Surviving the Monday

Pfft! And I thought my next post will be about how I survived the weekend when it should be about how I survived this Monday. Woke up at 7am to reach school at 8 plus just to give me enough time to drink my coffee before my tutorials start. The first tutorial group apparently reacted to my threats from the week before and were prepared. The second and third however really got on my nerves. Absolutely no preparation whatsoever. It really annoys me to the point of almost losing it. Anyhow, survived that too. I only threatened them like I did with my first group, so let's see how that will turn out. Students here have an amazing ability of memorizing stuff and an awesome knack of not being able to think. Like when I ask them what are the two types of something, they all answer instantly. But when I ask next what is the difference between them the silence is so silent you can hear a fly scratch itself.

Next came the second episode in my teacher-student mishaps when I ended up freeing one hour of my time before their midterm just to answer one student's questions. Turns out he had 2 (TWO) questions and I had to spend the next 50 minutes just hanging out outside the midterm lecture theatre. And I survived the midterm too! Though I don't know how they survived it, cause they had a lot of questions. To my satisfaction some of the questions were those that I insisted on discussing during the tutorial. I'm curious though about how many of them actually paid attention and remembered. Probably none.

I love tropical countries

Rain, rain, come again

Oh boy oh boy was it raining cats and dogs and lizards and what not this morning at 6:30 am. I love the rain. More precisely, I love the sound of rain. And the thunders, lightning and all that .... love 'em love 'em love 'em. When I am indoors sleeping/reading, that is. Not when I am outdoors climbing or wanting to climb, mind you. Then, yeah ... there are no words to describe what I feel then.

To come back to the sound of rain. I love it so much that when I was little (10-12 years old) I used to let the water run in the bathtub and sit (yes sit) on the margin and do my homework. Back then the water bill was divided among all residents of the block. I had no problems about wasting water and killing the planet back then. Now I don't do it anymore, except sometimes when I really really want to relax. Then I hop in the tub and read.

This weekend is going to be very full. Last night Marian and I ran 16 km! Wohoo! In about 96 minutes, more or less. Not bad at all for rookies. Today wanted to play tennis, but eh, the rain ... Tomorrow going climbing (hopefully at climb asia, I have a score to settle with a 6b and with my fear of falling). Meeting cristina to check out true yoga to see if we're joining. Sunday (if the weather holds) Marian has planned cycling in Pulau Ubin. Can't wait!! Hope there will be mud. I get a certain high when I think of cycling in the mud. Sounds ... extreme!

On students

yeah. Wanted to make this a nice, elaborate post but my students are depressing me so yeah. First of all, school is different here. In what? It's not free people! This means that attitudes of the profs back home (i.e. "go and study by yourself, I dun care" or "I have no idea what to talk about, I am here because I know people" or "you will all end up wiping the floors at mcDonald's") are not permitted here. I would not care very much about the latter, but sometimes, I would just love to tell my students to go stick ... their fingers in the keyboard and google it for crying out loud!

I am starting to draw the line at "oh i can't compile and I get errors like "javac -invalid flag" (this is not a compilation error) because they have problems reading and going through instructions that are longer than 3 steps. Or like "can we meet you for consultation? tuesday at 10:15 am?" "Cannot, pls meet me in the alloted slots (i.e. later than 5pm)" (my answer much longer and more polite). "sorry cannot, can we meet you earlier? this is because some of us live in the west and need to get home in time for dinner". "Sure, what time?" And then answer miraculously with "Wednesday, 10 am?" (giving them about 7.5 hours to get home... I guess they are WALKING to Boon Lay?) Top it off with some nice icing and be 25 minutes late. After I had to swim through the rain to get to school on time. Yup. I lost it for one second there. Or "I can't seem to grasp the differences between "nice to have" features and "must have" features". Brr. I do appreciate it when I see that some students really take the time to do some search before they come to me. It shows respect for my wasted time (I am not payed for consultation - I could do research watch climbing videos instead).

And the worst of it all is when I encounter teacher's pets. They annoy the hell out of me. Not really there but not really stupid or lazy either. Trying to make up for it by sucking up. I mean c'mon!!

Students are not as tech-smart (i.e. don't know how to program) as I was expecting, but this is normal considering that they don't do programming from high-school as we are used to. Unfortunately, they are incapable of thinking even 1mm outside the box, lack critical thinking and always expect an yes/no answer. Which is very difficult to give for a software engineering course. I started to tell a group how their report in order to be comprehensible should answer three questions ("what?", "why?", "how?") and they were writing it instead of thinking about what I had said. Pfft!!

