Guide: Ted Callahan Team Members: Denny Bohannon from Arlington, Washington. Denny is a retired lineman who got his training on a MM Glacier Mountaineering Course in the Cascades. In addition Denny has climbed quite a few North American peaks. He has visited Nepal and Europe for frequent back packing trips and is an avid skier. James Wiesmueller from Round Hill, Virginia. Jim has climbed on Denali and Aconcagua and is currently on the MM Sajama expedition. He trains by hiking with a heavy pack 2-3 times per week. Among his notable trips with MM is a coveted ascent of Ecuador’s Antisana. Robert Oglesby from Huntsville Alabama. Bob is a Research Scientist who got his training on MM Ecuador Mountaineering Course. He's climbed in the Sierras and Kilimanjaro. Bob trains by carrying a heavy pack throughout the week and includes weight training at his local gym. Jon David Stewart from Burlington, North Carolina. JD is superman. In the day he is a student and in the afternoon an ironman. His insane training schedule consists of biking 250 -300 miles per week, 80-100 lbs. pack and running. JD summited Aconcagua in 2002 with Mountain Madness.

Dispatches

Welcome everyone to our 2004 Mustagh Ata expedition!
24,816 feet/7,566 meters

Mustagh Ata is one of the 50 highest peaks in the world. It 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 surrounding the peak rises more than two miles above sea level. To its west are small, scattered villages of the Kirghiz people who rely on herding and trade for survival.

The first attempt of Mustagh Ata was in 1894 by a Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, who tried riding a Yak to the summit while his Kirghiz guides accompanied him on foot. Unfortunately, he and his Yak were denied the summit and gave up around 19,500 feet. In 1947, two other explorers Shipton and Tilman attempted the climb of Mustagh Ata, but turned around due to deep snow close to her summit around 24,000 feet. It wasn’t until 1956 that the Soviet Union teamed up with a Chinese Mountaineering team and was successful in reaching the summit.

The Mountain Madness Mustagh Ata team will travel through Beijing and rendezvous in Kashgar on June 30th. After a day of sightseeing they will drive to the village of Subashi, enjoying outstanding views of Mustagh Ata, Kongur, and Karakul Lake along the way. Camels will carry their loads into Base Camp. From here they will establish three higher camps. The Expedition will make our summit attempt from our high camp at 6,800 meters. Their summit day is planned around July 16th. 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 required to make the ascent, and a couple members plan to ski down. For more information about our 2005 expedition to Mustagh Ata.

Our head guide will be Ted Callahan. Ted is a well seasoned mountain guide who brings along his witty, slightly caustic sense of humor to all his trips. Ted has all the tales of the savvy and not so savvy traveler. To his credit are also first descents on the wildest rivers in Africa, Asia and South America. Ted is a professional member of the American Mountain Guides Association and currently pursuing a Masters in Asian Studies at Stanford University. Ted is proficient in Chinese, Russian, Kazak, Nepali, Spanish and Farsi.

Dispatch #7 – Monsoon Blues

First off, the good news! We’re all back safely at Base Camp having sat out 3 days of foul weather at Camp 1. And the bad news – the expedition is over. Mustagh Ata has been getting pummeled for the past 5 days – snow, lightning, whiteout conditions and spindrift have combined to shut down any upward movement beyond Camp 1. This is, it should be noted, extremely atypical weather. The snow has been so extreme that our tents at Camp 2 are completely covered (A team descending from Camp 2 was kind enough to take digital photos.) As soon as (if?) it stops snowing and conditions are good, we’re planning to push to Camp 2 with our Tibetan “sherpa” to retrieve our tents and the gear cashed in them. Unfortunately, that’s the best we can hope for. It will probably be days before the route to Camp 3 and the summit is reestablished and we have to back in Kashgar on the 22nd – in 3 days.

Aside from stripping Camp 2, the team is planning a visit to the City of Tashkurgan and the lake of Karakul before packing up and heading back to Kashgar. Denied the summit, we’re going to compensate with these excursions and then some serious feasting back in Kashgar.

So, the score stands at Mustagh Ata – one, Mountain Madness – zero. Despite that, we all had a great time here in Western China – skiing down from 6200 meters, haggling with the local kirghiz, enjoying beautiful views across into Tajikistan, and a fantastic farewell Chinese banquet. Till next year then, Mustagh.

