The expedition
will take place during the months from November 2000 to January 2001.
Three stages are envisaged :
|
ARRIVAL
AT BLUE ONE STATION
|
Arrival at blue
one, coming from Cape Town, and the transportation of men and equipment
to the
area.
The 60 kilometres between Blue One and The Holtanna will be covered
using power-kites by seven team members, while Twin Otter will flyi
n the remainder of the camera crew and the equipment.
|
THE
EQUIPMENT FOR THE FIRST ROCK FACE
|
Once the base
camp has been installed, the climbers will rope up apart of the rock
face. This work will take about two weeks and will goup to a height
of about 200 metres. The techniques used wili include free climbing
(rating 6 to 7a) and artificial climbing (rating A3, A4).
"Portaledge" tents (that can be suspended from the rock face) will
allow the climbers to bivouac on the rock face.
Once the altitude
of 200 metres has been reached, it will no longer be possible to return
to camp.
The climbers will therefore have to leave the base camp one last time
to launch their definitive assault on the face by using the capsule
technique, which entails hauling hundreds of kilos of equipment up
the rock face as the clirnbing proceeds.
The descent, for its part, will be made by abseiling down the other
face ; a drop of 400 metres which will bring the expedition to a close.
For some of the expedition, the return trip will be made using power-kites,
as far as the scientific station on the Atlantic coast (the South
African scientific base of Sanae) from where they will embark for
South Africa.
