Sept 29th, 2011

It’s a bright sunshine day again, but it’s raining inside my heart because it’s the day that I would have to say good bye to ShishaPangma.

Shared the last spicy noodle breakfast with my dear Sherpa friends. Ngima kept on adding yak meat and omelet to my bowl while he himself would only take the noodle part, “So you won’t be hungry on the way.” My dear Sherpa friends, they are the world’s most genuine happy workers! You can hear their happy tones no matter when they were hauling the water from the stream or when they were washing the dishes. They would find boundless fun in the simplest jobs. They would dance their way into the dining tent just to clean the table and they would pick up shovel with a song if you ask them to go clean the toilet. But this morning, they were quiet.

Finally bid the final goodbye after having been rushed several times by everyone because it’s already after 12 noon (we didn’t get up until sun warms up the camp site, so by the time we had breakfast, it’s 11am already) and it’s a long way out. No need to say a word, our hearts were connected. I almost stumbled my way out of camp trying to keep my balance while holding off my urge to cry. I dared not turning my head or slowing down until I was high up on the hill that I knew I can hide my tear behind the hill. I was afraid of seeing anyone looking into my direction. I was even afraid at the sight of the camp site.

Until it’s far enough and high up on the hill, I knew it’s safe to stop now and looked back. Our base camp tents were hidden behind the hill. Not able to see it actually helped. ShishaPangma was standing there clear of clouds in the morning sun.

Turns after turns, even music couldn’t take my mind off much. It has been almost exactly one month since I walked this path into the mountain. Now, the grassland all turned into patches of red or orange ones, like a miniature of the colorful New England forests in fall.

Until it was near sun set time, Nyalam was in sight again. I finally couldn’t hold back my tears. Oh, ShishaPangma, I so much didn’t want to leave! Don’t know when I will be back again! With so much left behind, I so much don’t want to leave! Oh baby, I hope to see you again one day!

The right decision is often the hardest. Life must go on!

9月29日

再见，希夏邦马

又是一个艳阳天，然而我的心里在下着雨，因为我将不得不告别希夏邦马了。

最后一顿早餐，和我亲爱的夏尔巴朋友们一起分享辣面条（这是他们的传统早餐）。尼玛不停地往我的碗里加牛肉和煎鸡蛋，而他自己却不舍得吃，“这样你路上就不会饿了。”我亲爱的夏尔巴朋友，他们是世界上最纯挚的快乐而勤劳的人们！不管是去挑水还是在洗碗，你都能听到他们愉快的歌声。再简单无聊的工作，在他们眼里都是无尽开心的享受。他们会一路跳着舞跑进来擦桌子；哪怕你是叫他们去清理茅厕，他们也是唱着歌拎起铁锹去的。然而今天早上，他们都很沉默。

因为快中午12点了（我们总是太阳温暖了营地后才起床，吃早饭时就已经11点了），下山的路还很长，在大家反复催了我若干遍后，我才终于完成了最后的告别。那么默默的，语言是多余的。我几乎踉跄着出了营地，一边努力遏制住要哭的冲动，一边勉强保持着平衡。我一直不敢回头，一直不敢放慢脚步。我害怕看见谁目送的眼神，我甚至害怕看见营地，那留下了多少回忆的地方。

直到走出了很远，到了山坡的高处，知道不用再担心别人看见我的眼泪，我才小心地停下来回头张望。山包包挡住了营地，倒算帮了我忙。希夏邦马站在旭日下，不挂一朵云彩。

一道山谷一道山谷地渐行渐远，然而即使音乐也无法排解我的思绪。几乎是整整一个月前，我走在这条小路上进山。如今，无边的草地变成了一块块的红红黄黄的彩色地毯，绚烂的秋色只增加我的思恋。

太阳快要落山了，聂拉木又出现在眼前。我再也忍不住泪水。希夏邦马，我是多么不情愿离开！不知何时能再回来！希夏邦马一个月，留下多少欢笑与泪水。亲爱的，我盼望重逢之日！

正确的决策往往是最难最痛苦的。生命只有继续向前！

8am, Sept 26th, 2011

Like an alarm clock, I woke up at 8am. Sun should have risen by this time, but it was still dark outside because of the heavy snow. I had been lying in sleeping bag since 7pm yesterday, but it did not make any sense to start moving under this condition. I simply couldn’t see anything anyway.

9月26日，早8点

我像闹钟一样准时8点醒了过来。太阳应该出来了，但雪下得太大了，外面还是一片漆黑。我从昨晚7点就一直躺在睡袋里，但这样的条件下就开路也不是好主意。什么都看不见呀！

 

10am, Sept 26th, 2011


9:51 woke up again. Bright. Still snowing hard. I could feel the pressure of snow around me that I hardly can move. I already slid off my pad from bottom, but who cares. I’m still warm and comfortable. I nudged my body, knowing I was literally buried in snow. I had to push hard in order to move left and right a little bit to make room so that I could get myself out.

No visibility at all. I started to get used to this same condition every day. I didn’t feel like to move, but I’d better get going early, so when the visibility improves, I could be at a spot that I can see something to orient myself. I couldn’t wait here for my death.

I didn’t like packing up in snow to get things just wetter. But this wouldn’t be the worst thing. Tough up and get up! This was the heaviest snow we have had on this mountain. My green plastic bag, buried in the snow, looked like a little coffin!

My throat does not feel that burning dryness this morning. The first day without water felt so painful, now the second day did not even feel dehydrated. I didn’t feel hungry either, but I needed to be strong enough to get over this hill today. So I had a sip of water and a granola bar before setting off.

I headed down the valley. Using hiking poles to poke ahead in the deep snow first, I made every step carefully to make sure that I wouldn’t step into crevice between rocks. As long as I don’t get sick or injured, I’m confident that I can hold off many days.

I didn’t want to lose elevation too much. As the valley gradually sloped down, I moved towards the hill after I have passed that very rocky face part. The place I slept at was 5400m. So I didn’t need to climb up the hill, just not to lose the elevation too much.

Whenever the sound of avalanche came from the mountain across the glacier river, I would alarmingly look up the hill to assess if my location was safe. It’s a low angle slope full of rocks. It should be safe enough. With the overly frequent sound of avalanche, I was checking the slope I was on almost every few steps. Don’t get sick, don’t get injured, and the last thing I want would be getting into an avalanche. The story of “127 hours” and “Into the wild” kept on coming to my mind.

The going would be forever, I told myself. This is a big hill. I kind of regretted not trying it yesterday when there was not so much snow cover on this hill (I guess snow melts fast on this hill as the previous day’s accumulation didn’t hold long), but I knew I was too tired yesterday to walk this distance. Well, patience! One valley a day, I would get there. I was actually much more energetic and felt stronger than yesterday.

I kept walking carefully, maintaining elevation, preparing for a very long day.

9月26日，早10点

9:51 又醒过来了。这回天亮了，但雪还是很大。周围的雪把我压得紧紧的，几乎动不了。我早就整个滑到防潮垫之外去了，但我不在乎，反正我还是暖暖和和、舒舒服服的。我扭动一下身体，发现我是实实在在被雪活埋了！我只好使劲左右推来推去，给自己开辟出点空间好脱身出来。

外面能见度还是几乎为0。我开始习惯于每天都是这个样子，但很不情愿在这样的条件下开路。不过还是早点行动起来吧，但愿等能见度好点的时候，我已经在一个方便辨别方位的地方了。总不能在这里等死呀。

在大雪中收睡袋装包，只能把装备搞得更湿乎乎的。但这算不上最糟糕的。坚强点，行动起来吧！这雪可真是我们到山上后最大的了！我的绿垃圾袋，几乎完全被雪埋住了，简直就成了一个小棺材！

我的喉咙不像昨天那么干的冒火。有意思，第一天不喝水那么痛苦，第二天反而不觉得渴了。我也不觉得饿。但是今天计划翻过那座山，会很需要体力。于是我还是喝了一小口水，吃了一条granola bar.

