NO SHADOW

A Chinese and a Tibetan stood together in unity on the first day of the new Millennium. They raised the Tibetan flag on the summit of Aucanquilcha in the high Andes at 6,176 metres. This was the point on Earth which was nearest the sun.

The Climb For Tibet team was making a symbolic gesture - ' Reaching for the light of the new Millennium is a way

"In the darkness of 3.A.M. the prayer flags which marked the gateway to the higher mountain were barely visible. I could just hear the flutterings of the yellow one that we had soaked in the sacred waters of Lake Titicaca and which stated 'May all beings be happy...'. The little gateway stupas had already been activated by the speaking out of most of the peace messages. At a deep level the path was prepared for us... Enveloping ice cold blackness gripped our tents at the 5,300 metres base camp in the same way that the intense focus of the climb ahead had blocked out any surrounding thoughts through the short restless attempted sleep: But a myriad of distant stars foretold that we had been blessed with a unique clear day and the usually persistent tearing wind was stayed. The team was ready. We hoped that the weeks of hard work of fitness training and acclimatising through Bolivia would outweigh the group's mountaineering inexperience and the altitude sickness problems that we had all been through. I remembered the time Shui had been severely suffering, swaying dangerously all over the mountain track that we were descending, and Mig had put his arm around him... to steady him...

10 hours later we were struggling, under acute sun-fry, up the volcanic summit dome, and worrying about the zenith time of 13.35 for the release of the messages. We were on two ropes. Pete's group was ahead arduously pushing the trail through the exceptionally heavy snow conditions of the last few days. The effort to turn my head around to see the wellbeing of my group was exhausting. Rather I sensed through the rope, and anyway to stop was to lose the vital rhythm that was carrying us. Step up - step up - step up - gasp the sulphur-ridden thin air. I felt that the others like me were desperately tired, that we were having to dig deep into the depth of our being to keep the body machine working - to think of every reason not to stop - keep going - give everything. I knew that we had angels alongside. I could feel them. "We have so much help with us," I shouted back down the rope. "All the energy we need is available for us, and as nothing is wasted in the non-physical we'll get there at exactly the right time for the greater purpose". There were so many important things that we had to do at the top. The heavy weight of all the items in my rucksack was lightened by the thought of bringing all the beautiful offerings: a treasure vase consecrated for world peace by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, which was filled with ground up precious stones and Tibetan healing herbs; the Life Foundation world peace flame lamp to be relit at the summit; a whale stone from the Orca rubbing beaches of Canada; seeds from around the globe; melted snow from the summit of Chimborazo; water from Lake Titicaca; the disc of all the peace messages; the prayer flags from the blessing of the peace garden by His Holiness the Dalai Lama; and His picture... And each one of us carried a share of the peace messages to scatter on the winds..."

Our team was united, brothers and sisters, at the point of harmony between Earth and sky. Looking up through tears of emotion I saw the perfect halo of a huge rainbow around the sun...

To express the Tibetan spirit as a cry from the hearts of many from this highest of places was to open the gates.

Tess Burrows - 29th JAN 2000

Team members - Mark Bloom, Tess Burrows, Pete Hammond, Shui Lee (Chinese), Denis MacDermot, Oliver Muncaster, Jo Say