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Skiing Cho Oyu was a dream come true. From the summit, I was about to ski about 80% of the route to camp 1. Around 7500m, I had scouted an alternate route to ski through the yellow band, however, due to avalanche concerns from wind loading that morning, I ended up rappelling the route we ascended instead. Then, I was able to open it up and make smooth turns all the way to camp 2. Below camp 2, some fog rolled in, and I did several more rappels through the icefall. After it cleared, it was smooth skiing until camp 1. I wanted to give a shoutout to @melissaarnot who generously let me borrow her women’s size small 8k m suit for summit day, and to @patagonia, and their “better than new” worn wear philosophy (reducing consumption by using products that already exist). @rob.lea and I were both able to find gently used 8k meter suits (thanks Alan) and it saved us a chunk of change. While it was an expensive expedition that we paid for (almost entirely) out of pocket, I will never regret spending some of our savings on this trip. We made some of our happiest memories and it was an experience we will never forget. #MountainsAreForEveryone #adventuredoneright @alpenglowexpeditions
