Return to Kathmandu

The following day, the 1^st of May, we continued our descent back down the face arriving at base camp early in the afternoon – to be treated to a joyous welcome from our support team and an evening of well earned rest. However it was all hands on deck again in the morning as we broke camp and set off down valley for Lukla and our return flight back to Kathmandu on the 3^rd.

Our good friend Bishnu with a cake baked to celebrate our return to base camp.

I am now settled back into the guest house in Kathmandu reflecting back on the events of the past month since arriving in Nepal in late April. This has been my first climbing expedition to the Himalaya and the greater ranges of the world and has been an experience that I will never forget – highlighted by many a cherished memory. Nepal is truly a beautiful country; right through from its superb natural scenery and majestic towering peaks to the ever friendly and smiling local people.

While we were ultimately unsuccessful in our attempts to establish our proposed new routes on Kyajo Ri and Kusum Kanguru the trip has not been without reward. And I am more than content to walk away with our potential new climb to the Northwest ridge of Kusum Kanguru as a worthy prize for our efforts. Together with Mike and Steve I feel that we bonded effectively and worked well together as a team and were all able to learn a range of valuable lessons from our experiences. And I would first and foremost like to extend my thanks to them for accompanying me and helping ease the burden of the expedition leadership on what has been an amazing adventure.

Next I cannot go without giving thanks to all those that have supported and provided invaluable assistance towards the expedition - without whom this trip would never have been possible. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of both my personal and the expedition sponsors; iclimb, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, The New Zealand Alpine Club, The Mount Everest Foundation, Icebreaker, and Leppin Sport. And also to the great support we received from Parikrama Treks & Expeditions while in Nepal.

Final morning glimpses from my tent before we prepare to descend from base camp.

Finally to all our other friends, family and supporters thank you for your well wishes throughout. All the best until next time and thank you for following our progress on the New Zealand Solu Khumbu Alpine Expedition 2011!!

On the face

After excavating the tent from under a covering of deep snow we made a descending traverse under the West Peak to where we hoped we could safely climb up to the ridge from just over 4500m. Where surveying our options we soon came to the realisation that we would need to focus our attention on one of the prominent ribs if we were to have any chance of success. As the flanking gully lines were awash with fresh avalanches.

Mike on the steep snow slopes of the lower face.

Early morning sunlight creating a striking halo over the West Peak.

Setting out in the half light preceding dawn – to ensure that we would have sufficient light to route find – we began to tackle a prominent rock spur that lead directly to the ridge at a high point below the West Peak. Initially we had planned to push for the ridge on the first day and then continue over the West Peak to the Central Summit on the day following. However after making good progress on the lower moderate slopes, as soon as we hit the steeper ground above, it soon became apparent that with the current conditions this would be a big ask to achieve.

Steve, left, and Ben, right, leading out over snow covered rock after gaining the base of the rib.

Continuing up moderate mixed terrain, through a series a steeper steps which provided more of a challenge, we steadily gained height but the covering of fresh deep snow made for tough going and we made what seemed to be agonisingly slow progress. All the while being continually kept on our toes by the roar of avalanches as they swept down the adjacent gullies - constantly reinforcing our decision to stick to the higher ground! Steve did an admirable job breaking trail and tackling several of the more technical sections as both Mike and myself were suffering from the adverse effects of the increase in altitude. And as darkness fell at 7pm, after being on the go for over 14 hours, we dug out a tent site on a small flat section of the spur at around 5300m and settled in for the night - still a good distance below the ridge.

Steve leading the final corner crack at the top of the rib.

Ben perched on the brief flat section at the base of the final headwall.

Failing to reach the ridge in a single push had all but ruined our chance of topping out on the Central Summit but despite this the following morning we again set off – determined to at least finish the climb to a high point on the ridge itself. After starting out to promising skies the weather quickly deteriorated and we were soon enveloped in cloud and climbing through freshly falling snow.

