Pang and Dingboche TRek, Oct. 8-10

GMA's inaugural expedition continues smooth to Dingboche at 14,400', where Mike, Kim, Steve, and I arrived on the 9th.  Everyone feels well with altitude, after sleeping at what is the height of Mt. Rainier.  Tummy and upper resperatory maladies have affected us all to varying degrees.

This morning was the clearest yet, as the post-monsoon high pressure continues to strengthen.  We hoped to meet up with another SLC-based Ama team, Steve Bott and Matt Culberson and team, who are staying in Pheriche but our satellite phone messages failed to connect.

Today we acclimated by ascending to Nang Kharga, 5100 M (16,500').  En route we checked out a tiny Buddhist mountainside "gompa".  Kim danced upp to the rocky viewpoint with arms crossed, as the guys huffed and puffed behind.  Island Peak and Makalu dominated our view to the east, Ama's imposing north face was immediately south, and to the northwest, we saw Taboche, Cholatse, Cho Oyu, and our next objective, Loboche.

Yesterday we visited the oldest (600 years) monastery in the Khumbu and trekked here to Dingboche by 6 p.m.  The relatively benign hike brought us out of the highest forests and into the alpine tundra zone.  The day's highlight was meeting with its current chief, Lama Geshe, and receiving a blessing for our climb. The Lama welcomed us into his living room where Tshering, our lead Sherpa guide, interpreted his Buddhist teachings to us.  He began  by gently touching heads with each of us after placing a holy scarf around our necks.  A long chant followed.  He blessed and gave each of us a postcard to carry to the summit , prayer flags for base camp, and a little bag of holy rice to scatter at base camp.

Tomorrow we move up to Loboche where we spend the night in Loboche village at 4900 M. 

Global Mountain Adventures: Ama Dablam Expedition, Oct. 1-31, 2011

Global Mountain Adventures: Ama Dablam Expedition, Oct. 1-31, 2011: Tyson Bradley Mike Reberg Steve Gabbert Kim Wirthlin Itinerary Oct. 1, 8:20 pm, Depart SLC Oct. 3, 9:35 pm, Arrive Kathmandu, Nepal, vi...

Tengboche Budhist Monastary

We are about to receive a prayer for good luck from the Lama. Tonight we'll have a late arrival in Pan
gboche. More to follow tomorrow.

Tengboche Monastary

Namche Day 2

Namche Day 2

Today, Oct. 7, we got our first glimpses of the famous Himalayan Giants, Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam, among others. We took advantage of another clear morning to take some early strolls above our Panorama Hotel. We saw the sun rise on Mt. Kongde from out bedrooms. 

After breakfast we ascended 1,000’ to a hanging valley where we saw the big peaks and had tea at the spectacularly located, and architecturally inviting Everest View Hotel. From there we dropped to the authentic, less touristic, Sherpa village of Khumjung where we saw the Hillary School. 

It clouded in by afternoon as we sauntered back to Namche for lunch and a permit procedure. We’ll turn in early tonight before tomorrows longer move to Pangboche. We expect uploading photos will be spotty at best from here on.

                                                   Team in front of Hillary School

                                                   Mt. Kongde above Namche Bazaar

                                             Mt. Thamserku, 6600 M with Mike and Kim

                                                           Namche Bazaar from above

                               Lhotse, 5th highest peak in the world, with Stupa in foreground

First glimpse of Ama Dablam

Namche

Kathmandu to Namche

The Global Mountain Adventures (GMA) team, along with Sherpa Shangrila Sirdar, Tshering, and Expedition Cook, Deepak, flew from KTM (4200’) to Lukla (9200’), Oct. 5, and trekked with our 3 porters, to Phakding, where we slept in the Sunrise Guest House along the Dudh Koshi River.

The flight lived up to our expectations. We spent all of 5 minutes on the tarmac boarding, loading gear and taking our seats before our intrepid pilots fired up the Twin Otter Props and blasted off. Rising rapidly through the clouds and over terraced ridges, we began to glimpse the fluted faces, sheer rock, and angular ridgelines of the snowy Himalayan giants. Cotton balls issued by the stewardess, who vaulted over packs and large Russians, dulled the propeller scream.

