The Challenge8000 team’s training schedule is getting progressively more intense as the team’s first major expedition, an attempt on Mt Cho Oyu, which will last over 8 weeks, is now only a month away. In July, the challenge8000 team travelled to Chamonix in the French Alps for an intensive training camp with Victor Saunders, the guide who will be leading the Challenge8000 expeditions on Cho Oyu and Everest.

During the training week, the weather was unusually warm for the time of the year, with snow conditions deteriorating fast during late morning and afternoon, making the snow and ice routes harder and trickier. The main aim of this trip was learning snowcraft, confidence building and climbing as a team roped.

The training programme included rock climbing in a crag at Les Gaillands which offers varied climbing slabs, cracks and overhangs. There the team climbed several multi-pitch routes and practised multi-pitch abseiling, lowering and belaying techniques.

The team also had the opportunity to practice some glacier ropework, snow travel, ice and snow belays, and crevasse rescue in the area of the Le Tour glacier and the Geant glacier on Mt Blanc. On most days, the team would wake up at 5am and have a full day of climbing, trekking and abseiling on varying terrains.

The training week in Chamonix was a crucial part of the Challenge8000 team’s preparations for their Cho Oyu and Everest expeditions planned for September 2009 and May 2010 respectively. According to the team members, this experience has given them a new boost of confidence and served to consolidate team spirit and skills.

For further information about the team’s journal during the Chamonix training week, visit www.challenge8000.net.