Ben leading the final headwall, left, and bringing up Mike to the belay, right.

We swung leads efficiently and after Steve sent a final stiff crack line the spur we were following relented slightly before merging into the face proper and we were confronted with the final headwall below the ridge. I lead a long simul-pitch up onto the headwall itself and then up steadily steeper ground in now white out conditions. A vertical wall of broken rock provided a final sting in the tail of the climb and then I found myself with nothing but open air in front of me. We had reached the ridge at just over 5550m.

Topped out on the Northwest ridge, left, and preparing for the descent, right.

Bringing the others up on belay my tools began to hum with a build up of static and after wasting little time to briefly halt for a quick bite and the obligatory photos we began our descent - rappelling back down the line of our ascent. Fortunately the weather cleared as we descended and returning to our campsite of the previous night we were treated to one of the most spectacular sunsets we had been fortunate enough to witness on the trip. A truly memorable way to close out the day and effectively the expedition.

Below - the highlights of a pituresque evening after descending to our top camp site.

Retreat to base camp

After sitting it out at high camp for two nights, waiting in vain for the weather and conditions to improve and steadily making our way through our now dwindling food supply, we made the call to bail and descended back to base camp on the 25^th. The descent was an adventure within itself as it snowed continuously all day. Making for treacherous going underfoot – especially as we had decided to leave our boots at high camp and make the descent in our approach shoes. But thanks largely to a now well established trail of cairns we were able to work our way down in near whiteout conditions back to the security and comfort of base camp.

Retreating from high camp in deteriorating conditions.

Then followed another two days spent idle at base camp, resting and watching with ever decreasing morale as more and more snow continued to fall causing conditions on the face to further deteriorate. With our proposed departure date of the 2^nd of May fast approaching – to make the flight from Lukla on the 3^rd – we were now forced to reassess our options. To safely attempt our proposed direct line on the face we would require a sustained period of settled clear weather; first to allow the avalanche risk to reduce and for the face to become clear of snow and then to provide us with a suitable climbing window. With the current weather patterns we were experiencing this would in all likelihood require an extension to our trip – which thankfully we had allowed the possibility for by setting back our flights out of Kathmandu. Or alternatively we could change our objective to better suit the prevailing conditions or as a last resort make the call to retreat. This final option was one that I dreaded and it would be a heartbreaking decision to make, after coming such a long way to leave without even having set foot on the face itself would be a tough pill to swallow.

Ploughing through fresh snow on the return up to high camp.

The tent at high camp partially buried after the recent heavy snowfalls.

Thankfully the morning of the 28^th dawned fine and with the promise of more fine weather to come we set off back up the hill for high camp under a clear sky and beaming sunshine. As to be expected when the sun and increased temperatures hit the surrounding upper slopes the accumulation of snow from the previous days was released in a series of massive avalanches. And it quickly became apparent that to attempt the proposed direct line would be bordering on suicidal as the lower gully section acted to funnel avalanche debris from the upper face – which itself was still holding a concerning amount of snow over steep rock slabs. So it was with considerable disappointed that the decision was made to abandon our current camp and make preparations for an attempt further left on the face in an effort to gain the upper Northwest ridge and from there make a bid for the summit.

As we waited at high camp the entire Southwest face was awash with avalanches.

View up the lefthand side of the face - the line we climbed followed the righthand most of the three prominent rock ribs.

To High Camp again.

On the 23^rd we strapped our plastics on our backs and headed up to HC, planning to rest there the night, then launch upwards early the next morning. This allowed us to check out the route before the afternoon cloud. Rockfall was a major issue on our mind, the top half of the face looked steep and loose in the current dry conditions, the gullys looked to funnel any debris from up high. However the gully on the left of the central spur held ice, giving the fastest and easiest passage up the low section of face. After a close inspection of the possible route with binoculars and a walk to the base of the gully, we saw no evidence of rockfall and felt the gully would be ok in the cold of pre-dawn, planning to climb it early and move onto the spur before the sun hit the face.

