Dispatches

Mustagh Ata is part of the Pamir mountain range and is located in the far west remote region of China’s Xinjiang province where ice meets with the desert. The barren landscape rises more than two miles above sea level. To her west are scant villages of the Kirghiz people who rely on herding and trade for survival.

The Mountain Madness Expedition will meet in Kashgar and drive to the village of Subashi, enjoying outstanding views of Mustagh Ata, Kongur and Karakul Lake along the way. Camels will carry our loads into Base Camp. From here we will establish three higher camps. The Expedition will make our summit attempt from our high camp at 6,800 meters. The climb is fairly straight forward and is an excellent stepping stone for those who inspire to climb an 8,000 meter peak. Skis or snow shoes are needed to make the ascent, so a ski descent is an optional alternative.

July 24nd:

Summit reached!

We're back in Kashgar. 3 of us (Chris Rae, Brad Crawford, and myself)) summitted on 21 July. Ian Weir had to turn around at 6000 meters due to a chest cold that wouldn't quit. All are now in Beijing or perhaps en route back to the US. It was a good trip and even Ian, who didn't summit and who had a cold most of the time, had a great time. July 17th:

Dispatches from Base Camp:

From Ted Callahan -

We are summit bound! We spent the past two days resting at base camp after the our acclimatization trips to camp 1 and 2. It was a mild winter in the Pamirs and our route is a more crevassed than usual and has made it more slow going. We spent five nights on the mountain including four nights at 5340 meter camp 1 and one night at 6580 meter camp 2. Our first attempt to reach camp 2 was thwarted due to high winds and a white out conditions, but the group rallied the next day and made it to camp 2. At base camp we witnessed a rare marmot fight, and watch the cooks try to catch crows. After a week of clouds, high winds and precipitation, stable weather seems to have returned greatly contributing to our optimism to reach the summit. We are off to camp 1 this afternoon, so keep your fingers crossed. We will be back again to base camp after four days or so. Ted

From Chris Rae....

Big Mountains are curious pastime. It is interesting how much of the game is weather and health. A cold has been making it's way around base camp. Right now I'm sitting at base camp and I'm looking at a cloudless sky and not even a hint of a sniffle, so tonight we should be at camp 1 which isn't hard to get to, the next day which is hard to get to and the following day camp 3 which we haven't seen.and there we can attempt the summit unless the weather turns bad, or more of us the catch cold, or the pancake I ate this morning disagrees with me or the lamb we ate last night turns out to be the marmot the cooks were chancing last night. Is this what Sir Edmund Hilary sat thinking about at base camp I wonder?

July 8th:

Dispatch from the mountain:

Ted Callahan Dispatch:

Today the 8th of July will be our 8th day in China. After arriving in Beijing, our group, Chris, Ian and Brad, spent the day touring the forbidden city and the temple of heaven. The next day they flew to Kashgar where they met, their guide, Ted who had arrived a week earlier from one of the istan's countries. We had two full days in Kashgar where we visited the worlds largest Arch, shiptons Arch, and Kashgars Sunday market. We then drove to our acclimatization camp which is situated next the the "Black Lake" and which also had amazing views of Mustagh Ata. July 4th was an acclimatization day, we hired motor bikes and rode up to visit Kurgy's in their summer pastures at around 4000m. There the group sampled Yak milk yogurt, fresh baked bread and homemade butter. On the 5th of July the group drove to the trailhead and trekked to the 4500m basecamp. Due to a shortage of donkeys our gear was slow to arrive but finally appeared at 10:00pm in amidst of a hail storm. After using the 6th of July for a rest day in basecamp, the next day we made our first trip to 5000m camp one. Our team carried light loads and went slowly arriving at camp 1 after three hours. We ate lunch and came down. Today, the 8th of July is another rest day, we are on Mustagh ata together with a larger team, all together totalling about 40 people. It’s a pretty international multi-ethnic group, europeans, north americans, Krgys, austral asians, tibetans, Tajiks, chinese and many more I have probably left out. Lunch just arrived, fresh lamb we bought from nomads, that is it for today.

Chris Rayes Dispatch:

There are many ways to skin a cat, if Mustagh Ata was a cat she would have a large double chin, a back angle of 20 degrees, and her hind quarters divided by a glacier. For those not professionally engaged as mountianeers this cat may be skinned in two ways. From above the mountain is horseshoe shaped, the horse in questions is gazing whispfully to the east, traditionally climbers attack the northern spur but more recently the southern one has gained more popularity, perhaps for its lack of an icefall. Its this route that we are going to climb. I say going to because we have yet to spend a night above basecamp. Then Hadeen started up the north side in 1890, reluctantly decided that at 6100 m that it was going to be at least a two day excursion when his turgy porters fell asleep and his yak collapsed. More modern himalaya style approaches demand a more rigorous climb high, sleep low schedule but create a higher success rate. So far our highest climb has been camp one, we will be sleeping there tomorrow night and will hopefully make it to camp two before returning back here to basecamp. With the basecamp as high as mont blanc, it has taken us a while to get here. Mountains aside what a great trip this has been. I have had my beard shaved by a weeger at an animal market, lost my passport, drunk a remarkable tasty yak milk tea and came second in a chinese game of cards that I didn’t understand. The food is so good that I am tempted to stay at basecamp a fortnight but Ted said I am not allowed to.

Brad Crawford Dispatch:

Its Saturday morning, feeling clean and refreshed after a shower and shave. The other team members and I are setting up for a day of leisure and rest here at basecamp after a hike up to camp one yesterday. We all seem to be in good spirits, the weather has been ideal with clear blue skies. The natural forces of mother earth has shaped some awe-inspring landscapes here, creating a connection to our surroundings. Looking forward to moving up the mountain with the rest of our group tomorrow, sigining out Brad.