We were more energetic on Day 3 at Rilong, probably because we had acclimatized better. Before we set off for our new ice climbing location, we took a group photo outside the lodge. It was as cold; -10 C in the morning.

As we moved to a new climbing location, we were treated to an equally [...]

We stayed at the Five Colours Mountain Lodge, which was quite near the entrance of the National Park. This lodge was named after a nearby mountain which was supposedly to have 5 colors due to the different mineral compositions. We didn’t see the 5 different colors though, maybe the colors appear only on certain time [...]

We left at 11am from Chengdu enroute to Rilong, a small village about 6 hours drive away within Sichuan province. Since we would be passing the mountainous region in winter, we had to leave later so that the ice/snow on the road would melt by then. We had to travel pass an earthquake aftermath region [...]

December 2010, Sichuan: One semester of weekly trainings; running, intervals and stairs climbing. Why did we have to go through these routine?
Day 0
The last night before departure was spent checking through the equipment and going through the check-list to make sure that I did not leave anything important behind. Lots of essential items to [...]