Nepal?

I am leaving Sunday for Nepal. It's getting real now. I've known for about a month and it seems like I've told a thousand people. But now the time is near, and it is REAL. I am pretty excited and a tad bit nervous. Here's the story... In June I led a trip to Peru and took three guys from Little Rock climbing in the Cordillera Blanca. On the same trip we combined with other climbers from NYC, Denmark, Columbia, the UK, and Australia. (If you want the whole story you can read the previous blogs) OF course we all became high altitude facebook friends, and parted way to our different homes around the world. Fast forward to this fall, Jamie who is a Brit married to an Aussie living in Adelaide Australia posts about a trip to Nepal this fall. I inquire, but realize that I've already travelled to Peru this year, and Nepal has got to be out of the question. I tell Jamie I would love to, but can't. Later I mention it to my wife and she's like "You've got to go!" Of course I think she's just trying to get rid of me. But she's serious. So we work out plans, get her Mom to come visit for a week, and hire a nanny to help transport the kids; and I buy a plane ticket to Nepal. Boom. Just like that! So now I am going trekking with Oscar from Denmark that I met in Peru, and Jamie's friend Mark that I haven't met. Jamie had a last minute emergency and won't be able to join us on the trek, but will see us in Kathmandu afterwards.

This whole trip is a part of Jamie's newish trekking company, Elite Trekkers, which he started after the 2015 earthquakes the devastated much of Nepal's tourism. He formed the company with friends in Nepal to help them and get more people visiting again. Our trek is going to be checking out a new trip they plan to offer. It's called the 3 passes trek. It crosses three high passes, some over 18,000 feet, visits Everest base camp, and then we climb the 20,000 foot Island Peak to round of the trip. I will be gone just shy of one month. I know, I've got the best wife ever.

So I am down to packing and repacking and trying out gear. Trying to get my daypack and backpacks down to a reasonable weight. 11 lbs for me and 22 lbs for the porter. I've got new gear to try out, and new clothes compliments of Royal Robbins Community Leader program. I am stoked about the gear they've sent and can't wait to try it out on the trail. In particular the Valley Performance Flannel has already got plenty of compliments. And I've only worn in for about an hour! Let's hope I can get everything in the pack now. I will let you know how it goes...

Packing for Peru

9 months of planning and preparation have led to this.  Now I am trying to shove a weeks worth of mountaineering gear into one very large duffle, and keep it below 50 lbs.

I am working through complex decisions such as, "should I wear my climbing boots on the plane to save weight?" I've got a strong crew going with me. There's Ian, a nurse who is 26, who I've known since he started climbing in high school. Dylan, who is 18 and just graduated high school, but I've also known him for many years. And Matthew, age 23, an experienced hiker, backpacker, and climber who works at our local outdoor gear shop, but that I haven't known quite as long.

The four of us have trained together, learned rope and rescue systems, and agonized over gear selection. Now it is time to put it all to the test. Ian, Dylan and I are all on the same flight going through Houston, and Matthew is cashing in frequent flyer miles and heading through Atlanta. With the recent flooding in Texas, and extensive travel delays yesterday, Atlanta is sounding much better than Houston. We will see how it goes it tomorrow!

Day 10 - Descent

We were up early for our final day. It was the last breakfast, pack up and break camp. By the time our packs were loaded the porters had arrived to take the   dining tent, kitchen, and group gear down.

We were only 20 minutes into our hike when the porters passed us quickly on their way down. As we hiked down the steep terrain it seemed impossible that we had hiked up it only days before.

I enjoyed the last glimpses of Ranrapalca which had dominated the view from our campsite and kept us entertained and in awe with its frequent avalanches of snow and ice from the massive cornice near the summit ridge.

We made our way slowly down the ice and snow covered trail. Stopping at times  to pass our packs down steep rocky slabs before we down climbed them.

Before we reached the end of the trail the porters were on there way back up to meet us and help out if needed. But most of us elected to finish with our packs on our backs.

We reached the road and the waiting truck, loaded our packs, the porters, and ourselves into the back for the bumpy 2 hour ride back to Huaraz. We headed into town and went straight to the Sky-line basecamp to unload. For Jamey and Jamey it was and immediate repack as they would be heading to Chopicalquithe same day. We said our goodbyes to them and the guides and wished them luck. The rest of us loaded up on cabs for a ride back to Olaza's, much needed showers, and a reunion with Matthew. We found him happily ensconced at Olaza's and he let us know that our smell was quite repugnant! But after a little clean up and some rest, we were off for shopping and a celebratory dinner at Trivio's. A great end to a long trip, and now only 24 hours of travel separates us from home.

Day 9 - Summit day

11:45 pm the day begins. We are up getting dressed and have a quick breakfast. Gear is sorted, bags are packed. The sky is clear and the winds are very light. Soon we are on the glacier. The squeaky crunch of snow under my crampons tells me that conditions are perfect for climbing.

We move silently through the dark seeing only a circle in front of us illuminated by our head lamps and the circles of light cast by other climbers.

Occasionally a "zero" is heard, the sign for us to stop while the route is being examined or something is being adjusted. The call of "clear" and we continue or slow upward progress winding through a maze of crevasses. Slogging up ridges unsure of how deep the crevasse is to one side or the drop off on the other. Then climbing very steep slopes of snow and ice, gasping for breath and trying to keep moving. Slowly the skies begin to lighten and the headlamps are no longer necessary. We can see the summit it looks so close but it's still so far away. We've crossed snow bridges, jumped crevasses and climbed steep angles when we finally reach the saddle between the twin peaks of Vallunaraju.
It feels like we've done it although we're not quite to the summit. We wait for another party to descend the steep corniced ridge before all go up together the last 100 feet. We crowd together on the small summit, barely room for all of us to stand. 7 climbers and three instructors, most of whom were strangers a week ago. Now friends standing on top.

