder fields are unlike anything I’ve been on. This entire mountain is nothing but… it’s literally falling apart in front of our faces. That would be why there’s nothing but boulder and moraine fields all around this thing. And huge cliffs that... parts of the cliffs are actually missing because just recently the rock has fallen off. So it’s a very dangerous mountain. And, you know, Jon probably could have climbed this ice section, probably any of us. But it was just too dangerous to do because there was no way to put protection in that could have caught a fall. And it was just not worth the risk.

I don’t know how my hand is going to be. We may have to have x-rays when I get home. But we still may give Markara a try. We’re going to give it an honest effort. We’re waiting to see about permits because we may have to pay extra permits. We don’t know yet because the permits were for Yangmolong.

We’re all extremely tired, packing up. We’re going to have huge loads. We’re going to head back around the other side of the mountain.

Another thing I want to clarify, we didn’t intend to come this way. We intended to come the northeastern route, which was that northern valley we got kicked out of and that’s what threw a monkey wrench into this whole program. Because we knew there were potential ridges that could be climbed and that needs to be stressed.

When we get back to Batang we will send photos. My sat phone battery can’t even hold a charge anymore.

This has been one of the tougher expeditions for all of us I think because of the amount of work we’ve had to do in such a short amount of time. It’s just wearing us.

Jon Otto

Listen to this audio update
(1 MB MP3)

Hi, this is Jon calling in from the Mount Yangmolong expedition. Sorry my voice is not great today. Well, Yangmolong is done. Today we were climbing (unintelligible) over some class 4 or class 5 ice — thin chandelier stuff, running with water, very thin ice. It wouldn’t hold an ice screw, the rock on both sides was very shitty, couldn’t place any pro. Maybe in my younger, early climbing days when I was a little more brave, then I would have gone for it. But today I didn’t. And also there was at least another 50 to 100 meters of other ice and rock climbing that we had no idea what it was like. But from looking at it from far away, it was even thinner than the stuff we were trying to go up today.

So we started coming down and as we did this afternoon there was extensive icefall from above with rock. Zhang Jian got hit by a rock. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to go tomorrow.

So we’re back here on the glacier, below our route, contemplating what we’re going to do.

Talk to you later. Bye.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(1 MB MP3)

Asu, Jon, and I went up the lines as far as we could up the ice runnel and it was spectacular climbing. I gotta say that. It’s just some of the best rock and ice climbing I’ve done in a long time. I took fantastic footage. The rock fall and ice fall in the gully was becoming too much for us. I may have… I don’t think I broke my hand but there’s a lot of trauma on my left hand. I had a big chunk of ice hit it.

We had to call it quits because the upper part of the couloir was bad. We descended, pulled all the ropes, and we’re back down in Yangmolong south side basecamp here in the moraine in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

We are now going to traverse the moraines across the mountain toward Markara. And we’re going to actually go for Markara. We don’t think it’s been climbed. If we can’t get on this thing in the next two days we’re done.

This mountain’s kicked our ass. There is way too much rockfall, way too much icefall. One of the routes, the first route we were going to do, turned into a waterfall today. We’ve been getting beat up by the amount of rock and snow coming off this thing.

That’s what’s going on now. We’re going to have to make another grueling moraine traverse around the mountain. This mountain is nothing but huge cliffs surrounded by the biggest boulder fields and moraine fields I’ve ever, ever been on in my life. And it’s tearing the shit out of my ankles. Everybody’s having a tough time with it. We’re carrying heavy loads because we don’t have basecamp support so everything that we take with us is on our backs.

We’re doing good, everything’s fine. We’ll try to get another dispatch out tomorrow.

Jon Otto

Listen to this audio update
(.5 MB MP3)

Hi, this is Jon calling in. It’s the morning of October the 24th. Today we are going to go up and try to work the route up this really thin ice runnel that is a weak point of the cliff band on the south side of Yangmolong. It’s several hundred meters high.

