Cho Oyu Speed Ascent Update: A Turn In Fortunes

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.

First, for transparency's sake, I got a bit turned around regarding Benedikt Boehm and Prakash Sherpa's whereabouts yesterday. They weren't, as I stated, at base camp -- they were at pre-base camp.

Based on the time stamps of a September 26th update from Boehm, the team is now at base camp, and, as it is between three and four AM in the morning in Tibet at the time of writing this, it's safe to assume that Boehm and Sherpa are asleep. Turns out it's complicated reporting on an ongoing trip several time zones away.

Count on an update from base camp tomorrow.

But that minor correction isn't the important news. Yesterday, Boehm met with the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA), an agency that answers to the Chinese Ministry of Sports and dictates rules and regulations on Cho Oyu. In the past, these regulations were managed by the Tibetan Mountaineering Association (TMA).

While Boehm has previously dealt with the TMA -- they never restricted his movements in the mountains on previous summit attempts in Tibet -- his encounter with the CMA was fresh and contained a central disappointment: the CMA will prohibit Boehm from skiing down Cho Oyu, citing safety concerns.

Additionally, the CMA requires that mountaineers on Cho Oyu utilize supplemental oxygen and a porter/sherpa, both of which Sherpa (as I would hope is clear by now, Sherpa is Prakash's last name. He is Boehm's climbing partner, not his sherpa) nor Boehm planned on using -- the team hasn't figured out how to navigate this hurdle, as it would prevent them from climbing Cho Oyu under "fair means."

Boehm reckoned with the disappointment in written correspondence shared with Powder:

"Well, I'll have to come to terms with the fact that I'll have to climb and descend the best ski mountain among the 8,000ers on foot. If I had known that the situation here was so regulated, I would have chosen a different goal. My enjoyment has been dampened since the start of the trip. But hindsight is always 20/20. A ski descent won't go unnoticed here."

He explained further:

"It's a pretty heavy blow because I've never walked down a snow-covered mountain before. I feel very restricted because I've been a ski mountaineer for as long as I can remember, specializing in such descents. With the 4 hours we had set as our goal for the descent, it's definitely not going to happen now. Without skis, it will take much longer. Oh yes, another new rule states (which I had never heard of before) that you can only climb Cho Oyu WITH oxygen and WITH a climbing Sherpa. We don't have either. I always abstain from artificial oxygen and climbing Sherpas. I'm curious to see if this becomes an issue."

Still, Boehm remains in high, if slightly diminished, spirits.

"Okay, chin up. At least we're allowed to be here. At least we're getting closer to the mountain. I have to take it as it is now. Just push through it. So, we continue to acclimatize diligently and try to get closer to the summit. Today we climbed to nearly 6,000 meters. Tomorrow [Today in U.S. mountain time, the team is now presumably at base camp], we'll head to the base camp at 5,700 meters."

Here are a few photos from Boehm and Sherpa's trip to the Cho Oyu base camp shared with Powder eight hours ago:

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