Tag Archive for: Nepal

First Ascent of Nup la Khang!

We are excited to share the great First Ascent news as reported in the Himalayan Times:

KATHMANDU: Six climbers along with five Sherpa guides of Madison Mountaineering Nupla Khang Expedition Team 2018 has made first ascent of Mt Nupla Khang earlier today.

According to Managing Director of Himalayan Guides Nepal, Iswari Paudel, the expedition team led by Garrett Madison of the United States of America summitted the virgin peak at 11:10 am.

Other members of the team were Ingvild Marie Settemsdel of Norway, Joshua Joseph Miller, Sidney Pattison, Kristan Ann Bennet, and Ben Beres, all from the USA.

Likewise, Aang Phurba Sherpa, Pasdawa Sherpa, Kam Dorjee Sherpa, Tashi Sherpa and Lakpa Dendi Sherpa accompanied the climbers on their expedition.

Mt Nupla Khang — which is 6,861 m tall — lies in the Solukhumbu region.

As soon as the team gets back to network connectivity range, we will share some photos of this super accomplishment. Join us in congratulating the entire climbing team!!

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Nup la Khang advanced base camp

The village of Gokyo, next to the lake, with the Nazumba glacier, Mount Everest and Lhotse behind on left side.

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checked in via satellite phone to provide this Nup la Khang (aka Unclimbed Peak) update:

Today the team flew by helicopter from base camp (4965 m) across the Ngozumpa glacier and by last year’s First Ascent peak, Tharke Khang to our advanced base camp.  Advanced base camp is located just near the Nepal / China border at approximately 6170 m (just over 20,000 ft).  After scouting out the area and base of the route, they spend some time acclimatizing to the new elevation.

The plan will be to launch a summit bid within the next few days.  The weather is favorable, and the team is strong, in high spirits and ready to do this!  Network communications are currently limited, so no new pictures yet.

We are looking forward to a recorded audio dispatch in the next day or so with a detailed update direct from the team.

Meanwhile, our Island Peak team has trekked from Gokyo over the Cho La pass (5420 m / 17,782 ft) into the Khumbu valley and down to Dingboche.  Yesterday, they continued to Chukhung.  Today they will finish the trek to the Island Peak base camp and conduct some additional training.  They should be going for the summit on November 2nd in Nepal.

We are pretty excited to have our two teams going for Himalayan summit possibly the same day!  Join us in wishing them both great climbing success, and we will have another update for you tomorrow.

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Base camp along the Gokyo Lakes

Close up of Everest and Lhotse from Gokyo Ri

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in our base camp nestled alongside the 5th of the Gokyo Lakes.  We are the only people around.  It’s a beautiful camp and from here we can gaze upon Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, and many other high peaks.

Today we had our Puja ceremony, where we ask the mountain for safe passage. This ceremony is very important to our Sherpas. We’ve been sorting equipment and food this afternoon for our advanced base camp and summit attempt, which we hope to embark on in a couple days time.

We’ve enjoyed a restful day here in camp, and tomorrow plan to go for an acclimatization hike.

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Gokyo

Trekking above Gokyo

We’ve made it to Gokyo (4750 m/15,580 ft), the last village before before base camp.  After leaving Khumjung, we trekked up the Gokyo Valley.  This area, including the village of Machermo, is remarkably beautiful with stunning views.

Today our team went on an acclimatization hike up nearby Gokyo Ri, at 5357 m (17,575 ft). We had amazing views all around of Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Makalu, and could see our objective the unclimbed Nup la Khang! This afternoon we will head to base camp.  There we will spend a few days acclimatizing and training to prepare for our attempt of Nup la Khang.

Our Island peak team will head off today from Gokyo towards Dzongla and will spend several days making their way to Island Peak (Imja Tse). So we are saying our goodbyes to our fellow trekkers/climbers.  We look forward to reuniting with them after the climbing period.

The weather has been stellar the past week for us as we’ve trekked up from Lukla towards these high Himalayan peaks.  We hope it will continue.  But there looks to be some high wind in the forecast. Fingers crossed for calm winds and clear skies!

The team at the top of Gokyo Ri (17,800 ft) today, beautiful views all around! Everest is behind top left.

The team at the top of Gokyo Ri (17,575 ft) today, beautiful views all around! Everest is behind top left.

The village of Gokyo, next to the lake, with the Nazumba glacier, Mount Everest and Lhotse behind on left side.

The village of Gokyo, next to the lake, with the Nazumba glacier, Mount Everest and Lhotse behind on left side.

Close up of Everest and Lhotse from Gokyo Ri

Close up of Everest and Lhotse from Gokyo Ri

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Machermo is up next…

In Khumjung, heading out at 7:30AM to trek to Machermo

In Khumjung, heading out at 7:30AM to trek to Machermo

The Unclimbed Peak team is in great spirits and just left Khumjung this morning in Nepal to trek to their first stop in the Goyko Valley: Machermo (4470 m / 14,665 ft).

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Postcard from Namche Bazaar!

Team photo at Panorama Lodge, Namche.

Team photo at Panorama Lodge, Namche.

Greetings from the fabulous Panorama Lodge in Namche Bazaar, the “Capital of the Khumbu”. Our Unclimbed Peak expedition team is just leaving Namche to continue trekking after receiving the gift of khata scarfs from our dear friends at the Panorama Lodge. Next stop Khumjung!