我开始沿着山谷向下走。因为雪太深了，我先用登山杖在前面探路，然后才小心地迈步，免得踏到岩石间的空洞里。我相信，只要不生病不受伤，我可以坚持很多天。

我不要过多地降低海拔。所以，随着山谷越来越低，我等过了那片峭壁就逐渐向山坡靠拢。我昨天睡觉的地方是5400米，所以我不需要向上爬升，只要不要降得太多就可以了。

对面的山上不时传来雪崩的声音，每次我都会警觉地望望我上方的山坡。这个坡角度较低，还有很多岩石，估计还是比较安全的。随着频繁的雪崩声音，我几乎是每走几步就抬头查看一下我所在的山坡。别生病，别受伤，还有就是千万别被卷进雪崩。我不时地想到127小时和 Into the Wild 的故事。

这么走估计得走一辈子！这个山坡好大呀。我有点后悔昨天没咬牙接着走，那时积雪要少得多，但我知道以我当时的体力也许走不了多远。还是耐心点吧。一点翻过一座山，一定会找到的。而且，我感觉今天比昨天有劲多了。也许是因为昨晚睡了15个小时吧！

我继续小心地走着，保持着海拔高度。这将是个漫长的一天！

 

12pm, Sept 26th, 2011

Suddenly, I was pretty sure, I heard human’s sound! They were shouting for something, must be for me! I shouted back. After back and forth a couple times, it was clear that we were here for each other!

Through the heavy snow, it took me a while before I could see a few black dots far away down in the valley. They were moving very slowly that it was hard to tell them apart from rocks. But given a little time, they were clearly moving! There seemed to be three of them! Then more! Finally, we fully established voice and visual connection. I almost wanted to cry when I realized that was the whole team here! But then joy overtook me. It’s over! Finally!

We have never wanted to hear each other’s voice so much! A lot of emotional hugs. Geordie held my face as if looking at his own baby. Sorry, I have made everyone worry so much! Thank you all for coming out for me!

9月26日，中午12点

突然，我听到人的声音！他们在喊着什么，一定是找我的！我大声回应。来回几个回合后，我们都确认对方听到了。

好半天我终于在山谷低处辨别出几个小黑点，不仔细看，和石头差不多。但当他们开始慢慢移动，我可以确认那是人！好像有三个，后面还有！终于，我们通过来回呼喊，确认都看到对方了。是全队都出动来找我了！我激动得差点哭出来，但还是破涕为笑。这一切终于可以结束了！

我们从来没有这么渴望听到彼此的声音！大家都激动地拥抱。Geordie 捧住我的脸，像看着自己的小孩似的。对不起，让大家为我担心了！谢谢你们都辛苦出来找我！

The Search

The team had been searching between base camp and ABC all day yesterday. Because of technical issues, they initially interpreted my location as next to base camp on the way to ABC. After I pressed S.O.S. button yesterday afternoon, my brother and the foundation alerted Chinese Mountaineering Association in Beijing and Tibet. While I retreated into my sleeping bag early last night, so many people on the mountain and outside the mountain had a restless night.

Thanks to Eben who never gave up trying and finally solved the technical issue this morning. Had Eben not correctly pointed team to this valley, I probably would take another couple days before I could find my way back under this condition though it only took the team 2 hours to reach me from base camp. Having to break the trail in this deep snow on my own, it would require a whole day to cover that distance with my weak energy level. Plus, with no visibility to find the direct path, I would have to take a long detour over very difficulty terrains.

As we were speaking, two people sent by CTMA were coming up from Nyalam and the yak team would be going down from base camp to cover the ground between Nyalam and base camp. But had the team not found me with the correct GPS guidance, I probably would still miss those search teams today because I was too deep in the valley. It would be unlikely for us to see or hear each other through this non-penetrable snow (The yak team came up yesterday passed the valley I was in, but we missed each other because of the exact reason.)

I was really lucky that the team found me today. Because I left base camp dressed in very thin layers without even my down jacket and I didn’t have any camping gear with me other than a sleeping bag, the team predicted my chance of surviving beyond two nights would be very slim amid this worst and longest storm we have had. As John, who was responsible for documenting our climbing, said, he didn’t even bring the camera when they came out searching this morning because he was afraid of what they may find. Today was planned as the all-out search to cover all distance between Nyalam and ABC, and team would likely to call off the search had they not found me today.

A lot of lessons learned here but I would rather just leave it here.

I want to give my hearty thanks again to the whole team, the sherpas, the yak team, the search team sent by CTMA, CMA, CTMA, Li Kah Shing foundation, friends from Shantou Univ, filming crew and supporting crew, SnowyHorizon company, and my family, for everyone’s care and effort in the search process!

搜寻过程

大家昨天在大本营和ABC之间找了一天。但由于技术问题，一开始定位搞错了，以为我在大本营和ABC之间离营地很近的一个地方。下午我发了S.O.S.请求后，我哥哥和李嘉诚基金会分别联系了中国登协北京和西藏联络处求援。昨晚，当我早早地就躺在了睡袋里，山上山外多少人都因为我过了个不眠之夜。

幸亏有Eben不懈地努力，今天早晨终于解决了定位中的技术故障，成功地把大家指引到这个山谷来。不然我恐怕还要再找上一两天才能回到营地。虽然大家只用了2个小时就从营地到了这里，但这么深的雪，要我一人以此微弱的体力开道，恐怕至少走一天。再加上能见度这么差，我肯定要在满山的石头间绕远。

在我们正相聚时，ＣＴＭＡ派出的两个人正从聂拉木方向进山呢，而昨天上来的牦牛队也将下山与他们会合，他们共同负责在大本营和聂拉木之间搜寻。不过，如果不是解决了ＧＰＳ定位问题，我今天很可能还是会错过那支搜寻队，因为我在山谷的深处，在这样的大雪中我们很难看见或听到对方。昨天牦牛队上来时其实经过了我所在的山谷，就是因此错过的。

今天获救实在是很幸运。由于我离开大本营时穿得很单薄，连羽绒服都没带，除了睡袋也没有什么露营的装备，再加上这几天碰巧连续都是我们遇到过的最恶劣的天气，队里认为我能抗过两个晚上的概率都很小。正如我们负责登山摄影的John所说，今天早上出来搜寻连摄影机都没敢带，因为不敢想象找到的会是什么。今天的全面搜寻要是没找到我，很可能就放弃了。

这次的经验教训不是一两句能说完的，还是慢慢回味思考吧。

我想再次衷心感谢这次搜寻过程中为我费心、劳神、辛苦努力的所有朋友们– 我的登山队和支持团队，协作们，牦牛队，西藏登协的搜寻队员，中登协，西藏登协，李嘉诚基金会，汕头大学的朋友们，摄影团队的朋友们，还有很多不相识的朋友们。让家人担心是我最不希望的，知道你们是这一过程中最为我担心、着急的，很抱歉，谢谢支持！

Mystery Solved

The day (Sept 29th) I left the mountain was a clear day that I was able to see clearly the path I followed during those days. When I crossed the creek to get up the hill around 7ish on Sept 24th, I already passed base camp and was following the trail that led away from base camp. Then I continued towards lower camp on the following day. But because I was keeping a high elevation while following a descending valley, I went too deep into the valley though I was very close to the lower camp by the time I turned around. The final valley I slept on Sept 25th night was indeed next to base camp valley, but the hill in between was a huge one that it would be questionable if I could find the camp that day under such bad condition.

路线解谜

29日下山时天气特别晴朗，我得以看明白那几天我到底是怎么迷失的。24日晚7点多，当我穿过那条小溪往山上走时，就已经过了营地所在的山谷，当时沿着那条有人走过的路是离开大本营下山去的。第二天我又接着向下山的方向走了，但由于我保持了较高的海拔，所以我虽然实际上离下面的营地很近了，但一直在山谷深处。我9月25日夜所在的山谷的确就是在营地“隔壁”，但之间的山是个很大的山，在当时的情况下一天不一定能到。

As if the drama of the past few days was not enough, the final days that were supposed to be relaxing turned into a survival game.

迷失在希夏邦马 (1)

仿佛过去几天发生的事情还不够，最后的几天本来该是很轻松的，却变成了对生存能力的考验。

12pm Noon, Sept 24th, 2011

As usual, we got up after sun heat up our tents around 10:30am and slowly enjoyed our breakfast until noon. The weather was decent, light snow and hardly any wind. I was planning to leave the mountain on 26th and need to get my gear back from ABC within the next couple days.  Who knows what tomorrow would be like? I’d better go today when the weather was not too bad. Shortly after 12pm, I left base camp for ABC.