I want to write things down for them (as in what's next for their project and so on) but I don't know how many people will read through it, considering that for the last long email that I wrote 50% of the people wrote to me to ask a question that was answered in the second last paragraph of the email. Brr. I wish I had had profs that cared.

Quote

From Tracy from the new Black Diamond catalogue:

In this life, pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. [Dalai Lama]

My poster

Wanted to have a permanent memory (not that I'll be able to forget - even Alzheimer won't take this from me) of our failure and success on Matterhorn, so I wanted to buy a poster. I roamed the streets of Zermatt looking for the poster. It's a specific one, with the Horli ridge blown up and the route drawn with a yellow line with markers (in English) showing the important points in the route. You see, I knew which poster I wanted because it dominates the staircase in Marius's home. I have looked at it for years now. My trouble was that I was indeed roaming the streets of Zermatt, but I was doing it at lunchtime when all the shops are closed. Except for a house.

More of a restaurant really, with a crowded souvenir shop at the first floor. I knew it was crowded and crammed because I could peep inside. My poster was shown outside and there was something written in German on top of it. Maybe 20 letter words, anyhow I was confused. The shop was locked but there was an arrow pointing to the restaurant entrance. There, at the bar, the waitress didn't know English and I didn't know German or swiss. The people having lunch were staring at me (my face was burned and because I was so damn tired I would sometimes stumble) but I really didn't care. I finally left. Didn't go far until I realized that maybe the other words written next to a bell meant "Ring really really hard if it's between 12 and 2". So I went back.

And I rang and I rang until an old man showed up at the balcony above (balcony full of flowers, of course). So he came down smelling of lunch and I pointed to the poster. He unlocked the shop and we went in. It was very very crammed with all the possible wood carved artifacts and souvenirs that you could imagine ever buying from Switzerland. Masks, towels, cows, small matterhorns, big matterhorns, edelweisses, flutes, little sheperds, everything. It also had that smell you get from really old, woody houses. The old man asked me if I really wanted the poster, I said yes, payed and left happily.

Today I put it up in my lab. It does take away half of the precious light from my window, but I don't mind. The markers are written in German. It's not the same angle so it doesn't look as BIG as the one I wanted. The lower edge has scissors marks, like those that remain when you can't cut a piece of paper straight and you keep trying to return to your imaginary straight line. I love it.

Restless

• should start writing up a conference paper but all I can think of is the upcoming trip to Vietnam (December) and then the trip to Krabi in May with Marian (and Vlad if he manages to come).



• should find music that goes with writing this particular paper, but am listening to Bob Marley and thinking about sunny climbs whether in Thailand or Romania.



• instant coffee only works as a dessert for me. I need a cup of strong coffee or tea to get my day started. Instant coffee only works in mountaineering trips.



• perhaps I'm just so tired after last night's training and this busy weekend. I can't need a holiday so soon. Must work hard to graduate and move to Europe. Then I can climb as much as I want and friends from Singapore can come and stay at my place for free! (I hope you read this, Edwin) I'll have a cat, a dog, a house of my (our) own that I can fill up with books and gear as I wish.



• when I graduated form high-school (after I got into uni) I left home for three months and went to live in the mountains in a tent. After I graduated uni I moved to Asia. These days I am daydreaming about what I will do when I (finally) finish school.



• got a brand new, empty passport and i'm dying to fill it up with stamps again.

An Elephant No More

Yup. The time has come for me to face it. Climb wise, I am as flexible as an elephant. A FAT elephant. Whenever I try to step up, hook or whatever, I really feel that I will break my leg, ass or whatever. I also feel it when I see people the same height as I step at their ear or chest without even the slightest twitch or contorsion.

Therefore I have decided. It's friday 12th, 13:40, a nice number, too. From now on, every night when I get home I will stretch for 30 minutes. No matter how tired, dead meat I will be, I WILL STRETCH! I am also reinforcing my decision with Marian, by giving him permission to kick my ass if I don't do so.

I have spoken.

Rocks are meant to fall

So we finally managed to get ready, Radu finally woke up (sort of) and proceed to the beginning of the Hornli Ridge route on Matterhorn. I had been dreaming about this route on an off for about 8 years now. And here begins the chase. It was still pitch dark (3:45 am) and we couldn't see the route so we had to really hurry about the teams of guide and client that where very far from us. We were the second last team to climb, followed by a japanese guy and his wife (they would turn back in the end).

