Welcome to the Qinghai Virgin Peaks Expedition 2012 blog pages. In Sep 2012, two Singaporean mountaineers will travel to Qinghai, in southwest China, and attempt to climb the highest virgin peak yet to be atempted by SE-Asian mountaineers. Led by motivational speaker and leadership coach, David Lim, the team will attempt the 6000-metre high Dragon’s Tooth in the Tanggula Shan mountains in Qinghai. The location and research on his peak reads like something out of a detective story – stay tuned to developments here.
The Qinghai plateau is an extension of the Tibetan Plateau, and has it’s own unique mountain ranges. The team will be focusing their efforts in a glacier just east of the famous Tanggula Shan pass (5100m). For nearly nine months, a clear photo of the peak we are attempting was not available anywhere on the internet. Then through a detailed process of combing through 2 decades of glaciologists’ reports, and old Russian military maps, the peak was identified and then matched with a photo and name. The orange arrow below shows the climbing area, and the upper orange arrow points to the town of Golmud the team’s launch point for the expedition.
The panorama below conclusively identifies the “Dragon’s Tooth” ( described as Medy-Kun on Russian maps, and Longyala elsewhere). Many thanks to Jeff Munroe and Koji Fujita, who helped complete our research, though one can never know everything about a peak that has not be climbed! This is NOT a trip with professional guides and sherpa porters
Above: the Dongkemadi Glaciers c. 1993-1994
We would like to thank our partners who are assisting our expedition with critical support and equipment; and we’d like to thank long time partners of David Lim, Canon*; our Official Digital Equipment partner, whose support includes the loan of video cameras and the provision of the new Canon D20 shock/water/weather-proof cameras; Energizer” for their AA/AAA lithium batteries, and Banana Boat anti-UV sunscreen products, GNC, who are our Official Sports Nutrition partner again. David’s unique needs as a partially disabled climber was helped by a new Ankle Foot Orthotic, the Noodle AFO, designed and produced by Kinetic Research
Our other partners include:
China Eastern Airlines for excess baggage support;
Devor Technologies for satellite communications support and loan of a Thuraya XT satphone;
* Canon(Singapore) was Official Digital Imaging Partner for David’s expeditions to Everest (2001), Ascent 8000(2002), Kilimanjaro (2004) and the Tien Shan Virgin Peaks Expedition (2009)
**Energizer was a partner of David’s past adventures including the 4th ever crossing on foot of the world’ largest salt desert, the Salar de Uyuni (2007), and the 4th solo ascent of the world’s highest volcano, Ojos del Salado in 2005
The Team:
Below, from L to R: David Lim, veteran leader and climber of over 65 ascents and high altitude expeditions; Mohd Rozani bin Maarof, climber with multiple altitude expedition experience including being a member of David’s two Mt Everest Expeditions in 1998 and 2001. Together, they have also made six virgin peak ascents in the Tien Shan range in the past seven years.
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Ever get that feeling that you are still in the mountainseven if you are back at home? It was quite a ride – but we had a safe conclusion. It took 2 hours to get off the glaciers beause the macpac tent had become frozen to the ice below and had to be carefully chipped free. We dropped down to the snout of the glacier in just e hour – compared to the 2.5 hours it had taken us to climb up from the snout 5 days earlier. From there it was delicious hot mutton soup and a long long ride 600km back to Golmud where we ended up doing some sightseeing in the jade market and some souvenir hunting for our friends. Roz managed to attend Friday prayers at the local mosque.
Looking back at the summit climb, it was really a call we had to make that might have gone either way. Roz was not feeling strong on the 25th, and I had to kickstep and lead all the way to the false summit at 6000m. I was feeling stronger and more motivated than in all my recent climbs and my performance that morning reminded me of my Ojos Del Salado solo back in 2005. Below is a great photo by Rozani of the morning light heading up to the pass between the Dongakemadi and West Glacier basin. We called this section the Sha-di Glacier, after the towering snowy peak to the right (west). The route turns left in this photo and goes up a 40 degree ridge for 400-vertical metres. All the months of high intensity functional training, P90X and a change in the fitness regime was paying off!
