Cho Oyu Expedition
Austrian first climbs Cho Oyu in 1954. The Indian and
German team also climbed this peak in 1958 and 1964
respectively. Till to date many expedition teams have
successfully reached on its summit. The year 2004 was
regarded as the Golden jubilee of this Cho Oyu Mountain
in the field of expedition. The golden jubilee ceremony
was organized by Nepal Mountaineering Association with
grand fanfare and jubilantly. There were about 400 climbers
from different region of the World during this golden
jubilee ceremony and most of them made the summit.
Most of the Cho Oyu expedition teams climb from Tibet
side due the easy technique-climbing route. Since 1998,
our company “Monterosa Treks and Expedition" is
also conducting the expedition from Tibet side. We also
had Golden jubilee Cho Oyu Expedition in Autumn 2004.
Meeting and climbing information:
Expedition begins when you arrive to Kathmandu where
you meet the staff of Monterosa Treks & Expedition
in the airport and transfer you to hotel. Next day,
we have introduction section with other climbing members
& Expedition crews. Since then we make your Tibet
visa and other necessary document for Cho Oyu Expedition.
After 3 day, we drive you towards Nepal-Tibet border
up to the Friendship Bridge through Arnico Highway,
where the Chinese liaison officer and Chinese transport
meet us. The expedition gears go by truck while we travel
by Land cruiser 4wd or with comfortable Minibus. We
take time to acclimatize with one night at Zhangmu (2300m)
and two nights at Nylam (3750m), which also gives us
the chance to trek up high hills for acclimatization.
Next day we drive to Tingri (4350m) where we spend
further two nights acclimatizing. Then we drive Tingri
to Base camp 5000m along rough way with jerking &
bouncing through grassy plain leading up to Chinese
base camp.
We set up our camp at Chinese Base Camp and stay two
nights or more, depending on how everyone feels. We
also make schedules of the yaks by that time. Base camp
is a temporary but comfortable affair with Nepali cook
and dining tent. Now the two-day walk towards advanced
base camp (ABC) begins.
ABC is in the heart of the Himalaya at 5700m; surrounded
by celestial peaks. There is also the high pass called
Nangpa La nearby which is an old but still used yak
track trading route between Nepal and Tibet.
From ABC, we can see the superb scene of Cho Oyu. This
is the main base camp and we plan to stay here for the
longer duration to look the favorable situation for
the expedition. Every person gets his or her own tent.
Our Service will be full board up to ABC and after that
the climbers should manage all services by themselves.
From ABC it is several hours of tough walking on a
vague path over moraine-covered glacier to the start
of the mountaineering properly.
Camp 1 is either perched more or less on the ridge
at 6400m and the real mountaineering starts from here.
The ridge is now soft and easy enough for climbing,
then it broadens out and we climb successive huge steps,
several of which probably require fixing a rope up.
We should fix a new rope in co-operation with other
expeditions on the mountain. Normally one rope is used
for ascent and another for descent. Although the route
is crevassed but normally these creates no problems.
Camp 2 is on the edge of a large plateau at 7125m although
you will carefully assess where to put the rope. Depending
on conditions and fitness you may attempt the summit
from here, or you may establish a light Camp 3 across
the plateau and up on a minor ridge at 7550m. Above
Camp 3 are two rocky steps where you fix another set
of ropes prior to our summit ascent.
Finally, you will start early in the morning from camp
3 for summit. Above the rock bands the slopes are still
reasonably steep and you may take a line to fix there,
depending on conditions. However once on the crest of
this ridge the terrain is straightforward although it
is a long haul to the summit plateau.
The panorama is breathtakingly magnificent, including
Everest 8848m, Lhotse 8501m, Nuptse 7855m, Chamlang
7319m, Ama Dablam 6856m and other peaks of the Everest
region to the east and south. To the west are the Melungtse
and Gauri Sankar massifs and to the north is pure Tibet.
It is normal to descend to Camp 2 from summit and continue
down. |
