Guide: Chris Simmons Team Members: James Gardner, Domenic Provence, Skip Drew, Chuck Rydberg, Scott Shadel Mustagh Ata (24,757 Ft/7546 M) 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. June 27 – June 28: Beijing, China. Fly from the US to Beijing, China. Hotel night on day two. June 29: Kashgar, China. Fly from the Beijing to Urumuqi transfer to Kashgar. June 30: Kashgar. Today we explore the local sites including Id Kah Mosque, Abakh Khoja Tomb or the Bazaar. Kashgar, referred to as “the peril on the ancient silk road,” is known for its famous market. Here you can find local produce, arts, crafts, garments, coal, timber and animals for sale in the bazaar. Kanhar is an ancient city bordering the Taklamakan desert in the east, the Kunlun Range and Ali prefecture of in the south. July 1: Subashi. We load a bus and travel to the village of Subashi, where we spend a relaxing day acclimating to 3600 meters. An additional acclimatization day may be spent here. July 2: Mustagh Ata Base Camp. Today we will load our camels and have a nice lunch. We then begin our five hour trek to base camp. Base camp is at 4500 meters or 14,700 feet. After we arrive at base camp, we set up and have dinner before going to bed. July 3: Base Camp. Today we spend time getting organized and planning our climb. July 4: Carry to Camp 1. We make a carry to camp 1 at 5300 meters or 17,300 feet. The trail is normally over rocky moraine. Once we arrive at camp we make our stash and descend to base camp. July 5: Camp 1. We hike to camp 1 today and establish camp. The trail is normally over rocky moraine. Once we arrive at camp we make our stash and descend down to base camp. July 6: Carry to Camp 2. We rope up and get on the glacier. We negotiate around a small ice fall and arrive at camp 2 that is situated on a snow plateau. The camp is located at 6100 meters, or 18,800 feet. After leaving extra food and fuel we descend to base camp. July 7: Rest Day. Rest and pack to go back up the mountain. July 8: Climb to Camp 1. July 9: Climb to Camp 2. Today we ascend the slopes to camp 2 and establish camp. Our views from camp 2 are outstanding as we begin to get more height on the mountain. We get organized for our climb to camp 3 the next day. July 10: Carry to Camp 3. We traverse gentle slopes up to camp 3 at 6800 meters or 22,200 feet. After leaving supplies at camp 3 we descend back to base camp for some well deserved R&R. July 11&12: Rest days in base camp! July 13: Camp 1 July 14: Camp 2 July 15: Camp 3 July 16: Summit Day – After a predawn start, we climb moderate snow slopes that become gentler as we approach the summit. At the top, we have a 360-degree view of the Tibetan plateau to the east, the Karakorum Range into Pakistan to the south and the Pamirs to the west. July 17-19:Additional days for weather and health. July 20:Descend to base camp. July 21:Hike out to Subashi, then drive to Kashgar July 22-24:Depart for home from Kashgar July 25 - Arrive home.

Dispatches

Mustagh Ata Expedition - July 19, 2007

Hi all! Chris Simmons calling in from 6100m on Mustagh Ata. We had an amazing and successful summit day yesterday! After an 8 hour push, James Gardner, Chuck Rydberg, Skip Drew and myself stood on the summit of Mustagh Ata. It was a perfect blue bird day with comfortable temps and great company. Domenic Provence and Scott Shadel put in a great effort but were turned around just shy of the summit. Today we will descend back down to basecamp where we will rest for a day or two and then head back to Kashgar. Hello to everyone back at home! Chris Simmons.

Mustagh Ata Expedition - July 15, 2007

Chris Simmons calling in from Mustagh Ata on July 15 at 9:00 a.m. We are coming off of two glorious rest days at 6100 meters and everyone is feeling good. The plan is to push back up tomorrow and get in position for the summit climb. The weather was a bit unstable, but is better now and looks like it will hold. We hope to summit and be back down on July 20. Everyone has acclimatized well and we are all very excited for summit day. That is all for now.

Mustagh Ata Expedition - July 11, 2007

Yesterday we established Camp I and now today we are taking a rest day. Tomorrow we will go back up to Camp I and then push up to Camp II to do some further acclimatization before we make our summit push around July 19th. Everyone has acclimatized fabulously and is feeling very strong. The weather, at first, was a little unstable but it has cleared up nicely and we have been blessed with blue skies for the past few days. We are only 12 Km from Tajikistan, 100km from Afghanistan, 120km from Pakistan and 400 km from India, so we are definitely way out here. That all for now from Mustagh base camp! Chris Simmons.