Then, lookimg over the hump, we didnt see what we thought was a straightforward rising travers to the top. Instead, there was a 50m plus drop to a ridge that was corniced one way , rising up to another section of the ridg that was corniced in the other direction. And then with softening snow conditions and the weather turning iffy ( see the colour of the sky), we bailed. With a stronger , faster team,I think the summit could have been tagged, but we were not up to that task. As a partially disabled climber, it’s already hard and tiring work to keep up with the usual team – let alone having to break trail and lead all day…
That being said, the views were remarkable. Over on the other side, we could see the Small and Large Dongekemadi Glaciers – which confirmed that the easiest route to the top was from that side. And then from the West Glacier – superb views of up to a dozen objectives of peaks in the 5700-6000m range include Sha-Di ( of Bird Peak in Tibetan) just opposit on the glacier connecting the Dongkemadai side with the West Glacier side.
Over on the left, you can see the virgin peak we climbed we we called Sangay Ri or Lion Peak, a nod for the TIbetan people who live here as well as to our origins from Singapore, the Lion City. On the right you can see the steep and very aesthetic line of the southwest ridge ,a mixed route up to 50 degrees rising up to near the summit of Longyala Peak. Another mystery yet to be resolved si that the locals do not know of any Longyala Peak – despit i’s presence on the official permitted peaks list. There is a Longyama village and a pass nearby called the Longyama-La. BUt the peak we had come to climb has no name – to them anyway. And if it did have a name, it should have bee Longyamala Peak, NOT Longyala Peak.
A few thoughts: Expeditions on such as these take a long time to put together, bags of research, and a willingness to accept that you are often making decisions based on incomplete or inperfect information – such is the game of climbing virgin peaks. One thing I really liked, even when the winds were howling and the climbing got a bit difficult was that my bro Roz and i would simply stop, and assess what we needed to do next – do it, and then move on – our systems, honed over two decades were humming along nicely, and that is how it should be. There was never moments of desperation and panic of any kind.
I would say, sadly that mountaineering , as it is played these days , now relies on people getting on board packaaged adventures where almost every eventuality is known. That’s thetime to strike out, and blaze your own trail if you want to experience mountaineering as it was in its earliest days – exploration, achievement, camaraderie, teamwork far from the madding crowds. Until next time – stay tuned!
Above: Centre of glacier: Sangay Ri (c.6000m), and to the right, the snowy southwest face of Longyala Peak (6100m). Left, 2 other unclimbed peaks.
Above left: Roz and mee with our great basecamp support team comprprising Tenzin, Haitao( who owns the the business), Zhang and Yang. Above right: The Golmud jade market – great to see lumps of nondescript rocks that are actually jade pieces. Below: Sunset over the Tanggula mountains – maybe next time!
Now on a 700km ride back to Golmud. Amazing horizon to horizon views of the Tibetan plateau. This is big country. The occasional antelope, a fox, herds of yaks fattening up for winter cone to view. My thoughts of our scaling a virgin 6000m peak and coming close to the main objective after days of shared hardships on the glacier will be coming up. Thanks to Maureen and Grant for the updates and ‘shares’ and encouragement. Ever Upwards! David
26th Sept, 2012 0800hrs: Just woke up after a 12 hours of sleep. Melting snow now to make enough water for today’s hike down to BaseCamp. Will be packin up High Camp after breakfast.
1600hrs: We are currently at Basecamp. We took 2 hours just to pack up High Camp as most of our tent and stuff were iced-up and frozen rock solid. We will be spending a night here.
We have a slight change of plans: on Thursday 27th Sept, we have decided to drive all the way to Golmud aka civilisation instead of going to Tuotuohe (190km from BC) and spending a night there. So we will be driving about 600+km from BC to Golmud. Guess we will be sleeping during most of the drive as we’re still very tired. Although we are looking forward to civilisation (and a hot bath!), we will miss this very beautiful area.
Only 1 message from Roz: “I’m tired”.
15:45 hrs: A short message from Roz “Just arrived at highcamp”.