I took a long and relaxed detour around the valley instead of the ridge way we did before. I was always curious about what the mountain looks like from a different side and had been wondering what it would be like down low in the valley since looking at it all the way from high up on the ridge last time. To avoid unnecessary up and down, I kept walking along 5400m line so that it would take me to the entry of the last valley before I need to go up the high plateau that ABC was on.

9月24日，中午12点

早上照旧是等10:30左右，太阳把营帐晒热了，大家才起来。待慢慢地享用完了早餐，就是中午了。今天的天气不坏，微微地下着雪，没有风。我计划26日下山，这两天得去把留在ABC的装备取回来。谁也不能预计明天的天气，何不趁今天天气还凑合去跑一趟呢？于是，12点多，我就出发了。

我没有走上次走的山脊路，而是从山谷里绕了个远道。我总是好奇每座山从另一个角度看是什么样子的。特别是自从上次在山脊上一路观望着山谷过来，我一直很好奇山谷下面的另一番天地。为了避免多余的上上下下，我一直保持在5400米的线上走，这样就可以正好把我带到上ABC所在的高地前的最后一个山谷的入口。

5pm, Sept 24th, 2011

The detour was interesting. I got a close look at those intimidating steep walls around the valley and the frozen glacier river separating the valleys. But it definitely cost me more time that I didn’t arrive at ABC until about 4pm. It was snowing harder on the high plateau and the wind was slightly stronger. Windproof layer became necessary.

I debated about staying at ABC by myself or going down to enjoy the nice dinner with team in base camp. Since I already figured out the valley way which was easier and faster than the ridge way, I calculated that I can make it in three hours. It’s downhill anyway. The sunset time is 8pm. I should have no problem getting down before dark and catch the dinner in base camp.

After a late lunch break and sorting out my pack, I started going down at 5pm.

9月24日，下午5点

从山谷里绕道增添了不少乐趣。我可以近距离地欣赏周围那些令人生畏的绝壁和山谷间凝固的冰川河。当然，也要多花不少时间。等我优哉游哉地溜达到ABC，已是下午4点了。高地上雪下得比下面大些，风也紧些，不得不穿上防风衣。

是应该单独在ABC过夜呢，还是回大本营和大家一起享受晚餐？我既然已经搞清了山谷里的路，而且那条路比山脊的路更好走更快，我算计着三个小时应该能到，何况是一路下山。日落是8点，我觉得天黑前下山回大本营吃晚餐应该不成问题。

休息了会儿吃午餐，整理好装备，5点开始下山了。

7pm, Sept 24th, 2011

I went a little lower in the valley on the way back for flatter trail. It was more relaxing and much faster to walk in the valley bed. There were a lot of huge boulders on the trail. Sometimes the movie “127 hours” came to my mind when I passed by some intimating-looked rocks perched on the hill. Hope they don’t roll down the hill in that split second when I walked by. I even entertained my imagination by thinking of my escape plans should the unexpected happen.

Around 7ish, knowing sunset is coming soon, I knew it’s important that I leave valley bed and get back on normal trail immediately so that I could still follow in dark in case I went slower than I planned. The valley bed looked flat from high up, but actually there were a lot of little hills inside it that it was hard to see your surroundings when you were in it. I climbed up one little hill after another, crossed a creek that should be the last one before the camp, and finally, I got up a big hill looked like the last hill next to the base camp. I could even detect some trace that should have been left by someone not too long ago. But I still worried a little bit because I couldn’t see any cairns anywhere.

9月24日，下午7点

我沿着比来时更低一些的线路走，因为山谷低处的路更平整更好走，我一路走得很顺利很快。路上有很多巨石，有的斜倚在山坡上，姿态挺吓人，让我不禁想起电影”127小时”，有时甚至自娱地琢磨“万一”时该怎么办。

7点左右， 我知道太阳快要下山了， 我必须离开山谷里好走的路，回到山坡上的“正道”。这样万一天黑时我没到营地，沿着“正道”走也不必担心。虽然从山上看山谷觉得挺平的，实际上山谷里也有很多小山包，身在其中只能看到很小的世界。我翻过一座又一座小山包；穿过一条小河，像是到营地前的最后一条河；最后终于上了一座“大山”，看起来就是营地边上的那座山包。我甚至可以发现有人曾经走过的迹象。不过我还是隐隐有些担心，因为我一直没有看到一个玛尼堆。

The past few days have been the most painful few days on this trip.

As I mentioned before that the condition on Shisha this season is not ideal. The snow has not consolidated well because of the lack of thawing and consolidating cycles. Earthquake on Sept 18th may have created more risk for the rocky section of the route by dislodging some rocks.

But all these are just some lame excuses. The biggest problem is inside the team. After several days of intense and very emotional debate and evaluating all the options, the dramatic final decision was that I gave up ShishaPangma.

Many decisions in life are not easy. This is not the first time I turned around without even making a summit attempt. On Aconcagua, I turned back twice when overall condition was not in favor. Feb 2008 had been one of the most painful days in my life when I decided to give up Everest trip that originally was planned for that spring when I realized that would be the right decision despite all the effort had been put in.

Again, for ShishaPangma, I sacrificed many high priority agendas and gave it all-in effort during the past year. I have endured and was ready to endure so much just for it. But after all, I think giving up is the right decision. For such a complicated project, natural condition is only one factor. It’s more important is the harmonious internal state of everyone involved. I believe one should approach such sacred mountain with uttermost respect for everything and don’t let personal ambition take over all your heart.

9月23日

痛苦的决定

过去的这几天是此行最痛苦的几天。

我前面提到本登山季节的气候条件不很理想。由于缺乏有利于化雪、冻冰的交替冷热周期，山上的雪一直没有很好地凝聚。9月18日的地震可能松动了不少岩石，增加了路线上攀岩段的危险性。

但这些仅仅是借口而已。最大的问题出在我们团队或组织内部。经过多日激烈的讨论、权衡各种解决方法，最后我决定放弃希夏邦马。

生命中的很多决定是很难做的。这也不是我第一次在登山过程中子弹未出膛就撤兵。爬阿空加瓜时，我连续两年都因为条件不成熟而半路折返。2008年二月，我过去曾经历过的最痛苦的日子，本来曾计划那年春天去爬珠峰，而且已经付出了很大的代价，但当时极为痛苦地想清楚了放弃是最明智的选择。

如今，希夏邦马，在过去的一年里为之牺牲许多重要的事情全力以赴准备，为之忍受了而且情愿继续忍受很多痛苦。然而，我明白，放弃是此时唯一正确的决定。对于这样一个复杂的攀登项目，自然条件只是一方面的因素。更重要的是每一个参与者内心的状态要与自然和谐，即所谓天时地利人和也。我坚信，对于这样一座神圣的山，攀登者应当怀着对万事万物无比尊重的心态，内心关注的不应该只有自己的渴望。

Sept 9th, 2011

carry to intermediate camp at 5500m, still sleeping at base camp

Today, we carried our group gear (tent, climbing equipment, food supplies and cooking equipment) up to 5500m, an intermediate camp before the training climb on Pangpa Ri. Having hiked up to this altitude with students two days ago (sorry kids, the place we went to last time was only 5500m, after verified this time by GPS), today’s going was much easier than expected though each of us carried heavy load. From our new camp site, we were able to see the start of glacier at the foot of Shishapangma. Tomorrow, we are moving up with our personal gear (sleeping bag, clothes, personal climbing gear). This manner of climb is called double carry, e.g. on the first day, carry up a heavy load of gear we need up high, drop it there and come back down to sleep low; then the next day, carry the remaining gear to move to the new camp. This allows us to acclimatize better by “climb high and sleep low”.

Maybe my body does have memory, or maybe it’s because of the difference in terrain, I felt much more comfortable walking and carrying heavy load at this altitude than I felt at same altitude on Everest last year.

