Articles

Ama Dablam - climbing strategy

Written by Tom Briggs, October 2007

Jagged Globe teams attempt Ama Dablam in classic �expedition style�, placing a number of camps above base camp, climbing higher on the mountain in order to acclimatise, then descending to base camp to rest, prior to a summit push. Whilst the team follow their acclimatisation programme, the Sherpas will be busy fixing ropes, placing camps and stocking them with food and fuel. When the climbing team are ready to go to the top, the Sherpas are �in the mix�, assisting team members on the ropes and in the camps.

With a base camp situated at 4,570m and camp 1 at 5,700m, the difficulties of acclimatising slowly on Ama Dablam are immediately obvious. Some of our previous teams have made use of an Advance Base Camp at 5,300m to break this big height gain, which would be particularly tough on the first trip up.

There is no definitive strategy for climbing a route such as the South-West Ridge of Ama Dablam, and every Jagged Globe team has done it slightly differently. Here is an example of how a past team has climbed it:

Itinerary	Altitude	Gain	Action	Sleep
Day 1-9	4,570m	1,770m from Lukla	Fly to Kathmandu, then to Lukla and trek up the Khumbu Valley to Pangboche, arrivingt at base camp on day 9.	BC
Day 10	4,570m	0m	Organising food	BC
Day 11	5,000m	430m	Puja ceremony. Fixed rope practice and afternoon walk to 5,000m on ridge.	BC
Day 12	5,300m	730m	Walk to ABC.	ABC
Day 13	5,700m	400m	Carry light load to Camp 1, descend to BC.	BC
Day 14	4,570m	0m	Jumaring practice for the crux Yellow Tower.	BC
Day 15	4,570m	0m	Rest and organise equipment for mountain.	BC
Day 16	5,300m	430m	Move to ABC.	ABC
Day 17	5,700m	400m	Climb to camp 1	C1
Day 18	5,800m	100m	Foray onto the ridge and fixed ropes towards C2. Afternoon rest.	C1
Day 19	5,900m	200m	Climb to camp 2, including the Yellow Tower � a 15m crux rock section.	C2
Day 20	6,300m	400m	Climb to camp 3, including the �Bowling Alley�, traverse under the Grey Tower and double-corniced Mushroom Ridge.	C3
Day 21	6,856m	556m	Summit day. Steep face below the Dablam, tricky bergschrund and 40� summit summit slopes. Return to C3.	C3
Day 22	4,570m	-1,730m	Descend to camp 1 and preferably, all the way to base camp.	C1/BC
Day 23-31	-	-	Spare days and return to Kathmandu. Another typical strategy is to sleep at camp 1 and return to base camp, prior to a summit attempt. This strategy might have you summiting on Day 24, spending just one night at camp 1 on your 3rd visit, en route to camp 2, camp 3 and the top.	-

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