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WS4 Field Report

Meru, India
Conrad Anker

During September of 2008 Jimmy Chin, Renan Ozturk and I attempted Meru, a 6330-meter peak in the Garwhal Himalaya. Our goal was to climb the Shark’s Fin, a granite wall rising above the Gangotri Glacier that had yet to be climbed despite repeated attempts by many in the climbing world. It was one of the toughest expeditions of my life, and one of the most rewarding. A week-long storm pinned us down (three men wedged into a 2-man portaledge at 5300 meters) and we ended up spending 19 days on the route with 10 days of rations. Climbing is about trying challenges with an unknown outcome. If this was the case, the Meru trip was a veritable bonanza of challenges. Yet in the course of our attempt we became better friends, learned about the skills needed to climb peaks of this nature and suffered a bit.

In addition to my two trusted companions I had along a prototype of the WS4 watch from Timex Expedition. I have been working with Timex to develop an instrument that provides the required features in a watch for expedition climbing. WS4 stands for widescreen four functions – the watch includes an altimeter, barometer, thermometer and compass—all of which provide key data points when making decisions on the mountain. And the widescreen dashboard allows you to view this key data at a glance, which is important when you have to make quick decisions. Cold temps, extreme altitude and a variety of weather conditions all conspired to make our journey an epic –and the WS4 held fast.
I received the WS4 only a day or two before I left for India. Luckily the interface is the same as all other Timex watches I’ve owned over my lifetime, so I had it up and running on the mountain in no time. A few of the ways I found the WS4 to be particularly useful on this expedition:

• With the barometer and the graphical display of 1 hour increments I was able to track how rapidly a low pressure was moving in. If the pressure dropped quickly and stayed low – beware the storm was likely to be pretty serious. If the pressure moved higher slowly it was a good indication that the weather stood a chance of remaining clear.
• During the course of the climb I would check the altimeter on a regular basis. Weather at the top of a pitch to see how much elevation we gained or at our camps, the altimeter provided us with accurate readings from the plains of Delhi to the high reaches of Meru.
• Of course dawn-starts are part of the climbing experience. When we needed to rise early for a day of climbing, the multiple alarms never let us down. At times you want to burrow deeper into your sleeping bag and ignore the harsh reality. With the beep beep I am reminded why I am there. To climb a mountain. After a hard day of climbing we would retreat to the confines of our portaledge. Tea and cheese tastes better after a bit of hardship.
• The Indiglo button was very easy to press—even with big gloves on—and provided a little extra light at dawn and dusk.
• Communications for our web page were made via a satellite phone, and we needed to align the transmitter with the direction the satellite orbits in. The compass in the WS4 did this flawlessly.
• At night, as the temperatures dropped and the wind sang it’s eerie lonely call, we would recap the day and plan ahead. In Review Mode I could check our accumulated altitude, scan the barometer function and check the exposure of our camp. Our route faced east and a few degrees north meant less sun and a colder bivy. All good information to know.

Just as we learned about the mountain and our limits, I learned about the WS4. I was able to relay much of this learning back to the designers at Timex, so that improvements could be made before launch. For example, by wearing the watch around one’s neck we are able to keep our hands and wrists unobstructed. With this feedback, Timex quickly developed a lanyard which will be launching in September. I also noticed the buttons were a bit sensitive – for an adventure timepiece they need to be tough and durable. The developers listened, and incorporated my suggestions into the final design.

We didn’t make the summit. After 17 days on the wall we were out of endurance and were held back by a large block of granite that would have meant a night out. Had we spent a night out with out protection we stood a good chance of frost bite. But at the end of the journey we had a fantastic experience, and enjoyed being in the mountains. The time we spent was remarkable in its intensity. These experiences are rare in life and one wants to find them and cherish them. And knowing that you have gear you can trust makes it all the better.

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