BARUNTSE, 1996

CHRISTOPH MAYER

Past Explorations

SIR EDMUND HILLARY is one of the best known Himalayan climbers but not many people are aware of his scientific efforts in mountain related research in Nepal.

The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal had been closed to western exploration for a very long time until 1949 when the first foreign visitors were allowed to visit this incredible assembly of mountain ranges. In the early fifties, many of the high passes between Nepalese villages were crossed by westerners for the first time. But there were also explorations and crossings of remote, uninhabited, high alpine areas.

Notably, the British Everest reconnaissance expedition of 1951, led by Hillary explored the 5755 m high Trashi Lapcha, connecting the Khumbu area to the remote region of Rolwaling. Within the same expedition, Hillary and Shipton led traverses into and out of the Hongu basin through the high passes Mingbo la (5860 m), Amphu Labtsa (5780 m) and West Col (6135 m). The last leads to the high plateau of the lower Barun glacier. Three years later and just one year after his success on Everest, Hillary and a strong group of climbers returned to this area southeast of Everest. One of their major achievements was the first ascent by Colin Todd and Geoff Harrow of then christened Baruntse (7168 m) a few kilometers south of Lhotse. They reached the top after George Lowe and Bill Beaven traced the route on the southeast ridge up to almost 7000 m.

In the next four years, all the main valleys and some of the higher peaks had been explored and visited. During 1960/61, Edmund Hillary organised and led a little known scientific expedition into the Sherpa area with two objectives: to reveal the story behind the myths surrounding the abominable snow man or Yeti, and to extensively study human physiology at high altitudes, specifically on the high slopes between Ama Dablam and Mingbo la. This campaign lasted from October 1960 to April 1961 and was immediately followed by an attempt to climb Makalu without oxygen. In this attempt, part of the group crossed all the high passes from the Rolwaling valley, where Shipton had found the famous Yeti footprints back in 1951, to the Barun valley beneath the breathtaking Makalu west ridge. Our challenge was to retrace this traverse, mostly through uninhabited areas and high glacier valleys, then make a promising climb of one of the central peaks.

Photos 8-9-10
Cover photos

The long glaciers of Rolwaling

We planned our expedition as a low budget, small-scale and largely self-sufficient enterprise. Our team consisted of four members, two traversing all the high passes, reinforced by two others for the climb on Baruntse. Five porters transported the bulk of our equipment and food to the mountain. Our Sherpa friend, Kami Thundu Sherpa, organised the first group from Kathmandu to the small village of Lukla in the Solu district. From there, a self-managed team of porters carried the loads to our base camp in the Hongu basin, over Zatrwa la (approx 4800 m) and Mera la (5400 m).

After four days of negotiations with an agency and customs in Kathmandu, the first duo (Heidi Sinz and I) left by bus, heading for the village of Dolakha close to the Jiri Road. On 18 September, we started down into the Bhote Kosi valley. Everywhere along the way, the trail was blocked by landslides released during the recent, unusually strong monsoon. Some houses had disappeared together with men and animals. Sometimes, long and strenuous deviations up and down the steep valley sides were required to get around impassable sections.

The first few days we travelled with a monk from the Lambagar monastery, which lies upstream and is off-limits for tourists. Fortunately, the porters who carried the goods he had bought in the capital agreed to carry a few things from our heavy rucksacks. At Chetchet, a tiny hamlet at the trailhead to the Rolwaling valley, we had to leave our pleasant company. Here we hired a young man to carry the extra load to Beding, the main settlement in the Rolwaling. We strolled along the deep valley floor, rising gently some 500 m from the point where we first met the river. We crossed the river on a rusty, old iron suspension bridge and started the steep ascent to Simigaon. This vast Sherpa village stretches in a bowl-shaped side valley, some 600 m above the river. There the trail enters a dense forest which almost entirely fills the narrow gorge leading up to Beding. The weather continued to show remnants of the monsoon, and on the way through the dense and damp forest, we had an intense encounter with some still active Himalayan leeches.

