Where are we going?
In April 2011, 3 kiwi climbers Ben Dare, Mike Rowe and Steven Fortune are travelling to Nepal to try and climb new routes up 2 peaks in the Khumbu region: Kyajo Ri and Kusum Kanguru. The Khumbu is a popular area for trekkers, especially the busy Mt Everest Base Camp trail. In fact the two faces we aim to climb are accessible and indeed visible from major trekking routes.
The peaks are classified as trekking peaks, but this is just for bureaucratic reasons, and does not have anything to do with how difficult they are to climb. Compared to other Himilayan giants, they are not of very high altitude, although altitude is still an important issue and will require careful acclimitisation. What brings difficulty to these climbs, is the steep technical climbing required to ascend these unclimbed faces. We will be climbing in alpine style, which means above basecamp there will be no support or preparation, just the 3 of us and what we carry on our backs, trying to ascend these faces one rope length at a time, hopefully in a single push.
Google Maps link to peaks.
Upon arriving in Kathmandu we will meet with Parikrama Treks; who have assisted with the preparation of the expedition by locally processing the bureaucratic legalities such as booking our peak fees for both Kyajo Ri and Kusum Kanguru. They will then accompany us to our basecamps below both peaks and provide us with a liaison officer, cook and help with the hiring of local porters during the treks between camps. We plan to leave Kathmandu on the first of April and fly to Lukla where we will start our trek into the Khumbu and where the adventure will begin.
A brief summary of our proposed itinerary is outlined below:
Day 01 (April 1st): Fly to Lukla and trek to Phakding.
Day 02 (April 2nd): Trek to Namche Bazaar.
Day 03 (April 3rd): Rest day in Namche.
Day 04 (April 4th): Trek to Dole.
Day 05 (April 5th): Trek to Machhermo.
Day 06 (April 6th): Trek to Kyajo Ri base camp.
Days 07/10 (April 7th-10th): Acclimatization period -including investigation of descent route.
Day 11/12 (April 11th-12th): Rest days or additional acclimatization.
Day 13/17 (April 13th-17th): Climbing period to attempt new route.
Day 18 (April 18th): Trek to Namche Bazaar.
Day 19 (April 19th): Trek to Manjo.
Day 20 (April 20th): Trek to Kharka.
Day 21 (April 21st): Trek to Kusum Kanguru base camp.
Day 22/30 (April 22nd-30th): Climbing period to attempt new route.
Day 31 (May 1st): Trek to Manjo.
Day 32 (May 2nd): Trek to Lukla.
Day 33 (May 3rd): Fly Lukla - Kathmandu.
View Kiwis in Khumbu in a larger map
Peak 1: Kyajo Ri
History
Kyajo Ri (6186m) has only recently been officially opened for climbing in 2002, although previous unofficial ascents are always a possibility for such an obvious and accessible peak. The first ascent was in 2002 by the SW ridge, approached by a col from Machhermo. This has had a number of repeats, with the more popular approach now via Kumjung and the Thesebu Khola valley to the south. A new route, the SE ridge, was climbed in 2005. As far as we can tell, the NE face has had a number of attempts, including the buttress to the left of the hanging glacier and to the right. The best attempt by Enrico Bonino and Nicolas Meli in 2009, who climbed the face to the summit ridge at 6050m before descending (links below).
Links
Summit Post
Description of guided route up SW ridge
Report on SW ridge ascent (2006)
Report on SW ridge ascent (Puryear and Gottlieb)
Recent winter ascent of SW ridge
Attempt on NE Face (BMC account)
Attempt on NE Face (Alpinist account)
Attempt on NE Face (Bonino account)
Peak 2: Kusum Kanguru
Our second objective is the unclimbed SW face of Kusum Kanguru (6369m), a possible line marked above. This is looking up the Thando Koshi Khola, the valley we will use to access the face, just north of Lukla. (Site of the airstrip commonly used to access this area.)
History
After 4 unsucessful attempts at the peak by British, NZ and Japanese teams, the peak was first climbed in 1979 by a Japanese party via the Hinku valley, and the Lungsamba Glacier, climbing the SE face to the East ridge. This is a complex, triple peaked mountain (known locally as the “Three Snow-White Gods”) with many ridges and approaches, summarised here. There is no easy way to the summit, all routes requiring some techincal difficulty and commitment.
In October 1981 Bill Denz from New Zealand made a solo traverse of the mountain via the West Face. He traversed over the main summit to the east Summit and descended the SE face (Japanese route). (If anyone knows any more details of this climb, please get in touch). In 1991, a British party including Stephen Venables, Dick Renshaw and Brian Davison approached the SW face. They decided against the direct line up the face, taking a spur on the right to the base of a large pillar on the South ridge, naming it the Dream Pillar, for which they earned a nomination for the coveted Piolets d'Or (Golden Ice Axe) award. This was also climbed to within 300m of the top by Freddie Wilkinson and Bart Paull, reporting climbing of the highest quality.
