Annapurna IV

We just uploaded an audio dispatch and didn’t want to leave anyone out so here is the news.

We got some wind and snow last night and are experiencing some enormous wind slab avalanche potential above our current camp at 20,000′. Since most of our conditions have been moderate to considerable and the route to camp one slid to the ground the day after we climbed it-we’re being conservative.

Don’t worry though, we’re packing a punch to this bad boy. We’re hanging here at 20,000′ because we want 3 things. 1-to be able to summit safely and within reason, hanging here allows us to eat drink and freshen up. 2-to be able to descend safely-if we pitch a tent any higher and have even one wind event-we could be stuck for days-no good. 3. There are 4 rappels and some nasty spines to negotiate when we descend the first 1000′ from this camp alone-we want to be fresh for that.

So there you have it! Glad we have skis, it takes the edge off a longer summit day. That is of course if we can avoid the wind slabs. It’s been awesome so far, we will leave at midnight tonight-noon MST- for the summit and will call back and leave some audio dispatches to let you know how it’s going.