After a night in a small bamboo shelter, we reached the edge of the forest and proceeded through the usual afternoon mist to the remote village of Beding (3700 m). Beding is inhabited only part of the year. For the rest of the year its people move within the extensive settlement area between Ramding downstream and the high summer houses of Na. On the trek up to these last buildings, lodges were very rare and we had to rely on private facilities. The old Gompa at the entrance to Beding contains many beautiful Thankas, or painted scrolls. Despite its poor appearance, the village, beneath the slopes which descend directly from Gauri Shankar (7146 m), consists of large stone houses spreading up the northern side of the valley. On the rock walls high above, some people were building a new hermitage. Up to this day the people subsist off the land and nowhere is luxury visible. We stayed with a middle aged couple in their one room-one barn house. Our host agreed to transport our extra load up to the Trakarding glacier over the next few days. Freed of this burden, we hiked leisurely from Beding to Na (4200 m) the following morning, some three hours up the valley. The broad glacial valley floor was covered with thousands of gentian and edelweiss, and the sun bathed the countryside in warm, brown hues. For the rest of the day we rested, acclimatised to the altitude and enjoyed the scenery. The next day was also short, and took us into the small side-valley behind the lateral moraine which dams the Tso Rolpa, the terminus lake of the Trakarding glacier. Here, we pitched our camp for the first time after the pleasant nights in Nepali and Sherpa homes. The next morning we started our first hard day, stumbling across a moraine covered Himalayan glacier. After a detour over a high tributary glacier, we reached the Trakarding glacier through steep ravines in the lateral moraine. Here our friend from Beding departed and we now had to carry all our equipment by ourselves. Slogging and creeping up and down over the never ending loose rocks and slippery ice, bent down by a 35 kg backpack isn’t great fun. But this was our own choice! We had to take many detours and did not make it to the camp at the glacier head. A night amidst the ragged frozen waves proved surprisingly nice, and the next morning it took us only two hours to reach the base of the 300 m high rock and ice face connecting this glacier to its higher tributary. Fortunately, Heidi knew the way from an earlier expedition in this area, so it was not too difficult finding the entrance of the easy climb to a terrace about 100 m above the glacier. From here, steep ravines filled with boulders and gravel, and overhung by ice towers, lead to a gently sloping river of ice, the 14 km Drolambao glacier.

A rest day was necessary as we entered this arctic world of ice at 5200 m. After a cold night, the mountains shined in the clear morning sun. In all directions ice-covered mountain slopes with enormous hanging glaciers surrounded our tiny tent. We spent the day relaxing, and exploring the moraines and glacier in the vicinity. This area, visited by only a few parties each year, is almost untouched. Drangnag Ri (6801 m), one of the highest peaks in this mountain range was not climbed until April 1995 by a Norwegian expedition.

The way up to Trashi Lapcha (5755 m) included a beautiful glacier walk beneath the cauliflower ice forms of the Parchamo west face. A relatively easy climb through a small icefall led to the wide snow fields rising up to the pass. On the left, sheer rock walls form the fortress of Tengi Ragi Tau (6943 m), while on the right, the slopes gradually steepen, culminating in a ridge which continues to the summit of Parchamo (6273 m), broken only by huge crevasses close to the top. By the time we finally reached the pass, the usual afternoon clouds hid most of the mountains to the east. Not far from the highest point, towered over by hanging rock faces, were a few handmade platforms where we pitched the tent.

We spent the night with hopes of good conditions for an ascent of Parchamo the next day. Unfortunately, almost waist deep snow in the steeper parts of the ridge made any upward progress almost impossible. The acute avalanche danger finally drove us back and we descended into the Thengpo valley. A short abseil, close to the camp brought us down to long gravel slopes which continue on the glacier descending from Tengi Ragi Tau. The upper part of this valley is full of immense masses of moraine debris, which are strenuous to descend, before reaching the grass plains close to the summer village of Thengpo. The entire way, the view is dominated by a 2000 m rock and ice wall which connects Bigphera Go Shar (6718 m) with Teng Kangpoche (6500 m) to the south. Thengpo, with its bright green grass plains close to the terminus of a glacier, appears as a luxurious oasis after days at high elevations. The trail from the few stone houses at Thengpo to the village of Thame crosses the yak pastures on the gentle lower slopes of the valley.