We climbed to 10 K, and swooped low over a Cloud Forest and high pass on the trail from Jiri that I hiked in ’89 on my previous visit to the Khumbu. 35 minutes of scenic flying was a nice option compared to the 1-day bus ride and 5-days trekking it took me then to reach Lukla.

Landing on the STOL strip was even more mind-boggling in person than on You Tube. The postage-stamp size strip is at least paved now, but it is pasted on to a hillside high above the Dudh Koshi Gorge, and it gains probably 300’ in its 300 yards of length. I said, “Where the hell are we landing?” “There it is,” Mike pointed out the left side, but I couldn’t see it until we banked hard right and it was fully in our face. As we came in hot, the row of trekking lodges backed against a wall of Himalayan foothills advanced toward us at a frightening rate. Somehow, we slowed enough to make a hard right and taxi safely to a stop. Westerners headed immediately to the bathrooms to clean their shorts, and our team embraced, grateful to be alive, and breathing in the clean, thin air.

Lukla Landing Strip

Tsering led us to a beautiful stone and wood lodge where we sipped lemon tea while he sorted out the porter loads. Kuhlman, the senior porter, carried “only” my 66-lb. North Face duffel containing the expedition food and hardware. The two youngsters strapped two 20-kilo duffels each to their backs and headed out. We did the same, and our jaws dropped in amazement, while the cameras came out at, every turn of the busy stone path. Picturesque fields grew cabbage, corn, apples, squash, beans and more. Children played while women picked beans and dried hay. Yaks, donkeys, and porters carrying all manner of heavy awkward loads. After our first Military Checkpoint, where our climbing / trekking permit was scrupulously examined and our names copied into the ledger, we made a strenuous and slippery detour around a massive landslide. The summer Monsoons had apparently included an excessively wet storm-cycle, that had triggered many dirt and rock avalanches. Sadly, they decimated portions of the trail and local villages, including one where 6 people were buried alive. Steve put a few rupees in a box, where the sign said, “Please help me rebuild my home,” an all-too-honest request.

A 2-hour lunch with plates of potatoes, cheese and eggs, momos, noodles and Ginger tea on a sunny terrace provided rest and rejuvenation. Not long after we dropped to the river and crossed our first of numerous impressively engineered suspension bridges to reach our destination for the night.

A high-spirited 4 year-old Sherpa girl delighted us with her youthful exuberance for portering, the primary job of most young men in the region. She lashed a granite rock to her back and danced around, pretending to be our youngest load hauler. We washed up, dined and crashed early, having slept poorly the previous night.

Today the trekking got more serious with a steep climb to Namche Bazaar, 11,270’. Surrounded by towering peaks, this Tibetan/Nepali trading post is the epicenter of the region. Although still wonderfully quaint, the gateway to Everest, Ama Dablam, Island Peak and the upper Khumbu has evolved immensely since ’89. It now caters almost entirely to tourists, and sports a Pizza Hut, dozens of 4-story hotels, and internet access!

Now we are relaxing, marevelling at the views and taking showers after an awesome feed of local Pizza and Apple Pie. Tomorrow we’ll take a rest day and visit the museum and other sights before a longer trek to Pangboche, 12,900, via the famous monastery at Thengboche, on Oct. 8.  

Arrival in Lukla and start of trek

Here is our smallest porter for our first day on the Khumbu trail. We are all happy after a mind boggling flight into Lukla and a sunny trek above the Dudh Koshi River.

Kathmandu

                  The Team in Kathmandu Airport, fresh from the 38 hour journey from SLC to KTM


Kim, Mike, Steve and I arrived safely in Kathmandu, Nepal last night. Our local contact, Jiban, from Shangrila Treks, met us at the airport and shuttled us through the dark, winding, mostly dirt streets to Hotel Manang in the Thamel district, the epicenter of climbing and trekking planning and prep.

We were bleary-eyed from 22 hours on 3 flights with 18 hours of layovers, but Mike claims his back felt alright, although my back was pretty stiff, so maybe its just his mental toughness blocking out the pain! Perhaps our walking tour of Hong Kong's financial and shopping districts and a boat tour of Victoria Harbor actually helped us endure the long journey.

Today we sorted out the expedition plan and logistics bought some rupees, and soaked up the local culture. We'll do a final gear sort this afternoon and head back to the airport at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow morning for our flight to Lukla, and the start of our trek to Ama Dablam, via Lobuche East, Everest Base Camp, etc.