However as we regained camp, the snow started to fall. This was no big surprise, we had experienced snowfall most evenings, but it got heavier and heavier as we sheltered in our little tent. As Ben went to fetch water, he got shocked by a static discharge. We sat and waited and made the call that the gully would be too dangerous with this much snowfall, and the pure rock climbing options too hard, so we sat out the next day and hope some sunshine would hit the face moving any excess snow. 

 

The opposite happened however, the face got zero sun that day and the snow started falling earlier than normal, and heavier, with large thunderstorms moving up the valley. Our patience being tested now, we sat out the day in our cramped tent.

 

To High Camp

On the 21^st, we set up with a load of bivvy and climbing gear, hoping to establish a high camp (HC) under the face. This was approx 1000m above base camp (BC), approx 1.5km horizontal, with some steep slabs, gullys, grass and scrub to find our way up. In our first couple of hours we tried going directly above BC, but found ourselves amongst steep bluffs, climbing moss covered rock slabs to avoid thick thorny bush. A little demoralised we spied an easier spur to our right, the base of which had what looked like an old campsite from one of the previous parties up the valley. So back down the mossy slabs and through the thorny bushes, we were soon on the right track. From here the scrub eased off, turning to alpine grass and lichen, then scree, as we slogged up towards the face.

 

Mostly the face was obscured by afternoon cloud, but as we approached we had short glimpses, confirming what we could see from below. It was dry! Our hopeful coating of post winter snow and ice was not present, it looked like a whole lot of loose rock-climbing was needed to get up the face.

I was a little disheartened by what we saw, but the cloud and snow prevented any more views, so we stashed our kit by a good looking campsite on a spur and headed down. It had been a few long hard days climbing more than 2500m up to HC from the valley, so we spent the 22^nd as a rest day at BC, preparing for launching upwards the next day. As we were not sure how the route would go, we took up a few extra days of food and gas to allow for multiple attempts or sitting out bad weather, planning one night at HC and up to 3 on the mountain.

Heading to Kusum Kanguru Base Camp

After our attempt on Kyajo Ri we decended down to Namche. We just stayed one night as we wanted to allow as much time as possible for Kusum Kanguru. We stocked up in Namche with a bit more 6mm cord and a few pieces of apple pie then set off.

Our treking guide Indra has a rather unique way of controlling us. We like to walk quite quickly and although he is extremely fit he was a little older than us. He would never ask us to slow down. We decended the 600m from Namche rather quickly and then at lunch Indra produced a small bottle of whisky. Then it started to rain, so Indra quickly produced some more whisky. The Whisky kept appearing until the rain stopped. We continued on after the rain significantly slower than we had been earlier. Job well done.

The next day we headed up the Thando Koshi Khola towards the SW face of Kusum Kanguru. We were unsure how long it would take to get to a position to set up our base camp. Indra had organised a local called Pasaang to guide us up to the head of the valley. Pasaang believed no-one had been up this valley for at least two years. He had gone up the valley 8 years ago and told us it would take two days.

The first day was on a well established track as people used it often to run a logging operation. It was quite amazing to see the pit saws in action that we take for granted are a thing of the past.

Logging operation part way up the Thando Koshi Khola

Resting after the first day up the river

The second day was off the beaten track. Pasaang had a machete and once we left the river he began slashing the bamboo and cutting a trail. Although it felt like Pasaang was just making up the trail as he went, there were times when we saw evidence of an old unestablished trail. The trail led us high on the true right of the river.

Gobin resting by the river

Bishnu carrying his load through the bamboo.

Mike and Ben using the "hold my foot" spot guide technique.

Our porters all had heavy loads and we were concerned about how they would negotiate some areas. We decided it was best to assign ourselves porters and help them through where ever neccasary. We fixed ropes in some places and in others just spotted them through.


