Travel Reference
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back home. The meadow became even more colourful when the contents of the
barrels were spread out to dry. One of our barrels, holding flour and dal, had
already gone missing but we had enough of that. But now we realised that a more
crucial barrel containing most of the ropes and much of the hardware had also dis-
appeared. Our initial high spirits, prompted by arriving at such a magnificent
place, evaporated as the afternoon mists descended.
Early next morning, we spotted three figures hurrying toward us, and immedi-
ately saw one was carrying a barrel. It was the barrel with the ropes and hardware,
brought by the two teenage lads and the older brother we had helped on the very
first night. We laughed with relief, made them tea and rice and gave them each an
extra day's pay. It was not worth asking how the barrel had been left behind. They
set off at speed toward home and would probably still have managed to cover three
stages even though the day was half gone.
Over the next three days, we rested and checked equipment. We suspended one
of the as yet unproven hammocks Alex had designed and Troll had made for no
charge on a nearby boulder. Getting in and out of it even here seemed challenge
enough. We debated every ounce of what to take and the days we expected to be
away. There is a delicate balance in the planning for a climb where the more stuff
you take the more time you need and consequently the more stuff you need. The
concept of 'lightweight' is a misnomer when a route is going to take more than a
week to climb. Thirty-five kilos on your back at altitude does not feel light.
On the second day, I walked up towards the Changabang Glacier to look at the
face for the first time. We all made this solitary trip to clear our minds. The peak
stood serene at the top of the glacier, a granite needle gracefully pointing toward
heaven. Through compact binoculars, I looked at possible routes. There was the
obvious left-slanting line I had drawn on the photo at the RGS. I saw immediately
what Doug meant. It looked shattered and led to the ridge too far left from the
main summit. But the centre of the wall from this distance looked nearly blank. On
that same photo Doug had left with me, Alex had spotted a chimney system lead-
ing from mid-height on the headwall all the way to the summit ridge and that
looked feasible. There was also a thin line leading right into the centre of the upper
face from near the start of that chimney line. Something told me that going right
would be best, but the way could not be confirmed until we got there.
After two days of staggering across shin-scraping moraines, we reached the face
for acclimatisation and a recce. We didn't waste time looking at the options but de-
cided to start from the toe of the buttress. We knew the team from the Lakes that
had failed in 1976 started somewhere up the slabs further right. We needed to be
completely independent. Voytek led the initial wet, overhanging wall in immacu-
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