8 Plateau Peak -The last unclimbed bastion of the Saser Massif

摘要

It snowed heavily through the night. I remained huddled with my wife Chetna, inside a small arctic tent at Camp 1 on the South Phukpoche glacier, deep in the eastern Karakoram. As I opened my tent's flap and peered out, I was welcomed by the sight of a thick white blanket of snow covering the lateral moraines of the glacier. A heavily overcast sky, poor distant visibility, absence of wind and incessant snow fall always portends the appearance of a spell of poor climbing weather. A clime in which one can do little but to huddle up inside warm sleeping bags and wait for the sky to clear. Fortunately, we were exhausted and welcomed this opportunity to rest after the last three days of sustained climbing, including twenty one hours from Camp 3 to the top of the Plateau Peak and back.