Tag: Basic Mountaineering Course 2014

We spent a day in Training Camp to clean up our equipment before returning it to the local guides. It was convenient that all the snow melted and we had access to a river to wash our ice axes, mountain boots and some clothing. It was a busy day trying to dry everything before we…
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It was a great rest last night as it wasn’t as cold. I can only look forward to the end of today as we were heading back to Training Camp, where it will be much, much, warmer. Deep inside me, I knew that it was going to be a tough day. I had frostnip on…
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This is it. the past 2 days of crazy trekking under the relentless sun and cold have led to this. The summit push usually starts at dusk, so that means we had to wake up at 0100 hours and be ready by 0200 hours… …but that didnt happen. It was one of those mornings where…
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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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