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Unclimbed Peak Nepal expedition kicks off

We are enjoying our time in the Khumbu valley of Nepal, with spectacular views all around! Our Unclimbed Peak team is currently in Namche, the capital of the Khumbu, at the Panorama Lodge.  We arrived yesterday in good health and good spirits!  This morning we went for an acclimatization hike up to the Everest View Hotel.  With the clear sky we had fantastic views of Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, and Ama Dablam.  Our goal is to trek up to our base camp at the 5thlake in the Gokyo valley, past the village of Gokyo.  From there we aim to climb Nup La Khang (North Peak) which sits on the border of Nepal and China.  At 6861 meters (22,641 ft.), Nup La Khang is between Mount Cho Oyu and Mount Everest, and is unclimbed!  We hope to make the first ascent of this virgin peak!

After climbing Nup La Khang, some of our climbers plan to head to Ama Dablam (Mothers’ Necklace), a very picturesque mountain in the Khumbu valley.  We have been blessed with great weather so far and are just enjoying the scenery, views, and nice people here.  Tomorrow our plan is to head to Khumjung, where we will stay for 1 night before trekking into the Gokyo valley.  All is well for us as we enjoy making our way up towards the Unclimbed Peak base camp.

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Lhotse summits from three members !

Lhotse summits by our three members – Garrett, Josh & Mingmar Sherpa climbed Mount Lhotse, next to Mount Everest. Its the 4th highest mountain in the world. They climbed today at 9:15 am. And , now  are on their way down the Lhotse Face with the other Mount Everest climbers  to Camp 2.

All our Sherpas and climbers team are healthy and coming down to camp 2 . Some are in Everest Basecamp, the others will descend tomorrow from Camp 2  .

Lhotse Summits

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Day 23 & 24 : First Rotation complete, Rope Fixing Update!


Today all of our climbers and guides in our main team descended from Camp 2 down to Everest base camp after a great first rotation! We ended up staying an extra night at Camp 2 for acclimatization because everything was going so well for us up at our “Advanced Base Camp”. This will assist us in our acclimatization process as we prepare for our ‘summit rotation’. We spent two nights at Camp 1 and three nights at Camp 2 while we were up on our ‘first rotation.

Today, while we were preparing to descend to base camp at 6 AM from Camp 2, we received information that the icefall route had changed . Our team at basecamp were saying that it was in the process of being repaired. So, we delayed our descent to around 10 AM when we had confirmation that the new variation in the Khumbu Icefall route was complete, arriving base camp this afternoon. Our team is excited to be back in Everest base camp where the air is thick, the food amazing, and the accommodations seeming very plush after nearly a week up high on the mountain.

 

Rope Fixing Update:

Over the last few days our expert team of Nepal Climbing Sherpas were able to fix ropes to the Geneva Spur, just short of the South Col (Camp 4) high camp on Mount Everest, despite the windy conditions and the icier than normal slope on the Lhotse Face. Now, with an up line and a down line in place from the base of the Lhotse Face to Camp 3, and then a single line going above that to the Geneva Spur, teams will be able to acclimatize and position loads up higher on the mountain.

Our rope fixing team is preparing to head back up and fix ropes all the way to the South Col in the coming days and then position oxygen and equipment for the ‘summit fixing’ project at the South Col so that when the weather conditions permit they can begin fixing ropes from the South Col up towards the Balcony, the South Summit, and onward to the summit of Mount Everest. They will also install a second ‘down line’ in places to ease congestion on the route such as on the Yellow Band, the Geneva Spur, and at other bottlenecks along the route. All is well here on Mount Everest and we hope for good weather and route conditions to continue!

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Day 15 & 16 : Puja Day & Other Update

Puja Day:

 Yesterday was our Puja ceremony in base camp. Our whole team of climbers and Sherpas took part with a Buddhist lama. They ask  permission for the mountain to grant us safe passage. After the blessing was complete and our Puja ceremony finished, we commenced with some dancing and traditional Sherpa / Nepali music. Then, our whole team walked down to the helicopter pad in base camp to reconstruct the helipad. Our team of climbers & Sherpas, 40 men in total, worked for 2 hours to carry rocks and gravel to the helipad .They level the surface in preparation for the helicopter flights to transport the loads of equipment for the rope fixing project . i.e (ropes, carabiners, ice screws, etc.) from base camp to Camp 2 on Mount Everest.

Today at 6 AM we awoke to a cloudy sky in base camp. But, soon after the clouds burned off and the weather was suitable for flying. We transported all of the equipment for the rope fixing project (750 kg) from our base camp to the helipad . Until then waited for the AS 350 B3E helicopter to arrive. By 8:30 AM the helicopter arrived and the first load went up to Camp 2 where our climbing Sherpas had been waiting anxiously for the helicopter to land. And, unload the equipment.

They had arrived earlier in the day and already scouted a suitable landing zone for the helicopter . They were communicating with us in base camp by VHF radio regarding the weather conditions at Camp 2 . Additionally, the expected arrival time of the first helicopter load. In total 7 flights were made from the base camp helipad with equipment for the rope fixing project. This will be deposited in our Camp 2 where our Sherpas will collect the equipment. Afterwards, they will begin rope fixing up the Lhotse face towards Camp 3 on April 19th. As, Tomorrow April 18th is a ‘black day’ in memory of the 2014 Khumbu Icefall tragedy that took the lives of 16 Sherpas.

Icefall Training, and Rope Fixing Update

Our team of climbers is currently training in the lower Khumbu Icefall today practicing ascending vertical fixed ropes, rappelling, and crossing ladders. They are training for the preparation for our climb to Camp 1. The weather is nice and we are excited that everything is on track so far for Everest 2018!

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