Month: December 2017

Annapurna basecamp trek

I’ve been lucky enough to have just spent 2 months in Nepal, and twice did the Annapurna basecamp trek. The first time we went in, it was a super quick blast over a few days as a stopping point to climb a peak above, and the second time it was the classic Annapurna Sanctuary trek when I was working with my World Challenge group. My initial trip was from the roadside at Phedi, direct up the valley over New Bridge, and whilst easily doable in that short space of time for reasonably fit trekkers, it definitely doesn’t give you much time for taking the view in… So below is a brief outline of our longer Annapurna basecamp trek, via Poon Hill, a trek at a much more relaxed pace!

After the hour and a half journey by bus from Pokhara, we were deposited at the roadside in Naya Pul. We were camping along the way as well as staying in tea houses higher up, so we had a big crew of cooks, porters, guides etc, but you could just as easily be all alone with just yourself and a minimal day bag if you were just staying in tea houses. If you were doing it independently I’d maybe take a sleeping bag and liner, but that’s it after clothes and toiletries, book, camera, snacks, comfy trainers to change in to at the end of the day – pretty amazing you can do this trek carrying so little thanks to the incredible infrastructure! – (Just a quick note, if you’re doing it independently, budget around 2000 rupees a day per person for food and accommodation, this doesn’t include beer or Rakshi!). You’ll need to pay a small amount for permits, but if you’re a confident hillwalker, don’t bother getting a guide or porter. This can all easily be arranged within a day in Pokhara, however you decide to do it.

We headed off in the sweltering heat, up a dirty vehicle track (worth taking a buff to keep the dust out your throat). Usually a short first day due to the travelling, and eventually you leave behind the vehicle tracks and are walking amongst giant Rhododendron forests, and if you keep your eyes peeled you may spot monkeys and other interesting creatures… After a few days, the aim is to be at Ghoerpani, with the intention of getting up to see the sunrise from the famous Poon Hill. If you were coming to the Himalaya for peace and quiet and thought you’d have the place to yourself, you’re about to be shown drastically the opposite! The crowds don’t detract from what is an incredible sunrise. Nowhere on earth have I found such an awe-inspiring vista so easily accessible, with 8000m peaks littering the horizon. Get some warm masala chai, sit down and take it all in! It’s worth remembering that you’re at 3000m here, so you may feel the altitude a bit, so don’t rush around, but this is great acclimatisation for later on!

Sunrise over Dhaulagiri, an 8000m peak you won’t see again on the Annapurna basecamp trek

After breakfast back at camp, you follow lovely tracks through the forests along and eventually down towards the Modhi Khola, the river that flows from the glaciers off Annapurna. You’ll arrive in Chomrong to an array of German bakeries (the pastry isn’t quite what you’d expect, but the apple pie pretty nice!) and great views up the valley where you’re heading! On the way down it’s worth remembering this is where you’re path will differ, as you head down to Jhinnu instead of the direction you come from. It’s well worth factoring in an afternoon off at the hot springs at Jhinnu to soother your aching muscles on the way down!)

We spent the next few days climbing slowly higher up towards the Annapurna Sanctuary, you could easily do it quicker but you’d miss so much along the way… The valley steepens and narrows, and as you creep higher the landscape, vegetation and wildlife all change. Rhododendrons give way to Bamboo, Monkeys give way to Marmots and if you look up you might see the vultures or the Thar, apparently there’s Bears and even Snow Leopards up here..!

The view from the Hinku cave during the Annapurna basecamp trek

We opted to stay at Machapuchare basecamp given how cold it was when we were high, the forecast for 4000m was horrifically chilly! If you had time, I’d say stay at both! The sunsets at MBC are magnificent, the weather at ABC can clag in towards the afternoon, but it’s worth lingering to try and spot one of the monsterous avalanches that tear down the faces above, or the marmots that hang out when they think no one is around. Don’t make the mistake of walking no further than the buildings at ABC. A short way beyond is an area full of memorials and prayer flags, and if you’re careful you can look over the moraine down to the rubble strewn south Annapurna glacier below you…

To enhance your time up here, have a read of Annapurna by Maurice Herzog, or The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. Have a go at finding out about the stories surrounding the tragic deaths of climbers Anatoli Boukreev, Alex MacIntyre, Pierre Beghin, and a little more about the people themselves, and have a look for their memorials amongst the many cairns at Annapurna basecamp. Some quite incredible stories…

Exploring Annapurna basecamp

Take it easy around basecamp if you’ve not been too high before, the altitude can affect some people, but once you’re ready, it’s time for those hot pools!  You’ll get to Jhinnu after 2/3 days, and you can be at the road in between 1 and 3 days after that, depending on where you chose to go to. The team did amazing and all finished the Annapurna basecamp trek with no major issues, they all asked me heaps of questions about the mountains and climbing which was ace – hopefully a whole group of new mountaineers inspired! A 12 day trek is no mean feat if you’ve never done anything like it before, so well done team!

