(Picture: Crampon fitted onto our mountaineering boots)

Once again, our original plan for the day was waylaid by another bout of heavy snowfall. There seems to be no end in sight to the bountiful supply of snow from a malignant weather god. So far, our puja doesn’t seem to have taken effect. Yet. We had planned to do a technical session consisting of rope ascending to simulate conditions high up at Cho Oyu, but the snowfall made it necessary for us to stay put in our dining tent.

However, it was not a day that was wasted as we utilized the morning to fit our crampons onto our rather unwieldy mountaineering boots and tried on our Marmot-brand down climbing suits together with our harnesses for the first time.

Getting into our downsuits

The fitting of down suits was an occasion for much mirth as all of us looked like walking mascots for Michelin tires. Do check out the photos of us in said elephantine state. Simply walking around ABC in our down suits proved to be clumsy and difficult and all of us could not imagine how it will even be possible for us to climb at 8000m ensconced in our down suits, with oxygen mask, snow goggles and backpack to boot! Some of us even joked that while the summit pictures of other climbers often look very inspiring, we feel like such clumsy ducks, barely manging to waddle around in a straight line!

Michelin tires in the mountains