Weds 29 Nov '06 – Camp 1 2700 mts

Christ! What a day!

Now that I read my diary for this huge day & write this log I fully realise that this was the day that (nearly) broke me. Physically & mentally it was the toughest, hardest day I’ve ever done. Not only did I hit the wall big time but I had to go beyond it in a big way & it left me in a very dangerously weakened condition by the time we arrived at a windy & cold High Camp (3700mts) at 00.30 hrs. To be truthful I had never before had to push myself for so far, for so long & the effort left me in such a low condition that it concerned me greatly because this was a dangerous place to be. Could I recover sufficiently to be confident about summit day because without confidence I was surely going to struggle? Would 24 hrs be enough time?

Today had started well with a good breakfast in good weather. We then started breaking camp & packing our rucksacks & 3 sleds. The plan was to haul the sleds up the glacier to a point short of the great headwall, stash them there & from there we’d have to carry everything all the way up the 900 mt headwall. I hauled one of the sleds nearly all of the way to the drop point & found the combination of the heavy sled & a huge backpack very hard going. We had departed at 15.30 hrs & expected the trip to take 7 – 8 hrs.

Everyone found it tough going & at the sled drop point the sled loads had to be divided out amongst all five of us. I cannot remember ever having to carry such a heavy load & certainly never up a 900 mt headwall with steep sections of up to 40 degrees which required very careful crampon placement & balance. But we were now committed & there could be no going back. We had no option but to continue because we simply couldn’t stay where we were. Onwards & upwards & ever so slowly, I was always aware that this headwall had broken stronger men than me in it’s past. But I was determined not to give in & I gritted my teeth & ground out the steps one by one. By the time we’d passed through the creviced area that was in a few days times to play a leading role in our adventure I was very weak but moving up over the now gently sloping area that led to high camp. But it was painful & it literally one boot length in front of the other, pause, then move the other boot forward. If this was anywhere else I’d have been able to stop & rest but here in these cold windy conditions that would have been a very dangerous thing to do because I would have chilled to the bone. 20 mins later & almost 9 hrs since departure we hit camp. I collapsed in a heap, aware but not caring that this was not the thing to do. I really was in a ‘bad place’.

Ian recognised this & insisted that I take cover in the temporary Bivy shelter for a while as they started to get camp set up. 30 mins later I felt somewhat better & wanted to do my share of the work, so I joined the team in the now bitterly cold & windy conditions as we set up camp as close to the side wall as we could. Shortly afterwards I was huddled up in my bag as Ian prepared a hot meal & drinks in the porch of the tent as he also lay in his bag. It was 03.00 am before we settled down to sleep which was restless & did not come easily. Remember we were now at 3700 mts & the air was starved of oxygen as well icy cold. Temperatures inside the tent that night fell to – 17c so God knows what it was outside. I tried to figure out why I felt so bad after what was admittedly a tough day but one that I should have able to manage better. Yes, I’ve had a sinus infection since the day I arrived in Punta Arenas which left literally unable to breathe through my nose at all & having to spend a lot of time every morning trying to clear my lungs, throat & nasal passages of gung. This hasn’t helped but was manageable.

Was lack of proper sleep & rest a factor? You get used to that in the mountains so it shouldn’t have been an issue.
I was eating as well as I could considering that as you go higher, you tend to lose your appetite, but you also know that you simply have to force yourself to eat or you will struggle.
I had done plenty of 10 -12 hr treks through Wicklow that included serious height gains so stamina wouldn’t have been an issue either. I’d dragged a heavy truck tyre through the woodland trails for hours at a time to simulate the sled hauling. I have great stamina & I can go on for hours & hours so long as the pace is such that it suits my lungs & my pace at normal altitude is generally faster than most people I go on the hills with.
Being slightly asthmatic I do struggle once I get over about 3500 mts but my stamina & will power usually get me, through providing the pace is moderate which it seemed to be on the day.

So my thinking is that the primary cause for my difficulty was the unusually heavy loads that had to be carried which combined with the other factors in play led to very strenuous & ultimately draining session. The loads were unusually heavy simply because we had decided to go for a single big carry to high camp rather than the normal split load & 2 day effort that every other group adopted not only this year but also in previous years. It had been suggested by Ian to us all that we adopt this strategy & we all went for, so I’m not saying that it was his error of judgement alone, but I do think it certainly didn’t suit me even if at the time I thought it might. A serious lesson learnt.