Note from Bob:

Bob here – Finally back at Base Camp, after 3 days snowed in at Camp 1. It’s Sunday morning, snowing heavily and we’re now into our 5 day of this weird monsoon-like weather pattern. No clue how much longer this weather will last – could be days. Mustagh Ata is not supposed to get the summer monsoon as it is too far northwest and blocked by K2. Why then does this bizarre weather seem to be exactly what I’d expect from a monsoon? I’m looking forward to being back home and analyzing this semi-permanent storm.

End Final Dispatch

Dispatch #6 – Microbes and Man

Our final rest here at Base Camp before we push to the summit. Spirits are high as apparently are hemoglobin. At this point, everyone, except Denny, is on one sort of antibiotic or another. Fortunately, both Bob and JD have cleared the hurtle of their respiratory infections and they’re ready to go. I am a little under at this moment but is recovering well. Jim, coming off the heals of a difficult expedition to Bolivia, has not been feeling well and has decided to quit the mountain. He is now focusing his energy on trying to arrange an operation for a 2 year old Turkish girl who has the four fingers of one hand fused together. Jim is currently down in the village of Subashi trying to locate the little girl’s parents to discuss options with them. He is planning on having the girl’s hand operated on in Beijing sometime in the next year. Everyone applauds his efforts.

While Bob recovered from an upper respiratory infection at Base Camp, Denny, JD and I made the arduous 7 hour trek from Camp 1 to Camp 2 where we slept the night. We descended back to Base Camp to rest. Bob, a little behind on the acclimatization schedule, has gone up to Camp 1 a little early. Ted, JD and Denny will head up there tomorrow afternoon. After a night at Camp 1, the four of us will move on to Camp 2, sleep there and then on to Camp 3. And if will and weather remain stable, then to the summit.

Dispatch #5 - July 11, 2004

We back here at Base Camp are enjoying one of our last rest days before our final push to the summit. Yesterday we went about three quarters of the way towards Camp 2 despite several inches of new snow and windy conditions. Our efforts were rewarded with fantastic skiing under the sun. The excursion also was Denny’s new high point at 19,000 feet – way to go Denny!

The team had spent the night before in Camp 1, which was our first overnight on the mountain. Despite some minor insomnia, loss of appetite and a too close for comfort lightening storm, everyone weathered the night well. Tomorrow we head up again with the intention of sleeping at Camp 1, then sleeping at 20,232 ft. Camp 2, and finally an acclimatization trip to Camp 3, before returning to Base Camp. Bob has taken to predicting weather conditions and has called for good weather, but al least we know who to blame if this prediction does not pan out. Tim, a retired meteorologist, is deferring all the weather predictions to Bob.

Both JD and Bob are doing well and say hello to friends and family. It might be difficult to get JD back on the mountain, noting as he did the other day, “Is that a girl?” as other teams moved up the mountain. Anyway, rap it back to you in 4 days. Quick note from Bob – “I’m having a blast, even thought yesterday we stopped a little short of Camp 2, I felt real strong, even with this minor cold bugging me. And I wanted to let you know that Ted is a great Guide. He continually discusses his options with us and isn’t afraid to let us know that he can sometimes get tired too.”

Dispatch #4 - July, 2004

We arrived Base Camp four days ago though it seems like weve been here much longer. In all, our accommodations are pretty luxurious. We are camped on grass alongside a stream, below the moraine where the trail to the summit begins. We have electricity (courtesy of the generator we brought ha, ha), awesome food, satellite phones, and even beer though the team has been forbidden the latter. We also have two sheep (Polly and Molly) are soon to become dinner night after tomorrow. To get all of the two and a half tons of these things up here required 25 camels, lead by Turkish herdsman. It presents an impressive sight a long camel train winding through the dessert wastes of Central Asia, a scene unchanged for hundreds of years. On the climbing front, we spent most of our time acclimating at our 13,570-foot base camp. Yesterday the team had its first carry to Camp 1 at 17,500 feet. Denny and Ted both of whom are using skis rather than shoe shoes have enjoyed skiing on near perfect snow.

