Topping out on the Wills Brown Couloir

Look for the obvious line in the centre of the photo and that'd be the couloir... about grade 4. 6 pitches of 60m (3 of 70-80 degree ice). Height at top of route 4242m.

BIG THANKS

Massive huuge thanks must go out to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, the Mount Everest Foundation, Expedition Foods and Sam at Wykeham Adventure Sports for making this all happen, we couldn't have done without your financial support, excellent kit and high energy sustenance (hurrah for Biscuit Fruit/Brown!).

It was an adventure, an incredible experience and it has definitely whetted all our appetites for more expeditions in the future. Indeed; it was brill!

Photos!

Back from the ooloo

Well it's been an interesting few weeks.... we've chugged along dirt tracks, truck-surfed, been turfed out of our intended climbing area by hunters, ended up in the Western Kok Shaal Too, then At Bashi range, clambered a lot above 4-5000m by a variety of means and set a few rather ace routes on snow, ice and rock.


The mountains have been spectacular, the locals friendly (ooh, except for the hunters...), the fermented mare's milk lip-smackingly good (wouldn't you agree Vanessa :)) and we've managed to have a great laugh on the way (not always that dignified I'm afraid).


Photos take years to download here. So wait out until I get back to the UK and I'll post some shots up for all to enjoy.

It's been excellent everyone. Cheers for such good times :).

Bishkek

Finaly we all made it too Bishkek with a few days to gather supplies, relaxe and watch the national goegraphic channel (the only english tv programme). We have Been in touch with the ITMC and evertthing is going to schedual-ish.

We are all in Bishkek

We have all arrived to Bishkek safe and sound. Sari travelled from Osh (Southern Kyrgyzstan), Sally flew from Heathrow, Eddie missed his flight and spent 36 hours in Heathrow but finally managed to get here and Vanessa found her way from the Down Under. So everything is well and we are all enjoying the beautiful Bishkek and its cafes and restaurants while getting exped things together...

But the ever so annoying visas... Due to the incorrect advice by visa officials in UK, Eddie is the only one with Kazakhstan transit visa to travel home (long story short - he missed his flight while running to visit the Kazahkstan embassy to get his visa...), Sari and Sally just managed to get the visa on their passports after 3 day wait in Bishkek and we hope that Vanessa can sort it out after the exped. Sally is still missing her Kyrgyzstan visa extension but that should be sorted by the embassy while we are on the expedition...

All in all everything is good. We are packing the van today with food and climbing gear and meeting our cook, porter and the driver. On Saturday morning its all go-go. We aim to leave 9am to Naryn, our tomorrows destination that is about 6 hours drive away on a reasonable road. From Naryn onwards to Borkoldoi... its all an adventure, who knows what the roads are like (or if we can even get through!)

We are all very positive about the exped and very eager to head to the mountains. All research and preparations have been made and we have several maps and previous years trip reports with us. First ascents and new routes here we come!

Sari

Bishkek

I have arrived in Bishkek and successfully met up with Sari; after pounding on the door of the flat at 0600hrs (i hope she forgives me...).

The drive from Almaty was pretty uneventful and the landing only a bit wobbly. We are now having fun with visa extensions/additional transit visas... and waiting for Eddy and Vanessa to arrive.

We met with Margarita of ITMC today and looked at our menu and chatted about other options and whether we provided toilet paper or they did.....fascinating (yet rather important) stuff!

The flat is fab and an option i highly recommend - much much cheaper and if you can get past the decor - it has 4 beds in total (if you count the sofa bed) air con, a kitchen, great shower and bath with a balcony for drying kit out on (all for 35 Euros a night), nay bad.

fingers crossed for the visas; just a few loose ends to tie up before we pack up the truck and head towards Naryn and our mountain valley destination in the Borkoldoi.