Day 8: Petrovsky ridge

It was a leisurely start at base camp, given that breakfast isn't served until 8am. I made a cup of tea and sat on a bench admiring the mountains. Peak Lenin towered over camp ominously, the summit blanketed in thick cloud and snow. Standing above 7000m, the mountain presents a serious challenge with threats such as altitude sickness, avalanche risk, falling seracs and crevasse accidents all prevalent. Despite this, many climbers of varying abilities are attracted to Lenin as for $2500 you can hire all equipment and a guide for 3 weeks to attempt the summit. No permit or proof of previous experience is required and you can even complete the mountain self-guided. I'd found out from my conversations at dinner that some people have never worn crampons, never walked along a glacier and never used ropes. You simply have a half day training exercise with a sherpa and then you are let loose on a 7000m peak! The other shocking fact is that there are only 4 helicopters in the whole of Kyrgyzstan; 2 are for the military only and the other 2 can be used for rescue. But given the vastness of the mountains that cover the country, it is unlikely that rescues are made. The summit success rate is around 25% and around a third of accidents become fatal due to the poor infrastructure for rescue. It is not an uncommon sight to see zipped up sleeping bags being returned to base camp. Given these statistics, I was happy Yukhin peak was significantly less risky but still acutely aware of the lack of support if things took a turn.

Today we would complete further training and acclimatisation by hiking up Petrovsky ridge, aiming to reach an altitude of above 4000m. A few members of the group were still suffering from diarrhoea so opted to stay at base camp and visit the doctors tent. The doctor provided further Immodium and people were instructed to consume a teaspoon of what was described as "Russian paste" which was guaranteed to kill any bacteria remaining in your digestive tract. The rest of the team followed Roman on another march, following a series of steep switch backs up the ridge where we'd aim to reach the ice line. The route was steep and I noticed that other than the "Try hards" at the front of the group, people's breathing patterns were fast and heavy. This should be a sign for the guide to check in with people and consider slowing the pace. Roman was blissfully unaware, simply initiating a break with his usual command of "pause" before lighting a cigarette. A member of the group asked him if we could adopt a slower pace to assist acclimatisation. Alex, Patrick and I braced for the reply. "Slower? It's not possible! We are already moving like turtles!" Roman replied. We collapsed over on the rocks, laughing uncontrollably at this iconic response. Roman looked over and said, "You laugh a lot" and continued uphill at exactly the same pace as before.

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The view from the ridge was breathtaking, snow capped peaks lined the horizon and being in such close proximity to the icy ridge was incredible. We descended quickly back to camp in time for lunch where I ate soup, mashed potatoes and stew. It was my favourite meal so far and I went back for two more plates of mashed potato, determined to fuel myself and not lose weight. Not only are sherpas the most skillful, highly respected mountaineers in the world - they are professionals at calorie loading. We'd observed that they collect their plates of cake and condensed milk before their mains, as to ensure the cake supply isn't depleted. Alex and I followed this lead and stock piled some cake and were delighted when we received a nod of approval from their table. The remainder of the afternoon involved drinking copious amounts of tea in a beanbag and observing the fascinating characters at base camp.

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Following dinner, it was our favourite time of day - the briefing. Tomorrow's aim would be to begin the climb to Yukhin peak by ascending to camp 1 on Lenin. Following the training hikes and acclimatisation, I felt ready. After the classic "breakfast 8, leave 9", Roman added a few further details. "Next days are hard, very steep, very challenging" and in his usual style did not balance this out with reassurance or motivation. Instead Patrick, who has the opposite personality to Roman, offered some motivational words and suggested to a struggling member of the group that he'd carry their water. All while Roman remained completely indifferent. Just as we thought the briefing was over, he offered one final gem. "Tomorrow is a river crossing, the water is very high and strong. You, too small" (he said pointing at me, reminding us he has still not learnt our names). "You will go on horse" he concluded before leaving to smoke. That was enough to send Alex and I into uncontrollable laughter for the remainder of the evening. We were looking forward to beginning the climb in the morning, even if we had to go as slow as turtles!

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