Mistake no 1: Instead of going in a team of 2, we went in a team of 3. This meant that our time doubled.

Mistake no. 2: We took a rookie with us. Rookie to the point where I would have to be two or three meters behind Radu just so that I could tell him where to step and what rocks to hold.


We were slow, very very slow. The route was very snowed in, which meant that we couldn't find almost any pitons or anchors or anything. This meant that we were more or less climbing without any safety points. Were Marius to fall, I don't know if our belay station would hold so he had good chances of pulling us off with him. It also meant that by midday when the snow would melt rocks would be tumbling down. But about that later. Just before we got on the ridge (Marius ahead, followed by Radu and then by me), Marius stepped up and entered the ridge, then Radu stepped up too. Only that, instead of stepping exactly where he saw Marius step, he stepped on a BIG flake that was not so solid. The flake dropped away to the right, he slipped, I put my hands on his butt and pushed him back (thank god for spotting at bouldering), japanese woman behind screamed, Marius freaked. Marius would de-freak about 20 hours later.


And there we were. Very slow again, snail like. We had to put on our ice crampons four hours before the point where you normally put on your crampons. Marius wanted to turn back two times but I didn't. I did my best to stay fresh and smiling. Maybe that freaked him out more too.

We passed the Solvay emergency hut. This is where guides get their clients air-lifted when they can't go anymore. It costs 1000 Euro, by the way. I asked Radu if he wanted to stay behind and wait for us at the hut, while at the same time talking to marius (Marius was saying that he should stay behind). But he wouldn't so we continued. Because we were still wearing our crampons we had to do mixed snow-rock climbing, something for which i guess they weren't ready. I know I was.


Very few teams were passing us going down. Most of them said that it was very hard up there. The damn fog was surrounding us. What was creepier was the damn helicopter that was circling the mountain (you could hear it, it was very close but you couldn't see the bastard).

It was 12:30 by now and the french guide that was coming from the summit stopped next to us. He tried to speak in english just for our benefit, telling us it would be better to go down. He wouldn't leave until I assured him we were going down. I started to cry. Marius (who was leading on the slab) turned and asked me what should we do (he had already said once again that he wants to go back). I didn't answer at first, trying to contain the tears from my voice. As I was looking away I remembered all these memorial plaques that we had passed. I cleared my voice and said "FUCK IT, I WANT TO LIVE, LET'S GO!" This is our summit picture, you could say.


And at about 1, 1:30 pm begins our descent. We were again very slow because there were three of us. Radu was also maddeningly slow on the rappel. I know now that I will never go with rookies I don't know. When we couldn't find rappel points I would belay Marius on the descent, then Marius and I would belay Radu, then I would go back. It took us ages. The only thing I am proud about is that we didn't lose the way (I had remembered most of the rappel points that I saw when sunlight came). When we rappelled after the Solvay hut, I was holding the ropes to untie the knot when one stone the size of a fucking plate came down just where we were coming down. One minute before and I would be writing to you from heaven.




Night came. A small snow storm came. We had two survival foils (like the alluminium foil in which chocolate is wrapped), and there were three of us. We stopped on the ledge the size of a table. Marius set up a anchor point. We sat on our backpacks - Marius on his, then Radu and I on the one that Radu initially carried and then I took over (it was my backpack, woohoo). Marius and Radu stayed back to back and Radu held me. My ass is big so I had one buttock on a stone. It was cold. Very cold. Our feet and gloves were wet. Looking back I am surprised how much our bodies can take. In the mean time Vlad was waiting for us and probably going mad with fear and anguish. He tried to light his torch just so we could see where the hut were. Then he was afraid when he didn't see the lights anymore (we were under the foil) that we were gone.


When morning came we were surprised to see that we were exactly on track. And I mean exactly on track. The climbers that were now climbing a much clear Matterhorn were coming straight for us. Even the french guide from yesterday saw us and said hi. Another one said "nice pleasant evening outside?" I said a "yes" and a silent "fuck you". We rappelled the last few parts in a dream like state. I was very exhausted and very dizzy because I hadn't had anything to eat for about 14 hours.


