Trip Reports

Khumbu Climber - 1 to 29 Oct '06

Written by Leader Joe Gittins, November 2006

This proved to be a very successful trip with all the summits climbed. Five team members and Jagged Globe leader, Joe Gittins went to climb in the Khumbu. We were blessed with excellent weather throughout the trip and constantly had amazing views of all the big ‘names’ in the range - Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Everest to name a few!

After a day in Kathmandu, we flew to Lukla and began our expedition up into the Khumbu Valley. The landscape was lush green with many colourful flowers to be seen. After a night in Phakding, we arrived at the ever-growing market town of Namche Bazaar.

This developing metropolis offers numerous bargains, bars, pool tables, Internet and German style bakeries! An acclimatisation day here was well appreciated. A short walk to the Everest View Hotel gave us the views we hoped for and gave us an appetite for the bakery! We also visited the village of Khumjung and photographed Hilary’s statue, which is based at the school there.

From Namche, we soon arrived at Tengboche and visited the re-built monastery there. Unbelievably, there is a bakery there too! A theme was starting to develop here. At Dengboche we acclimatised by taking in the nearby summit of Ngartsang Peak, sitting further down the ridge from Pokalde at 5,000m. The views of Ama Dablam were excellent and we even got to see two Yaks have a bit of a wrestle! Ian, Jon, Simon, Mick and leader all summited this one. Moving onto Pokalde base then high camps, Ian, Jon, Simon, Mick, Jane and the leader all summited Pokalde at 5,800m, in perfect conditions.

After a day's rest, a night at Island Peak base camp was enough to see four team members and the leader on the summit the following morning, again in perfect conditions. Mick, Jane, Simon and Ian all successfully made the summit (6,189m) in good style after some rather tiring jummaring up the head wall before traversing the spectacular ridge, shadowed by the immense wall of Lhotse.

A well-earned days’ rest back in Dengboche was just enough before our ascent of Lobuje East (6,119m). From base then high camp, we scaled the slabs in darkness, making the snowline at dawn. With greater technicality than Island, Lobuje proved challenging but was well worth the effort. After a lot of jummaring in some spectacular positions, Ian, Mick, Simon and the leader made the summit, again in perfect conditions. After a quick lunch and numerous photos, with the summit of Everest as a backdrop, we descended to the Dzong La for the night. The next day we crossed the Cho La and crossed the Ngozumpa Glacier to stay at Gokyo Lakes. As we wandered into the village we managed to get a sneaky view of Cho Oyu before it was shrouded in cloud.

After another well-needed rest day, we ascended Gokyo Ri, across the lake from Gokyo Village. Jane, Jon, Simon, Ian and leader all summitted the 5,357m peak before returning to the teahouse to enjoy tea and biscuits!

A few days walk down the valley, a night playing pool in Namche, at the Paradise bar, and we were back in Lukla, celebrating our successes with the team, dancing and drinking Chang, Raksi and beer!

A midday flight got us back to Kathmandu, where we continued to celebrate, sight see, mountain bike and raft. The ‘anaconda’ sized steaks at the Everest Steak House were very welcomed! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trip, friendships were made, skills improved and new dreams were made. They all left with a thirst for more!

Joe Gittins, expedition leader « Previous report | Next report »

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