Birkdale Teacher John Allen succeeds with the British Kuksay Expedition 2007
24 September 2007
Two former pupils of Birkdale have just returned from a ground breaking expedition to the far west of China. Joe Howard and Richard Taylor, both 22 years old, were based at a camp at 4500 metres on the Kuksay glacier, surrounded by unclimbed peaks between five and six thousand metres high. They were part of a team of seven from the Sheffield and Chesterfield area, led by John Allen, the current Head of Outdoor Pursuits.
In a series of forays from their base, the team managed first ascents on four different peaks, the highest being Chiatuk 5582m, and the smallest Kichinekey Tagh 4976m.
At one point the team were split into two groups attempting separate objectives, when the weather broke. John Allen explained:
‘We had heavy snow each night and most of the day for three days, and the other half of the team were overdue on their return. Eventually they got back to base two days late, having had an epic descent from their peak. We were three full days walk from the nearest road, with no rescue services at all, so it was a worrying time’.
During the trek to base camp the team used local porters with donkeys and camels. On the second day they caught up with a group of porters only to find they were stood around an injured donkey. It was pouring blood from a wound on its cheek. Fortunately, team member Joe has a background in working with horses and livestock. He got the expedition sewing kit, and to the amazement of the porters stitched the wound, stemming the bleeding very quickly, with little apparent discomfort being caused to the donkey.
The team would like to thank their sponsors - the Mount Everest Foundation, DMM and Mountain Equipment.
