We were camping at base camp at an altitude of approximately 4000m. We slept at this height for a night. So far, no one is experiencing any sign of AMS. We will be heading to high camp, at an altitude of 4500m, today. 500m might not sound far but at this altitude, the difference in…
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Waking up in trepidation, knowing of the trials and tribulations which lay ahead of us today. This culmination of our training, what we have worked hard for over the past few days, was starting. This is the beginning of the end. Yes! Finally! I woke up, packed my huge sleeping bag into the surprising little…
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It has been raining and snowing for 2 days straight… Didn’t get a wink of sleep last night and neither did Raymond – our tent was flooded in a few places and we couldn’t sleep since our drenched sleeping bags no longer shielded us from the cold. We finally gave up on sleeping and waited…
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The plan was to wake up at 0600 hours, have breakfast at 0700 hours and leave for the base camp at 0800 hours. When we woke up, we knew that the plan was foiled. The rain outside was heavy and there was no morning call (or rather morning tea). Samuel and I both stayed in…
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There’s quite a lot I want to write. Long post coming up! It was really interesting last night. It started raining at about 1800 hours, while we were practicing knots in the dinner tent. The rain did not seem like it was going to stop. Some of us went back to check our tent shelters…
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The number 789 has become somewhat of a routine. By 7 we’ll be woken up by the chef for a nice cup of hot tea; By 8, we’ll be having breakfast; By 9, training begins. Yum yum! A crow attacked our GoPro Overview of our camp again. Notice the melting snow The first half of…
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In the past 2 days, I was running a fever and was trying to recover. I could not eat well and was suffering from some gastric problems. Today, I felt much better when I woke up. My appetite improved and I felt much stronger. I could actually concentrate on the activities! HAHA. Having said that,…
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I woke up feeling good today, thanks to a good night’s sleep! I wasn’t feeling that well a day before due to poor sleeping conditions and vomiting. In fact, I actually vomited twice in my tent and made a mess of the whole tent. It was really smelly (sorry Yong Siang). Yong Siang probably has…
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We woke up early in the morning with the friendly tea call from the kitchen crew. It was always easy to wake up with piping hot tea served to you while you were still in your warm sleeping bag. We washed up and got ready for breakfast, which was a simple meal of toast, eggs,…
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Today is the day we head for Training Camp, where the training starts. The day when we throw back everything from Singapore and enter the mountains. Waking up, I tell myself that this would be the last day in civilisation for a long while. Sitting on the toilet seat to take my customary early morning…
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The night at Mayflower Hotel was awesome. The place is spacious and rather close to the town centre. We had a simple breakfast with eggs & toasts, nothing too special. After breakfast, we started our first training. It was an acclimatisation hike up one of the hills near our hotel. The first few days of…
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We left Chandigarh first thing in the morning for Manali. Manali is a town located further north of Chandigarh at an altitude of 2050m. Loaded and ready to go As we started to move further north, we encountered more rural surroundings, and occasionally places with no road. Despite the bumpiness and the incessant horning, the…
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Our final examinations ended yesterday. Before we even knew it, we were on a flight to India. Most of us didn’t really sleep the night before as we were busy packing for the trip. We did not want to forget anything as we would be away for a long time. It was really a surreal…
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Went down to boys town to get our ice axes, boots and mittens
It’s our final day in 成都 (Cheng Du)! Yi Qian and Yong Siang went for a traditional chinese medicine massage last night and came back with “octopus circles” on their backs. They went for some bottle suction massage. It was apparently quite comfortable for them. A pity I don’t have pictures of the aftermath. We…
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It’s always hard to say Goodbye! Today, we leave the place where we stayed for 10 days. There were many wonderful memories we had here: home-cooked 四川 (Si Chuan) dishes; traditional Tibetan drinks; 小粘粘 (Little Sticky) who had accompanied us to the summit of 大峰 (Da Feng), 5038m; the clear blue skies; and last but not least,…
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Unlike most days, we started the day at 0200 hours, when the many restless souls of the team started stirring from their light sleep. Waking up to a symphony of sound, with the snores trumpeting loudly in the shack, the percussion of the rustling of backpacks was deafening. I could hardly believe that I was…
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We left 日隆镇 (Ri Long Zhen) early in the morning and set off for 大峰 (Da Feng). Upon reaching the ridge line that would lead us to base camp, we decided to stop for a photo! A picture of all 8 of us with 四姑娘山 (Si Gu Niang Shan) in the background. You can see…
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Our final day of ice climbing training. Behold, the vertical waterfall that awaits us: The route on the right was really hard. As such, we decided to play a game to push each other to climb even higher than the previous person. The person who climbed the lowest will have to write the blog for…
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It’s our 5th day of ice climbing training today! We have been really fortunate to have clear skies for the past few days, but today, it was a gloomy morning. It was quite hard to get out of bed today! We were more or less comfortable with our crampons by now. It’s really nice to…
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A day of fast climb. Today’s breakfast was wonderful as I drank a cup of locally produced butter tea. It was surprising that Yi Qian did not enjoy the taste of the tea. He’s usually quite adventurous with regards to food. Must be an acquired taste. In today’s training, the approach route was relatively short,…
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I woke up early today, feeling ready for today’s ice climbing training. Breakfast was served at 0830 hours and our drivers arrived at 0900 hours. By 0915 hours, we were on our way towards the next training site. I was secretly nervous for today’s training, as I have missed yesterday’s training due to severe headache…
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As per other days, we started the day with the same porridge and man-tous for breakfast. By 0915 hours, we were already on the road, heading out for training. We were heading towards a different site today. Training was tough, but… Today. Was. Awesome. Karen climbing up the slope in the foreground. It began with…
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Waking up at 0745 hours and wrapped up in our bed sheets, there was a sense of excitement and nervousness. We did not know what to expect. Will the training be too intense? Will we be able to remember all the lessons that were taught to us? There were so many questions and doubts unanswered.…
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After a good night’s sleep, we woke up at 0645 hours to get ready to set off for the valley. The trip was estimated to be around 6 hours and we left at 0815 hours sharp. Fortunately, we did not get trapped in the peak hour traffic jam. Tibetan prayer flags The journey up the…
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It’s the beginning of a new journey. A journey that will create history in SUTD. We are embarking on Phase I of our unnamed and unclimbed mountain expedition. I am extremely excited and am looking forward to the challenges we will face in the next 9 months. Our flight to Chengdu was at 0200 hours…
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