Asu and I will probably try to push the route as high as we can go. There’s one problem, we can’t see. We’re going to try to get up there today to see if we can go. If we can, we’re going to come down and then first thing tomorrow morning or probably in the middle of the night head out and start up with the route, jugging ropes and pulling the ropes and continuing higher up. If it doesn’t go, then we’re going to pull all our lines, come down, run around to the other side of the mountain and try to do the central peak.

OK. Bye-bye.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(.5 MB MP3)

We have tremendous rockfall on the normal route. We traversed the mountain. We went up a very narrow, steep gully of ice. Jon lead and he did a fantastic job. We’re back at basecamp now, safe. There’s the potential that some things may have been stolen at basecamp. We’re trying to confirm all that right now.

We’re just in the middle of nowhere. We’ve been traversing this entire mountain in some awful scree. And we may have to backtrack and try to do the central peak if we just can’t do this peak. Believe me, we’re giving it our best. Jon and the group have just been going at every possible couloir or ridge and it’s all rockfall. We’re not going to take any chances with that. We’ll see how far we can get up this narrow couloir, it’s kind of like an ice runnel. (A runnel is a a groove in the snow usually created by falling snow and ice.) We’ll take it right up to the serac band and then hopefully up the face. But we may have to sleep in this steep runnel and that’s not going to be a joyful event. So we’ll see how things go.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(.5 MB MP3)

We are now below the route. It was a four-hour hike around the mountain with heavy, heavy packs. We had to bring our entire basecamp supplies with us. Jon and Kang Hua are on their way up the route. The bottom of the route is pretty nasty. It’s just verglas. It’s very thin ice on rock. And then we go up to a 30-meter ice serac — 90 degrees. It’s an ice climb. And then we get on top of a serac and we make a very steep, horizontal traverse up to a kind of glacier knoll. Then we’re going to try to put camp there tomorrow. Today we’re just going up to fix lines so that we can get everything in position.

It was really cold last night. We got a beautiful day today. Yesterday it snowed, it was miserable. But we got ourselves up here.

We’re all good. Jon’s feeling a little under the weather. I’m feeling a little under the weather but we’re going to still push the route as much as we can. It’s very difficult what we’re trying to do. OK, we’ll talk to you later.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(1.1 MB MP3)

We just got done traversing the south side of Dangchezhengla and Makara. (These are the other two peaks that make up the Yangmolong massif.) We reconned up a very steep valley, just an abomination of scree. It was unbelievable. We got on that ridge — it’s that ridge that’s in front of the photo from the south side of the mountain — to look over into the other valley to see the route. And it is doable, but it’s very technical. There’s about a 30-meter vertical ice climb that gets us up onto the top of a serac. We have to then traverse this serac all the way over and then up on to kind of a glacier/snow field. And that kind of flattens out. We might put camp there and we’d go up the south face. There is a cornice above us so we’ve gotta watch that. It’s looks like it will be 50 to 60 degree ice and snow. It’s going to be very difficult. Even Jon is looking at it and getting a little nervous as well, which is good.

It was an incredibly difficult day. We got a late start. We went through massive boulder fields like no other boulder fields I’ve ever gone through. On the scree slopes we were doing some really low class 5 areas to get up to this gap in the ridge so that we can look down on the other side. We got up to 5,250 meters and looked across the valley right at the entire mountain. So what we have to do is go back down and then traverse all the way down to the south side of the mountain which drops I don’t know how many meters. And then we’ve gotta go up that valley. We’re going to leave our basecamp intact here because it’s quite a few miles away from there, and we’re putting everything on our backs and going that way. We’re not going to have computers. We’re not going to be able to send photos because nothing is charging. This phone is about to die and I won’t be able to charge it because just don’t have time. We’re going to be on the move. So that’s what’s going on if no one hears from us. Jon does have some sat phones that we might be able to use that are chargeable.

Tim Boelter

Listen to this audio update
(1.5 MB MP3)

We’re at 4,800 meters (15,700 feet) on the mountain. In fact, on the objective page where people are walking across that plateau and you see the mountains, that’s exactly where we’re at. And let me tell you, it was a grueling, steep hike up here. We did the entire trek up in two days and I’m not sure most people do it that quickly.

