In the meantime it is 12.05.09, 11.00 am. ?so one day later: We are now lying in a tent of the Americans. It's the only place where it's a bit warm due to the radiation...
...Since last night we can feel our toes again for the first time. We're going to warm up a bit and then we'll head back to the igloo to expand and enlarge it and sleep there. The rangers dug for us this morning to see if we were down there.
The last night in the igloo was really freezing cold and working in the igloo today is also very cold. Moving from the igloo to the sunlit tent in a storm is always an experience, walking without crampons is almost impossible in this wind, even on the flat. It's been a long time since we've experienced such cold. At times we can no longer feel our toes. At the moment we feel good again, we have food for the next 10 days, but the satellite phone has failed. So we'll give it until the middle of next week. We're hoping for two, maybe three windless days so that we can finish our crossing. It's wild, but not yet threatening. Because of all the equipment that is here in the camp, because of all the people who are really helping together, food, gas, fuel everything is there. It's actually 100% different to other expeditions: people stick together.
12.05. The snow hole...
We spent almost the whole day digging in the snow hole today. It went well, we're now half a meter under the snow in the snow hole. It's a bit cold, not to say freezing cold. But nothing is flapping in the wind anymore, the storm has left us cold, we've eaten well, apart from the fact that you freeze to the cooking pot when you touch it. The six Americans who are in the cave with us or with whom we are in the cave are very nice. Basically, we're just waiting for good weather on Friday so that we can finally move on again. Günther, do you want to say something too? "A... a... I'm out of breath, I'm just getting out of my sleeping bag". Okay, we've dug holes, the biggest hole here is Stephan's. He's very happy that he managed to create this work of art. I think Stephan has asked me four times now whether it's cool, what he's done here. And I've already told him x times, "you did it carelessly".
We've had a little conflict, the first since we've been here: Today was the day, with a Teuton; the term MOF (man without friends) applies to him in particular. There are always a few animals who think they have to ruin your day (it's pretty cool when eight of you work all day to make a sleeping hole and then a person from the lower camp arrives at Camp III. He comes to the entrance of the cave, looks around, doesn't say hello in his own language or in English, of course, and then states in his own language that they are now going to move into this cave. As one of the Americans speaks very good German, a nice discussion begins. Actually, you can't really call it a discussion. In the end, the gentlemen left with a fond farewell: "Fucking Americans and two Tyrolean assholes". IN THIS CONTEXT, BEST WISHES TO BERCHTESGADEN! Apart from that, we only have nice people around us. And I think we've tunneled under the mountain.
Life in the snow hole - The sequel | 14.05.
I stood outside at sunrise today and enjoyed the view. There was just one catch. As my boyfriend is now a dormouse and doesn't crawl out of bed or out of the snow hole before noon, I had a hot chocolate with the Spaniards and a leisurely breakfast. And yes, the decision not to tackle the mountain today was the right one, as the wind was really strong. There were also people who didn't want to believe it, but they're back here now. The afternoon was fine, once again in the tent in the warmth. At some point it got cold and we took down the tent and went back to the hole. We ate and chatted for a while, the weather is optimistically good for the next three days. It looks like we'll be leaving tomorrow...
In the early evening we went out for a quick look, and there's another canopy on the neighboring mountain. We'll get up tomorrow morning, if there's no wind, we'll climb up, if there's wind and it's shining, - no is wias isch... A cloud front is pushing around below us, above it's bright blue, the wind is dying down. Maybe after seven days in an ice cave and a half-snowed-in tent, we'll make it one camp further up with 200 other mountaineers. Then we'll see if this summit is possible.
For the continuation of the Denali diary by Stephan Keck and Günter Burgsteiner, see Part II of the expedition report.