9月9日

今天，我们把团队需要的辎重装备，比如帐篷、攀登器材、食物及做饭用的装备等，背到了5500米的过渡营地。两天前刚和学生们到过这个海拔高度（对不起同学们，根据这次ＧＰＳ的数据，上次我们到过的冰川起点海拔实际只有5500米），所以今天虽然每人负重量都很大，却走得很轻松。我们的新营地离希夏邦马很近了，可以没有遮拦得看清令人敬畏的西南壁，冰川的开始点就在我们新营地的坡下。明天，我们将把个人需要的物资，比如睡袋、各层衣服、个人攀登器械等，背上去并驻扎到新的营地。这种登山方式叫“double carry”,直译就是“背两次”。即，第一天，把扎营、攀登需要的重装背上去，然后下来回到低的营地休息；第二天，把其余（个人）装备背上去，在新的高度安营。这样“爬得高，睡得低”会让适应海拔升高的过程变得很轻松。

也许是因为身体有记忆力，也许是因为地形的不同，这次在这个海拔上行动和负重都相比于去年在珠峰南坡同样海拔上轻松很多。

Sept 10th, 2011

moving up from base camp to intermediate camp 5500m

Morning

Wake up to the sound of ice sliding off my tent, knowing it must have snowed or ice-rained last night, but still too lazy to open up eyes. Until it’s almost 10am, time for breakfast, I finally decided to get up. From inside, can see outside of my tent covered in ice. Opening up tent, a chilly air runs in. It’s much colder than the days when we first got here. It’s cloudy outside. Checking temperature inside tent, 3 centigrade. It reminds me that we are heading into winter. But after breakfast, sun broke out from the clouds and it became clear blue sky again, warm and sunny.

Afternoon

Left after lunch to move up to 5500m intermediate camp. I think I’m strong, feeling good with such heavy load.

9月10日

从大本营搬到5500米的过度营地

早晨被帐篷表面冰块滑落的声音唤醒，知道昨夜一定是下了雪或下了冰雨，但还是懒得睁眼睛。直到10点吃早饭的时刻才不得不起来。从帐篷里面可以看到外面覆盖着一层冰。打开帐篷，一股寒气袭来，比几天前到达这里时冷多了！看看温度计，帐子里只有3度。是呀，我们是在向冬天进发呢！不过，早饭后太阳从云层冲出来，又变成了蓝天白云的明媚风光。

下午吃晚饭背上装备搬家到了5500米过度营地。自我感觉不错，虽然负担很重，却感觉很有劲。

Sept 11, 2011

5500m intermediate camp, acclimatize hike to 6000m

Wake up to find rock slippery covered with thin ice.

Hiked up to 6000m in low visibility.

Tomorrow is moon festival. Tonight’s moon is very clear and had an orange ring. The whole plateau is clear that headlight is not needed at all at mid night.

9月11日

在5500米过度营地，徒步到6000米处训练

早上起来，外面的石头上都覆盖一层薄冰，滑滑的。能见度很低。我们延山脊徒步到6000米处训练。感觉良好。

明天是中秋节。今夜的月亮好清晰，套着一圈橘黄色的晕。半夜出去不用头灯也可一览无遗。

Sept 12, 2011 Moon Festival

Move from 5500m Intermediate camp to 5700m ABC

We left too late (4pm), not knowing how far is the hike. Descending down the steep screed slope, we dropped 150m altitude from 5550 to 5400 at the base of valley. Even hardcore mountaineers started cursing, “why we climb?” Such kind of hiking is really not anyone’s favorite.

Going up hill, I started in the wrong path. It’s not a good idea to head up the hill on big boulders. Smaller boulders are safer.

As we were near the top of ridge, I saw four persons through the clouds over the ridge. Our first reaction is “no way, they must be ghosts”, as they appeared again, someone cursed “what the fuck!” It turned out that these are four Nepalese Sherpa for the 2 Korean and 2 Swiss climbers. They arrived at BC yesterday. The Sherpas just did a carry to ABC today via the valley way.

It’s really a long way after the ridge that we didn’t arrive at ABC until after 8pm. A lot of interesting plants at 5700m! It’s amazing! They are so perfect!

Cloudy night, no moon. Snow.

9月12日 中秋节

从5500米过度营地搬家到5700米Pungpa Ri ABC

低估了两个营地间的距离，我们下午4点才动身。先要下一个长长的陡坡，全是大大小小的碎石，很难走。加上背着重装，不得不分外小心翼翼。 下了大约150米后到达谷底，然后还得到冰川对面再爬上去，还是同样的碎石坡。神经很紧张，完全谈不上乐趣。有的队友禁不住开始抱怨，“我们这是干嘛来了？”

刚开始上坡的时候，我的直觉选择路线错误，幸亏即使被叫回。像这样的在冰川上形成的乱石坡，不应当拣大石头为主的路线，以防滚石下来。还是小点的石头为主的线路安全。

快到坡顶的时候，忽然发现远远的山脊上有四个人影，第一反应是，不可能！见鬼了！这山上除了我们怎么还会有别人？等走近了，原来是四个尼泊尔协作，是为昨天刚到达大本营的两位瑞士登山者和两位韩国登山者往ABC运送物资的。好快呀！昨天才到大本营，他们的协作今天就到ABC了！

虽然两个营地间的海拔差不怎么大，但因为上坡下坡，穿过冰川，路途却很遥远。直到8点多才到达ABC。一路上发现在海拔5700米之高处还有那么多绝美的植物！

一夜多云，下雪，没见到中秋的月亮。

Sept 13th, 2011

5700m Pungpa Ri ABC

Wake up to blue sky, light snow cover at 9:30am. By the time I put on sunscreen to get out, it’s dark clouds all over already. As we sit down for our slow breakfast, clouds rise and disappear. Though down the valley, it’s still heavy dark clouds. Gradually, we can see clearly Pungpa Ri, then Shishsa. We just stared at it and talk about routes. It’s not like on Everest where you can just walk up the fixed line. Here, there’s no information on how to climb this mountain. First, we try to find the safest way to descend. Then, we try to figure out how to approach this mountain , from the bottom and near the top?

There are avalanche debris everywhere at foot of the hill. To the left side of the mountain, it’s full of ragged rock ridge. To the right, it’s a wide snow slope with a major rapture line from avalanche crossing the top part, then many parallel fall lines all across the face. Reading such feature, you could estimate where is prone to avalanche, where would be technically hard. No easy approach! Now this becomes the true mountaineering, not a game in the park anymore. How to climb it if we solo? Or if in pairs? Or if big party? Remember how Everest felt mentally hard last year? Now it’s a totally different game. It’s more serious, not counting on Sherpa, not counting on pre-set route. Even though we are a group, each of us needs to be self sufficient. We just stared at the mountain, trying to memorize each price of rock, trying to memorize each feature on the route.

Look at those rock ridges. It would be at least a 5.8 move there. 5.8 is nothing at sea level, but a couple such moves could kill your strength easily at 7000-8000m with no supplemental oxygen. And imagine how you are going to move with big down suit, big gloves, and crampons.

Look at avalanche zone. There you need to run non-stop.

Through binocular, hard to find a bivy spot on the steep slope.

Listening to music, sun bathing, staring at the route, too much time to kill. I took a walk to look for perfect flower. It’s amazing how perfect their shapes/colors can be at this altitude. High mountain flowers, they go through so many cycles of ice, snow, sun in a day. No wonder each of them has sharp color/shape and personality.

Lunch time 2pm. Too hot to stay in tent, but as I just came out for lunch, sun hid away and it became chilly cloudy again.

We were so sensitive to the sound of avalanche. While we were eating, we suddenly heard a bursting “hong”! We all looked up “where? Where?” Then felt suspicious “ how can it end so fast?” it’s just the cook lighting up stove!

Do I have the courage for this climb? Though by altitude, it’s only 7400s. Height of mountain is for people reading newspaper. For the mountaineers, the difference is the route. A hard route on a small hill can be harder than an easy route on the highest mountain. Am I ready?