We had a fight with the horsemen trying to get them to bring the equipment further across that lake. And that lake, my god, it’s the bluest water I’ve ever seen in my life.

We’re up at about 4,800 meters, as I said. We’re right above the lake. We hiked up to see all three of the mountains. It is absolutely spectacular. Yangmolong looks like it could be undoable. We’re really concerned. There’s just no easy way from this side unless we go up Makara peak, the central peak, and then and do a really gnarly knife-edge traverse to the summit. That might be what we do.

But the valley is absolutely spectacular. The hike up here is steeper than the other valley but it is just breathtaking. The monastery, as I said, we had the most incredible experience of a lifetime being able to go in there and actually take photos and film of actual prayers. They really took us in over on this side of the mountain. It’s completely opposite of the other side of the mountain.

I spent a lot of time shooting. The colors in the valley are just unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything this beautiful in a long time. We’re up here on a plateau above the lake. It’s quite windy but we’ve got all our tents set up. It’s just the climbing team. And the beauty about this is it’s just us. It’s not like going on a massive commercial expedition to Everest. It really makes it that much more worth the whole experience. The trek up here, the horse trails, it was a great experience.

We’re all pretty exhausted from the altitude. We did a pretty steep trip up. I think we went from 3,700 meters at the monastery to, I believe, 4,800. Don’t quote me on that. But we’re close to 5,000 meters. And it’s just been a hell of an experience.

We’re definitely all doing well. We had a couple stragglers — three guys got way behind us. But that’s ok.

Asu is working his tail off with me. We’re both shooting. He’s learning the ropes. He’s watching exactly what I’m doing with different shots. He and I are kind of ping-ponging the rest of the expedition. We wait for the horses, take shots, then we sit back and shoot the horses in the distance. So it’s a lot of work for us, but we’re enjoying it. It definitely makes it worth it now.

Tomorrow we’re going to go out and look at our options to see if there’s anything doable. We’ve got quite a hike up to the mountain from basecamp. We may have to set up an ABC (advanced base camp) or once we leave here, that’s it we’re going to the mountain.

Jon Otto

Listen to this audio update
(1 MB MP3)

Hi this is Jon Otto calling in from the Mount Yangmolong expedition on October 20th with a recap of everything that’s happened. After being kicked out of Sumnee'an Village we spent the night at the local government meeting room. They were extremely helpful and a little apologetic that they were unable to control a village under their jurisdiction.

The next day we set out at about 8 am, arrived at the next village around 9:30 am and the horses arrived an hour later. So everything seemed to be going smoothly for our two-day hike up the other valley from the other side of the mountain.

We ordered 12 horses but 15 came down the valley. A fight broke out between two of the horsemen, and the only way to settle it was by coercing us into paying for three extra horses. Regardless, the horsemen turned out to be nice and helpful and all the troubles from the last 24 hours evaporated when we arrived at the monastery where they were on day 6 of an 8-day ceremony for the dead. This was a once in a lifetime, incredible experience that we will post about later when we have more time. The monastery is more than 1,500 years old and there are about 30 monks there.

Today we walked up 1,100 vertical meters to the lake at the foot of the mountain. From our camp we can just see the tip of the summit.

Everyone is exhausted and it’s now time for bed.

Tim Boelter

The horses arrive for the hike up the southern valley

Listen to this audio update
(1.2 MB MP3)

Yesterday was an amazing day compared to the problems we’ve had. The southern valley is an incredibly steep hike up on to these narrow, single-track trails that take you into these remote Tibetan villages. We stayed at the monastery. The valley is just absolutely unbelievable. The hillsides are burning in yellow from aspen and poplar trees.

It was a grueling hike. I filmed like crazy. We came across various Tibetan villages. We’re staying at a monastery and when I arrived at the monastery Jon was already here because he came with the horses, plus I was filming. But immediately I was taken inside the monastery during a prayer session, which is unheard of. There’s an eight-day Tibetan festival taking place right now. And we just happened to come here at the right time. This is a very old monastery and I had the privilege to shoot inside while they have the cymbals, drums, and horns blowing.

