By Ben Clark
May 14, 2008, intermediate camp
Today was hard. Short, pumpy and physical. The snow and weather is deteriorating on Annapurna IV's north ridge--and we are in the middle of it--but safe.
Josh and I climbed out of camp 1 at 6AM, it was beginning to cloud up below As I lead a block of pitches of snow, rock and ice scrambling out of camp, we were getting happy about moving--things were frozen--our greatest wish. As I neared 18,000' it became a struggle like a pebble versus a stream, I could not win swimming through consistent hip deep rotten snow. It was mind blowing--even for a climber who spends all summer wading through it in Colorado's San Juan mountains.
We carried on, through the warm hollow ground and eventually were overtaken by an early morning tempest. Cloaked in a completely white environment, we climbed to a bench where we knew we were safe from avalanches and crevasses and will be spending the day here. Don't worry, after the 1000' of hip deep wading we are totally snug and happy to be here. It's still up higher right?
Best to all of you, we're hanging out through waves of snow, wind and clouds today and will continue to push our persistence and patience until prudence or the summit.
A picture has also been posted to the website. After the winter we had in Telluride, digging camp sites is a breeze!
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