Finally we arrived at a spot that Pasaang decided was base camp. We were somewhat dubious as he had indicated earlier that the base camp was a little further up the valley at a spot that looked rather flat to us. Furthermore the place he suggested to set up camp was on the side of a hill that was about 20 degrees! With plenty of looking at his watch he wished us luck and sped off home for tea hopefully before dark. We briefly considered heading higher but the reality was that our porters were absolutely exhausted.

Dining tent dug into the hill complete with bamboo retaining wall.

How do you set up a base camp on a hill? Dig. We made makeshift retaining walls. Ben - the structural engineer - questioned my choice of materials when I used bamboo as the uprights for the retaining wall. Ice axes out and down on hands and knees we dug into the hill until we had flatish - stablish platforms for tents.

Base camp was set up well. We thought it was a bit of a waste of time as we were probably only going to spend one night there. Little did we know....

Attempt on Kyajo Ri Northeast Face

We had almost a week to watch the face and decide the best line to take. We decided on a prominent gully system, from the top of the hanging glacier finishing either just right of the summit, or cutting back left across the face to the summit. The version to the ridge is likely to be that attempted by the Italians in 2009.

View of NE face of Kyajo Ri. Our route went up diagonal line of ice below glacier, then gully above triangular rock.

To access the hanging glacier, there were hard rock-climbing options (every night covered in snow) in corners either to left or right of the glacier, that avoided the threatening looking icefall. However, below the icefall was a thin continuous line of ice leading round the icefall onto a snow gully that appeared to lead around the ice onto the glacier. This was threatened by icefall, but in watching the face all this time, we had never seen any fall off, so decided to take this line giving a much faster and easier way up onto the face. We aimed to climb the line with one bivvy on the face and one on the descent, descending the line of our earlier attempt on the SW ridge.
We had 2 rest days at basecamp to let Ben's hand recover, during which we unfortunately had some of the biggest dumps of snow during our stay, and constant cloud preventing the sun from burning it off the face. In another blow, we woke at 2:30 on the morning of the climb to find Ben suffering from a Migraine, and unable to join us on the climb, so Mike and I repacked to attempt it as a pair.

Sun rising over Everest and Cholatse.

2 pitched of fragile ice brought us out from under the icefall onto snow beside it. We were in a hurry to get away from the hanging ice, but knee/waist deep snow meant slow, hard work as I ploughed a trail upwards, every meter hard won, but a beautiful sunrise over Everest keeping spirits up.

Mike climbing up beside hanging glacier icefall.

Finally onto the glacier, it was only 8:30, but the cloud was rolling in already. We had landmarks already sorted to guide us to the start of our gully, the upward toil continued in a sauna like atmosphere, the steep, deep snow interupted by a pitch of superb ice, then more upwards digging to arrive shattered at the base of the gully.

Morning cloud rising from valley.

By now a few snowflakes were swirling around, as Mike comitted upwards with a few thin sketchy moves. I yell as a wave of spindrift starts pouring down the gully. Even out of the main flow, Mike is smothered, unable to see past his elbows. A slight lull allows him to move sidewaysmore out of the way, as the first wave turns to a constant barrage. Our line of weakness in the face has turned into a giant funnel, concentrating those few snowflakes over the few meters we are trying to climb.
  

Mike before and after spindrift starts.

There's no way we can climb in these conditions, Mike hammered in a piton and lowered off to the belay. While we wait, the flow of snow become worse and we decide to descend.

We downclimb snow, downpitching the scariest section, and abseil ice back to the ground.

Mike about to start descending.

The next day is glourious weather, but to justify our decision we watch multiple avalanches pour off the face in the sunshine. The face is clearly out of condition. We are out of time unfortunately and we packed up basecamp in the sun and headed down towards Kusum Kanguru for our next climb.

Saying goodbye to Kyajo Ri as avalanches wash the face.