Today was an unplanned rest day owing to various maladies (we decided to spare our readership the grim details of our various gastro intestinal ailments those who want explicit details will have to wait until we return stateside) and so that we can all be refreshed for our move to Camp 1 tomorrow with the intent to spend the night there and then try to do Camp 2 the following day before returning to Base Camp. So far the weather has been great, somewhat unseasonably warm and very stable with only occasional wind and precipitation. Lets hope it stays that way for the next couple of day.

Dispatch #3 - July 2, 2004

From Ted: As I write this, the alpin glow is shining upon Kongur and Mustagh Ata and the team is eagerly scanning the route where faint ski tracks can be seen. Excitement is running especially high since 2 groups who successfully reached the summit pass through camp, bearing good news about the route and the snow condition upon it. Looks like good skiing!

There’s been no shortage of excitement since our arrival in Subashi from Kashgar yesterday, Friday the 2nd . We camped alongside the Subashi River . The inhabitants are mostly trans-himalaya pastorial nomads who spend summers higher up in the mountains and then over winter in Kubash. However, many will remain in the village during the summer season to provide camels for climbers to carry their gear from the route to base camp.

Yesterday it began to rain in the afternoon and then continued through the night. At around 11, some Danes that we were camped next to raised the alarm that both mine and Bob’s tents were in danger of being flooded. We hastily dragged them to high ground as the Danes, bearing the brunt of the flood, waded thru almost knee-high water trying to salvage their gear. The next afternoon, despite clearing in the weather, a distance rain shower produced a flash flood, only this time threatening to inundate the entire camp, including the cooking and dining tent. Emergency engineering plans were devised, and near inches from disaster, a series of dikes and diversion channels saved the day. Thanks especially to Denny who worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon.

Culturally the team has some interesting experiences both here and is Kashgar. Jim struck up a conversation with a local woman, only to discover that not all observant Muslims are partial to conversing with unrelated, much less unknown men. Bob has proven to be partial to local head gear and proudly wears his new found attire. Denny and JD spent the afternoon visiting a local household where they were treated to yak milk

Overall health and moral are both high. We know definitively so about the former because of Bob’s enthusiastic use of his oxy-stat device. Bob’s has been recording everyone’s readings, and we are already handicapping each other and to see how well we will do high-up. Tomorrow we will get to find out as we move from our 12,250 foot camp to our 14,850 base camp. More in a couple of days

Dispatch #2- June 28, 2004 News from Tartary

My arrival here in Kashgar yesterday - after 48 hours on the train from Beijing to Urumchi and then another 22 hours from Urumchi - was somewhat anticlimatic. After countless hours spent studying the languages and history of the region, there was no reaffirming epiphany awaiting me - only a sullen Chinese railway official who informed me that my 600 lbs of luggage was "somewhere on the road between Beijing and here." Not very encouraging words. With the fate of the expedition hanging in the balance, we - my trusty native guide and I - debated the best course of action. Since what we were up against was the classic Chinese stonewall - a tactic that has succedded in bringing foreigners to their kness for thousands of years - we opted to reply in kind. For, as the Taoists long ago noted, given enough time, water will wear down even the highest mountain. Each time we returned to her little cubby-hole, the official yelled a little louder, a little more shrilly. We, on the other hand, kept our cool: polite - deferential even - and all-smiles. On our sixth visit, perhaps forgetting that the microphone she spoke through amplified her voice on our side of the glass partition separating us, she began screaming in earnest. This had the desired effect of luring out her superior, who was able to locate our gear within five minutes.

Things are hot here in Kashgar but at least there isn't the humidity that is afflicting the team as they assemble in Beijing. By tomorrow, the 29th, everyone will have arrived in China and on the 30th the whole team will finally be here in Kashgar. And then, job's on.

Mustagh Ata Dispatch #1- June 21, 2004

Despite Northwest Airlines' best efforts to derail the expedition, I - and more importantly, all of the gear - managed to arrive in Beijing on 19 June - only a day late, which is not bad by Asian standards. My three days in Beijing have been consumed with last-minute shopping at expat grocery stores, whirlwind visits to various tourist sites, and copious consumption of ridiculously cheap food and beer. The train ride to Kashgar begins on the 23rd - three days of non-stop fun, fun, fun, made all the moreso by my travelling companions - 10 duffel bags filled with various sundry high-altitude climbing items. Until Turkestan, Ted out.