In total, 29 hours and 27 rappels later, we were back in base camp. Vlad was relieved to see us alive. We were extremely glad to be alive. Vlad had bought a plate of rosti with eggs for us the day before. We ate it with our harnesses on (you can see Marius in the picture).




Thinking about Sebi, it makes my hair stand when I think about the fact that they went unroped over there. There are towers of stones and flakes (like in this picture) that are literally waiting for a good excuse to go down. I know that if it weren't for Marius I wouldn't be alive. This time I am proud though that I could hold up my end and at least secure the rear.




Three days later I was still glad to be alive and didn't think so much about the details. Afterwards, when looking back the complete sense of failure would just take the breath out of my lungs and I would be very determined to go back again. Now, after hearing about Sebi, maybe I will take it slowly. Move close to the alps and start slowly again. There are mountains over there that are much more worth it than the Matterhorn. But still...



The rest of the pictures are here.

Old friends ...

New friends ...

In just about over 10 months

An evil ploy ...

Yesterday I got a letter in the mail from school:

Dear Ms ***,

teamNUS Nite 08


Congratulations! You have been awarded the Honorary Award in recognition of your outstanding contribution towards the promotion of Climbing in the University.
....

Woohoo! had a stupid grin on my face for about five minutes ... And then my brain started kicking in. Somebody from the team (coach Jubs, captain, vice cap) must've nominated me. I frantically re-read the letter cause I suddenly remembered Jups saying "We have something more evil planned for you!"

And there it was: not only do I have to attend the prize giving festivity, but I must do so dressed in the proper attire. GASP!!!

Dress code: Men - Shrit & Tie, Ladies - Appropriate Equivalent

Important note: on the day of the event if you are late for registration or dressed inappropriately, you will not be receiving your award on stage.

STAGE. PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE. LIGHTS. STAGE FRIGHT. I KNOW I WILL TRIP. aaaa!!!!

The Matterhorn

Or 29 hrs and 27 rappels.

Been reluctant to talk about this considering the events of this past week. Anyhoo ...


Got out from the glacier and very fast back to Zermatt. Recovered for one day in which the weather was absolutely perfect and just fit to climb the Matterhorn. As it was, we were resting. Of course. I will remember that perfect thursday for as long as I live, I guess. This is because we started for Matterhorn on Friday. I had to be out of Zermatt by midday Tuesday or else I'd miss my plane again. Three people had died on the Matterhorn those two days but I didn't care. One took the wrong turn into oblivion and two others did not put on their crampons and slipped off the mountain.

After three hours of heavy carrying uphill from the cableway station, we got to the Horli Hut, at an altitude of 3260m. 1700m more or less of climbing left till the summit of Matterhorn. The weather was very good and we were very anxious to climb. Vlad was going to be our support team.

That is until evening came and the weather went bad. We had a very powerful drizzle that night.

Saturday I was lost in depression. I couldn't eat, cried for the entire morning. The vision of my empty bank account, the hours of training, the 9 years of obsessing about Matterhorn, and the total feeling of helplessness were killing me. Bah. That evening it snowed and rained heavily and intermittently. We spent it 4 people crammed in one tent, laughing and telling silly mountain stories in the guys' attempt to make me feel happier. When we went to bed that night I was reconciled with my luck, decided to wrap up everything and call it a day.

By some sick act of faith I had left my alarm clock on. So it rang at 2 am. I woke up and realized that outside there was no sound of rain. Stayed some more in my sleeping bag then finally decided to have a look. The night was wonderfully clear. The sky was full of stars. The Matterhorn was .... snowed, but you could see to the top of it!!! OMG!!! OMG OMG OMG! I slipped quietly back in my sleeping bag. Marius asked a grumpy "how is it". I told him. After maybe 5 minutes more he asked: "do we have enough water?" (to make tea). And so begins the nightmare.

I am perking up, I am!!

Things have been quite low for me these days, with Sebi's death and all. I look at the pictures of Matterhorn and still can't believe that it could kill someone I know and used to be very close to. It sends shivers down my spine, especially since I was seriously considering soloing it. Now I just don't know anymore.

Ran Army Half Marathon this Sunday. Had a time of 1hr 54 minutes (thought it was a bit better, around 1:50, but nvm). It was my first half marathon for this year, so I think it is still quite ok. Next year I want to be in the top three. Pretty ambitious, but then again I am pretty ambitious too!