9月13日

5700米Pungpa Ri ABC

9:30醒来的时候外面还是蓝蓝的天，地上盖着一层薄薄的雪。待我抹上防晒霜爬出帐篷，却已变成漫天乌云了。等我们慢慢悠悠地吃着早饭，云又升起消失 了。然而同时，脚下的山谷里确实黑压压一片乌云。真是瞬息万变呀！渐渐的，我们可以看到Pungpa Ri了，然后希夏邦马也显现出来。一上午，我们就那么直直地看着山，讨论路线。这里不是珠峰，没有事先设定好的线路让你沿着走。实际上，关于Pungpa Ri ，我们没有任何路线资料。首先，我们研究最全的下撤路线，然后再研究如何攀登，从上，从下，如何走最安全最便捷？

山脚下到处都是雪崩后留下的碎冰、雪块。山左边，到处是岩石；右边，是个大雪坡，一道鲜亮的雪崩断裂线从接近坡顶的地方横穿而过，下面还有很多并行的纵线自上而下辐射。仔细读每一个细节，你可以判断哪里常发生雪崩，哪里会有技术难度。从那面看都不容易！这样的登山可不再是像公园里游戏那么轻松的事了！如果单兵作战该如何上？两人绳组？更多的人？不同情形可能要选择不同的策略。记得去年登珠峰时觉得是意志的极大挑战，如今感觉更难了。完全要靠自己摸索的路线，没有协作，一切的风险度都更高了。我们就那么久久 地盯着山，努力记住线路上的每一块石头，每一个特征。

看那些石头山脊，至少也是5.8的难度吧？5.8在平地上只是个初级难度，但在7000-8000米，没有辅助氧气，几个5.8 的动作就能把你的力气耗尽。更何况，你还要穿着大羽绒服，戴着大手套，蹬着大大的登山靴和冰爪。

看那些易发生雪崩的地段，你必须以最快速度穿过。

用望远镜找了半天，偌大一片雪坡似乎找不到建临时营地的一方之地。

一天的漫长 时光就在听着音乐，沐浴着阳光，盯着登山路线中度过。看久了，我起身去散散步，寻找高山上那完美的花儿们。高山上的花儿们，她们一天要经历不知多少次冰、雪、阳光的轮转，难怪会有那样灿烂的颜色，独特的形状与性格。生存在这样的高海拔上，还有比她们更完美的吗？

午饭是2点，那时正好是最热的时候，然而当我们刚坐下来吃饭，太阳躲到了云后面，瞬间变得寒气刺骨。

我们大概对雪崩太敏感了。正吃着饭，忽然听到“轰”的一声，我们都抬起头来，“在哪儿？在哪儿？”然后开始怀疑：“怎么这么快就停了？”哈哈，才发现是帮我们做饭的协作刚点着了炉子！

我有勇气去尝试爬这座山吗？山不在高。一座小山的高难度路线可以比最高的山更有挑战性。我准备好了吗？

Sept 14- 15, 2011

Pungpa Ri ABC, 5700m

Continue to study the slope, watch for the pattern of avalanche. Took a walk to the base of the climb and found the angle is not that terrible as when looked from far away. We got an idea of a relative safe and easy route on the slope and decided we make an attempt tomorrow night.

9月14 -15日

继续研究路线，观察雪崩的规律。走到山脚下，发现从近处看，似乎坡度不像远看时的那么恐怖。我们计划好了一条相对安全便捷的路线，打算明天夜里上山。

Sept 16th – Sept 17th, 2011

Pungpa Ri ABC 5700m

Pungpa Ri climb

We left ABC at about 7pm, arrived at base of climb just before dark. After making some hot water, dinner, and short rest, we set off on the slope shortly after mid night. The snow was loose and took a lot of effort to break the trail. Since this is only a training peak for acclimatization, our goal was only to get as high as we can that would allow us to get down before sun comes up to heat up the slope.

After maybe about 4 or 5 hours, we stopped at around 6700m. We dug a tent platform in the steep snow. Four persons crawled into the 2 person BD First Light tent. Cold and hard to sleep, but we still managed to have some rest of about an hour by stacking one’s body part above another’s before we descended the hill.

9月16-17日

Pungpa Ri 攀登

9月16日晚上7点我们从ABC出发，在天黑前到达山脚下。休息了几个小时，烧水，煮饭，半夜时分我们开始上山了。雪很松，费了好大劲才开出一条路来。由于这只是我们为适应海拔的训练性攀登，我们的目标是能到多高算多高，重要的是要在太阳照在雪坡上之前下撤，以避免遇上雪崩。

大概爬了4、5个小时，我们在6700米左右停了下来。在陡坡上挖了一小块平地，我们四个人挤进了简单的双人帐，肢体互相架着、压着，虽然又冷又挤，很难入睡，但好歹也算休息了一个小时左右。趁着太阳还没升高，我们都安全地下撤回到了营地。

Sept 18, 2011

Back to Base Camp

After breakfast, we took the long detour around the valley to get back base camp in late afternoon. It was an easier and very scenery way, avoiding going down then up the rock slides, albeit very long. Color of grass on the way is more in the orange and red tone, reminds me of fall. Just slightly over a week, the tone of autumn has arrived!

The Swiss and Korean climbing team set up a much smaller but very colorful base camp with a slight distance from us. According to Sherpa, Sherpa for them already fixed ropes for 2 pitches while the two Korean climbers actually are still resting in base camp. It’s said they would climb up and down their fixed rope to acclimatize before they finally reach the summit.

It’s nice to be back at base camp again. Everything inside my tent is still the same. Rearranged my small space to make the next few days here as comfy as possible. Home sweet home.

Dinner tent felt quite roomy after having been hunching under the tarp for meals during the past few days. It’s a nice change to sit on a chair for dinner again!

The first dinner was a big one – pasta, chicken legs (I had three! Since most people does not have a big appetite), potato Tutsi (potato pie), and finished with apple pie!

Today happen to be camp manager Igran’s birthday. While we all stood up to sing birthday song to him and gave him a hug, the ground shook a little bit as everyone else claimed though I actually didn’t feel it. At the same time, we heard a loud sound that sounded like stove firing up. John quickly came to the explanation – it’s earthquake and the avalanche resulted from it. How lucky we are to be at base camp enjoying dinner right now! What would it be like if we were climbing on the snow slope or hiking on the rock pile?

9月18日

回到大本营

吃过早饭，我们绕着山谷一圈回到大本营。不过才过了一周多，发现一路上的花草已变成了红色或橘黄的色调。秋天来啦！

瑞士队和韩国队的大本营规模比我们小点，离我们也有相当的距离。据说，当他们还在大本营休息的时候，他们的协作已经把他们设好了几个绳段的固定绳索了。他们将借助这些固定绳索攀登。

回到大本营好亲切！我的小家里一切如旧。重新布置一下，要让下面几天的日子过得舒舒服服的。

吃饭的大帐显得好大呀！过去几天在山上我们都是躲在一块防风布下席地围坐一圈，现在我们可以围着桌子、坐在椅子上了！

今天的接风晚餐好丰盛呀！面条，鸡腿（我吃了三条鸡腿！），土豆饼，还有甜点苹果派！

今天还正巧是大厨的生日。正当我们都站起来给他唱生日歌的时候，大地突然开始摇晃。接着我们听到外面有巨大的声响。大家都跑出去看。原来是地震了！以及地震引起的雪崩。好幸运呀！不敢想象，如果这发生在一天或两天前，当我们正在雪坡上或乱石堆上，后果会是如何？

Sept 19th, 2011

Base Camp

My bed is really comfortable with the extra cushion of the downmat, but I had a hard time to fall asleep. Maybe it was too warm, too soft, too comfortable. It’s weird why here is much more comfortable than Everest. I remember, on Everest, my throat was so itchy every night since about 4000m that I had to keep cough drop in my throat to go sleep; My nose was always stuffed with bloody stuff, and I need to have it covered with buff day and night. But here, I only occasionally need to clean my nose and it’s not so bloody; I don’t need to hide inside sleeping bag to sleep that the air outside is just good enough to breath while sleeping. I seldom need cough drop neither here. Life is just much more enjoyable here. Maybe because of the vegetation and lack of tourist traffic that the environment here is much more humane.

Took my first “shower” since I left Nyalam on Sept 1st. To take the shower, hang a bucket of warm water on the hook in our shower tent, then slowly wet the hair and body from the water dripped down through the tiny faucet hole. It’s nice to feel comfortable to let down my hair again! It’s nice to feel clean again.

The second group of students from ShanTou Univ arrived in early afternoon. They were so energetic that the altitude is nothing for them. They don’t seem to need a moment’s rest!

