Many years later, and Nepal is a very different place to the exotic and eclectic country I first saw in 1991. Still wonderful, but Nepal has caught up with the world in many ways.
However, in 2010 my ascent of Island Peak/Imja Tse (6189m) totally changed the game. Now my mountains were big, lofty and a little more serious. After the successful summit of Island Peak, I set myself a challenge.
Could I climb a 7000m peak?
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| The game changer. Island Peak (Imja Tse) 6189m in 2010. |
That challenge set me off on a climbing odyssey, chasing my 7K dream. On the way I've tackled a number of 6000m peaks in both India and Nepal, with a near miss on 7077m Kun, after turning back at 6600m due to bad weather. There were also some trips to New Zealand where I gained alpine experience on smaller yet no less challenging peaks.
There was a monkey that was well and truly on my back now!
Fast forward to 2023, and I'm looking up at Himlung looming above me at 7126m, in the far North of the Himalaya beyond the Annapurna Range, at the head of the remote Nar Phu Valley. Himlung is classed as “technically easy” for a 7000m peak . But the devil is in the detail. Its a 7000er. 23,379 ft high. Yikes! Nothing “easy” about that...
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| Left to right, Himlung , Himjung, Nemjung from above Himlung Base Camp |
It's several years since COVID lockdowns prevented any overseas trips, and then in 2022 my prostate stopped working completely, resulting in a laser “TURP” operation to make things functional again. Life with a catheter for several months, and a small prostate cancer discovered that now requires regular monitoring. The summer of hell. I needed something big to erase that episode.
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| Blah! |
And a 7000m peak was going to be that something.
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| Left to right , Himlung (7126m ) and Himjung (7092m) as seen from Himlung Base Camp |
I joined forces with Vipul Reddy (who was also on the Kun and Chulu Far East expeditions) searching for a suitable 7000m peak. The candidate peak had to be relatively affordable, within our technical experience level, preferably with low objective danger, (ie not too dangerous!), have suitable climbing weather for our preferred season of October and fairly easy access by roads and trails without the need for internal flights.
We researched
a number of mountains in Nepal and India, such as Satopanth, Tilicho Peak, Kedar Dome, Tukuche Peak. Some were just
below the magic 7K mark (like 6900m). But none were quite stacking up, financially or
logistically.
Himlung seemed to tick all the boxes. And so the process of vetting trekking companies to guide us began.
Although the company we chose was previously unknown to us, a strange thing happened during the Q & A phase of organizing the trip. The manager of Cultural Treks & Expeditions, Kumar Karki, told me that the climbing guide chosen for our climb was saying that he knew me! And yes it was true. It was Phursemba Sherpa, my guide from the 2019 Chulu Far East climb!
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| Phursemba and me on Chulu Far East, 2019 |
This was certainly a good thing, as his expertise is second to none, and we already had a good rapport with him, a very desirable situation when you are connected to each other on a rope!
Our arrival in early October in Kathmandu saw late monsoonal conditions, something I have not experienced before at that time of year. It was warm, muggy and thundery rain showers fell in the afternoon.
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We met with Kumar and Phursemba, who took us to meet his delightful family on the outskirts of Kathmandu, along with a sweaty climb up to the Jamchen Vijaya Stupa.
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| Phursemba ordering paan for us from a vendor below the stupa. Paan is a refreshing treat made with betel leaf |
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| Vipul, me and Phursemba at his house on the outskirts of Kathmandu |
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| Jamchen Vijaya Stupa |
A few days of shopping for items like a down suit for the extreme cold of Himlung, and taking photos of us with our hopeful summit banner, then it was into the “jeep“ and off up the Manang road to Besisahar. In teeming rain! The road was a quagmire in places, no match for our Mahindra Bolero 4x4 but the rain wouldn't let up.
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| Behold, The Banner! Left to right, Vipul, Kumar, Phursemba, moi. |
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| Nepal does nightmare roads with abandon! |
The next day beyond Besisahar was worse! A number of landslides delayed us on the "cliffhanger" Manang road by many hours. But in true Nepali style the locals all pitched in the remove soil and rocks to re open the road at each incident. Sometimes we literally drove through waterfalls, or had to walk around obstacles deemed too risky to be a passenger in! Later we would find out that a trekker was killed by a falling rock in one of the same places we had driven through. Not a good day on the road.