Surprisingly, the head lama of the old, picturesque Thame monastery is also responsible for the gompa in Beding. This invokes a somehow strange conception of a group of monks, dressed in their heavy dark red chubas, traversing the high ice and rock faces of Trashi Lapcha !

To reach the touristic centre of the Everest area, Namche Bazar, required just a few more hours of walking downstream on broad gentle paths. Here we had arranged to meet our two friends coming by plane via Lukla, a day and a half to the south. Despite problems with their luggage and a temporary blockade of the STOL airstrip in Lukla by local people, Sebastian and Felix showed up at the Kala Pathar Lodge after only a one day delay. They met Kami and the porters at Lukla and rearranged the loads. Now we again had one porter to accompany us up to the glacier below Mingbo la. The other porters had already set off from Lukla to base camp.

United to the Base Camp

For the next few days, we made short hikes so that Sebastian and Felix could acclimatise before we crossed over to the high Hongu basin. We were now trodding on the main highway to Everest Base Camp together with dozens of other tourists. What a contrast to the solitude days in Rolwaling! The lodges at Tengpoche gompa, the spiritual centre of Khumbu, were crammed with trekkers. This wonderful place, high above the river, with inspiring views of Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam, is seriously troubled by tourism. There are major problems with fresh water supply and sewage disposal due to the number of people visiting this place. The monks have even closed the prayer hall, except for two guided tours a day, to preserve their monastic order. An international aid project, asking for donations, is trying to improve the situation in collaboration with the monks and lodge owners.

We spent the following night in Pangpoche. With our porter Mingma, we visited the monastery in the upper part of the village. As he explained, this is the most important place for mountaineers to pray to the gods for an accident-free expedition. In the gloomy Dukhang, the small upper assembly hall, we prayed for a happy return of the whole party. After this short intermezzo, enjoying the comparable luxury of the touristic infrastructure, we climbed the old grass-covered moraines of the Nare valley up to Ama Dablam base camp (4500 m). Here we paused to avoid ascending to high altitudes too quickly. This camp directly beneath the southwest face of Ama Dablam (6856 m), was at the time used by four expeditions attempting the increasingly popular mountain.

The way up to the Nare glacier follows moraines of different ages before the ice, covered by the usual chaos of boulders and rocks, is reached at 5100 m. Not far down-valley from this spot, the Hillary expedition 1960-61 had built their green hut at the edge of the glacier. We decided to stay for the next two nights on the eastern side of the glacier, close to a small stream of melt-water. This enabled Sebastian and Felix to have a rest day, necessary for their acclimatisation, while Heidi and I investigated the conditions over the pass.

The next morning Mingma went with us up the boulder-strewn granite slabs to the beginning of the ice field leading to the pass. Here our porter left us, returning to his family in southern Khumbu. Now we had to carry the extra load through the small icefall up to the gentle snow fields. A couple of days ago another group had attempted to cross the pass, but had given up in the deep snow within the icefall. Since then, the snow had settled a bit, and now it was our task to climb the steep steps through the broken up crevasses. Fortunately, there were not many such dark abysses on the upper slopes, and so we reached the base of Mingbo la without difficulties.

From here, a rather steep ascent of some 120 m through fluted firn has to be accomplished to reach the pass. Our idea was to install a fixed rope and place the extra load on the pass that afternoon. Unfortunately, the snow became deeper and deeper the higher I climbed. At the steepest part, just more than half way up, I had to abandon the load in a hole dug with the ice axe. Proceeding up in soft snow, without hand holds was a very difficult and dangerous job. Finally, I arrived at the rocks at the pass, fixed the 100 m rope and abseiled back down to Heidi. The load was now hanging on the rope, waiting for our return the next day.