So it looks like they made it safely down and based on the short nature of the message, are probably exhausted. Considering they left around 5AM it looks like a 10h 45minute day and they will be very dehydrated. However all water needs to be melted from snow or ice, a painfully slow process which takes discipline to sit in the tent and melt enough to adequately re-hydrate when they are tired. It may take 2 hours or more to melt a few litres and then they also will need to cook some food. They will be fighting the urge to lie back in their sleeping bags and sleep. However if they do not drink enough tonight, they will wake in the morning feeling very weak, with the possibility of altitude sickness and major throbbing dehydration headaches a real concern. Their bodies will not be able to repair and recharge themselves from today’s effort.
Tomorrow they will most probably pack up high camp and head down to basecamp where they will spend the night. Getting back to basecamp on the grass will be a real luxury as the increase in oxygen levels will make them feel stronger, warmer, happier and they will sleep better tomorrow night.
They have definitely earned their rest tonight anyway!
Axe off belay on behalf of David Lim
11:23AM Singapore time. I just received a very broken Thuruya satellite phone call from David. They have reached a point high on the ridge at 6015m, which is a false summit of the Dragons tooth. A false summit is a term used in mountaineering to describe a peak that appears to be the pinnacle of the mountain but is in fact not. From here the ridge breaks up and it seems the guys may have made the decision to turn back. The line cut off before I could get the full information from David, however he did say they were very tired. There also seems to be some limited form of mobile phone coverage as I received the attached photograph from Rozani of David eating a GNC power gel high on the ridge.
Both David and Rozani are experienced climbers. They will assess the situation and come to the a joint conclusion as team mates whether to proceed or retreat. The decision to retreat when so close to their goal will be a difficult one. They will take into account many factors such as:
– The conditions. Is there avalanche risk? bad weather closing in? hard ice? soft snow?
– Technical difficulty of climbing the broken ground? They will also take into account the descent – descending the ridge will be more difficult than going up.
– Strength: How tired are they feeling? Do they have enough strength to continue to make the summit and then descend all the way to high camp safely? Are they cold?
– Time: How much time they have before darkness? They will want to find their way back to the high camp before darkness sets in.
As Ed Viesters said “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory”.
Whatever decision they make, lets applaud their effort in getting so high and stepping where no human beings have ever stepped before.
Meanwhile I wait with baited breath for another update from the team – hopefully the next update will come from them back in there tents safely at high camp.
David Lim re-energises with some GNC power gels high on the unclimbed ridge of the Dragon’s tooth whilst contemplating the next move this morning. Photo: Mohd Rozani bin Maarof
2nd UPDATE
12PM: I received another phone call from David. This time the line was much clearer. As I was updating his blog from the last phone message, I decided to keep what I had written and add onto it here.
David confirmed they were retreating from a high point on the false summit at just over 6000m. They were feeling very tired after breaking trail for the previous 5 hours and the ridge was very deceiving. What looked like a gentle line up the ridge to follow to the summit turned out to be a 45 degree heavily corniced ridge line.
(A cornice is an overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain. They form by wind blowing snow over the crest of the mountain, so they often form on the leeward sides of mountains. Cornices are extremely dangerous and travelling above or below them should be avoided. Source: Wikipedia)
The weather had also turned and was starting to close in. David was cold and it sounded very windy so we did not talk for long. They called from an elevation of 5770m. They now have to retreat back down the ridge and back through some huge crevasses on the glacier to reach their high camp. It should be easier route finding to reach their high camp in the daylight, than it was coming up in the darkness in the morning.
I hope to hear from David when they reach the high camp safely tonight.
All in all it sounds like a tremendous effort today by the team.Lets wish them a safe retreat.
Axe signing out on behalf of David Lim
Below is the exchange of SMS between myself and David today.
DAVID: “Nice walk today. Still wasted from yest climb. Making and drinking fluids now, shutting down comms by 8pm. Still dehydrated, so long to melt snow, weather? thks”
AXE: “Weather: Tue slightly unstable, maybe rain or snow, wind 32km, wed – thu wind 24km also unstable, not ideal tomorrow but could be worse!”
DAVID: “Dang! thought it was improving! Thanks anyway, 5AM start for tomorrow”
AXE: “Go hard boys! How you both feeling?”
DAVID: “Thirsty, must drink more, Roz has slight tummy ache, otherwise ok”
AXE: “OK, pls call from summit if possible, good luck!”
