I went with two friends, Ian Richards and Kristen Petersen, who, like myself, were extremely keen to go mountain climbing in Nepal. All of us had been to Nepal previously. We sat down and planned the trek ourselves, bringing out the maps and deciding on the mountains we wanted to climb and the best route to take.
everything was dandy, but...
Using e-mail, we contacted a Nepalese company in Kathmandu appropriately named Sea to Summit, and after a number of suggestions between us we worked out the number of porters and Sherpas required, as a big part of our trek would be at high altitude. Everything was falling into place.We planned to start our trek on the 21st of September, which is prior to the main trekking season, so we would be ahead of the other climbers. Our flights to Lukla from Kathmandu were cancelled for three days due to bad weather in Lukla. With more people arriving and wanting flights there was a backlog of trekkers. So we decided to catch a bus to Jiri 1400m and then with a Sherpa and porters we started walking to Lukla.
The weather was hot and sunny for the first three days, walking through lovely lush valleys and small villages with a little glimpse of the towering mountains in the distance. Then the monsoons reappeared, and we were walking along tracks which became running streams, and crossing fast flowing waterfalls. We were aiming to meet up with our real team who had been waiting for us at Lukla. Our party was made up of a Serda -- Onchhue Sherpa, Sherpa -- Dawa Sherpa, Cook -- Raju Magan who turned out to be a food God (the meals that were produced from a kerosene stove were fabulous), and a few porters.
the real trip began
We made it up to Lukla in 5 days, then the real excitement came of starting our real trek and meeting the rest of the porters. For the three of us, we had eleven Nepalese carrying our gear and food supplies. They were going to become our family for the next 30 days. Each day waking us at 6 in the morning with a hot cup of tea and a beaming smile.Our first high pass heading towards Mera Peak was the Zatrwa La (4580m) surrounded in clouds; it was the highest I'd ever been. The altitude was causing me to lose my appetite and still walking long distances, fatigue started to set in. At Tulikharky, the Yaks were not happy that we were camping in their territory and were stomping around our tents, making grunting noises all night -- thus no sleep.
i started getting nauseous
I made it to Tagnag (4356m), but I wasn't feeling well at all and was unable to attempt Mera Peak. However, Onchhue, Ian, Kris, and Dawa were the first to summit for the season while other teams were turning back before the summit. I stayed behind with Prakash who cooked my meals and stayed with a Nepalese family -- Lhakpa Geljen Sherpa, his wife and 2 children.They stayed at Tagnag during the trekking seasons to provide trekkers and their Sherpas with beer, cigarettes, meat, potatoes, and chang (a very alcoholic wheat beer). They also brought their Yaks there to graze in the grassy valley, which no longer exists as the Sabai Tsho (Lake) collapsed two months prior to us arriving, wiping out the valley, towns below and the main trekking route: no one was injured.
Every day, Prakash would take me to different sites around Tagnag and Kirae to help me acclimatize for my climb to Island Peak. I stayed there for 4 days -- by this time I was feeling healthier and the weather was perfect.
ah, the mountains
We all headed back to Lukla via the Zatra Teng (5080m), which was very steep going up and down the tracks, squeezing through rocky tunnels and passing our backpacks through. Then we headed up towards Island Peak staying at Namche Bazaar. The following morning, after a few hours of walking, we turned the corner and there was Mt. Everest in all its glory, and it was breathtaking. We visited the Tengboche Monastery, and were able to speak to the Monks, then Onchhue took us to the head Lama and we received his blessings prior to climbing Island Peak, which we all found to be a very spiritual moment.Sitting down for lunch with Mt. Everest straight in front of us, two Yaks came puffing up the hill ladened with equipment from another group. They were unloaded and released coming straight toward us. As we had two bowls of water and a bowl containing our soap, we thought they were coming to drink our water, but no, one came and ate our brand new cake of soap. This Yak turned very strange and took off into the forest followed by its owner.