This was my first race in which I seriously considered stopping and going back. I was around the third kilometer, doing sub 5 minutes per km, going up hill, so turning around and going back was not only appealing but possible (since I was so close to the starting point). I also started to think about Sebi, about how there's nothing left of him such that in order to identify him they have to take a DNA sample from his mom, about why they were not tied up, about what's the point of all of this if you end up unidentifiable and clearly fuck up those that you leave behind, about how tired I was all of a sudden. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that I had woken Marian up at 5 am in order to come with me to the race, and if I went back now, his lost sleep would have been for nothing. So I kept running and after the 5 km mark I was well again. I guess my first 5 km are indeed my worst.

This year Marian and I will run the marathon together. I am so proud of him that he decided to embark in such a quest, woo hoo!

Just found out that somebody I knew (and once considered a good friend, but we drifted apart) died on Matterhorn. They had attempted before 2 years back but had been airlifted. Just now only two of them climbed. They were unroped. Sebi (Sebastian Verga) apparently was overtaking somebody when he slipped or dislodged a rock or a flake the size of a closet and fell. They found him at the base of the Mountain mountain.

Later edit: unidentifiable. I wish I could say more, but words still refuse to form in my mind.

Climbs

So here we were, in the storm. And here was I, depressed as hell, even crying at some point. Try this: empty your bank account and leave a big fat ZERO dollars in it, hop on a plane to go to some remote destination to climb a mountain. Before that, train for it in Singapore, where there are no mountains. Get to your remote destination to climb the mountain of your choice, only to find that the weather is so fucked up that you can't even TRY to climb it.

The next day, though, to my utter happiness, the bad weather broke. Our tent was a bit covered in snow and people coming from Italy to the Margarita Hut did take it for a way point*, but life was good.



The Regina (quuen) Margarita hut is the highest building in all Europe. It stands at an altitude of 4554m, on top of the Signalkuppe summit. So we headed towards it with a cup of hot coffee in mind. The winds, they were horrific, as you can see in this picture. Marius was also walking very slowly for some reason.


We finally got to the hut where we enjoyed 4 Euros worth of instant coffee, and some tea and some vegetable soup, Radu's treat since the summit was his first over 4000m peak.

We also got our oxygen saturation level measured and blood pressure taken and lungs listened to by a doctor from Zurich. She was performing a study on AMS. My respiratory rate was 12 per minute, Radu's 20 per minute and Marius's 25 per minute. Marius beat the hell out of us with an oxygen saturation of 85% while we clocked a mere 78-79. The doctor asked me if I smoked. I said that I quit. Then she said that my lungs were extraordinary clear. I don't know if I should be happy or freaked out. I wonder if I have a big hole in my lung if it sounds the same as if they are clear. Should ask Nita.

From the window's hut we saw another summit. I went and asked the caretaker what was the name of the summit and, after giving me a funny look, he said it was Zummsteinspitze (4563m). We went and did that one too. It has a pretty amazing corniced snow ridge.



The next day Marius decided to take a rest to prepare for Lyskamm so Radu and I went to do Parrotspitze (4432m). It was standing right there in our backyard, so, why not? It would be my first time ever leading a ridge too.

Now the ridge wasn't hard at all, just that it was very narrow and the wind was very strong. Radu got a bit freaked and asked me not to take any more pictures, so I don't have that many pictures of the ridge drop.

However, while we were on the summit, one team gave up their intention to cross. Maybe they had forgotten something at the hut.



Next to Parrotspitze there was another summit, Ludwigshoe (4341m). Easy peasy, it was over in 20 minutes. Next to it there was yet another one (you can see it behind me), but I decided not to go, because we were going for Lyskamm the next day.



*This meant that a lot of people were coming towards our tent and thus Radu could not pee because of the crowds.

Prizes, I like ...

Yesterday morning I ran the RUN NUS 2008 race! It's a 10km, very very uphill route (maybe 50% of it was uphill?) and we started off at 09:30. It was damn hot, people!! Which left yours truly huffing and puffing and waiting for those water points which never came. Oh, they came all right, but not at 2km intervals as advertised. Anyhow, ended up with a pathetic 1hr:06minutes for my run. And third place, woohooo! In ladies NUS category, mind you, me and about 82 other runners. 100$ Reebok voucher and some other stuff that I'll talk about in a sec.