(The satellite phone connection was lost, so this is an abbreviated update.)

Tim Boelter

The climbing team meets with the villagers

As Jon mentioned in the last dispatch, we were staying in a Tibetan village with a population of about 300 people. At first they embraced us and gave us a place to sleep inside one of their homes. Then suddenly we were told that we were not allowed to climb the mountain. The villagers believe that when people come to climb the mountain it brings bad things to them. The arrival of one team coincided with an earthquake, one team brought disease and a villager died, and just last month a team accused them of stealing gear and police were called in. It's all superstition of course, but they really thought we would bring bad luck.

We had a meeting with the villagers to plead our case but in the end they still refused to let us climb. Then we waited while the village held a private meeting to discuss our request in more detail. The longer they talked, the worse it got. Not only did they officially decide to refuse access to their horses and the mountain, they wanted us to leave immediately and said they could no longer guarantee our safety and the security of the gear. We quickly started packing, but remember that we used their local tractors to transport all 1,000 pounds of gear into the village, so we couldn't simply pack and leave — we needed a way to transport all the gear. Then it got nasty with people shouting at us and pushing while the entire village watched. At one point they stormed our room and tried to take all of our gear. I quickly packed all my camera equipment and put it on my back. Chen Li's wallet was stolen. He got it back but by then it was empty. At one point Lao Wang tried to give candy to one of the kids and the mother grabbed it and threw it back in his face. They even told Chen Li to put out his cigarette because it was a non-smoking village, everyone had been smoking up to this point.

Before tensions broke out, everyone was all smiles

Jon and I went up to the rooftop to call the Batang government to explain our predicament and get help moving the gear. He used the sat phone while I kept watch. The government agreed to come and help us get our stuff out, but we had to wait for their transport while tensions continued to increase. We ended up dragging all the gear out of the house and down the road by hand.

When the officials arrived at the village, and after many hours of debate and bargaining about payment, we loaded up three tractors (two-stroke polluters) and made the hour descent. It was the most grueling ass beating I've had in a while. I'm not sure if my back will ever be the same. The trail is rough and there is no cushioning. We are all suffering to one degree or another depending on what you got to sit on. These little tractors had all our gear and all of us in them so the ride was tight and usually it was flesh on steel.

I don't think any of us are sure what happened today, all I can say is that a peaceful Tibetan village turned angry and even hostile. They did not want us climbing the mountain from this valley. We are now at the county head's office which is in the direction of Batang. Discussions are currently taking place and Jon will fill us in later.

There are always kinks in any expedition, but this was unusual. We had all the proper credentials but the village decided that their decision supersedes that of even Beijing. And apparently it does because we're back in some town on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the government is letting us sleep in their office with a big soviet-era hammer and sickle hanging on the wall. I think they are trying to make up for what happened. Refer back to what I wrote about this region in the background section of this site. We knew these people could be fiercely independent.

Now the plan is to approach Yangmolong from the south so we will be packing in with horses up the southern valley at 8:00 am tomorrow. Hopefully our luck will be better then. For now we are all dusty, full of black soot, and hungry.

Rather than spend the night inside on the dirty floor, Jon and I crawled up to the roof to sleep. I'm spending a few minutes looking at the Milky Way. We are so small and yet we have so many problems. In the grand scheme of things it is so cool to know that the faults of mankind cannot affect the greater universe.

Jon Otto

Yao Zhen on tractor

Beautiful morning in Batang. We spent the morning doing errands - shopping for food, coordinating with the local officials (who have been very supportive), packing up, and setting up the telecommunications equipment. We drove a short distance to the trailhead, loaded all our gear into two tractors and headed up the Sanlusee valley. This is the true local pronunciation for the valley. Yao Zhen and I had the privilege to ride the 2-stroke, putt-putt, black soot spewing mini-tractors. I held my breath half way all the way up the valley.

Now we are in a Tibetan village named Sumnee'an. Sumnee'an has about 300 people and sits snugly along a pristine mountain stream. We saw the summit of Yangmolong on the way in and can't wait to go further up the valley tomorrow morning.