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| Landslide ahead and note the cliffhanger further up the road... |
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| Yet another landslide |
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| A well known waterfall on the Manang Road plunges into a very flooded river |
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| Koto 2600m, underneath the Annapurna Ranges |
Shaken and tired, we rattled into Koto, the village at the trailhead to the Nar Phu Valley.
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| Potato harvest time in Koto |
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Vipul suffered a bout of food poisoning (from a suspected dodgy Tibetan bread) causing us to delay our start by a day. After that, it was packs on and up the trail towards Meta (3500m), our first village for the night. The trail led through a spectacular gorge, full of conifers and birch. There is talk about making a road that will eventually reach Phu, though it is likely that will be quite some time before it happens.
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| The start of the narrow gorge leading to the Nar Phu Valley |
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| Phursemba takes a break in a beautiful cedar forest. |
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| Why walk past a waterfall when you can go under them? |
A few times the trail had been washed away by landslides which made for a careful traverse above the roaring river. We had to pay a man who was collecting money to pass through a “blasting zone”. But it proved to be a scam, despite some badly pulverised rock and trees, which annoyed Phursemba a lot!
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| Scam Alert! |
The final push took us up the steep climb to the small village of Meta, where the thin air started to become evident.
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| Meta |
The next morning the trail led through little hamlets like Chyako and Kyang, overlooked by the mighty Kang Garu (6981m) , a truly scenic climb into the hills. Our pace was getting slower as we gained more height now. Further up the valley we twisted and turned through gorges, and sometimes the trail was cut into the cliff face.
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| Pisang Peak , 6091m |
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| Leaving Chyako |
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| Me with Pisang Peak in distance. Halfway between Chyako and Kyang |
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| Kang Garu (6981m) |
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| Kyang |
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| Chyakhu Himal (6805m) |
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| Vipul at our lunch stop in Kyang |
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| The cliffhanger trail above Kyang |
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| The gorge of Nar Phu Valley begins to open out |
By days end, we stumbled into Phu, a
medieval village in the dry rain shadow of the mountains. Very
similar to the Mustang or Dolpa regions, a barren desert like
landscape compared to the lush southern aspects of the Himalaya we
had passed through to get here. Now at 4000m walking was very slow and laborious, and Phu was certainly a sight for sore legs!
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| Ancient Chortens near Phu |
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| Phu village 4050m |
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| Golden Eagle at Phu |
A day of watching golden eagles fly over the valley (there were so many) and taking in the ancient village meant we had a good chance to acclimatise to the 4050m altitude.
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| Looking back at Phu |
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| Climbing the moraine above Phu |
It was an early start for the trip to Himlung Base Camp (HBC) following a long valley after a steep moraine. Himlung, Himjung, Nemjung and Gyaji Kang, all 7000m peaks, now loomed at the end of the valley. Nemjung was the queen, almost K2 like in appearance. Only 20m higher then Himlung, but a serious peak that few have climbed! The mountain amphitheatre was incredible, but also a little daunting. A small tea shop halfway along offered a welcome break.
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| Tea Break! |
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| Banner Break! |
The valley looked flat, but no, it was a long slope! We gained 400m over what looked like a flat valley. It was a relief to see Base Camp finally appear. We were now at 4850m.
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| Ponies returning from Himlung Base Camp |
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| Mighty Nemjung (7140m) dwarfs Himlung Base Camp |
It was the biggest Base Camp I've ever seen. At least 50 tents, and climbers assembled from around the world to attempt this climb. I've been used to almost no one on my mountains in the past.
Clearly Himlung was in a different league. Big operators like Namas, Kailas and Sartori had massive luxurious tents and were not denying the clients any creature comforts! That said, I was quite happy with our more modest accommodation (and price tag!). Our Base Camp had everything from hot (bucket) showers, generators at night to provide lighting and recharging facilties in the mess tents, to truly amazing food! Luxury!!
