Arriving in C1 on Tuesday I found a flat open space of white snow. None of
our tents could be seen, only a pair of ski tips was sticking up out of
the snow. One and a half meters of fresh snow covered the tents. After a
bit of probing to locate it’s position under the snow cover and two hours
digging I found that my tent was thrashed. One of the poles was broken and
there was a big hole in the side of the tent. Most of the other tents that
were dug out in C1 were also broken. The next day became a repair day.
Needle, thread and a roll of duct tape was brought out to put the tents
back in action. Being a bit restless I took my skis for a short hike in
the afternoon and got a few turns down towards camp. Thursday an attempt
was made to reach C2. After four hours of breaking trail in deep snow,
clouds moved in quickly and it started snowing. With no visibility we
couldn’t see where we were going and decided to turn around and go back to
C1. Friday didn’t give much better weather, dark clouds surrounding the
mountain in the morning turned into snowfall by noon. Tired of the
unstable weather and hungry for Budhi’s food I decided to go back down to
base.

This autumn is not making it easy for us climbers. It’s luring us up on
the mountain with blue sky and sunshine, just to throw a snow storm in our
face. Many of the climbers are giving up their hope for a Dhaulagiri
summit this year and are returning home. The Japanese team left a couple
of days ago and the Dutch-Austrians are waiting for porters to pick their
gear up. I have ten more days on the permit so I’m giving it another shot.
Slovakian climber Dodo got a weather forecast saying that a high pressure
is coming in Monday and that it will be good weather for some days. Early
Monday morning I will be heading up to C1 again and depending on snow
conditions slowly moving up on the mountain. This will be the last chance
to summit Dhaulagiri for this year.

For more info about Fredrik and the Dhaulagiri Expedition check out his
website www.fredrikericsson.com

Fredrik’s partners: Dynastar, Osprey, Adidas Eyewear.
Supporters: Grivel, Giro, Ortovox, Dynafit, Therm-Ic, Himaya, Duracell,
Loben Expeditions and Jämtport.