Sasser Kangri II Day 1

I was uncertain still about my health, but on August 18th I called Jim @ Mountain Weather for a forecast and I had to make a decision whether to go or not because we were going to get the weather we needed in a couple of days.  By the 20th I felt good enough to move up to ABC that day with Mark and Freddie.  It was a nice ski with some new snow on the glacier.  But there was a seriousness to this trip though that hasn't been there before - we know this is going to be our one big try on Sasser Kangri II and it makes everyone just a bit more anxious. 

Saying goodbye at base camp

Skiing up to the pass towards ABC

Crossing the pass into the Sakang Lungpa Glacier

After we crossed the pass we skied down into the South Shukpa Kunchang Glacier to ABC to spend the afternoon packing food and hardware for the climb the next day.

Skiing up to the base of the route on August 21st

Re-climbing the pitches to the Launch Pad

We re-climbed the pitches to the launch pad where we had been on July 24th, almost a month previous.  The temperatures had cooled considerably since then and we didn't feel so vulnerable now to falling rock and ice.  We relaxed all afternoon in the tent - eating and drinking.  Tomorrow we would start at 2AM to get the big ice slope out of the way before the sun came up.  We wanted to make sure and get high enough the next day to be above the heat and have enough time to build a good bivouac ledge for the tent.  We knew from our 2009 trip that finding a good place for the night would be a challenge.

Back at the Launch Pad