Our friends spent the day taking short walks in the vicinity of the camp, enjoying the great scenery of stunning ice peaks and getting used to the thin air.

Still the time for acclimatisation was extremely short and they had a hard time crossing the pass. It was already afternoon when we reached its highest point. But then we still had to haul up the extra load from half-way down. The deep, soft surface made it tortuous work even with the help of a pulley block, because the haul bag ploughed deep into the snow. It was already dark when we reached the terminus of the Hongu Nup glacier at 5400 m. With only the light from our torches, we had some trouble finding a good place for our tents. In the morning, we discovered we had camped on a few sandy spots within a frozen stream. Still tired from the day before, we descended over huge boulders into the main valley. We were somewhat anxious because we only had food for two more days and had to meet our porters from Lukla. The valley was deserted with no sign of human activity except the narrow trails. Our base camp was on the far eastern side behind the moraines. So we proceeded in that direction and suddenly Kili, our expedition cook, appeared out of the maze of boulders; he led us to a nice place at the edge of a small depression, where our big tent was already giving shelter to the porters. The day before, a German-Swiss group of twenty climbers had made their camp nearby; on the same day our porters reached base camp and two of them left for home.

Our base camp was within a few minutes walking distance from a small lake, some 200 m above the Hongu glacier, set within small gravel hills at 5400 m. There were still a few patches of grass, giving the spot a mild character. To the northeast, the summit of Baruntse towered over us with its 1200 m high southwest face.

Up the mountain

We used the first day at base camp as a rest day, repacking and rearranging food and equipment. In the afternoon, we walked up the large moraine which bounds the glacier descending from the west col (6135 m). The Germans were already on their way, breaking trail up to this high pass, where Camp 1 is usually erected. The views were fine during the afternoon and the south ridge of Baruntse looked broad and lofty in the gloomy light.

On the next day, the Sherpas for the Germans and Swiss held a Puja to bless the expedition. We were invited to take part in this important religious event. Afterwards, we started off to erect our Camp 1 on the pass. We organised our group into two teams working in shifts to keep our high camp equipment to a minimum. This time all of us headed up to the glacier by following the trail through the sandy plains in front of the small lake and up the steep lateral moraine. After climbing these last 200 m, we followed the almost flat top of the moraine for a kilometre until we found a level crossing onto the glacier. Though the glacier is not steep until immediately below the west col, at around 6000 m our pace had already slowed. The ascent to the west col was somewhat like the ascent leading to Mingbo la, but was less steep and had better snow. As one of the tasks we shared with the other expedition, we installed a second fixed-rope up to west col. The trail up to Camp 1 was kept busy in both directions. On this day, Sebastian went with us up to the beginning of the fixed rope and then returned. Heidi and I erected the camp, while Felix was still fighting with the exhausting ascent up to the west col. Just behind the col, there is an ideal spot for a camp on level ground, sheltered by the little ridge of the col. Our view from here was dominated by Makalu, which rises directly to the east, and a little rocky hill to the north, which obscures the summit of Baruntse. A tent, a stove, gas, some mattresses and a limited amount of food were all we brought up that day.

Late in the afternoon, we joined the others at base camp, feeling fairly exhausted. We prepared a rich meal in the darkness of the early night and decided to rest the next day. During the day, a French expedition had made camp along the shores of the lake. They pushed on to the mountain while we relaxed, enjoying occasional moments of sunshine and taking short walks in the vicinity. On the following day, Heidi and I headed for Camp 1 while Felix and Sebastian waited and explored the rough glacial landscape around base camp. At the beginning of the glacier, we filled our packs with things the porters had carried when we went up the first time. At the same time, some of the French were also moving into Camp 1.

