Trip Reports

Mera Peak 3 - 26 April '15

Written by Leader Mungo Ross, May 2015

Itís Saturday the 2nd of May and a week now since the earthquake shook Nepal. I am still in Kathmandu, expecting to fly home tomorrow, struggling to summarize one small group's experience in the context of an event that not just challenges but changes our perspective. What was left of the Mera team was back at the Summit Hotel when the 'quake hit last Saturday, all we thought we had left to do was enjoy a day relaxing in Kathmandu before taking the memories of a not uneventful three weeks in Nepal back to our different homes.

My own experience of the minute or so (no one can remember exactly how many seconds the shaking went on) that devastated so much of Nepal and surrounding countries was frightening enough. Writing up the trip in my top floor room in a recently built annex of the hotel, it took several seconds to realize what was happening: survival instinct kicking in focused the single thought "I need to get out of here". I have likened the experience (as have so many others) of getting out of the building to like being in a ship in a storm: hanging on to the wooden banister, having to stop every few steps to hold on tight as the whole building sways violently, having time to be aware that if the stairway collapses I will be falling with debris onto the concrete floor far below, that if the building collapses I will be lucky not to be killed. Outside on the small patch of grass in the mid-day sunshine, as the personal shaking subsides and the quite extraordinary fluid movement of the ground beneath our feet comes to a stop, we realize what has just happened and acknowledge that we are all OK. What those few seconds - and subsequent hours, even days were like for many thousands of others is unimaginable.

Our trip had started well enough, the nine of us getting together at the Summit Hotel from as far apart as New York to Hobart, catching our flight to Lukla on schedule in the midst of considerable disruption due to an exceptionally poor-weather spring, setting off on trek without delay. In spite of holding back in Poyan for a day to let Steve see if he could shake off whatever was slowing him down, he decided to return to Lukla, gutted but clear that the decision was in both his own and the group's best interests. It was then an obvious decision not to do the trek over the high passes on the east side of the Hinku Khola due to the abnormal amount of snow and the very unsettled weather, so we chose to take the Bamboo Forest Trail direct to Kothe which is itself a glorious walk with lots of steep ups and downs decorated with dense rhododendron blooms, magnolia and wonderful pine and bamboo forest.

Our three days at Tangnag gave us the chance to acclimatize and check all our kit, the weather the opportunity to dump nearly a foot of snow on the ground and Richard the misfortune to develop symptoms alarming enough to justify a helicopter evacuation to Kathmandu. The remaining six in the group pressed on to Khare, enjoyed a fixed rope session on the snout of the Mera glacier (in a snow storm) before having to accept that thatís as far as we were going; poor weather, a poor forecast and unseasonal deep snow meant that no one was summiting (not even getting to the Mera La) so supported with the advice from Summit Trekking in Kathmandu we headed back down the valley. Considering that the avalanche risk would still be too high on the Zatrwa La, and the walk back to Lukla the way we had come would take four days, the group chose to pay for helicopter rides which had us all and our kit there in 7 minutes instead! From Lukla, three decided to return to Kathmandu, leaving the rest of us to walk up to Namche Bazar for a couple of nights, lucky to coincide with two days of glorious sunshine and picture-postcard views. With a forecast for returning poor weather this small group opted to return to Lukla and have our flights to Kathmandu brought forward so we spent two nights in the Yellow House before checking in to the Summit Hotel as per the itinerary on Friday the 24th by which time four of the group were out of the country and back at home.

Having already been saddened by the death of a woman in a Korean team in Khare ñ we were called to assist but unfortunately too late in spite of getting her on oxygen and putting her in the Gamow Bag ñ the devastation caused by the earthquake and the events of the last week as they have become news have cast a dark shadow over the fun we have just shared on a failed-to-summit-Mera but an otherwise thoroughly successful and enjoyable expedition.

It is with the usual credit to Jagged Globe and Summit Trekking for organizing and supporting the trip; to a team of porters, kitchen crew and sherpas who went beyond the call of duty to look after us; and a group who not just made the most of the circumstances but positively contributed to the clichÈ ìitís about the journey, not the destinationî. A special mention must be made of all the staff at the Summit Hotel who have maintained a quite extraordinary level of service for their guests in spite of having their own lives turned upside down; likewise Summit Trekking and Jagged Globe staff have responded throughout the aftermath with a calm, professional and sensitive thoroughness. Thank you everyone for helping us all share coping with getting through this catastrophe, which is only just beginning for so many thousands of people ñ let us not forget the long term consequence of this disaster and keep up our efforts to support and help the people of Nepal. « Previous report | Next report »

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