Trip Reports

Kyajo Ri - October 2019

Written by Leader Alex Langdon, November 2019

The aphorism “hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of terror” appears to be of unknown origin but has variously been attributed to: fighting in the WW1 trenches, piloting a commercial plane and to aspects of mountaineering at high altitude.

Where this phrase may bear some truth for mountaineering in Nepal, it is perhaps not applicable to the in-country road and air travel. Here the phrase: “hours of terror, interspersed with moments of boredom” would seem vastly more appropriate!

It is, of course, worth it and if your team has survived the journey, with their sense of humour intact, then it at least means that they have what it takes to go up a big, snowy mountain and it makes the mountaineering seem relatively safe and enjoyable.

Our Kyajo Ri team was wonderfully diverse, comprising five nationalities, a real mix of backgrounds and experience levels and an age range of 43 years.

This is very much an expedition of two halves: the trekking and acclimatization part is relaxed and explores a large section of the quieter part of the Khumbu. The mountaineering part feels remote (9 days of no phone signal, no tea house, no wifi and no people) and involves four very strenuous mountain days, back to back, carrying heavy loads. The mountain itself is quite a bit steeper and more effort than, for instance Island Peak, with a long rocky section which you might relish….or potentially not. It definitely earns its grade of ‘top end 3B’, but most of my team would happily grade it harder if they could.

Base Camp is in a beautiful setting at the head of a long hanging valley with Kyajo Ri towering above and a crystal clear stream burbling through. When the sun is out, in the middle of the day, it’s warm and idyllic. After a dump of snow, or a cold night that freezes the stream over, it can feel like a harsh, unfriendly landscape.

The journeys from Base Camp to Camp 1 and to Camp 2 are probably best not dwelled on for too long. Suffice to say that they involve a significant amount of time spent precariously balanced, trying to negotiate unhelpful scree slopes and boulders that are in no way stable or attached to each other, or indeed the mountain.

Summit day was, as ever, an early start: 03-30 for us. By 09-00, five of our team and our three incredible climbing sherpas had all summited. The weather gods were kind and the views from the top of Kyajo Ri on a perfect, cloudless day were breath-takingly spectacular. Lucky us. Well done to the summitteers: Stefan, Sigvald, Leslie and Frank.

We had more than our fair share of health challenges on this trip in various unusual guises. I want therefore, to thank the whole team for their support and the sense of fun that characterized a thoroughly enjoyable expedition.

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