Ama Dablam, to me, is quite simply the world’s most beautiful mountain. Every face and every ridge is steep, high and laced with beautiful ice sculptures and impenetrable rock bands.
Arriving into base camp fully acclimatized, having been in the Khumbu for nearly 30 days, I decided I needed a few days of rest to recover, refuel and prepare for the climb ahead. I had a plan and it was going to require a lot of energy. I’ll be honest with you, I was intimidated by the mountain, by the unknown that lay ahead and by the sheer beauty of its southwest ridge. The long sweeping line soars high into the sky like an eagle, from the edge of base camp to the summit of the mountain. I could feel its pull like a magnet drawing me closer.
I had made the decision to climb alone on Ama and to climb fast. I wanted to totally immerse myself in the climbing and focus everything I had on a safe and successful climb. I left base camp around mid-afternoon and, after saying goodbye to the rest of the team at base camp, I set foot towards camp 1 for the very first time. I put my music on as the cold clouds enveloped me and the mountains disappeared - I suddenly felt very alone. Being fully acclimatized, I was keen to push myself and after just 2 hours I was nearing the base of the ‘slabs’ below camp 1. As I entered the boulder field, a vast expanse of huge boulders scattered carelessly across the mountainside, the final light from the day faded away as I rummaged for my head torch. Up above I could see a few tents glowing a deep warm orange as the occupants, warm inside their sleeping bags, melted ice and chatted anxiously about the day ahead.
I crawled into my tent half an hour later and quickly set about getting sorted. It was slightly later than I had hoped. Snow in pot, stove on…sleeping kit out, get in sleeping bag…unpack bag, crampons, axe, helmet, harness in porch ready for the morning…clothes, gloves, hats inside ready for the morning. Once I was all sorted, I set about eating and drinking as much as I could, melting ice is a laborious task but hydration is essential. Confident that I was as prepared as I could be, I switched off my head torch, changed the batteries and drifted off to sleep, excited about the next 24 hours.
With just the lightest puff of wind, I entered into the dark night. It was just after 04.00 as I left my tent and clipped in the first of the fixed lines. I drew a long deep breath and looked around at the surrounding peaks sparkling and glistening under the bright stars, and began my ascent. The climb was intense and unrelenting; between camp 1 to camp 2 I rarely stopped for a minute. All the southwest ridge is steep, to both sides and above and below, but with 7000m boots and good kit on I felt safe and protected from what ever the mountain could throw at me. But the mountain remained quiet for now, letting me silently climb higher and higher up her slopes. The rock is some of the best granite I have ever climbed on and at times it is quite technical; Yellow Tower giving a superb pitch at around HVS if led. The short patches of snow and ice were hard packed, wind blown rime and neve, allowing my crampons to grip it like a fork in sticky toffee.