First of all, I didn't expect to be staying around for long after the race so I just walked to the starting point, planning to walk back. No phone, no umbrella, no nothing. It wasn't raining when we ran, it was damn hot, but after 2hrs of waiting for the prize ceremony (2 HOURS) it started raining. So I had to walk home through the rain, seeing how I didn't have any means (smoke signals could not have worked either) to let marian know that I was drowning.

The other half of the prize is made up of Kotex products. Yup. I mean bloody hell (no pun intended), this is ridiculous, I can supply every girl I know in Singapore for 2 months with tampons!! I have tampons for night use, day use, lunch use, shopping use and what not. Then they put all the stuff in one big, pink paper bag. Which started to tear when it was faced with the rain through which I was walking home. Imagine me, walking home and hugging the damn bag to me to prevent the tampons from falling down on the street. Brr...

In other race related topics, dried apricots are a GREAT food to have before the race. They are not very sweet to make you puke and they have a very low glycemic index - which means that they will give you energy for a long time. It's just that ... if you have them on an empty stomach, after the race you'd better be VERY close to a toilet. Enuf said.

I know I am unlucky but this is ridiculous

So, after I'd missed my plane the worst that could happen was for me not to meet Vlad in Zurich. Thank god that at least I had told him the wrong date of my arrival and thus he was happily waiting for me when my plane landed. It was the first time I had seen him in ages but boy was I happy to see him! We got train tickets (very expensive, about 150 SGD, 75Euro, 116 CHF one way Zurich-Zermatt), I got myself a Swiss sim card (to deal with singapore airlines) and we were on our way, woohoo! Of course we spent the whole 4 hrs journey in the train restaurant, drinking beer and coffee and catching up. We arrived in Zermatt around 2 and got to the campsite. The campsite is managed by an old guy who used to be a matterhorn guide. His son is now a guide too and whenever you go to his office to buy beer or ask about toilet paper (let's say), you get greeted with mountain stories, especially if you have the face to prove you can take them (i.e. if your face is burned).

Marius and Radu were already there, trying to recover from the long drive (2000km) from Romania to Switzerland. We talked and talked and sorted the gear for the next day. I highjacked Vlad's Gore-tex pants because they were smaller than mine, so now watch out for the midget wearing blue gore-tex pants. You see, I bought my pants (technically they were given as a present) when yours truly was a bit on the "if you push me downhill I roll" - side. So now they are a good fit for Marian and I at the same time. This is why I steal pants, whoohooo!

Day 2 found us making our way up to a rocky plateau above Monte Rosa Hut where we would be camping for the week. This week was supposed to be for acclimatisation and in preparation for Lyskamm and Matterhorn. I won't talk about the trek from the train station to the campsite. Just to say that it was long. And hard.

It took us about 8 hours because we were carrying heavy bags (as usual) with the whole camp and food, food food. And gas tanks (they will prove quite important).

I find that a long approach makes for good training, and it did. And at 57 CHF (30 eURO = 60 SGD) a night at the Monte Rosa Hut, with 10Euro (20SGD) a meal, it is damn affordable too! Without that camp site I don't think I would have been able to see those mountains, so it's a bliss that I'm fit enough to carry. To say nothing of the amazing views of Matterhorn that we had ... Vlad was having a hard time because of the sudden altitude change and because of his back.

We spent the next day resting. There was nothing we could do because the weather was acting up. Marius, Radu and I went up the Glentz glacier just to take some photos and practice self arrests and all that. Radu, while an extremely fit trekker and carrier of loads, had absolutely no technical experience. This would later prove very important. Vlad did not join us because he was feeling very very bad. He had headaches, was nauseous and his heart was feeling funny.

The following day (day 3) Marius was the one to rest and Vlad, Radu, and I went towards Dufourspitze on the Monte Rosa glacier. That morning while we were having our breakfast, an English guide came to our camp and asked who was the leader. We pointed to Marius and he started saying: "You sir are a bloody idiot. A irresponsible, bloody, stupid idiot." In the meantime Vlad and I were asking him "Why?", while I was trying to move somehow in between Marius and Vlad and him, wondering who will be the first to launch the first punch (Marius or Vlad). Thankfully that guy said "Your people are dying up there and you sit here ..." ... In the end we got it sorted out without problems: apparently there was a very large Lithuanian team up on the glacier with no gear, no crampons, not tied in, no sunglasses and with absolutely no idea where they were going, with their leader waiting in camp. He must've thought the leader was one of us and got even more infuriated when he saw us peacefully eat and have fun. We gave him some tea and he was on his way. I don't know how it ended, he did say that he had called the Zermatt police (we saw them in the helicopter evaluating the area).

