Cho Oyu Speed Ascent Update: A Storm Arrives

This article is part of an ongoing series covering Benedikt Boehm and Prakash Sherpa's planned speed ascent of Cho Oyu, Tibet -- the 6th highest mountain in the world. For background information, click here.

Benedikt Boehm and Prakash Sherpa are currently stationed at advanced base camp, where a storm front has deposited roughly three feet of snow thus far.

Usually, the arrival of snow is good news for skiers, but ski mountaineers play by a different set of rules than the rest of us. Instead of fantasizing about powder turns, Boehm and Sherpa's primary concern with the new snowfall is reduced visibility and avalanche risk.

Earlier in the week, the storm thwarted the team's acclimatization summit push (. Thus, for the time being, they're sitting tight to avoid getting lost on the mountain.

Despite the temporary pause of operations, Boehm appears in high spirits. For this update, he swapped out his usual written correspondence (which has been fantastic so far, thanks, Bene) for a video update. According to Boehm, clear weather is headed for Cho Oyu, so the team could have a window to make a summit push from October 5th onwards.

I'll let Boehm take it from here.

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