We are staying in the home of a prominent member of the village. They put our team in their shrine room. Tanka scrolls (Tibetan religious paintings usually made on silk) hang from the ceiling, small shrine and Buddhist prayer books line the far wall. It's an honor to be a guest in this village.

Shrine room

This morning a retired village cadre had come down to Batang to tell us we could not climb. It turned out the reason was that a climbing team was in the valley last month and some of their equipment went missing. They had accused the villagers of stealing and the police paid a visit. Understandably, the villagers did not want any more trouble.

It is now time for dinner and yak butter tea!

Climbing Team:

Su Rongqin (Asu)
Kang Hua (Andes)
Tim Boelter
Jon Otto
Zhang Jian
Chen Li
Yao Zhen
Wang Xiaolin (Lao Wang)

Unfortunately, Liu Yong (Daliu) was unable to join us. The last climb he did a few weeks ago blew out his knee.

Tim Boelter

Tim Boelter films a cobbler

Days like today are what make the endless hours of driving worth it. We woke early to beautiful clear skies in Batang, had breakfast, and shopped for food at the market. I spent a majority of the day shooting throughout the city trying to capture a snapshot of life here. The Tibetan people here are so friendly and photogenic. I've always enjoyed coming to this part of the world, there is something spiritual about it.

After finalizing permits and taking care of the final logistics we packed up the vehicles and backtracked east on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway to the trailhead. The short drive took us by beautifully adorned Tibetan houses with manicured gardens. Herds of yaks, sheep, and even pigs roamed alongside the road and on the road. It's just so normal to see animals using the road as though it was made for them, something you wouldn't see in the US. People here take the time to slow down and yield for animals instead of flattening them.

Climbing has given me a gift throughout the years, it's allowed me to visit places like Tibet. It's opened my eyes to a much larger and complex world that I may have otherwise never experienced. This sport or endeavor has allowed me to push myself mentally and physically, but more importantly, it has given me an education about life and the world we live in. To be honest as I've gotten older and obviously more broken, I've come to the realization that climbing in itself really isn't what stokes the fire anymore, it's having the opportunity to learn about these wonderful cultures.

Tim Boelter films in Batang

We put all of our equipment on two tractors with Jon and Yao riding as escorts. It took them an hour and half to get to the village where we are staying. The rest of us hiked up the 10 kilometers in about two and a half hours. This was the first time I hiked with the camera locked onto the tripod and shouldered it the whole way. Although I had a small pack on my back that held all my delicate electronics, I found myself at times actually running to get certain shots of the team hiking. The first days of hiking are always very active for me as a filmmaker. My style of shooting is all about capturing real life. I don't stage shots or allow for takes. Perhaps this is why my films may be more raw (that can be good or bad). This time I locked down all the shots, which made for a  more difficult hike. It takes time to set up, so speed is the only way to allow for keeping the pace. Hand holding shots are far easier, you just whip out the camera hold your breath and try not to shake.

We got our first glimpses of Yangmolong and the images were incredible, even though we could see just the upper 1/8 of the mountain. The blood flows more when you finally get to see what it is you came to climb. Very little is known about the mountain, including the route. We still have to scout out the possibilities.

We arrived in a small Tibetan village tucked away in this valley. Upon our arrival two young Tibetan girls were doing their best to corral some yaks. We were directed to a house and discovered we wouldn't be camping after all. We are staying in a typical three story Tibetan house. The bottom floor is where the animals stay, the second level is the living quarters for the family and the top floor is where the harvest is dried and stored, in this case it's barley.

All of our gear is with us on the second floor. The family is providing us the horses we'll need to take equipment up to basecamp. The hospitality is great and spending time with a Tibetan family is always a great experience.

As I write this I'm on top of the house overlooking the valley and gazing into a star filled sky that just can't be replicated back home. It's these moments that make it all worth it.

