Received the following sms's from Andre today. . .
"Fri 6th Aug ABC: Hi Jen -
Well the weather has played its fateful cards with a bitter twist at the end. From my 1st sms to the day before yesterday we had continued heavy snowfalls every day combined with strong winds and only yesterday, as forecast, clear weather once more. In a last ditch effort Ulrike and Harry went up to Camp I on Tues 3rd hoping weather / snow conditions might allow them to get up to the ice plateau and establish Camp 2 to use the good weather forecast for 5th, 6th to make a summit attempt.. But the weather on 4th was terrible with top of spur still under deep snow and consequently this last plan also had to be abandoned. The bitter twist is the beautiful weather we have had since yesterday, and which we knew was coming! Today we are bringing down all the ropes and gear from the mountain. Everyone is also carrying loads down to the icefall cache and BC in preparation for striking BC on 10th. We made as much time available for climbing on this expedition as we could but always accepted success might be dictated by the weather. All the same we do feel the weather has played a more significant role than we anticipated, both in the amount of bad weather and snowfall and the timing of the good weather spells in relation to our program. Of course there is big disappointment that we did not achieve our main objective but the expedition has achieved a lot in other areas, principally experience gained trying to climb a big mntn like Chogolisa. All well, Love Andre."
So, unfortunately the summit of Chogolisa remains a dream. But we are grateful that no one was seriously ill; everyone acclimatized well and there were no serious incidents on the mountain: our Team is returning home safely - maybe a bit disappointed and tired, but in good health and with a wealth of experience of a mountain that is notorious for its bad weather.
WELL DONE ULRIKE, HARRY, ANDRE, FRAN, ROBERT, CECILIA, ANTHONY, IAN, LINDA, MARIAN : we are so proud of you and for the collective knowledge/experience that you bring back to us! But more importantly, that you are all safe! We look forward to hearing more about this Adventure of yours: I for one have been on tenterhooks over the past week and I'm sure our friends and relatives have been the same. For the rest of the trip: be safe and take it easy! For me its been a great deal of fun being in contact with the Team and everyone else . . . . let's take it through to the end, which is the 21st August when the South African contingent arrives back . . .
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