9月19日

大本营

回到大本营第一夜，软软的气垫太舒服了，再加上比山上暖和得多，竟然令我久久不能入睡。奇怪，这里为什么比在珠峰的日子舒服得多呢？记得去年在珠峰的日子里，从4000米开始我的喉咙就经常因为干痒而难以入睡，天天靠润喉糖度日；鼻子也总是堵塞难受。而在这里，这些都不是问题，我也不需要因为空气干寒而把头埋在睡袋里入睡。这里的生活相对舒适多了。也许是因为没有游客使得植被环境保持得好吧？

早上洗了澡，9月1日进山来第一次！在这里洗澡，就是把一桶水挂在帐子顶上，让水从小小的龙头里滴出来，慢慢浸湿头发、身体。无论怎样，洗个澡是好爽的事！又可以把头发放下来了！

下午，汕头大学的第二批的师生到了。他们好有活力啊！仿佛这里的海拔不是回事儿，他们一刻不停地欢呼嬉闹着，不需要休息。

Sept 20-22nd, 2011

We are undergoing intense discussion about our climbing plan these days. The earthquake on Sept 18th triggered huge avalanche and lose up rocks on mountains. We were lucky to be sitting in the base camp that night, the Korean and Swiss team happen to be under ShishaPangma at that moment. They were lucky to escape the huge avalanche and had pretty scary experience with loose rocks on the route. Monsoon season which was supposed to end a couple weeks ago is still ruling the mountain. We haven’t seen sunshine for many days and were having wet snow every day. The climbing condition is much worse than “perfect” season. If and how are we going to climb is up in the air for now.

9月20-22日

大本营休息

这几天，我们在不停地讨论下一阶段的计划。18日的地震引起了大规模的雪崩，山上的很多石头松动了。我们当时很幸运是在大本营 吃晚饭。韩国队和瑞士队当时正好在希夏邦马峰下扎营，侥幸地躲过了雪崩和落石，但被吓得够呛。本该在几周前结束的季风依然没有离开，还得我们整天阴雪绵绵，多日不见阳光了。登山线路的状况目前很不理想。所以，到目前为止，关于下一步如何行动，都还是未知。

What has been happening:

Sept 3rd, Rest day in Camp 4700m

Sept 4th, Extra rest day. Due to sickness of some supporting staff, we decided to stay at Camp 4700m for another day for the benefit of best acclimatization of everyone. We went with students for hike around the camp to reach altitude of 5000m.

Sept 5th, Hike from 4700m Camp to 5300m, our base camp. Three sick staff members were sent back to Nylam. Whole team arrived at Base Camp in good shape.

Sept 6th, Rest day. Everyone feeling good.

Sept 7th, All went up to glacier around 5900m. Students learned walking on glacier with rope and ice climbing. Everyone is in good shape.

Sept 8th, The first group of 10 students (20 students come in two batches) is leaving the mountain. We are having a rest day.

Sept 9th, We are going up to ABC (Advanced Base Camp) for acclimatization training. We plan to be back to Base Camp within a week before we make an attempt on Shishapangma.

主要事件日程表

9月3日，在4700米营地休息

9月4日，临时增加的休息日。由于几位支持团队的成员状况不佳，为了保证大家的最佳适应，我们决定在4700米营地多休息一天。我们和学生们一起在周围的山上徒步，最高到达5000米海拔。

9月5日，从4700米营地徒步到5300米大本营。3名生病的支持团队的成员下山返回聂拉木。

9月6日，在大本营休息。大家状态都很好。

9月7日，大家一起徒步到5900米左右的冰川开始处。学生们学习了在冰川上结绳行进和攀冰。9月8日，第一批10名学生（汕大的20名师生分两批来）离开大本营返校。我们在大本营休息。9月9日，我们将搬到前进营地（ABC）进一步适应性训练，为期一周左右。然后回到大本营休整。

Blog:

Sept 5th, arriving at base camp

For the whole hike, we have been treated with refreshing air and beautiful flowers that I totally didn’t expect. I couldn’t believe we can be so lucky to still enjoy the alpine garden so high in the base camp! This has to be the most beautiful base camp I have ever had – turquoise glacier lake, giant flat ground bigger than football field covered in green grass and colorful flowers. We have all these to ourselves as the only group here!

9月5日，抵达大本营

我们这一路上享受着温润的空气和美丽的花海，已经超出了我的预期。没想到，我们的大本营在那么高的海拔上也是同样的美丽！这绝对是我到过的最美的大本营—透绿的湖，足球场那么大的平整草地，还有五颜六色的花儿们！而且，这么美丽的世界完全为我们一个团队独家拥有！

Sept 6th, our new home base

It was cloudy when we arrived in the afternoon that we couldn’t see surrounding mountains at all. It was a nice excitement to see the ragged southwest face of Shishapangma the next morning. On the other side, we were shocked at how far glacier has retreated. When the southwest face was first climbed in 1980s, where we are setting up our base camp was their advanced base camp (ABC) and it was where glacier started. At that time, the beautiful lake we are enjoying was completely frozen. Now, what immediately above our base camp are rocky hills! By our visual estimate, the line of glacier is at least another 500m away vertically.

Seduced by the beautiful reflection of mountains in the lake, I took a walk around our lake in the morning to enjoy the 360 degree view of our new home base. To my amazement, I even found a primitive fish-like life in the lake!

9月6日， 我们的新家

昨天下午我们到达的时候大本营笼罩在云雾里，所以根本看不见周围的山。直到今天早上才得以看到希夏邦马那充满着刚毅性格纹路的西南壁。在兴奋的同时，我们也很惊异于冰川线的萎缩。当1982年西南壁第一次被攀登时，我们现在的大本营（5300米）是他们的前进营地，冰川线就是从这里开始的。我们营地边那个美丽的湖当年是个冰湖。现在，我们营地周围的山上都是裸露的石头。凭视觉判断，我们离冰川线还有至少500米的海拔距离。

早晨，我沿着湖散步一大圈，从360度欣赏周围的山在湖里的倒影。一个意外的收获，居然在这样高寒的湖里发现了一种接近鱼状的全身透明的生命！

Sept 7th

I woke up at the pounding sound on my tent and was surprised to realize that my tent is all covered in a thick layer of snow. Our friendly Sherpa boy was cleaning our tents so that we don’t get crushed. The past few days have been pretty warm that we totally didn’t expect snow to come this suddenly. Some students who haven’t seen snow in their lives yet have been complaining the lack of snow all the way. Now they got their wish. As anyone would guess, students got up early with all the excitement and spent a couple hours snow fighting and making snow man.

After breakfast, we all set out for a hike to glacier at about 5900m. The whole hike before the glacier point was on rocky trail. It was fun to see the excitement on students’ face as we taught them traveling on glacier on rope and ice climbing. This might be the highest introduction to glacier travel and ice climbing class in the world. Maybe some of them will find their passion for climbing too.

9月7日

天还没亮，我被拍打帐篷的声音惊醒，才发现我的帐篷上盖着厚厚的雪。是我们的尼泊尔协作在帮我们清理帐篷上的积雪。过去这几天都很暖和，完全没预料到有可能会下雪，而且来得那么悄悄的毫无征兆的。汕大的很多学生在这之前还没见过雪呢，一路上还挺失望的。这回可让他们如愿以偿了。不用想也可遇见，同学们早早就睡不着觉了，还没开早饭就已经忙了半天打雪仗、堆雪人。

吃过早饭，我们一起徒步去冰川开始的地方，大概是5900米左右。到达冰川前，一路都是石头路。虽然到那里时同学们都很累了，还是很积极地学习冰川结绳行进和攀冰的技术。看着他们兴奋的笑容，我们也很开心。这大概是世界上海拔最高的初级冰川行进和攀冰入门课了。也许他们当中有些人会因此行和山结下不解之缘。

Base Camp Life

Life in the mountain is pretty simple. When we are not out hiking, days can pass really slow: 10am breakfast, 2 pm lunch, 9pm dinner. And you figured, a lot of sleep time between meals. Though our watch is on Beijing time, sun rise and sets on Kathmandu time. That’s why we such late nighters and late risers.