It was either that evening or the next one when we realized that Marius had bought the wrong gas tanks for his MSR stove. Yes, it sounds stupid but the bloody tank lid was covered with a plastic cap and there were the two types close to one another and then disaster struck. With no gas it would be impossible for us to go further on the Glenz glacier. The base camp for Lyskamm starts somewhere on a plateau on the Glenz glacier at around 4151m. We were at 3100m, preparing for the next day to go up the remaining 1000m difference on the glacier. After much consideration of what the proper thing to do would be, Radu and I went down to the Monte Rosa hut just to check whether they had any gas tanks for sale. Highly unlikely, and after 20 minutes trek down some boulders on which I hopped like a goat and Radu hobbled after me, we found out that indeed they did not sell them. Marius would have to go back down to Zermatt the next day then come back up with new tanks. While we, the rest of the team, decided that we deserve a good meal and the next midday found us in the Monte Rosa hut enjoying a hot coffee and a plate of Swiss Rosti.

Marius came back with vegetables, fruits and bratwurst!! Woohoo! We had a good meal and the next day we were ready to go.

We started very early, around 7 o'clock, after we packed up the camp. After about 1hr Vlad stopped us to say that he could take it anymore and that he wanted to return. I did try and try to make him change his mind considering that I knew that he could make himself walk: he climbed Ojos del Salado, almost as high as Aconcagua, when he was feeling really really bad, he climbed Matterhorn 2 years ago, etc. But he wouldn't. This meant only that I would be carrying the rope and that Marius (a big man), Radu and I will be sharing a two person tent.

A good thing that he didn't, because it was a loong, loong hard trek up that bloody glacier. And when we arrived at the plateau we ended up in a fucking storm.

Marius and Radu immediately started to dig up a hole in which we could place the tent, taking turns with the shovel that Marius had carried. I on the other hand had nothing to do and I started to freeze. Marius made me sit on a backpack and put the tent foil on me to prevent me from turning into hypothermia. At one point they erected the tent and made me go inside only to make me come outside 15 minutes later and switch the position of the tent.

Finally when Marius was satisfied with his urban development urges, we huddled inside, with me sleeping between the guys, facing the opposite direction (my feet at their heads, their feet at my head). It was quite ok if I slept on one side. This is how our tent was buried the next day.

Things teach me.

I think that it was definitely trying to tell me something. When it arrived to the 6th floor with a jolt only to go back without opening the doors presumably to the 5th floor. It was showing "1" but I knew better. Then up again to the 6th. Then down all the way to 1st floor. With me inside waiting for it to stop such that I could press a button. Any button. And then at the 1st floor to stare back at people staring at me. Then up again nice and easy to the 6th floor, and me finally out.

Good things come to those who wait.

I just wish I knew what the good things are. And when do they plan on coming. I hate defeat.

In which I miss the plane

Yup. I kid you not. If you had any, and I mean, ANY doubts that I might be light-headed, eerie and downright stupid, well ... Here is the answer to your doubts. My plane ticket said that I was leaving for Zurich on Monday, 14 July, at 01:05. I will say it again: Monday, 14 July, at 01:05. Check out the date of the entry entitled 13 just below this one. Yup. I was happily blogging away when my plane was already out of Singapore. Why?! Because I AM STPID. YES. S.T.U.P.E.E.D .

STUPID!

No wonder I couldn't do the online check-in on Monday since my bloody plane had already left!!!!! I had told Vlad I was meeting him on Tuesday, 15 July in Zurich, so at least he didn't wait in vain for me. This is what actually caused the miss-hap.

There is no excuse for this. And no comment either. Damn I'm stupid.

Luckily* I was flying Singapore Airlines, a local airline. This ensured that a) they did have somebody to answer Marian's call about my missed plane at 8pm (I was busy howling in the bathroom and nearly banging my head on the doors) b) they had an open office in the airport at 22:00 on Monday night. Luckily* they had an empty seat in the next plane. I payed a no-show fee and they put me on a waiting list for a seat with no extra charge on the plane 2 weeks from then (my ticket had gotten canceled by the no-show). Luckily* somebody bailed out.

* This luck is entirely Marian's: had it been just for me, the whole thing would have cost me 500 SGD (250E) more. But Marian is just plain lucky, and some of his luck washes over me too!