At the end of April, a tired but jubilant team of Trek & Mountain readers returned to the UK having enjoyed a month-long journey through the colourful mountains, culture and characters of Nepal.
The Khumbu 3 Peaks 2016 expedition was always going to be challenging – after all, one 6,000m peak is no small deal, let alone three – but the trip got off to a great start as the team avoided weather-related delays at Kathmandu by sneaking into Lukla on an early morning flight. And who did we bump into at Lukla airport that morning? Only Ueli Steck!
The trek would make a loop around the region, following the wild Hinku Valley towards Mera Peak (6,476m), before acrossing the Amphu Lapcha Pass to Island Peak (6,189m), and finally heading up the Khumbu Valley to our last peak, Lobuche East (6,145m). This gave the team a taste of both the remoter parts of the region, and the more popular Everest area later in the trek.
Mera Peak was the first 6,000er on the list, and with several other teams keen to take advantage of a good weather window and summit at the same time as us, we hurried to the rocky confines of Mera High Camp to make sure there was enough room to camp. An early start saw the team divide into rope teams and head up glaciated terrain, the sun coming up as we reached the higher slopes. The last few metres to the summit were on fixed ropes, and before long no less than 10 of the team had stood on the top!
Nepal has been experiencing particularly warm weather this year so far, and everywhere you looked what would normally have been covered in snow was bare rock. This had its advantages though, and meant that our way across the Amphu Lapcha Pass – our passage to the next objective, Island Peak – was not blocked by deep snow. Island Peak itself was also showing the effects of the warm weather and, with not enough room at high camp for the full team to camp, it was decided that the summit push would come from Base Camp – a huge day out! But despite the tough conditions, and the massive height gain, seven members of the team made it to the top, and that magical view of Ama Dablam.
With two peaks in the bag, it was time to descend to Dingboche, where cakes and a bed for the night (for those that wanted it) would ease the aches and pains. Soon enough the team was on the move again – this time towards our last objective, Lobuche East. A more relaxed pace now saw us join a throng of trekkers heading towards Everest Base Camp, but before long we left the main trail to head for our delightful ‘beach’ camp beneath Lobuche. After a rest here, it was up again, a two-hour steep and rocky climb to Lobuche East High Camp leaving us a few hours rest before our last summit day of the trip. For many, this proved to be the highlight of the expedition. A fantastic scramble up icey rock to the snowline was followed by a breathless push up the fixed ropes all the way to the summit. Here, the most amazing views that you could ever imagine awaited us – a 360-degree panorama of snow-capped mountains (including Everest) in perfect, clear conditions. This was it, the metaphorical(if not real) highpoint of the trip, and amazingly, five team members had climbed all three peak – an incredible effort.
You can read the full story of the Khumbu 3 Peaks expedition in the September issue of Trek & Mountain, but for now we’d like to congratulate all the team members on their achievements, and put on record our gratitude to our wonderful team of Sherpas, porters and cooks who looked after us so well.
Thanks to PrimaLoft and Montane for their support of the Khumbu 3 Peaks expedition – for more info go to www.primaloft.com and www.montane.co.uk
RELATED LINKS
www.primaloft.com
www.montane.co.uk