Meals in the base camp are much better than what we had in Nyalam restaurants. We have several very nice Sherpa from Nepal to help us run the base camp. They did an amazing job preparing delicious meals everyday though the supply in the mountains can be quite limited. For breakfast, we normally have muesli, porridge, toast and eggs. For lunch, normally just a couple slices of spam and a few pieces of bread. Dinner of course is the biggest one of the day. Starting with a simple soup and ending with a desert like canned fruit or homemade pudding, the main course often comes with limited vegetable and some meat such as chicken or beef, though each of us would only have a few pieces that would be far from satisfying our endless appetite. Tonight’s dinner (Sept 7th) was a little bit special because this is last dinner for the first group of students. We each had two pieces of chicken leg and a slice of pizza. The desert was freshly baked cake!

大本营的生活

在山里的生活很简单。如果不出去徒步训练，一天一般是这样过的：早上10点吃早饭，下午两点午饭，晚上9点晚饭。不用说你也可以猜到，剩下的时间很多是用来睡觉了。虽然我们的手表是按北京时间，但这里的日出日落是按加德满都时间的。所以我们成了晚睡晚起的动物。

在大本营的伙食比聂拉木的饭馆强多了。我们有好几位来自尼泊尔的协作帮我们管理大本营的基本生活。尽管在山里条件有限，他们还是每天翻着花样地给我们做出可口的饭菜。早饭一般是粗麦片，粥，面包，鸡蛋。中午一般比较简单，每人几片面包，两三片罐头午餐肠。晚饭自然是一天中最丰盛的一顿，饭前有开胃汤，饭后有罐头水果之类的甜点，主餐经常会有鸡肉、牛肉、蔬菜之类的，虽然量一般少得只够我们在嘴唇上抹抹油。不过今天（9月7日）例外，因为第一批学生明天就要走了。每人吃到了两条鸡腿和一块匹萨饼，甜点更是意外 –特制的蛋糕！

Current Status

So far, we are all acclimatizing well. Tomorrow, we are going to have a rest day before we move up to Advanced Base Camp on Sept 9th. From there, we will do acclimatizing climbs in some smaller peaks before we get ready for Shishapangma.

现状

目前，我们状态都很好。明天（9月8日），我们在大本营休息。后天（9月9日），我们将搬家到前进营地去。在那里，我们将做一周左右的最后的适应性训练。

Other than being a climber facing the most challenging climb I have faced, I have another role during this trip, the coach for the student group in their experiential learning. We are not only going to teach them outdoor skills and help them understand expedition life, but more importantly, help them to connect with their inner self.

At 4000m camp, we had the first learning session. What have you learned so far on this trip? Many students talked about their observation of Kathmandu or of nature; some talked about what they learned in terms of camping skills and basic survival skills. It takes a little effort for students to understand, more important than the skills, this is a trip about learning their inner selves. For them, this is the first time they are so far away from home. Many of them had a lot of anxiety about the uncertainties of a trip like this. And with altitude gaining during the next few days, they are going to face one of the hardest challenges they have handled in their young lives. Gradually, students learned to share about what they learned about managing their stress, observing their personality traits in group setting and their attitude towards certain happenings.

I have always enjoyed the learning experience while climbing, and this is going to be a more interesting trip to learn together with students.

这次希夏邦马之行，我一方面要面临我登山经历中最大的挑战，另一方面，担负着汕大师生团的导师教练的职责。对他们来说，这次旅程不仅是一个学习户外生存技术、体验登山生活的旅程，更是一个了解自己挑战自己的学习。

在4000米营地，我们上了第一堂讨论课。在过去的几天里，你学到了什么？很多同学谈到对加德满都、对文化、对自然环境的观察和感受，有的谈到所学的户外生活、生存技巧。对于多数同学来说，这次旅行是他们离开家这么远到一个这么陌生的环境。特别是在未来的几天里，他们将徒步到以前从未到达过的海拔，对他们来说可能将是目前面临过的最大的挑战。在我们引导下，同学们开始学会讨论内心的感受，比如学会在紧张担心中放松，学会观察自己在团队氛围中的个性，对外界事件的态度。

对我来说，每一次登山之旅都是一个心灵的旅程。这次和这么多同学们一起感受将是一个更有趣的经历。

Sept 1, 2011 From Nyalam 3700m to 4000m Camp
Sept 2, 2011 From 4000m Camp to 4700m Camp

Finally, after nearly a week of traveling from city to city, we started hiking!

It didn’t come across my mind before that how huge a team we actually are. I was shocked to learn that we actually need 60 yaks to carry our bags to base camp (and it later evolved into 85 yaks and 30 yak men total as a more stuff need to be sent up later). Though this is almost the smallest climbing team I have been on with only 4 climbers, we are also taking 20 students and faculties from ShanTou University to base camp for experiential learning. Accompanying the student group, there is a filming crew of 11 to document their learning experience. To manage such a big crowd of people who had no previous experience in mountaineering and have never been to such high altitude, there is a support group of 10 who would help organize the huge logistics details and supervise the student group and filming crew.

The first day is an easy day, just three hours easy walk along the valley to our first camp at 4000m. It’s just after the river and at the foot of a steep uphill. The river crossing was an interesting one. The water was running so rapid that I felt like I would be washed away while making my steps across the simple bridge made of two pieces of narrow metal plate.

The second day is a hard one for many people. 700 meters of elevation gain is quite a lot in one day for normal people, and 6-7 hours walk at such an altitude is quite a challenge for many people. Half of the elevation gain is to go up that steep hill behind our campsite, followed by a long walk on the high plateau with gradual elevation gain. It started raining during the last couple hours as we walked into the rain clouds typical for an afternoon in the mountains. The student group handled the long and hard day pretty well. They kept a good pace as a team and arrived mostly in good energy to help setting up the camp site. Even though some of the camping equipment got messed up during yak transportation and rain, students still coped with the imperfection impressively well. The filming crew also worked really hard. Just managing oneself at high altitude is already a lot work, not to say try to focus your mind on the lens and the shooting objects. They need to be in working mode at all times, when students are walking, when students are resting, even when they may be feeling pain of altitude themselves.

Having been to high altitude enough times that my body remembers how to handle it well. So far it has been pretty easy for me to feel ease at each camp.

9月1 日 从聂拉木3700米到4000米营地

9月2日 从4000米营地到4700米营地

从北京到加德满都到聂拉木，在城市间穿梭了一周后，我们终于迈开双腿进山了！

在这之前，我没意识到我们的队伍其实有多么庞大。当我得知我们要用60头牦牛把物资运到大本营（最后又有些后续物资要运进来，最终演变成了85头牦牛和30名赶牦牛的），着实吃了一惊。虽然就攀登队伍来讲，我们才4个人，但我们同时还要带20名汕大的师生一起到大本营进行野外探险生活的培训。同时，还有11名摄影团队将跟随学生团队记录他们的学习体验过程。对于这些学生和摄影团队，不仅登山生活对他们来说是新鲜的，这样的高海拔对他们来说也是全新的经历。要保障他们的安全，我们不得不需要一支十人的协助团队帮助组织管理这样大的队伍。

第一天还比较轻松。从聂拉木到4000米的营地，只有3小时的轻松路程。到达营地前要过一条河，算是这段路上最有意思的一段了。河水好急啊，两条金属板做成的小桥摇摇晃晃挺恐怖的，感觉好像人要被水冲走了。

第二天要辛苦多了。700米的海拔爬升对多数人来说都不是轻松的，不要说还要在这样的海拔上走上6、7个小时。最开始的300多米爬升就是爬我们营地背后的那个陡坡，然后是漫长的缓缓的爬坡。最后几个小时开始下雨，因为我们走入了积雨云当中了。在山里，几乎每天下午都是这样。虽然今天的行程很辛苦，学生团队保持了整齐的节奏。到达营地时，虽然大家都挺累，大家依然积极地参与营地的建设。由于下雨和牦牛们的小脾气，一些宿营的装备出了偏差，大家依然很团结、态度积极地一同解决问题。摄影团队们也很辛苦。不仅要跟着大部队适应海拔，还要关注镜头。不管学生们是在行进还是在休息，他们都要忙着工作。

本人状态很好。毕竟到过高海拔好几次了，身体是有记忆力的，所以很快就能适应。

The beautiful walk

The hike has been like a walk through alpine gardens for the past couple days. What looks from far away just some beautiful grass land is actually a botanic wonderland that I often even felt guilty to put my step down. Once I started to aim lens at one follower I noticed, I would immediately discover many more next to it that I found myself glued to the ground. It’s amazing just how many varieties of plants you can find in one small patch of soil. Try to see how many varieties can you find in my pictures! Alpine followers are also surprisingly colorful and they adapt to the environmental challenge with their unique shape. I realized that I have never looked into alpine plants with so much detail and was so impressed with their surviving skills. I felt like becoming an botanist on this trip.

