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| getting ready | ||||
| with the weather not looking too bad, the team prepares to set off on our attempt for the summit | ||||
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| snow slope | ||||
| Mike slowly inching up the very first slope beyond high camp | ||||
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| the first flat | ||||
| the team rests on the first flat not far above high camp to wait for our guides to be ready | ||||
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| on the slope | ||||
| arduous climbing up snow slopes after snow slopes | ||||
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| tying crampons | ||||
| the assistant local guide was using a flimsy pair of crampons that were held together by strings which kept coming loose | ||||
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| oh | ||||
| Teck Guan making his way up | ||||
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| rest | ||||
| three legs better than two... a good way to rest on the slopes | ||||
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| climb on | ||||
| the clouds momentarily cleared giving a better view towards the surrounding hills and lowlands | ||||
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| cornice | ||||
| skirting round a cornice and making up the final slope towards the summit | ||||
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| haba summit | ||||
| Haba summit at last... not a moment too soon, a blizzard started | ||||
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| hot tea | ||||
| Mike offering Teck Guan a cuppa on his arrival at the summit | ||||
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| blizzard | ||||
| it was freezing cold up at the summit as we waited in vain for the wind to blow over | ||||
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| the rest | ||||
| we waited for the tailing end of our team to arrive before heading down from the summit | ||||
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| getting down | ||||
| the poor visibility made it very difficult to navigate our way down to high camp, thank goodness I had my GPS with me | ||||
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| back at highcamp | ||||
| soon we were back at high camp... the winds were still wailing then | ||||
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| @ highcamp | ||||
| self portrait at high camp | ||||
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| strike camp | ||||
| as the weather was still bad, we quickly packed up and strike camp to head for base camp | ||||
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| downhill all the way | ||||
| following the ridge down towards base camp | ||||
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| deep snow | ||||
| Seck Hong enjoying his descent despite the deep snow ploughing | ||||
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| happy | ||||
| despite the horrible weather, most of the team members were elated with the exhilarating climb | ||||
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| snow and rock | ||||
| going down on mixed terrain of snow and rock | ||||
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| elation | ||||
| just being in the mountains makes Seck Hong a happy man | ||||
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| basecamp ahead | ||||
| base camp in sight... soon we were back in the warmth of our tents | ||||
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