It made a big difference knowing what was ahead. The long ascent was not nearly as exhausting as the last time. Still, 6100 m is quite high and every movement required time. At that height, we had to melt plenty of snow for the huge amounts of water our bodies required. Preparing drinks and meals was a rather tedious ceremony. Although the night was not extremely cold, we enjoyed the rising sun which warmed up the interior of the tent within a few seconds. After the usual morning work, we set off for Camp 2. The first moments of walking were really horrible. We felt like collapsing every other step, but after a while our bodies got the rhythm.

Crossing the almost flat catchment of the lower Barun glacier, we reached the lower end of a steep glacier plunging down between two lower fore-summits of Baruntse. Here our ascent became very slow. The snow was of variable quality, and we had to be careful as we broke through the surface at every step. Although some Sherpas of the French group were breaking trail ahead of us, our progress was still slow. Fortunately, this steep part was not very long, and after climbing some 250 m the slope eased into a bowl between the two false summits. At the far end of the bowl the Germans had pitched several tents to which we added our tiny two-man home. The Sherpas continued up to the saddle at the base of the Baruntse south-east ridge and made their camp. After a short break, we went back down to meet our two friends in Camp 1, who had carried up more food and gas this same day. They decided to spend the night there, while we hurried down to reach the base camp before nightfall. It was delightful to enjoy an evening with our porters in our little kitchen tent, knowing that the next day we could relax and rest our tired muscles. All the important things were in place at the different camps and we were ready to attempt the summit. As we enjoyed our rest in the relative luxury of base camp the next afternoon, Sebastian and Felix returned after a bad night at Camp 1. Both were happy to join us in doing nothing. Because our time-schedule was quite tight, this was to be our last evening together at base camp. Heidi and I planned to start for the summit the next day and then leave via the Barun valley to the east. Felix and Sebastian would set off for an attempt the next day and return to the base camp afterwards. According to this plan, we arranged to meet on the lower Barun glacier in two days’ time.

The next morning we left early, again with heavy loads for our long trek to the east. Kili supported us, carrying various things up to the crossing on the glacier. We were now used to the trail, but the packs were still heavy, and we were happy to reach Camp 1 where we could deposit a most of the additional equipment. Strengthened by a satisfying lunch at Camp 1, we found the way up remarkably easier than two days ago. Most of the German group had already slept there the night before and now also gathered at the highest camp. Fortunately, this day the usual afternoon clouds did not cover the whole sky, so we could enjoy the scenery to the south before it got too cold outside. At the high camps, we used gas rather than petrol stoves. We had no problems with blocked valves, however, boiling water out of snow still took a long time. It was rather late when we finished our kitchen duties. We crawled deep into the sleeping bags to get some sleep before the big day. During the night we woke up several times due to the heavy gusty wind, pushing and dragging on the tent. Even at 4:30, when we woke up to melt snow again, spindrift sometimes filled the apse of our tent with clouds of snow crystals. We did not finish our breakfast ceremony before 7:30, when finally we had made enough tea and were dressed up, ready to leave the tent in the morning of 20 October. The German group started a quarter of an hour earlier and was now about fifty metres above us on the steep slope, traversing to the somewhat higher French Camp 2.

The wind was still strong and gusty and it required full concentration to keep one’s balance on the steepening snow. The last traverse to the French camp, crossing above an enormous bergschrund, was secured by a fixed rope before the trail reached the little saddle. The sun rose slowly above the high peaks to the east and the wind calmed down a little bit. From the saddle, the southeast ridge rises as a broad, reasonably smooth shoulder which narrows to a knife-edged crest at about 6800 m. We found the snow fairly unstable and our steps broke frequently, which made it exhausting to gain height. Fortunately, the two huge crevasses which cut through the ridge at the higher parts were in ideal condition this year: the lower lip stretched almost horizontal to meet the upper wall. These parts were also covered by snow and were far from perpendicular. It was just a matter of tackling steep snow flanks to overcome these obstacles. The French did a good job the day before in installing ropes on these steep parts. Unfortunately, Heidi as well as the small French group and some of the Germans had to turn back in this section, beaten by the cold wind and the exhausting altitude. Now, I had to push myself onward and upward, still behind the German group with their mountain guide and two climbing Sherpas. The wind eased more and more, and when I reached the edge of the crest I was able to enjoy the magnificent views in clear and almost calm weather.

