Exploring the Xiashe Massif, Sichuan Province, China

On October 2nd, we walked up the valley under the north face with a supply of equipment, which we stashed at about 4,300 m under scrubby bushes. The valley was a mixture of pasture, marshland, and rhododendron forests that led to a mountain lake. To get a closer view of the mountain, we walked farther up valley onto the lateral moraine of a small glacier. At this stage, the north face was relatively free of snow and looked steep and rocky, with a summit ice cap. That night, a violent thunderstorm and a fall of snow changed the whole aspect of the mountain and set the tone of the weather for the next week. Another staff member, Ten Pon, arrived at base camp with the remainder of the equipment.

In the morning, we woke to find snow on the ground around base camp. We took supplies to the cache at 4,300 m and by the time we returned to base camp, the snow had melted from the ground.

When we left base camp the next morning with three days' worth of supplies, we intended to acclimatize farther up the valley. We set up camp with our lightweight summit tent on the moraine at 4,450 m in a blizzard.

At 6:00 am the following morning, we left camp for an acclimatization trip up to a col on the southwest ridge of Xiashe. We reached the col at 5,300 m after 5-1/2 hours of strenuous step plugging in deep, freshly fallen snow. The weather was windy but fine, and we were afforded good views of the south side of the mountain.

We returned to base camp the next day. At this stage, we had decided to make an attempt on the mountain via the northwest ridge, a striking, long line involving both rock and snow.

On the second of two rest days at base camp, it snowed heavily during the afternoon and through the night. A team of three British climbers, whose expedition Lenny also organized, arrived at base camp, also with the intention of making the first ascent of Xiashe. With them came another staff member, Mr. John. That night another thunderstorm deposited heavy snow.

In the morning, we woke to find 6 inches of snow on the ground and a heavy cover on the mountain. Since we decided to wait another day before heading off on our summit attempt to give the mountain a chance to shed, we spent the day socializing with the British team and sorting food and equipment. In view of the amount of snow that had fallen during the past week, we decided our best option for a successful first ascent was to cross over to the south face and climb this to the southwest ridge and then on to the summit.