Packing up basecamp.

Hi everyone, sorry about the big delay between posts. We have been experimenting ‘technical difficulties’ with the local wireless internet provider and have been unable to get online since we left Namche on the 5th. However we are back in action again and back in Namche, after heading up the Gokyo valley to try tackling Kyajo Ri. Unfortunately due to a number factors; including injuries, sickness, poor weather and masses of snow, we were unsuccessfully in our attempts. However we had an amazing time and were able to gain valuable experience from our time spent on the hill. Now we eagerly await the chance to redeem our fortunes on Kusum Kanguru.

Anyway here is what we have been up to since I last posted.

Namche Bazaar to Machermo 05-06/04/11

Yesterday saw the team set out from Namche up the Gokyo valley to the small hamlet of Phortse Thanga, 3680m. It was short day so we took our time and basked in the amazing views of Ama Dablam and the south and north faces of Tabuche and Thamserku. The north face of Thamserku in particular looks to be in amazing condition and is plastered full height with a series of impressive ice lines!

Arriving in Phortse Thanga we were confronted with our first, and hopefully last, gel incident – one of the ‘big squeezey’ bottles of gel brought over from NZ, and carefully stashed inside one of my boots, had leaked and made a giant sticky mess inside one of the gear bags! So the afternoon was spent cleaning up all of the contaminated kit, and then it was off down to Dudh Koshi Nadi for a quick dip. Swimming in a Himalayan stream was one of those things that seemed like a great idea at the time – but refreshing would be the understatement of the year!

At Mong La enroute to Portse Thanga, left, and the Dudh Koshi Nadi below our lodge.

Today, the 6th, was another short one up to Machermo, at 4410m, where the trek was dominated by the massive bulk of Cho Oyo at the head of the Gokyo valley and we spent the day eagerly awaiting our first sighting of Kyajo Ri. Unfortunately the now typical afternoon cloud stole the show and we had to wait until a brief clearing at dusk to catch a brief glimpse of our first objective – the Northeast face. And from what we could see we were not disappointed! In the half light from the base of the valley the face appeared to be in great condition. However only time will tell and we are excitedly awaiting the chance to get a closer view tomorrow.

First glimpses of the Northeast face, left, and Mike with some new friends in Machermo, right.

Kyajo Ri Basecamp 07-08/04/11

I’m currently perched at 5260m on the ridge opposite the Northeast face of Kyajo Ri trying to get a good grasp of what conditions on the face are like. While there is a good amount of snow and ice present there also appears to be some blank sections – so we will likely be in for some mixed climbing too. The panorama from up here is breathtaking; as I turn around I take in the distant peaks of Cho Oyo, Everest, Lhotse, Cholatse, Tabuche, Kantega and Thamserku. It is truly amazing!

Mike and Steve are down in the valley somewhere below me with our porters setting up basecamp. We are looking to take half loads up with the porters today and then finish off the carry tomorrow. All going well we should be established at BC tomorrow afternoon.

The morning of the 8th dawned fine and after a leisurely breakfast we set off up valley towards BC, all the while taking in the impressive view of the East and Northeast faces of Kyajo Ri as the peak looms above us. The site for the camp itself is in a great position – at a height of 5050m it is perched on a snow covered terrace adjacent to a small stream at the head of the valley. It offers easy access to both the Southwest ridge, which we plan to attempt as an acclimatization climb, and the Northest face itself. After establishing camp we decide to take the following day as a rest day and explore our immediate surroundings – as well as indulging in some well earned down time in the tents. Time spent reading, sleeping and allowing our bodies to adjust to the increase in altitude. It also gives us the opportunity to become familiar with the local weather patterns – and while typically we are being blessed with clear mornings the afternoon invariably brings with it dense cloud and snowfall. The amount of snow that is falling everyday is becoming somewhat of a concern. As it will make progress higher on the mountain more difficult, with only limited sunshine in the mornings it is not being given the chance to burn off and is steadily accumulating. It is not all gloomy though and the highlights of the day definitely occur at meal times, when we are struggling to keep on top of the continuous supply of food that the cook keeps serving us. I thought we would be doing it rough as soon as we left the lodges down in the lower valleys. But the food at BC far outstrips anything we have had to date and with three course meals, three times a day we are being well looked after!

