Sept. 9 2011 辎重装备背负至5500米的过渡营地

维谷

Sept 9th, 2011

carry to intermediate camp at 5500m, still sleeping at base camp

Today, we carried our group gear (tent, climbing equipment, food supplies and cooking equipment) up to 5500m, an intermediate camp before the training climb on Pangpa Ri. Having hiked up to this altitude with students two days ago (sorry kids, the place we went to last time was only 5500m, after verified this time by GPS), today’s going was much easier than expected though each of us carried heavy load. From our new camp site, we were able to see the start of glacier at the foot of Shishapangma. Tomorrow, we are moving up with our personal gear (sleeping bag, clothes, personal climbing gear). This manner of climb is called double carry, e.g. on the first day, carry up a heavy load of gear we need up high, drop it there and come back down to sleep low; then the next day, carry the remaining gear to move to the new camp. This allows us to acclimatize better by “climb high and sleep low”.

Maybe my body does have memory, or maybe it’s because of the difference in terrain, I felt much more comfortable walking and carrying heavy load at this altitude than I felt at same altitude on Everest last year.

9月9日

今天，我们把团队需要的辎重装备，比如帐篷、攀登器材、食物及做饭用的装备等，背到了5500米的过渡营地。两天前刚和学生们到过这个海拔高度（对不起同学们，根据这次ＧＰＳ的数据，上次我们到过的冰川起点海拔实际只有5500米），所以今天虽然每人负重量都很大，却走得很轻松。我们的新营地离希夏邦马很近了，可以没有遮拦得看清令人敬畏的西南壁，冰川的开始点就在我们新营地的坡下。明天，我们将把个人需要的物资，比如睡袋、各层衣服、个人攀登器械等，背上去并驻扎到新的营地。这种登山方式叫“double carry”,直译就是“背两次”。即，第一天，把扎营、攀登需要的重装背上去，然后下来回到低的营地休息；第二天，把其余（个人）装备背上去，在新的高度安营。这样“爬得高，睡得低”会让适应海拔升高的过程变得很轻松。

也许是因为身体有记忆力，也许是因为地形的不同，这次在这个海拔上行动和负重都相比于去年在珠峰南坡同样海拔上轻松很多。