Not surprisingly, so many followers are not only a feast for the eyes, but also a luxury enjoyment for the nose. The refreshing smell from some special plants comes from time to time that reminds me of the smell of sierra deserts. Comparing to the dusty trail on the way to Everest base camp, the lush greenness on this trip is such a treat.

Another factor that makes this trip very different is the non-existence of tourist traffic. Comparing to Everest, Shishapangma is a much less climbed mountain and the south face is even less so. As the only group going toward the south face, we had the whole mountain to ourselves. There is no village, no residence, and barely any human trace for the whole way except occasional yak herds. As one of students said, we selfishly hope this mountain will never become a tourist spot so we could keep the beautiful mountain as it is forever.

在花园中行走

徒步进山的一路就像走在花园里。远远看来，满山就是一片片的草地和花的海洋，令我不忍心下脚，只能小心地择步，尽量少踩那些让我心动的花儿。每当我把镜头对准一朵花时，就发现旁边的一朵更美，然后那边还有一朵更美的，令我干脆趴在地上别起来了！这里实在就是一个植物园。我一次次地惊叹在小小的一块地皮上能发现多少种不同的植物！试试你能在我的照片里（有几张特意照的是很多种植物在一起）找到多少品种？而且，高寒地区的花儿在为适应环境长成其独特的形状时，还不忘了各具夺目的灿烂颜色，他们真是很懂得时尚的！据当地人说，叫不出名字的花就叫格桑花。我真希望自己是植物学家，而不必带着惭愧地都叫它们格桑花。

在视觉盛宴的同时，这一路也是嗅觉的享受。有几种植物的芳香气味特别强烈，在我不经意时，一阵阵地扑来，提醒我时时感激它们的存在。

这段进山的路还有一点特别就是独特，就是没有游客的踪迹。相比于珠峰，爬希夏邦马的就少多了，特别是南坡。这一路上，我们就是唯一一支队伍。一路上，没有村庄，没有居民，除了偶尔看到放牦牛的，几乎没有人迹。像一位学生谈感想时提到，我们自私地希望这座山永远不要变成旅游胜地，让大自然永远保持其本来的美丽。

昨天（8月30日）下午，我们顺利到达了聂拉木，进山前的最后一个县城。

为了方便交通和适应海拔，我们这次的希夏邦马之行是从尼泊尔的加德满都开始的。从1300米的加德满都到3700米的聂拉木只有一天的车程。一路上穿过风景如画的兰唐山区，每一个转弯过去就是一道不同的风景，让人应接不暇。深深的山谷底下是咆哮的冰河，做白水漂流应该是不错的地方。一路上交通状况都比较方便，特别是过了樟木口岸后，崭新的盘山公路绝对一流的建设标准。路边很多容易发生塌方的地方都修建了人妨的岩壁，和自然岩壁融合得天衣无缝。

聂拉木是樟木口岸过来到拉萨、日客则去的第一个有点规模的县城，有不少旅店和饭馆。饭店的伙食还不错，蔬菜不少，就是很难见到肉类。我们在这里休整两天，明天开始徒步前往大本营，我们的重装将让牦牛帮忙驮着。从3700米的聂拉木到5200米的大本营，我们计划用四天时间以保证充分的时间慢慢适应海拔，一路上当然就是风餐露宿了。我们带了卫星通讯设备，如果调试顺利，到达大本营后应该能定期发回进展报告来。

谢谢大家的关注！

We arrived at Nyalam in Tibet yesterday (Aug 30th, 2011), the last civilized stop before we head into mountain.

For reasons of easy transportation and better acclimatization, our Shishapangma expedition started in Kathmandu, Nepal. It takes one day’s drive from Kathmandu of 1300m to arrive at Nyalam of 3700m, with 5-6 hours from Kathmandu to ZhangMu of 1800m, then then another 2-3 hours smooth ride to arrive at Nyalam. Along the way, we enjoyed the pleasant ride through the beautiful Langtang Valley, with roaring glacier water underneath and breath-taking views at every turn. The road condition was pretty good, especially after we crossed border at ZhangMu into Tibet. The recently built high way was smooth and safe, with man-made walls protecting spots that are susceptible to landslide or rock fall.

Nyalam is the first major town from ZhangMu to Lhasa. There are quite some hostels and restaurants. Food is decent here with a lot of vegetable but rarely any meat. We are resting here for two days and will start hiking towards base camp tomorrow, with the yaks help carrying our heavy equipment. We are planning for 4 days for the trip to base camp at 5200m.

We brought satellite communication equipment with us on this trip. Hopefully we will get it to work when we arrive at base camp so that I can report our progress every now and then. Thanks for your support. Please stay tuned!

第二次到加德满都了，我没有了初来的戒备与好奇。前两天也就是有需要才上街，对所谓的购物没什么兴趣，就是出去买点水和水果而已。对除了印度和尼泊尔本地的菜之外的其他风格的菜也没兴趣，所以楼下的花园餐厅就很让我知足了，环境好，味道足，价格也合理。走在街上逍遥自在，好像走在自己家，对来往的车流和街边的小贩没有紧张或防备的感觉。

今天陪汕大的师生团去了几个景点。虽然是旅游景点，却并不拥挤，倒多是当地人在歇凉或重复着每日摆摊的营生，感觉本地人远大于游客。当然，到处都有穷得可怜的孩子或老人乞讨，还有许多流浪的狗安详地在香炉下整天睡着。这样的景象在第三世界国家的旅游地区都是常见的，然而，奇怪的是，在这样一个似乎应该很嘈杂的环境中，我却感到分外的平和。

细想想，每日在川流不息的街上行走时，从没见过人争吵或吐粗。虽常有小贩招呼，却从未被纠缠过，不用像赶苍蝇似地逃跑；即使买东西讨价还价也是静静地慢慢地。虽然加德满都是个又穷又脏又乱的地方，我却从中品味出分外的安全感。也许是因为佛教的缘故？似乎空气中的分子震荡的频率和别处不同，同样的频率传递给其间的每一个存在，本地人，游客，流浪的狗或牛。想起去年在去珠峰的路上在Khumbu Valley 中那种奇妙的心灵感应，其实就是这样一种内心的平和，让你能够听到自己的心声，敏感地响应环境中的能量震荡。原来这种震荡在Valley之外原来也是有的，虽然要弱得多。其实这种的能量的震荡和传递，是我们每一个人共同影响的。

在出加德满都的路上看到一个大广告牌，上面写的是“我们修的这条路是国际水准的，我们的举止呢？”

This is my second time in Kathmandu. Without the anxiety and curiosity typical of a first-time visitor, I no longer feel like a tourist. I had no interest in shopping and would only go out when I need to buy water or fruits. Preferring local food, the Nepalese Dal Baht or Indian styled dishes from the restaurant downstairs is nice enough for me. So I barely need to walk into the crazy busy street. But when I did, I actually felt home. I found it so easy to meander through the chaotic traffic and felt no need to put on a guard against those street venders.

Today, to accompany the student group from ShanTou University, I revisited a few tourists spots. I normally would have some kind of anxiety when going to tourists spots because it’s normally so crowded. As if I didn’t notice last year, I was surprised to find that it’s not so in Kathmandu, though Kathmandu is famous for being crowded. (well, maybe being in China for the past year changed my perceived or expected level of crowdedness also) It seems that there are more local people hanging out than tourists. Hanging out there for fun or selling something, it’s just part of their lives. Though, like any other third-world countries, there are a lot of poor kids or old people begging for money, I don’t find them so annoying as I would in many other places. Even homeless dogs are enjoying their peaceful lives napping under the prayer bells all day long. There’s a strange sense of peacefulness in this apparently chaotic city.

When I was walking around here everyday, I never saw anyone yell at each or speak foul language. Even cars or carts don’t get into trouble with each other when they fight for a pass. Though street venders are everywhere, I never felt being bothered to the level of harassment as I would feel in many other places. Even people who are bargaining are talking in quiet voice.