There wasn't a whole lot of news out of the Himalaya over the weekend, as teams on a number of mountains were waiting for the weather to clear at the beginning of the week so they could get down to business at last. Part of that process is going through the traditional Puja ceremony performed by the Sherpas to ensure that the spirits of the mountain protect the climbers as they begin their ascents.
The Altitude Junkies had their Puja on Manaslu over the weekend, and from the sound of things, the team shared plenty of early morning beverages of the alcoholic variety. With the ceremony finished however, it was now time to go to work, and today the team began shuttling gear up to Camp 1. The latest dispatch reports great weather on the mountain, and successful hike up and back, along a more direct route than the guides had seen last year at this time. So far, things are looking good.
The Himex team is also on Manaslu, and took part in the Puja over the weekend as well. Reportedly, it went on for three hours, with the monk performing it taking great care to put his blessing on all the climbers. The Sherpas have now gone to work fixing the lines up the mountain, while the climbers take some glacier hikes for training exercises and begin their acclimatization process.
Meanwhile, the IMG Team checks in from Cho Oyu with the news that their Sherpas have been working in conjunction with the other teams, and have now fixed the route up to the Ice Shelf, and beyond to C2. The Sherpas will join the acclimatization rotation at Camp 2 this week, before starting work on the ropes further up the mountain.
Speaking of Cho Oyu, the North Face Trinity Team is now in BC and have begun updating the blog of their expedition as well. This is the team that plans on summitting the mountain, snowboarding back down, and then mountain biking and trail running back to Kathmandu. Should be fun to follow along with their exploits.
The Jagged Globe Team has also checked in from Cho Oyu with the news that their entire team has now slept at Camp 1, which means that their acclimatization process is moving along on schedule. They also report that the mountain is starting to get busy, but that the Ice Shelf looks to be more approachable than it has in recent years, which bodes well for the climb ahead. They'll now return to BC for a few days rest before making the climb up to C2 to continue their acclimatization.
That's all for now. Seems like we should hear more from the entire region later in the week as the weather improves, and teams can finally go to work. The season's just getting started and there are some big climbs and milestones in the works.
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