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| Fancy fancy mess tents! Is this Everest Base Camp?? |
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| Even fancier inside! |
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| My room with a view |
Delays caused by a lack of rope fixing to the summit, plus a few snow storms meant that our time in Base Camp was longer than planned. No problem there, given the comfy conditions! Plenty of time to get gear worked out, do short acclimatising walks, and play music on Bluetooth speakers!
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| The team, including our Climbing Guide, Phursemba (blue vest) and Kiran, Head Chef (red vest) |
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| Vipul looking more chilly than cool |
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| Gyaji Kang (7074m) |
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| Nemjung 7140m |
A Puja ceremony was held for each of the climbing groups, a serious business but always ending with a shot of Khukri Rum! We would need all the blessing we could get for this climb. The Lama from Phu was kept very busy . He would make the 2 hour trek each day for all the ceremonies held for each climbing party.
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| Doing the banner thing again. Himlung directly behind me. |
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| Puja ceremony to bless our climb |
The climb to Himlung's 7126m high summit consisted of 3 camps from HBC. Camp 1 at 5440m. Camp 2 at 6050m and Camp 3 at 6200m . We would do one "rotation" to C1 then return to HBC. Rotations are used to transport extra gear and also to get used to sleeping at higher altitudes. Then we would return and do a push to the summit via all 3 camps. The approach to Camp 1 (via a second Base Camp known as the French Camp) needed a traverse across the large rock filled glacier, then a rather sketchy climb up a wall which regularly dropped rocks, then a rope climb up a small cliff... just to make life that much harder!
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| Climbing route to Himlung showing 4 camps (1,2,3) including Advance Camp 3 (Green dots) |
Some groups were climbing all the way
to Camp 3 for their rotations. We felt that this was not necessary and chose to conserve our energy instead.
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| The only way is up! The climb out of the Pangri Glacier just before the French Camp. |
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| Ascending towards Camp 1 from the French Camp. Himlung Base Camp in far distance left. |
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| A good spot for lunch at an unnamed lake on the way to Camp 1. Himjung and Nemjung behind. |
We only to spent one night at Camp 1 before coming back.
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| Camp 1 (5440m) |
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| Camp 1 |
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| The walk back down to Base Camp from Camp 1. Pokhar Kang in distance. |
Although I found the climbing was
tough, I did not have trouble with the altitude, ever. I do owe a lot to my mentors such as Brigitte Koch Muir, whose sound advice on how to manage high altitude climbs has proven to work time after time.
Am I getting used to this madness? Is this why I pursue these big peaks?
It's hard to go back down to Base Camp, knowing you have to come back up again. But that's what we did.
Snowstorms again delayed our plans. Occasionally the thunder like sound of an avalanche rumbled through the valley. Sometimes a helicopter would evacuate a climber who was ill or injured. At least it broke the monotony of waiting it out at BC! We waited and watched the mountains.
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| Heli rescues. Get to the choppa! |
Phursemba told us of a new weather window coming that could hopefully let us push to the summit. I must say my anxiety levels were maxed out at this stage!
We did the climb back up to Camp 1 which seemed less troublesome this time. Maybe it was being used to the thin air now and knowing what lay ahead.
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| BrokeRock Mountain ...er..Glacier |
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| Here we go again... |
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| Rock on top but ice underneath |
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| The climb between C1 and C2 was far from easy. |
The next test to pass was an ascent on fixed rope and jumars through what some call the “Bottleneck.” A snow free gully full of rotten broken slate, most of which moved as you scrambled up it. Below lay a gruesome icefall with open crevasses. No falls allowed here! Very tough work at this altitude, and I let out numerous expletives as I battled my way up... It didn't make the climbing any better!
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| Vipul begins the rocky climb up the Bottleneck |
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| The icefall to the side of the route is the reason why the route goes up the Bottleneck |
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| Setting new fashion trends at the top of the Bottleneck |
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| Dope on a rope |
It was a relief to gain the top, but more pain awaited, the long snow slog under some rather forboding seracs to Camp 2 at 6050m. There were places you couldn't stop, as ice debris lay around, warning of danger falling from above. One needed to move quickly, but at this altitude that was far from easy to do.
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| The rather unstable looking seracs |
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| Annapurna 1 (8091m) at right |
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| Himlung rises over us. The climbing route follows the left flank and along the skyline |
We arrived about 3pm. Meals now were simple, Nepal's infamous Rara Noodles (always spicy) and hot tea. Pretty much it, sans the odd biscuit or 2.