From this point, the ridge overhangs with immense cornices on its eastern side, which forces the traverse to follow a line several meters down on the steep lefthand flank of the mountain. It was necessary to go very slowly and to concentrate even when secured by ropes which had been fixed somehow in the deep snow. The crux proved to be a delicate traverse of an extremely sharp and narrow snow tower. Robert, the German guide, did well in finding a path around this obstacle. After this, it was just a matter of time and exhaustion that decided about reaching the summit. Very very slowly, breathing twice with each step I climbed, and gradually, the horizon widened. Mountain by mountain rose over the vanishing snow flanks. Roughly five hours after leaving the camp, I finally reached the summit of Baruntse (7168 m).

Perhaps this was the most crowded day the summit had ever seen, with altogether 11 people on top at the same time. The views were incredible, with the huge Lhotse south face immediately in front of us, a glimpse of Everest behind, and the elegant pyramid of Makalu to the east, flanked by Chomo Lonzo in the north and Kangchenjunga in the distance just south of the summit, and also the snow-covered summits all around to our south and west! Far down in the valley, a few tiny coloured spots showed the position of base camp amidst this maze of rocks, moraines and glaciers. It was a great feeling, standing there and being happy with myself and with the whole world around me. After almost an hour, I started down again, which now seemed so easy compared to the strenuous ascent. Still, the descent required high concentration despite or perhaps because of the speed. It took me only two hours to reach Camp 2, where Heidi offered some freshly-brewed tea to me. Now I was feeling really tired, but after a rest we decided to descend to camp 1 to meet Felix and Sebastian. The wind was fairly strong again, but we had to dismantle our tent because their tiny at Camp 1 would not fit four. It took some time to pack up and after an hour of tired walking down the glacier we happily reached Camp 1 at the rim of west col. Sebastian and Felix felt well after the rest at base camp, and we spent a nice evening together before we finally parted the next morning.

Our two friends climbed up to Camp 2 carrying up the tent we brought down the day before. Unfortunately, we could not wait for their descent off the mountain; there were however the other expeditions and our porters at base camp in case of an emergency. Later, in Kathmandu, we learnt that Felix successfully climbed to the summit alone on a very windy day; alas Sebastian had to give up above Camp 2.

Back home

Heidi and I again packed our very heavy packs, containing camp equipment and also food for eight days for the trek down the almost uninhabited Barun valley. First we had to cross the smooth glacier plain of the lower Barun glacier to reach Sherpani col (6100 m), which then led down to the valley of the Barun glacier just beneath the western precipices of Makalu. The descent from the col included a long abseil of a steep 80 - 100 m high rock wall. Fortunately, a French trekking group was on the way down and had a rope that went all the way down. Thankfully, they allowed us to use it, therefore we could omit several pitches with our short climbing rope. Even so, abseiling down ice-covered rock with more than 30 kg in the rucksack is hard work. The glacier crossing beneath was a bit of a relief, but soon we entered the steep gorge leading down to Hillary base camp at the glacier confluence. This camp is named after Hillary’s 1960 expedition, mentioned earlier. It was from here that they attempted Makalu after a long winter below Mingbo la. Unfortunately, conditions were not good and his men were too exhausted from the months spent at high altitude to reach the summit.

For us, the way down to this camp was a strenuous scramble over very unstable rocky ground, with constant danger of rockfall from the high precipices above us. Late in the afternoon, we arrived at the camp very tired, but still able to enjoy the fine views of Lhotse and Everest on the far end of the glacier, and the extraordinary shape of Makalu rising more than 3000 m just on the other side of the valley.