Jon Otto

We are finally on our way. I arrived in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, about one week ago. I have affection for this small town of 10 million people as I met my wife here many, many years ago. Every day for the last week I have been spending hours at the Arête Alpine Instruction Center (AAIC) organizing for the climb. There was sponsor clothing to distribute, chasing down gear that only arrived at the last minute, food to buy, communications equipment to repair, and of course sorting through all the climbing equipment – tents, stoves, pro, etc., etc., etc. That was two days ago and the mountains seemed very far away.

Jon Otto near Litang

I have lived in Chengdu for about 10 years all told, and climbed extensively throughout China. My favorite region to climb is still western Sichuan province, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau. The region is peppered with unknown peaks, just waiting to be climbed. The highest, mt. Minya Konka, is the only one over 7000 meters tall, while most are 5000 and 6000 meters high. Nobody has actually counted the number of unclimbed summits. It’s like the Alps on steroids.

And now it’s into the mountains again. As we approach Batang town, my mind is slowly turning its attention towards the mountains. We have been driving for two full days and are in the heart of Kham country. Kham is all Tibetan. Today we drove through Litang, a town high on the plains known for its annual horse festival. Not far from here are the sacred Buddhist peaks Chenresig, Jamalong, and Chana Dorche, named after the three protector gods. Nearby there is the Konkaling monastery, where in the not so distant past the monks supposedly prayed during the day and pillaged during the night. Not far from here is Mt. Yangmolong, our destination.

The long drive along bumpy roads has given me plenty of time to catch up with Tim and Asu. We are all in the non-smoking car together, while the rest of the gang is in the smoking one. Asu just got back from climbing Mt. Cho-Oyu in the Himalayas so is super acclimatized, unlike the rest of us. The scenery during this 20 hour ride is pretty amazing, and makes our sore butts much more bearable. Earlier today we passed yaks bathing in a stream, a Stupa silhouetted against white mountains, and many cool Tibetan houses. I love the look of the Tibetan homes. Built primarily out of local stone, they are 2-3 stories high, with an upper corner normally made of large, long red logs. The elaborately decorated and colorful window frames are the most impressive I have ever seen.

It is dark, the stars are shining, and we are almost at Batang. I can’t wait until tomorrow and our hike up Sangchu Valley towards Yangmolong’s base.

Tim Boelter

We left Xinduqiao around 9:00 am after having a nice breakfast of rice portage, Baoji, boiled eggs, and paocai (like Korean kimchee).

View from drive across Litang Plateau

Once again I did not get sleep last night. Jon and I were up to 2:00 am trying to fix a broken battery charge port on his computer, but with no success. Morning came too fast.

We are now winding through the mountains on a road that two years ago was actually quite nice. Today the road is completely blown out in spots and very rough. I have to give Chinese engineers credit for even considering building a road through some of the terrain we've traveled. We've gone over three or four high passes as high as 4,460 meters (14,600 feet). I'm loosing count. It's hard to write because the road is damn rough.

We are through Litang (shown in photo to right) and are finally closing in on Batang. As we approached the northern apex of the highway we had a chance to peer down the valley we will be hiking to our basecamp. The valley is located next to a three kilometer tunnel that now eliminates a 30 kilometer drive around a mountain. The Sichuan-Tibet Highway is definitely in constant flux. The amount of heavy truck traffic, landslides, and even heat cause incredible damage to the highway. As I said, two years ago this road was almost brand new, but this trip you would never know that. What is impressive is the engineering feat of boring tunnels through these massive mountains. And when you're constantly driving through them and some are as long as five kilometers long you ask yourself how they do it — and will it collapse.

The closer we get to Batang the better the road becomes. I think we're all ready to get out of these vehicles and put the boots to the trail.

It's been a long few days for me and I'm still trying to get my own bearings. I am definitely sleep deprived and hope to catch up on some shuteye tonight. I have to because tomorrow we head down the valley.

We are essentially in Tibet, although western Sichuan is for the most part not considered Tibet, it is truly ethnically Tibetan. The villages are remarkable and the culture is friendly and so colorful. Yaks graze aimlessly along the hillsides and sheep routinely decide the road is for them and not for a two ton vehicle bearing down on them. It really isn't unusual to be stopped by a caravan of animals crossing the road in the middle of nowhere. The shepherd may not be present but believe me, all the animals are accounted for. Life here is refreshingly simple.