A porter carrying loads up to basecamp, left, and the view back towards Everest

Attempt on the Southwest ridge of Kyajo Ri 10-12/04/11

The Southwest ridge of Kyajo Ri was the route of the first ascent in 2002 and is now considered to be the standard ascent route. And it will hopefully offer us our first taste of real climbing on the trip and the opportunity to acclimatize to over 6000m before turning our attention to our primary objective.

Early on the morning of the 10th and again we set off to clear skies and hopefully the promise for more settled weather to come. From our camp on the Eastern side of the peak access to the Southwest ridge is gained via a col at the base of the Southeast ridge and a traverse across the head of the Kyajo Ri glacier to start of the ridge itself.

Leaving camp we climb snow covered boulder fields and a short ice step to gain the glacier leading to the col. With the deep covering of fresh snow progress is slow as we struggle with the reduced oxygen levels. But Steve does a great job of breaking trail and eventually we reach a final rock headwall which guards access the col. A short, step mixed pitch leads us to easier ground and we are able to move together and simul-climb the remainder of the way as the weather rapidly deteriorates into near white out conditions. Thankfully through a brief break in the cloud from the far side of the col we spot what could hopefully be a more direct route traverse to the base of the Southwest ridge, avoiding the descent down to the Kyajo Ri glacier itself. However as we were only able to catch a brief glimpse of the way ahead we are slightly apprehensive but we decide to continue nonetheless and make our way to a camp site at 5550m, slightly the below the base of the ridge.

Steve on steep mixed ground below the col at the base of the Southeast ridge.

View back the Kyajo Ri glacier from the base of the Southwest ridge.

Our first night out away from BC is an interesting one as we try to squeeze three guys into a small two man tent – but with a certain amount readjustment and some top and tailing we are eventually all able to fit in and settle down for a ‘snug’ night. Only to be continuously awoken as the frozen condensation from our breath rains down on us every time anyone moves! So we a glad to leave camp the next morning and make our way to the base of the ridge under the cover of thick cloud which has failed to lift overnight. And we reach the lower ridge without incident - which leads up from a col at approximately 5650m on snow covered ice to a rock band. Where I lead two pitches up moderate mixed ground, all the while struggling more and more with effects of the increased altitude. Which makes for exhausting work.

Above the rock band we again encounter further ice slopes – with brittle, dinner plating ice making for extremely hard going. But we preserve regardless until at just over 6000m, less than 200m from the summit, with conditions deteriorating to white out I am struck on the hand by a large piece of falling ice. Unable to grip my axe we are forced to abandon our attempt and retreat. The descent itself goes smoothly and after rappelling the upper slopes on v-threads we eventually make our way back down to our campsite from the previous night, before continuing back down to BC the following morning.

On the upper Southwest ridge, left, and Steve preparing to rappel on the descent.

After two rest days recuperating at BC to allow my hand to improve, all the while watching more and more snow accumulate on the Northeast face we decide that we will have to begin our attempt regardless. The night preceding the climb and again I awake from a broken sleep at 1:30am – the headache that has been developing for the previous two and a half hours becoming nearly unbearable. I take more painkillers and again to try snatch some sleep but it useless and I realise that with the onset of nausea and blurred vision that I am being struck down with a migrane. The symptoms of which are unnervingly similar to those of acute mountain sickness – I am forced to be cautious and make the extremely difficult decision to pull out of the climb. Leaving the others to go it alone, below is a detailed account on the attempt at the face by Steve.