The next morning it took us several hours of stumbling along unstable moraine flanks before we reached the firm ground of older vegetated moraines. It was a bit of a mental rebirth to enjoy the increasing number of grassy patches as we descended, even after just two weeks up in the frozen world. The air became warmer and the higher air pressure left us feeling strong and relaxed. On leaving the shores of the Barun glacier we finally re-entered the vegetation zone, and soon afterwards, we arrived at the first summer settlement Shershon at 4700 m, already abandoned for this year. Shershon is popular with trekking groups coming for a close view of Makalu. Consequently, the paths widened and walking became easy on the almost level ground along the lateral moraines of the lower Barun glacier. At the first inhabited hut on alpine summer pastures, we camped for the night. During the night the weather worsened. Thereafter, we never had completely clear views of the high mountains. Even so, the trail itself was spectacular, leading down between high rock slopes, reminiscent of some of the deep valleys in Scandinavia. The lower we got, the taller the trees grew. In between, there were few seasonal settlements in this valley. The whole scenery was still very wild. It is not possible to follow the river down to its junction with the Arun because of its unpassable gorges. We crossed another pass, covered with rhododendron of all varieties up to the highest parts. As it gently rises and falls, the trail passes a number of sacred lakes, before it follows a long ridge down into the forest. Five days after leaving the high passes, we reached Tashigaon, the first permanent settlement on this side of the mountains. It was the last Sherpa village on our way, but already, the architecture was different from that in Khumbu using a combination of stone, wood and bamboo as building material. Further down in Seduwa, it was market day as we passed on our way down to the steep gorge of the Arun river. In Seduwa there is also an office of the Makalu Barun National Park authorities, where we had to pay our entrance fee of NRs. 650 (12 $ US). This huge park, covering more than 2300 sq.km is only visited by some 500 people a year, with most of it still almost unexplored. After descending to 850 m at the bridge over the Arun, we had to re-ascend 800 m to the village of Num on the other side of the valley, which we reached at dusk. We had finally left the mountainous regions and were walking through hill country inhabited by Rai people. A beautiful path winded through a forest-covered ridge to Chichira where we got the last glimpses of Everest and Makalu in the late afternoon. Walking was easy through the lush forests, and during the next day we descended through an increasing number of rice terraces, regularly interrupted by small villages, to the district capital of Khandbari at only 1200 m. The first night in a so-called hotel evolved into a race up and down the menu, enjoying the delicacies we could only dream of during our sparse meals of freeze-dried diet at high altitude.

Khandbari is not connected to Nepalese hill-roads and it is another 65 km to the roadhead of Hile. Heidi was lucky to get one of the rare seats in a small Twin Otter flight at the grassy airport at Tumlingtar, three hours further down the valley. After three days of useless waiting at the airport, I decided to walk to Hile and reached Kathmandu by bus another three days later. It was a cordial and happy reunion with Heidi, and with Sebastian and Felix who had returned via Lukla. We spent a lot of time talking about the different experiences. After thousands of metres up and down, and more than 400 km on foot along the high Himalayan paths, our great adventure was finally over, but our memories of it will last a long time!

Literature

  1. Hillary, Edmund and George Lowe, East of Everest, Hodder & Stoughton, London 1956.
  2. Hillary, Edmund and Desmond Doig, High in the thin cold air, New York 1962.
  3. Shipton, Eric, The Six Mountain - Travel Books, Diadem Books, London 1985.

SUMMARY

The ascent of Baruntse (7168 m) by a German team on 20 October 1996.

Approaching Mingbo la, In the background; (1 to r) Numbur, Begphera Goshar and Tengi Ragi Tau.

8. Approaching Mingbo la, In the background; (1 to r) Numbur,
Begphera Goshar and Tengi Ragi Tau.
Article 6 (Christopher Mayer)

Baruntse southeast ridge seen from the glacier plateau beneath the west col.

9. Baruntse southeast ridge seen from the glacier plateau beneath the west col.

Climbing Baruntse.

10. Climbing Baruntse.
Article 6 (Christopher Mayer)

 

⇑ Top