It is dark now and yes, we are still driving, but the destination is close now. My butt will thank me when I can stand again.

Asu

God, it is another long day for driving. And me, still sleeping and eating. Still sit behind Jon and Mr. Tim, and they still wake me up when they argue with high voices, god, always when I dream some good thing. It is great we catch sunshine today at noon, blue sky is so far away from Chengdu ho, after one more day driving. We are in Batang now. We will find beds for the night now.

Tim Boelter

I'm sitting next to Jon and Asu in a heavily packed van. We are headed toward Kangding. The rest of the team is in another van. Our van is the no smoking van. So it's obvious that we have a few bad apples suffering from the addiction of the dirty habit. But then again in China the percentage of smokers is quite high compared to our "anti-smoking law" nation.

We are slowly climbing toward the Erlang Pass. The road snakes through a lush green gorge where even on the completely vertical cliffs vegetation grows with ease. We are following the Dadu River southwest. The road is narrow in spots and we are constantly trying to pass the heavy lorries that spew out thick black exhaust as they labor up the steep road. It's the kind of exhaust that burns the nose and throat and gives you a headache after you've breathed it for ten minutes.

The sky is a thick soupy haze, not totally associated with the vehicle pollution. The humidity itself is like a fog and in these lower elevations it is very subtropical. When it rains here it pours and when it pours the land begins to slide. In August of 2007 while traveling along this very road in Loa Wang's 4X4 Nissan we found ourselves in a downpour that turned into a torrent. It was night and the wipers couldn't keep up with the rain. Before we knew it the vehicle's left side dropped out from beneath us — we had driven off the road and into a concrete ditch. Within seconds the vehicle was so far on its side that I fell onto Lao Wang as he was driving. The rain came down in such thick sheets that we had to wait it out in a shopkeepers home. Fortunately the rain let up, and we were able to get the vehicle out before the second wave hit. The drive down this gorge in the rain that night allowed us to witness firsthand the destructive forces of land slides.

We will spend the night just west of Kangding beyond the pass. But for now we'll continue the drive through this winding gorge.

One detail of importance about the climb, today I learned that Daliu is not able to join us because he tore a tendon in his knee, so one of Jon's guides from AAIC, Zhang Jian, will take his place.

I'll write soon again.

Tim Boelter

This was a very unusual dinner of duck, pigs feet, chicken feet, black chicken, spicy wheat noodles, dry salt meicai (local vegetable).
From left to right Yao Zhen, Asu. Lao Wang, and Chen Chen.

It's 4:30 in the morning and once again I'm awake. I arrived in Chengdu to a flurry of activity. All the team members met at Jon's Chinese company office, AAIC. Additional staff were on hand helping inventory and pack gear for the climb. Meanwhile Jon and I had to discuss the Chinese contract I was signing for our sponsor Kailas. I am filming the expedition and providing additional marketing footage and a three minute program to Kailas. In addition to paying for the expedition, Kailas is providing us with all new outerwear, sleeping bags, and accessories. Now we need to see if the Kailas brand can live up to the rigors of a climb such as this.

Around 5:00 pm yesterday I started to crash hard, but things had to be done and dinner had to be attended (photo on right). I haven't had much sleep. I think the longest stretch of shut eye has been two hours. Usually I am more adaptable to flying east, but this time it's giving me an ass kicking.

Facebook in China is either off or intermittent because nobody here can access it, so I want to make sure that everyone who commented on the Media Ventures Facebook fan page or my personal page knows how much I appreciate the kind words and good wishes. Holly is relaying all the comments to me.

Today we will try and depart at noon. The further west we go the more unlikely I'll get dispatches out using the BlackBerry. We will have to resort to the sat phone for voice messages. We hope to be able to get the data port working along the way. Right now I am a one-man show as usual and aside from shooting I still have to get my kit in order. I'm still fighting a bug that I left home with, and the lack of sleep and good ol' Chinese-city pollution doesn't help matters much, but it seems to be status quo on trips like this. Amazing how you can train hard, eat well, and stay healthy all year and then the one time you catch a cold it turns out to be the worst time.