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| Stunning views back to the Annapurna Range and Dhaulagiri from Camp 2 |
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| Phursemba dwarfed by the ice cliffs |
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| Vipul walking through a dangerous section under the seracs |
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| Vipul approaches Camp 3 (6200m) |
Sleep came easily , though the long night was interrupted by adjustments to my sleep mat which was always sliding into a melted depression in the tent, plus regular pee bottle breaks of course.
The next day was a relaxed start, we only needed 4 hours or so to reach Camp 3. This would be our final camp before the summit push. The climb was harder now despite the simplicity of the snow slopes. It was slow going but the views were purely spectacular.
There was much messing about with gear, and coping with cramped conditions in the single 3 man tent that Phursemba, Vipul and I all shared now. Finally some dinner (noodles again), then an attempt at some type of rest before our wake up call of 10.30pm. This was it. Summit night! I hardly slept of course.
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| Squishy! |
It was cold and dark, but still and starry as we put on boots, crampons, gaiters and down suits. Off into the darkness we walked, the trail easy to follow but a mystery as it headed under the slope of the mountain. After a small rocky section, we were confronted by the ice wall. My torch could not illuminate it all, so the impression was an unending expanse of ice reaching off into space. I could see stars above it, but had no idea how hard this would be.
There was a good quality climbing rope to attach the jumar to. Ice to front point my crampons up. Nothing I haven't done before, but at 6300m this was hard work. Very hard. One foot in front of the other. I would tell myself “You cant stop here” every time I made a small push up with the jumar, and then would just hang on my crampons points in my harness, then another push up and so on.
It got steeper and more awkward. I was grunting and groaning my way up. Every metre sapped my strength. Finally I could see a small diagonal ledge just before the top of the cliff, which I used to lessen the angle of the climb. Then over the top of the cliff, but still horribly steep. This felt cruel!
Vipul was ahead of me, but not by much. However I would not catch up to him until much later on. The trail evened out eventually and made its way up to an Advanced Camp 3, a small group of tents just below the 950m snow ridge that led up to Himlung.
I was so tired all I wanted was to sleep in one of the tents. Stupidly, I asked Phursemba if I could do this, but he said no. “You can't sleep here, we cannot stop until the summit” he said. This was the first sign that the altitude was controlling my thoughts . Rational judgement was fading. So I submitted to the thought of just climbing.
The night seemed to go on forever. It was now 1am as Phursemba and I, both "short roped", made it up the first section of slope which would gradually steepen. Lines of climbers (maybe about 15) were above and below me. Little lights slowly crawling up the slope, but you suffered privately in your own bubble of light. Occasionally climbers overtook at speeds much faster than mine. I thought they must be superhuman! I realise now they were most likely using oxygen, since a surprising amount of people chose to use it on this high peak. I thought it was just for emergencies!
There was some commotion around a climber who seemed to be having difficulty, but I just blundered past. I could see blood and sometimes vomit on the side of the trail. This was a world of pain for all.
The climbers lights continued way above me. I could not see how big this monster was that I was ascending. My fingers were horribly cold, and the fear of frostbite was now foremost in my mind. I swapped gloves several times. Phursemba was not happy about this, and he kept saying “You'll get frostbite!” every time I did a glove change. But my thumb was painfully cold!
I ended up wearing the biggest mitts I had, some Nepalese made (and cheap!) "Everest rated "mittens . Warm, yes. But too big to fit through the handle of the jumar, so I now had to pull on the jumar using only my thumb!
With these boxing gloves on, dexterity was non existent. Phursemba not only fed me my drinks (slushy ice filled Coca Cola) but even helped undo my fly on the down suit when I had to pee! (I managed to do the rest!) He was my shadow, but I was grateful for it. I felt helpless. All I could do was push up the hill, climbing slowly and endlessly.
I tried all my known methods to remain motivated. Chanting “Om Mane Padme Hum” in my mind, (as I had on Island Peak) . Then repeating to myself , “You can do this!”. And even “Do it for your Mum!”
Whatever it took to just step, push jumar, step and step again.