The descent goes well. The sun is up and we are no longer cold. Water bottles have thawed out and soon we are baking in the heat of the glacier.

As we wind our way down we are now able to fully see the dangers that we had passed in the dark. Gaping crevasses with cold blue ice and bottomless depths. 

Soon we are back to the safety of the rock. A much needed break is taken and we all relax and bask in the sunshine.

Day 8 - Anchors & Prep

Another gorgeous day in Peru! We spent most of the day on the mountain, practicing working in rope teams and building anchors with ice screws, snow pickets and deadmen. (Not actual dead people just a term for a buried anchor.)

It was great fun as the guides took the second place on the rope teams and allowed us to assess the terrain and make our own judgements about where to go.

I really enjoyed working on rope team with Ian, Oscar, and Alejo. Oscar is so full of energy you practically have to tie him down. Alejo is always happy to crack a smile or a joke. Ian is very focused on learning and seems to want to be sure he understands everything in great detail. The Brits were roped up with Sam today, and the original Jamie seemed less than enthusiastic about his teaching style, to put it mildly.

Angela and Dylan were roped up with Mitcher. Dylan looked right at home at the head of the rope team.  Angela on the other hand was not as excited about it. She has been struggling a bit in the rougher terrain probably due to her lack of experience. But the guides are extremely helpful and make sure that everyone is safe. We headed back to camp a little early today to rest up and check gear.

We had a nice pasta dinner to fuel us for the summit attempt. We should be leaving camp around 1:00 am tonight. So now it's lights out and get a few hours of rest.

Day 7 - Glacier travel

Today was an interesting day. We woke at 6:30 for breakfast as 7. Ian and I spent a little time organizing our gear before breakfast and even got a little water filtered. We sat down to baked bread and were served warm pancakes, again with a compliment jams, dulce de leche, and honey.

Unfortunately Matthew wasn't able to keep any food down again. After breakfast we geared up and loaded our day packs for a day on the glacier learning and practicing skills. Matthew still wasn't feeling well and elected to stay in camp and rest for the day. The rest of us headed out of camp for a trip to the glacier. We arrived at 16500 feet and left our packs for the morning as we journeyed onto the ice to begin crampon work.

Front pointing, duck walk, and French technique were the three we learned. We practiced going up and down and across all types of terrain. Next up was the use of the ice axe.  And then we combined that for team travel.  The cook brought up a delicious lunch of stuffed local peppers and a roasted dried corn.

After lunch we headed back onto the ice and higher up into a nice snow bowl where we could practice self arrest. Feet first head first and face first, we went down hill any way possible and then stopped ourselves with our ice axes.

Next up was the team self arrest, where a rope team of two would climb up and the without warning the lower person on the rope would begin running backwards to simulate a fall. This was a tough one. We finished our lessons with using ice screws and rappelling. Then it was a short trip back to camp and a little rest before dinner. Dinner started again with a spicy soup that warned me from the inside out. The main dish was grilled Peruvian trout with rice potatoes and style of slaw. We finished with a Peruvian desert of warm spiced fruit in a sauce. Mucho gusto! Then a cup of tea and of to bed to recover.

Day 6 - Campo Morrena

Our guide Willie woke me up early today to let me know that Matthew hadn't been feeling well. He was showing classic symptoms of altitude sickness and was feeling pretty poorly. So we gave him a little diamox and let him rest for a bit. Juan was also not feeling very well. The rest of us had another great breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt prepared by our cooks. Afterwards we loaded our packs and waited for guides and the porters to arrive.

They eventually rolled up in a huge truck and began loading all of the food and equipment and heading up hill. Sam the guide joined us again and we met Mitcher and Alejo our other two guides along with Jamie Monks, another Brit joining us for the course. We had our introductions and went over how to prepare your pack for mountaineering. Eventually we said goodbye to Willie and head up the trail.

And what a trail it was, extremely rough, muddy and steep. But slowly we wound our way up and out of the Llaca valley. Over the course of the hike we slowly split into two groups. I was in the first group with Oscar the Danish Dynamo, the two British Jamies and Dylan. The others were lagging a bit behind.

We finally made it to the Campo Morrena at over 16,000 ft. We shed our packs and rested for a bit while Mitcher went back to check on the other group. He soon returned and let us know that Juan was not doing well and would be heading down with Alejo. Mitcher then went a little higher to contact the basecamp and set the evacuation in motion.  Alejo soon arrived, had a little tea and a bite to eat then headed back down to walk Juan out.

After some time the rest of the team members arrived and we had a hot drink and a snack then launched into setting up our tents. Once the tents were set we began the first lesson covering gear and knots that we would be using. This ran all the way until dinner, which started with another round of spicy soup (only one bowl this time) and some cooked beef,plantains, popas fritas, rice and a fried egg.  The beef was a little overcooked for me but the rest of the dinner was delicious. We finished with jello and hot tea before bed.  Matthew was having trouble keeping food down, so he skipped dinner tonight. I hope he feels better tomorrow. Tomorrow we head up to the glacier!