So it looks like the guys are set to leave for an early morning start at 5Am for there summit push. To leave by 5AM they will need to wake around 2 hours earlier – around 3AM, in the freezing hours of darkness. They will melt snow to make drinks, try and eat something, fill their water bottles, dress for the brutal cold which will be well below freezing. They will run though the long list of preparations required to climb by the light of their head torches.
They will have an uneasy sleep tonight, waking frequently as the reality they are about to face is only a few hours away. The reality that they have trained and prepared for months has finally arrived. All those mixed feelings of excitement, nervousness tinged with fear at the unknown obstacles that will confront them.
Please send many positive thoughts in their direction! I hope David can make a Satellite phone call from the summit if they are lucky enough to make it. But most importantly a call from basecamp when they are back safely after the climb.
Safe climbing guys!
Axe signing out on behalf of David Lim.
5:30pm Singapore time. I just spoke with Rozani and David by Thuruya Satellite phone. They have had a hard 7 hour acclimatisation climb up a nearby peak to an elevation just under 6000m. Both climbers sounded tired but in good spirits. Rozani said the entire day was a battle with the wind. Near the summit they estimate the wind speed was gusting 80 – 90 km/hr. Climbing in this type of wind is enourmously energy sapping.
The guys are now back safely in the tent’s at advance camp and are preparing dinner of couscous. They will have burnt 6000 – 8000 calories today and be dehydrated. It is essential they eat well and drink plenty of liquid to allow their bodies to recover from the exertion. All the water they drink has to be tediously melted from ice and snow. A very slow process which requires patience and discipline, especially when you are exhausted. It can typically take around one hour to prepare 1 – 2 litres at high altitudes.
Tomorrow they plan an active rest day, and will make a trip back down to basecamp to pick up some supplies. Most importantly they are very short of matches. They have 8 remaining only! No matches is a serious situation as it means they cannot light their stove to cook and melt snow to drink.
In summary the guys seem to be acclimatised well, in great spirits and in a very good position to make an attempt on the Dragons Tooth in two days time. They need to drink, rest and prepare well over the next 24 hours to ensure they are ready to go for it Tuesday morning when the time comes.
Axe signing out on behalf of David Lim
Yesterday the team managed to establish an advanced camp after an exhausting 5 hour hike with heavy 25+kg packs. Advanced camp is located at 5500m elevation (N 33.114, E 92.048) 5km further up the glacier from basecamp. Today they planned to do an acclimatisation climb on a small nearby peak and scope out a possible route to the summit of the Dragons Tooth. David mentioned they may try and cross from the current glacial system where they are located under the North West face of the Dragons tooth to the adjacent glacial system further south named ‘Dongkemadi’. From here access to the east ridge may give them a line to the summit.
The 6 day weather forecast is attached below, The weather Sunday to Monday looks unsettled with a clearance happening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This timing could potentially work out well for there summit push.
Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson on behalf of David Lim
6 day weather forecast
An update from the team as of 7PM (Singapore time) on 22 Sep. I spoke to David by Thuruya Sat phone voice and SMS over the last 24 hours. The team has finally found access to the correct valley to establish their basecamp at position N 33.099 E 91.992, elevation 5160m (elevation approximate scaled from google earth) I attach an image below is also from google earth which shows the position of the basecamp. It looks to be in a nice safe position, beside a large glacial stream. They should be able to see the mighty Dragons tooth from basecamp. In a direct line the Dragon’s tooth is 7km from basecamp and 1000m higher in elevation.
This is positive news that they have managed to establish basecamp in this position. It gives much more straight forward access to their objective than their initial basecamp they spent the night of the Sep 20th. Today the team were pushing higher up the mountain to establish an advanced camp, further up on the glacier. This would have been very hardwork as they carried heavy packs, would be travelling roped up over the glacial terrain and route finding. There bodies also will be struggling with the increased altitude making them very short of breath and suspect to the headaches, nausea and other altitude related effects.
I hope to receive an update from David within the next few hours about the teams progress today and I will update this blog as I receive.
Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson signing out on behalf of David Lim.
Basecamp and the Dragons tooth over 7km away (Image: Google earth)
