Trip Reports

High Passes to Everest - 2 to 25 Oct '08

Written by Leader Guy Jarvis, October 2008

Eleven trekkers assembled at the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu with myself on 3 October ready to trek to Everest via the high passes. This trek ignores the obvious way to Everest up the deep Dudh Koshi Valley and instead heads north up the much quieter Bhote Koshi Valley from Namche Bazar. Then it takes a dramatic turn to the east and forces its way cross-country over first the Renjo La (5,340m) to Gokyo and then over the glaciated Cho La (5,330m) to drop us ultimately into the upper Khumbu Valley and onto Everest itself.

An anxious waiting game at Kathmandu Airport for the weather to clear at Lukla saw us scramble for the plane and make the exciting landing at the world’s steepest airstrip. After meeting Nima and his Sherpa crew we were suddenly on our way and trekking towards our goal. Namche provided a welcome acclimatisation day once we had struggled up the steep Namche hill and our first views of Everest in the last clouds of the retreating monsoon from the Everest View Hotel.

Then we headed off the main trail to Thame and the quiet of the Bhote Koshi Valley. A day spent further acclimatising and visiting the local gompa saw us ready to head out into high country. The upper Bhote Koshi is only inhabited by Sherpa farmers and yak herders with occasional caravans of traders coming over the Nagpa La from Tibet. We spent our last night in a lodge before moving up into a beautiful alpine valley to camp below the Renjo La. The altitude and cold started to bite now and we set off early in the frost to climb the pass. It’s hard work getting up to nearly 5400m in a continuous push but this was all forgotten when we reached the top. I don’t think any of us were fully prepared for the view that met us – Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Makalu, Pumori, Cholatse, Taweche – all laid out right in front of us below clear blue sky. One of the best views I’ve ever seen.

We descended to Gokyo where the culture shock of a very busy trekking centre hit us. For a while it looked like we would have nowhere to sleep but we ended up spending the night in the warmest room in town – the dining room! The next day we rested as the weather had closed in on the tops and the days had taken their toll on the team. The dreaded Khumbu cough started to take hold of a few of us but didn’t dent the determination of the group.

We headed off to the Cho La which took us eight cold hours to cross and a great deal of effort and steel from those of us who were suffering with bad chests. However everyone got over and the sense of relief was palpable – now it was downhill to Everest! However we still had a night at Dzongla to contend with. This yak herder’s pasture on the far side of the pass had an overcrowded tea house for us to stay in. Classed as ‘Nepali basic’ the lodge was a little rough to say the least and the toilet could accurately be described as a sh*t hole of the highest order. It is testament to the characters in the group that I cried with laughter that night and when the moon lit up the north face of Cholatse I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

From there Everest was a hop and skip away and soon we were exploring Kala Patar and the awesome wasteland of Everest Base Camp from our base at Gorak Shep. Thousands of photos were taken in the perfect weather we had. On the last day the weather closed in again and we took the hint: time to go down. Living high and in the cold near or above 5,000m for ten days takes its toll and we were ready to descend to warmer, thicker air. It took only a day and a half to get right down to lush farmland and warm villages with hot showers and yak steaks...

A lovely trek out saw us back in Kathmandu in only a few days and suddenly the whole 20 day bubble was over. On the way we had all suffered a little, laughed a lot and shared the amazing views and experience of the Khumbu. It would not have been the same without the wonderful company of the characters in the group and the Sherpas and porters of our team. The party we had in Lukla was the best I’ve ever experienced as we had all been through such a great time together.

Thanks to all of you:

Nima, Pasang, Dawa, Sonam, Chili Pasang, Dinde and the strong boys.

Stephanie- who was not on holiday!
Yvette – who we could always identify by sound only
Peter- for his double act with Don
Paul – who came back from the dead after the Renjo La
Sally- who only needs one lung for the Cho La
Ed- always smiling, always at the back!
Patrick- who kept laughing and didn’t sue me
Mike- who kept me warm with his snoring
Don- who found it a little cooler than Brisbane
Steve- for the best hairstyles
Aidrian- always up for a drink – wherever

Guy Jarvis 28.10.08 « Previous report | Next report »

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