While climbing, I chose not to look at my Casio altitude watch, ever. This is a bit of a shame as I had replaced my 20 year old one which broke after Chulu, and I've never tested it up high. But I chose never to look, fearing I would see a lower altitude than I was expecting. High altitude climbing is as much of a mind game than a purely physical challenge.
The night was long. I noticed a light off to the north side of the outline of the mountain. Way off the climbing route. A climber over there? Why there? I soon realised it was Venus rising in the East!
Several hours later, the approaching dawn was evident, a spectacular clear morning, though the wind was vigorous and incredibly cold. At least it was nothing to slow down the ascent. The mountain gods were being kind to us.
The sun eventually broke over the skyline, the summit ridge line seemed near now, yet my progress was so slow, and time seemed to stand still. 10 metres distance took at least 10 minutes. Waves of snow , frozen like sand dunes, needed to be crossed. I would focus on one, and plan a rest when I got to it. Yet it would take several stops before I even got there.
I could see Vipul waiting on the ridge above me. I figured he was in some kind of protected valley, out of the frigid southerly wind. At least it was only gusting about 25kmh, nothing like the gale force blast we experienced on Chulu Far East.
I knew I had to get to Vipul, but he seemed to move further away with every step I took. It was now past 9am. The sun was up, but there was no heat. Still very cold, but my fingers and toes were not so affected by the temperature now, or so it seemed...
Finally Vipul and I were reunited, but there was no valley or plateau as I had imagined. Just a shallow slope that then steepened toward the final snow dome of the summit. Poor Vip was freezing. The summit was all so close now, but I felt utterly exhausted. I had to beg Phursemba to let me have my camera which he had been carrying for me till now. I wanted to capture these views I had worked so hard for.
Eventually he gave it to me. But he was now adamant that we should both to get to the summit.
The altitude and exhaustion took their toll, and all I wanted now was to sit and rest. After some coaxing, I agreed to come toward the summit.
I knew I was above 7000m now and for me this was my true goal. Not necessarily Himlung's summit, which did not seem so compelling or impressive as we approached it. It looked like a small snow dome. Anywhere else it would not be so impressive. For some time now as we slowly approached, I'd seen a number of parties get up to the top now. And I knew how slow my progress was today!
Some climbers returning down the rope were collapsing as I passed by them, some had oxygen masks, and some looked like they were only half alive!
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| Vipul's well earned Himlung summit glory at 7126m! Manaslu (8163m) to the right |
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| The banner reaches its final destination! |
Here we were , on the true backbone of the Great Himalaya Range.
But the extreme altitude was now controlling my thoughts. It's easy to reflect now (at low altitudes ) on how things actually were at the time, but up there one can't explain the irrational thoughts caused by an atmosphere that only has 8.7% of the effective oxygen level compared to 20.9% found at sea level (Source: https://www.higherpeak.com/altitudechart.html)
I felt strangely calm about being at such heights, yet I worried that I didn't have enough energy to return and face the long descent, including the ice wall. After all, it was now 11am, and we'd been climbing for 12 hours on less than a few mouthfuls of slushy icy Coca Cola and half a (frozen solid) Snickers bar.
I felt very glad that Vipul had gained his summit, after all he had worked very hard for it, mostly on his own, unlike me , who had Phursemba's help close at hand through the entire summit push.I got my Garmin GPS out and took a photo at 7064m elevation. Funny that 64 is my birth year too!
I regret never looking at my altitude watch , and here I just forgot to do so. I had been too scared to look at it on the way lest I see a height lower than I was expecting, I didn't need the moral let down of that!
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| All that effort just to get a number starting with 7! |
60m below the summit, I had the luxury of some rest time time that most summit climbers in larger groups didn't have. After all, it was just us 3 of us here on this lofty mount.
Time to marvel at the views. Views that took in the entire Annapurna Range, Gyaji Kang nearby at 7038m , Ratna Chuli (7128m) and all out across Tibet! Views to snowy peaks I don't know the name of, but they must have been over 300km away! It was spellbinding and incredible. Truly an experience I shall never forget.