Relaxing at the Jhinnudanda hot pools after the Annapurna basecamp trek

Its the first time I’d done a tea house trek, and it was surprising how busy it was, but it didn’t disappoint! I haven’t found anywhere else in the world where so many massive mountains can be seen so close up and with minimal effort. If you head out to Nepal to do the Annapurna basecamp trek enjoy, and feel free to get in touch for any more logistical information or advice!

Annapurna basecamp

Climbing Tharpu Chuli

Being lucky enough to spend a month away working for World Challenge in Nepal, we decided to tag a few weeks of personal climbing on before hand, and after a lot of thought and research we decided that climbing Tharpu Chuli, or Tent Peak as it’s commonly known, would be a good objective… It ‘s a mountain surrounded by giants, deep within the Annapurna range, but being just below the 5700m mark, didn’t require special expensive permits, and hopefully would be doable within the 3 weeks that Joey had off work and was able to join me for!
Our journey started with a whistle stop stay in Kathmandu, with some sight seeing and shopping in the bazaars for food and equipment for the trip, then a day long bus journey to Pokhara, where we arranged our permits and organised our porter to help carry some kit to basecamp. Rather than taking the usual trekking route to Annapurna basecamp (that I’d be doing with my group later on), we wanted to get in quick and get stuck in to climbing Tharpu Chuli whilst the weather was good. Over 4 days we headed up to Annapurna basecamp (ABC), but spent the night lower, at the nicer Machupuchare basecamp (MBC). Our plan was to leave some kit here, along with our porter, and be back in a few days after climbing Tharpu Chuli!

The initial descent on to the South Annapurna glacier was made easier by a fixed rope down the moraine near ABC, but the terrain was steep and loose – perhaps this should have given us some warning of things to come!
At the mercy of scattered cairns to navigate across the tumbling chaos of the rocky south Annapurna glacier, we found our way to the far side at a snails pace, burdened under our massive rucksacks which were full of all the food and kit we’d need for a 4 day Himalaya Alpine style climb…

The jumbled mess of the south Annapurna glacier, the gully we climbed up on the right side of the picture.

We had hoped to have our porter accompany us to Tharpu Chuli basecamp, but he took one look at the glacier and said “no way!” Fair enough.. So with our 20kg loads we wove our way along the glacier in the direction of our hoped line up the lateral moraine on the far side, which would take us onto the hillside above. Care was taken amongst the constantly moving freezer sized boulders, but slips and slides were common.
After a long while and with parched throats, wanting to be up and off the glacier, I decided to take a gully that I thought “didn’t look too steep and it soon eases off, we’ll be up in 20 minutes…”
Cue an hour or so later, working hard to cut steps and handholds with my walking poles, and using them as make-do ice axes whilst trying not to knock too many rocks down onto Joey, eventually I managed to dig out a belay and secured the rope to pass down to safeguard her ascent – I wish I had one for me!
After a few rope lengths of insecure climbing we arrived at a luscious grass meadow with a crystal clear stream, covered in dust, bleeding knuckles and panting hard. Mini epic over…

This would have made an excellent camp spot, but our basecamp lay higher, at 4800m, so up we went, bent double over our sacs on the steep hillside, to eventually arrive at a great spot on a spur overlooking the whole valley we had just crossed below and ringed by the huge peaks above…
The day’s efforts had been considerable, and with strong headaches we pitched the tent, fetched water and tried to recover.
Being pretty spent after 5 long days we decided to take a rest day here – and what a spot!
It was tonic after the busy ABC trail. We had the mountain to ourselves, and for all we knew we could have been the only people on earth… Vultures circled above, huge avalanches poured down Annapurna, and the sunset over Machupuchare made it appear as if it were on fire. By the middle of the rest day we were feeling better – ready to pack, sort and prepare!

High camp on Tharpu Chuli, not a bad view!

The next day was to be our push to high camp and then the summit attempt, days and nights blurring together. Arriving at the desolate yet beautiful high camp, we pitched the tent, ate what we could and made the long journey to get some unappetising, silty glacial water and rested, ready for the long night ahead. With excited anticipation we got into our sleeping bags and the alarm was set for midnight!

After shovelling some gritty porridge and silty coffee down our throats, we made a flask of warm Tang and packed the bags – off we went, up in to the night and the darkness above. Alpine starts are never comfortable, but excitement levels for what lay ahead were high!

Which way to the mountain?! The start of the summit push on Tharpu Chuli.