My roommate, Lao Wang is definitely off in la la land, his snoring confirms it, and it makes me envious that he can sleep so soundly, or in this case so loudly.

I'll do my best to keep the dispatches coming. I'm going to try and get more sleep.

Tim Boelter

It's probably not a good thing that before you get to go through the immigrations counter you first must be greeted by surgically-masked people instructing you to form a queue to have your temperature taken. I was having flashbacks to the end of the SARS epidemic in 2003, when I was asked to momentarily stand beneath a laser to have my temperature taken. Of course back then I had no idea I was actually having my temperature taken. I thought they were taking my picture. Silly me.

Once again China is in crisis mode, this time it's H1N1. Maybe I like to live life on the edge, or maybe I'm just stupid, but I was in the minority of people not wearing a surgical mask on the plane. Funny thing is, there was this big group of people traveling together to go to a martial arts school in Korea and most of them wore these masks. But half the time they took them off to socialize in the back of the plane. When they went back to their seats they put them back on. Hmmm, what's the point... We're all still breathing the same recycled air whether standing at the back or sitting in a seat. Maybe me and some of those other unmasked passengers like to live on the edge by breathing in the germ-filled air all the time. We are in a state of panic!

All I can say is that if I would have had a fever I would probably be held prisoner in quarantine somewhere, and have to explain to my climbing partners that it was my wife's fault — she's the one who got me sick right before I left. (Sorry, Holly.) Nevertheless I flew through the health check, flew through immigrations, flew through customs, and beat my driver to the van that eventually took me to the hotel. Now it's 4:30 am and as usual I'm eyes-wide-open trying to type with my thumbs on the damn Blackberry... you'd think this would put me to sleep. In a few hours I'll need to get back to the airport and be greeted by thousands of surgically masked people. Good thing they're all wearing the mask, it means I don't have to.

Cheers from Beijing.

Tim Boelter

Tim Boelter at the Minneapolis airport.

Outside my airplane window the clouds are finally breaking but we're still sitting at the gate. It's not even mid October and there are about two inches of snow on the ground here in Minneapolis. We are waiting for weather-delayed planes with passengers needing to get on this plane. Hopefully we'll make our tight connection in Japan.

It pays to be a former employee of the airline -- you're a part of that informal Northwest employee club. These long, overseas flights are always made tolerable when I know a flight attendant who goes the extra mile for me. Even though I haven't worked for Northwest in years, membership still comes in the form of an extra smile and updates on the current events at the airline. And sometimes it includes free alcohol, always a plus.

My flight to Beijing has become a routine over the years. After 12 hours in the air, we'll arrive in Tokyo, Japan (Narita). The local time will be approximately 5:20 on Tuesday the 13th. By the time we go through customs in Narita, my flight to Beijing will be close to boarding and then it's off for another 3.5 hours before landing at 10:55 pm Beijing time. Once I get through customs, collect my luggage, meet my driver, and get to the hotel, it will be around 1:00 am. The next morning I'll get up early and be back at the airport for my final flight to Chengdu which takes about two hours.

The climbing team will meet in Chengdu. All of us have climbed together in the past and it will be nice to reconnect with friends again. My good friend Lao Wang is joining us. Although he is not a technical climber, Lao Wang will be holding down the fort at basecamp. We hope to get him on the ice to experience the rush of ice climbing. Asu is returning from a successful climb on Cho Oyu where he was the personal sherpa for two western clients. Last year Asu and I traveled for 60 days filming throughout China for BlueSheep Adventures. Jon and Daliu have made Chengdu a second home. Jon and his wife Xuehua, who is from Chengdu, live in a penthouse apartment there. Daliu lives in Yunnan, but spends a great deal of time doing business in Chengdu. And Kang Hua lives in Beijing working as a guide and instructor. It has been five years since our ascent of Siguniang -- this will be a great reunion.

It looks like we're about to get our push back from the gate. The excitement begins!