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| Walking on a dream, finally standing above 7000m! |
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| Crampon Selfie. Ratna Chuli in distance |
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| The approach ledge under Dharma Peak. Himlung Base Camp can be seen as a yellow blob at the end of the rocky section of glacier. |
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| Left to right , Gyaji Kang, Machapuchare, Annapurna IV, III, I, Dhaulagiri |
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| North over Tibet and Ratna Chuli (7128m) to the right |
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| Me with Tibet in the distance! |
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| Left to right: Annapurna IV, III, & Annapurna I (8091m) |
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| View west over Dharma Peak across the Great Himalaya Range |
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| Distant peaks of Tibet |
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| Himlung summit (7126m) 62m above me at this point and 120m away. So close yet so far. |
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| Vipul, powered by Snickers |
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| Vipul and the ever smiling Phursemba Sherpa |
I had the time to just marvel at it, and not hastily turn around to leave quickly as so many before me had appeared to do.
After the luxury of such a rest stop, it was now time to descend.
Phursemba would change my safety carabiner at each of the fixed rope changes, while I just flopped down to rest. Sometimes I tried to do it myself, but all my fumbling wasted time.
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| The long slow descent off Himlung |
After what felt like more hours, I could see Advanced Camp 3 (AC3) while Phursemba and Vipul barrelled on ahead of me, leaving me to just bumble along, knowing I would get there when I got there.
The Satori team at AC3 kindly gave me some Sherpa tea (a kind of porridge drink) which perked me up a bit for the final push out to the ridge and down the fearsome ice wall. My anxiety peaked again as we approached it. Would I be so tired that I would just let go and plummet the 50m cliff?
I checked and double checked, while Phursemba hovered over me from the top of the cliff.
Then I just focused on what needed doing. It was now 4.30pm!
Surprisingly, the descent of the cliff was “business as usual”. I know how to do this, it's nothing new to me, and my autopilot just kicked in.
Not fast, but measured. Crampon points in the ice, careful footfalls to ledges I could see.
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| Climbers descending the ice wall. |
Finally I was down, and it was now just a case of getting back to C3 in the fading light. The twilight was magical, a purple sky then an orange alpenglow over Himlung. The day had been good to us, despite it being most certainly the hardest mountain I've yet to climb.It was dark by the time Phursemba and I trudged into camp. We had been on the mountain for 18 hours! I don't recall much about even falling asleep that night.
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| Alpenglow over Himlung (from Base Camp) |
We had a late start the next day, but our goal was to get back to Base Camp that night. I unpacked my thermos from the day before. Despite having hot water in it and being in a pack, it was frozen solid. The only thing I could have done to avoid that was to stash it my pocket near my body. Noted for next time...
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| Not useful ! |
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| Post summit smiles and that banner for Himlung! |
In blazing blue skies we set off for HBC. And what a long day it was. Dealing with the Bottleneck again, hanging on narrow ledges over yawning crevasses, and a steep descent in mushy slippery steep snow to Camp 1. We made our way across the glacier in darkness, and arrived at Base Camp at about 6.30pm.
That night our cooks served us the customary celebration summit cake, shared with 2 German climbers (Father Matteus and his son Marius) who had been up at the same time as us.
My goal of climbing above 7000m was now completed, and finally (after not consuming alcohol for the entire ascent,) we could scarf down that huge Tuborg beer given to us!
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| A well earned cake! |
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| Celebrations with fellow Himlung climbers Matteus and Marius from Germany, and of course our talented guides. |
I had missed out on summiting Kun (7077m) in 2015 so I had plenty to be happy about now. And it had taken 13 years to get here!
I've not been on a mountain with so many other climbers before, but this is the real deal, a place where many feel the urge to place themselves before the mountain to see if they are worthy.
I am so glad the mountain allowed us up that day, you could not ask for better conditions.
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| A rather crap selfie. Note the frozen snot (nice) |
Where to next?
Many thanks go to Cultural Treks and Expeditions, in particular Kumar Karki for his excellent organization of the expedition, and also huge thanks to our expert climbing guide Phursemba Sherpa.
What an amazing adventure! Astonishing…and a little scary!! Congratulations on soooo many levels! Thanks for sharing all the details in this brilliant blog 👍👏🕺🙃🤩😉
ReplyDeleteBrilliant story - incredible photos
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