Cairns and occasional marker sticks showed we were heading the right way, not that there was much choice, hemmed in by a high dark wall on the left and the steep lower tongue of the glacier on the right. After some steep scrambling we came to a flattening that we figured must be our line of entry into the labyrinth of crevasses that lay ahead..
In hurried excitement we tied on to the rope, and took our first steps onto the glistening white glacier as cold was creeping deeper in to us.
With nothing but the looming bulk of the face of Tharpu Chuli ahead to navigate by, I picked our line amongst the crevasses, weaving along, stepping across, judging which snow bridges would hold our weight…
We paused to take it all in, the utter darkness, the colours of the ice in our headtorch beams, stars bright enough to make you narrow your eyes, more stars than you could ever see back home.
As we drew near the face we found the best spot to cross the bergschrund which was straightforward, but the face reared up above much steeper than we had anticipated. Walking poles away and in to climbing mode!

The presence of some fixed lines gave us confidence we had picked the correct line, and comfort as we followed them – a signal that other humans had been along this way…
As we increased height so did the effort, as the oxygen levels decreased. Taking care to check and double check everything we were both doing, finally we arrived on flat ground as daylight came, we had arrived at the col between the summits of Singu Chuli and our Tent Peak..

Tharpu Chuli summit ridge behind, much steeper than it looks!

What we had expected to be an easy final summit ridge was anything but – steep, exposed and with a fair danger of windslab avalanche. We were both really tired now, the last 6 days of carrying 20kg sacs starting to take its toll. Climbing along the crest at a snail’s pace, breathing hard, pausing to take in the sublime view to alleviate the effort, eventually we reached a flat section. The main summit was fifty metres further on, but here we decided to call it a day. The windslab was significant, the drop unsurvivable, the decision easy. Time to go down. We had got up Tharpu Chuli.

Joey nearly on the top, climbing Tharpu Chuli, the windslab starting to build underfoot.

With 500 metres worth of abseiling ahead, great care had to be taken to check and double check everything that we were doing, – this was the time when a mistake would have been easy and the consequence dire. We were hungry, thirsty, tired.. After a long while, we abseiled over the bergschrund to find ourselves back at the glacier, and with the daylight lighting it all up – we could see an easy way across with minimal crevasses! Oh hindsight!
As we trudged across, we stopped in the middle of the glacier where it was oppressively hot, a stark contrast from 8 hours earlier. The absolute silence was stunning.

Starting the descent off Tharpu Chuli, a long way to go! Our tracks visible below, disappearing down to the steep face to the left, our line of ascent.

Once a point was reached that we were on rock and the crampons could come off and the rope could go away, autopilot was turned on to retrace our steps back to our high camp. Steep cliff on our right now, glacier on the left, tricky scrambling down done, careful on the loose boulders, finally a better path back to the high camp. Exhausted bodies collapsed inside the tent, but the need to replenish them was paramount. Warm soup was all we could stomach, and after an hour or so of rest, we packed camp, with our intended goal for the end of the day that beautiful meadow with its crystal clear water far down below…

Winding our way past some crevasses on the glacier below Tharpu Chuli

What took an eternity on the way up, flew by in a blur on the descent, fuelled by the want for oxygen rich air and clean water, but mostly just the desire to rest a little longer somewhere nicer!
Tent up, water and food, sleep.
All we needed were the simple things, the essentials. When life is stripped back it shows us what’s important. The view of the unclimbed Machupuchare was yet again unsurpassable as the sun set, and we lay our heads down. After nearly 18 hours on the go, sleep was easy. Tomorrow was the small matter of crossing the oh so wonderful south Annapurna glacier again…

We had scoped out a possible line of descent on the way down from our basecamp, and were keen to check it out, as the way we took up wasn’t appealing to us!
We followed the trail we had spotted, heading further up the valley, and sure enough there was a faint track leading down over much more amenable terrain.
The moraine was still very loose though, and we arrived at a section where our path had been wiped out by rockfall. I took one tentative step onto the pile of football sized blocks below and it all gave way as if someone had pulled a carpet from underneath me, and then down I went, rocks falling like ball bearings rolling down the slope, and me amongst them all. I picked up speed the further I went, straight down towards the glacier below, picking up more boulders along the way. I fought to stay upright and in the chaos ditched my walking poles. Moments before having been on easy ground, we didn’t have our helmets on, so I used my hands to shield my head from the blocks. When I came to a standstill, maybe only twenty metres below Joey, my hands and arms were bloodied but no major damage was done. Whilst I patched myself up and retrieved my poles, Joey made her way carefully down a little further along. Phew, near disaster averted!

Sunset over Machupuchre on the descent off Tharpu Chuli

Coming onto the glacier on this path put us on a much better line across, and despite being tired and a little broken, we made our way wearily across to the Annapurna basecamp side and up fixed ropes on the moraine, to arrive abruptly on the ABC trail.
The sudden arrival here, where there were other people, a proper trail, tea-houses and other comforts, brought us crashing back to reality. The cola we drank at MBC had never tasted so good, yet we would have traded it for anything to be back on the mountain, with nothing but our rucksacks and our summit dreams..

Annapurna basecamp at the start of or trip to climb Tharpu Chuli, several long days ahead still!