In August 2004, Fiona and Paul climbed Khan Tengri - the most difficult climb they have done (for more reasons than one).  We elected to climb on the north side - which is much more technically challenging, but is fairly safe from avalanches.  To get here, we flew into Almaty, and then took a bus to Karkara.  From here we did an acclimatisation hike (getting to around 3200 metres) before flying into Base Camp (4000 metres) by helicopter the next morning. 

Base Camp is very well set up - you pay a fee to use a tent and for all your meals as well as getting access to other facilities such as a doctor and "shower tent".  Meals turned out to be a real highlight - somehow the staff were able to prepare the most amazing food from their tiny kitchen tent.

The next day we walked most of the way to Camp 1 - mostly a long snow slope with a few hundred metres of steep climbing near the camp.  After a rest day the following day, we took a load of our gear all the way to Camp 1 - taking around 9 hours return.  After another rest / acclimatisation day, we were ready to leave the relative luxuries of Base Camp. 

We hauled ourselves up to Camp 1, spent the night there in a fairly small campsite, and then continued up to Camp 2 at about 5400m the next day.  The climb from 1 to 2 was long and very challenging in parts - not helped by the poor weather which deteriorated as the day went on.  With plenty of steep sections where fixed line is used, it took us almost 12 hours to complete.  After a rest day, Paul made the trip back down to Camp 1 to collect our remaining gear.  This meant we now had all of our gear and plenty of food and fuel at Camp 2 - which was lucky as the weather set in, causing us to wait it out for 5 days. 

Eventually, the weather cleared and we headed up to Camp 3 - electing to camp on top of Mount Chapayev (a smaller mountain on the route) rather than drop down to the usual Camp 3.  From here we sat out another day due to howling winds and then continued up to Camp 4.  This camp is not included by most climbers but we had been told it vastly improves the chances of success as it makes the summit day shorter.  It is a tiny campsite set on a small snow platform between rocks (room for only 1 tent). 

At around midnight, we were woken to find torches shining on our tent which turned out to be from some climbers who had been to the summit and were still on their way down - they would have summitted too late in the day.  They opened our 2 person tent and came in - boots and all.  We spent a very uncomfortable night worrying about piercing our tent and having it rip open to the howling winds outside.  They left in the morning without a word of thanks.  After having very little sleep, and waking to hear the winds continuing, we decided to have another rest day. 

The following day was a beautiful clear day with very little wind.  However, it was icy cold and on our side, the sun didn't hit us until around 11am.  During this time we both got very cold hands and feet.  The climb up was quite technical for the first half, and then a never ending snow slog towards the summit. 

When we got back down to our tent, we were dismayed to find that Paul had frostbite on most of his toes, and Fiona had some on her thumbs.  We did our best to rewarm them. 

By the time we got back down to Base Camp, it seemed that Fiona's thumbs would be ok but Paul's toes were a concern.  After receiving all kinds of contradictory advice from various doctors and climbers who had experienced or seen frostbite, we decided it was time to leave Kazakhstan as quickly as possible.

When we eventually got home to Melbourne, we sought advice from various specialists (although it is difficult to find anyone in Australia with frostbite experience) and began having hyperbaric treatment in the Alfred Hospital.  This treatment was for an hour twice a day and lasted for 3 weeks.  In the end, Fiona's thumbs made a full recovery but the ends of some of Paul's toes had to be removed.  While this doesn't affect him now, the experience was fairly traumatic and not something we intend to repeat. 

For a more detailed account of this climb, go to climb.outmarket.com.au - the website we used to post updates as we were climbing.

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