Arriving at Dingpoche, we had our first look at Island Peak (6190m), an impressive mountain with a certain presence that I found quite scary at the same time. Having only done a few abseiling courses in the Sydney area and one day of mountaineering safety and rescue, it certainly was going to be the most challenging event of my life.
time for the summit
We arrived at Chhukung (4730m) and the following morning we climbed Chhukung Ree (5546m), my first summit. The next day, we arrived at Island Peak Base Camp (5180m). There were a few groups waiting for their time to summit. We moved onto High Camp (5565m), and spent that afternoon preparing ourselves for the early morning climb.We met up with two fit looking guys coming down, who had been unable to reach the summit saying it was too hard. Another team that was camped at High Camp had taken 9 hours to arrive at the Summit. It was becoming very daunting; were we going to make it? One of the problems of being up at high altitude is having to go to the bathroom every few hours that at night. Since there is very little space at High Camp, the three of us were all in one tent, which meant we needed to synchronize going to the bathroom. At 2 in the morning, the bed coffee arrived and by 3am we were ready to head off into the darkness with our head lamps illuminating the way up.
it was going to be hard
The first section was very rocky and the trail very hard to follow; we lost it on quite a few occasions. With the difficulty of scaling up the rock faces with big snow boots, the adrenaline was rushing, especially after seeing another group (that had camped below us) with their head lamps on also making their way slowly up the mountain.It was an amazing sight, that together with the beautiful soft colors of the sunrise over the mountains on what was such a perfect day just as we hit the snow line, is something I will never forget. We strapped on our crampons and roped ourselves to each other, then walked over a narrow ridge and through the snow, weaving around the crevasses. At 7:30 in the morning, we had a 15-minute rest and then attacked a 100-metre ice wall. Using a fixed rope, ice axes and gimers, we climbed up, becoming more exhausted as we headed for the top. The summit was in sight so I ignored my body which was saying it was too tired.
We made it to the Summit at 9:30 a.m. Sitting on a small snow bobble at 6189m, there was only enough room for four of us to sit there with shear drops on all sides. It was such a fantastic feeling... we had done it! Being such a perfect day, we could see for miles, surrounded by mountains with Lhotse being right in front of us.
We had something to eat on a flatter surface then made our way back down. Assailing down the ice wall, which was becoming softer, I put my feet straight through the ice into a crevasse a number of times. We stopped at the snow ridge where we were greeted by one of our porters with a hot lemon drink and our hiking boots -- talk about five-star service!
it's all friendly
We continued to High Camp and the hot soup waiting for our arrival was drunk with great relish. We packed up and headed down to Base Camp, where Raju baked a celebration summit chocolate cake that night for dinner.Now on a high, we headed to Kongma La (5485m) preparing to climb Pokalde (5745m). Unfortunately, it snowed all night and in the morning, it was announced that it was too dangerous to climb with fresh snow on the mountain. So, we headed onwards to Kala Pattar going over Kongma La passed 5535m, which was the highest most of our porters had ever been and they were extremely happy.
We camped the night at Gorak Shep (5230m) and summitted Kala Pattar (5545m) early the next morning. Mt. Everest was right in front of us in all its glory, and Pumo Ri (7145m) was towering above us. It was a magical sight being surrounded by these powerful mountains.
an amazing experience
On our way back, we were fortunate enough to arrive in Namche Bazaar on Saturday morning for the markets, and to see some Tibetan men who, four times a year, make the gruelling journey over the border to Nepal with their Yaks, loaded up with goods to trade. It was an amazing sight to see these wild-looking men who live in such a harsh environment, their smiles lighting up their faces.The next morning, instead of heading towards Lukla, we had heard from other trekkers that the Thame Og Monastery (4000m) was a 3-hour walk and very worth the visit, so that's where we headed (this is the major advantage of having a small group as we had changed our trekking plans quite a few times).
Built into the cliffs high above the village was the enchanting monastery. As we entered, we found the monks were in the middle of their morning prayers and chanting, playing horns, bells, and a drum. We were able to sit in the small room with the Monks and take it all in.
Then it was back to Namache and the next day, we were back in Lukla. Our 33 days in the mountains had ended and none of us wanted to part from our Nepalese crew, who were extremely good and caring. We were presented with Temple Scarves and had to say our goodbyes, which was really hard.
I would like to thank everyone from the Sea to Summit company for the experience of a lifetime.
Resources:
Asia Travel Guide
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