Author: Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson

(from Grant’s Thuraya SATPHONE) Rest day here at North Col (tuesday) – sunny  mixed with snow showers. hard to have proper rest here, and dreading another restless night staying awake. Sittingout the bad winds , and hope to make the climb to 7600m tomorrow (wed). Note from david: For all you FB -addicted fans –…

( edited from a series of SMS message sent this evening to David Lim): Arrived at North Col from ABC after  a 4 hour climb. Feeling a bit tired . Wasted 3 hours finding my tent and getting the wjhole snow-melting process going. Very cold here. ” Resting” a day here tomorrow to let the…

arrived at ABC feeling good.Resting a day here before heading up for North Col. Summit news coming in – first teams from the North summit this morning. Death toll: 1 on the north side and 4 on the southside ( season total so far). I watched a nepalese paraglide from the summit thismorning. (from SMS…

Got into Intermediate Camp, feeling better than at any of the two previous occasions. My blood oxygen saturation is at about 86% ( at sea level , it would be 100%), and will take another reading tomorrow.  Off to ABC tomorrow. (relayed by SMS through David Lim)

Sorry for the repeat message however I left my Sat phone number off the last message by mistake. Small messages of positive support (I.e less than 120 characters) may be sent for free by SMS to my Thuruya Sat phone. By visiting the website: https://sms.thuraya.com/ My sat phone number is: +88 216 6809 0465 Please…

Training and preparing for months to play a huge rugby game, training and preparing for months for a boxing match, training for months to climb the highest mountain in the world… For 99% of the that time the reality of what I have been training for seems too distant to specifically focus on. Until suddenly…

Received an SMS from Grant from Intermediate Camp at 5700m. Apparently, he trekked up there in a quick time of 3 hours, and is feeling strong. He will push up to ABC tomorrow, May 17th. And then make a day hike up to North Col before coming down to ABC, or BC depending on how…

Well at this stage a possible weather window does not look like it will open up until at least the 26th May. Bearing in mind we need to leave a number of days before summit time to move up and get into position, this could potentially mean we would start around 21st May from basecamp…

“Well, your chest sounds clear and based on my experience you should be ok to try and re-ascend very carefully. However you have to listen to your body and at the first sign of trouble get down as quickly as possible and go home. If you do get HAPE again, it will come on stronger…

( from SMS messages as reported to David Lim) Heading for a night at North Col (7000m) from ABC this morning. Not bringing the Satphone. Hope my HAPE wont recur.. But so far, feeling strong and healthy. It’s hard work living above 6000m. David’s Note: From ABC, the path meanders up to 6500m whereupon the…

(from Grant’s SMSs through Thuraya – summarised by David Lim) Hi, moved up from IC from Basecamp yesterday. Feeling strong and hope this feeling stays. Today I’m moving to ABC at 6400m, and hope to then push up to NOrth Col. Then back to ABC for some rest and then up again to North Col…

The day I arrived in the festering flea pit of Tashyzom at 4200m in an effort to try and recover from Pulmonary edema, my front tooth started to become very painful. I had left basecamp in a hurry to drive the 2 hours down to Tashyzom, and hence had packed very minimally. The only medicine…

H.A.P.E = High Altiude Pulminory edema. High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema (fluid accumulation in the lungs) that occurs in otherwise healthy mountaineers at altitudes typically above 2,500 meters (8,200ft).Some cases, however, have been reported also at lower altitudes (between 1,500–2,500 metres or 4,900–8,200 feet in highly vulnerable subjects), although what…

( via SMS messaging and David Lim) Hi there, yesterday I went for a hike from ABC (6380m) up to the base of the ice wall that is the start of the climb to the North Col ( 7000m). Hot work. CLimbed up the first 2 rope lengths to get a feel of the route.…

(by Thuraya SMS message) Arrived ABC  (6380m yesterday from IC< taking  4 hr 40 mins. SO hot it’s suffocating – like being in my car without the airconditioning in Singapore! Another headache upon arrival so popped some ibuprofen and felt better. Today 28th April is a rest day where i will attempt to clean myself…

(from Thuraya SMS to David) Made it from  basecamp to intermediate camp in just under 4 hours. Bad headache and nausea from dehydration last night. Lots of yakshit around. not a pleasant spot. Weather is very changeable from hot, sunny climes to snowing the next hour. Tomorrow , am off to Advance Base Camp (…

Its been snowing quite heavily here for the last 24 hours and more snow forecast for the next one week. However tomorrow we will leave for an acclimitisation cycle higher up the mountain – hopefully to the North Col at 7000m.  This trip will take 10 – 12 days.  The main purpose of the trip…

About 50 yaks arrived at our basecamp yesterday morning, accompanied by their extremely tough Tibetan yak herders. Each climber had packed a duffle bag of personal items to be carried by the yaks the 21km to our Advanced Base Camp at 6350m. As well as personal items, communal gear including tents, food, kitchen gear, cooking…