Learning to tackle ice and snow.

Ice craft meant ascending and descending ice slopes, anchoring on such slopes and also assisting (belaying) your team members. This was the first time we fixed the crampons onto our snow shoes. Initially there was a class and demonstration by the instructors. We were asked to make ourselves comfortable(!) on the snow. We spread our polythene rain sheets on the snow and sat on it. Soon our bottoms went numb but the class went on for some time. Thereafter, we got divided into ropes and went to respective ice wall/ slope for the training.

Going up the 45 degree + slopes on front points of the crampons with hands behind our backs was tough to master but soon we got the hang of it. Anchoring the ice axe to the long sling and then using it to climb was also interesting. We also learnt to fix ice pitons (hollow screw) and to fix the ropes and climb up and rappel down. Belaying was also an interesting exercise in team work.

Soon the icy water got inside the gloves and shoes. The rope caught sand with the water and was very rough on the woolen gloves, tearing them apart at places. I luckily had bought pricey lafuma gloves which were really waterproof and had good lining inside. Even then, I had to take these off repeatedly to work the carabiners, pitons etc and soon my hands too went numb.

To add to our problems we had got the farthest and highest ice slope and it snowed on most days, making our return the last and toughest. This went on for 4 days.

The snow made snow craft easier as we could train nearer to our tents. Snow was fun and much easier than ice as it was softer to fall and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The snow slopes were really wonderful to walk on and we had a whale of time.

Crevasse crossing was another fun thing to try and master. Things were getting easier and the end of our stay was getting closer. The impending ferry of load to advance base camp and height gain was the only thing weighing on our mind.