Hi everyone. I know I said the previous blog would be my last but a number of you have convinced me that closure was premature. In light of this I will keep blogging until I see the readership stats tail off.
After the decision not to seek a second summit attempt was taken the good sense of this was confirmed in spades by the weather. It snowed solidly for 2 days, even at ABC. Furthermore it wasn't light 'fluffy' snow but wet 'British' snow that increased the potential for avalanche even more. Once we had fully accepted this then the disappointment of not summiting began to wane and we got on with the preparations for leaving ABC. This included writing a final blog for the Jagged Globe website which included a number of 'thank you's'. The absence of these from my own site was an oversight which I regret and I have repeated the list of thank you's below.
Tenzing also rose tI the occasion and on the evening of our 'Last Supper' produced a lovely 'farewell cake' of chocolate sponge with butter icing and green piping. With not a trace of garlic, his usual staple, we fell upon this masterpiece with gusto. We also had a treat that evening when Passang produced a few cans of Lhasa beer. Tim again said how sorry he was that there was to be no second summit attempt which was much appreciated but by this time we had all moved on.
All to soon however time was up and the following morning we walked put of ABC, the place we had come to call 'home'.
In gritting our teeth and heading into to the biting wind that greeted us that Monday morning we turned our backs on Cho Oyu. While heading away from that magnificent mountain I know that many of my friends were silently saying 'thank you' on a number of levels. This is what I was saying:
Thank you to all of our families, relatives, friends and others who have been the sources of inspiration, support and encouragement which have enabled us to embark upon and be successful on this expedition.
Thank you to the team of Sherpas and kitchen and support staff who have constantly sought to make our time at ABC as comfortable as possible, and our time on the mountain safe. In particular I single out: Ishi our Llama-cum-cookboy whose good humour and constant hard work was matched only by his potency during Puja; Tenzing the head chef whose skill in the kitchen (tent) was matched only by the width of his perma-grin; and of course our Sirdar, Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, for whom all things were possible, nothing was too much trouble, and whose reputation is richly deserved.
Thank you to Tim Calder our expedition leader, whose disappointment at calling off the summit attempt was manifest and for whom the entire team has the utmost respect. He worked tirelessly for team success, and achieved it. The summit is, after all, optional while returning safely is mandatory.
And finally, thank you to the star of the show, the Turquoise Goddess. Cho Oyu, you listened to our Puja. You graciously allowed us to tread your ermine robes. Sometimes your pristine wings were open to reveal your beauty and sometimes closed to our eyes. But irrespective of our trespass you kept us safe. You have allowed us to glimpse your majesty and return to tell of it to those less intrepid. We thank you, and leave you now in peace.
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