Nepal Winter Expediton 2010
Monday, November 9, 2009
Nepal Winter Expediton 2010
In February, David Gottlieb and I are headed back into the Himalaya for a first peak ascent climbing objective. Track our progress on this blog and stay tuned as we unveil our objectives.
Smíchovský Alpine Festival, Prague Czech Republic
Joe has been invited by the Czech Republic to give a presentation at the Smíchovský Alpine Festival in Prague later this month about his and David's latest two first ascents in Nepal, Kang Nachugo and Jobo Rinjang. Other speakers include mountaineering greats Reinhold Messner and Boris Lorenčič as well as a host of other international alpinists. The festival runs the weekend of the November 20-22, and Joe will be showing at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday night. Check out the Smíchovský Festival Alpinismu website for more details.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
2009 Jobo Rinjang Expedition Wrap-Up
The 2009 Team:
Gear Sponsors:
Communication Support:
Expedition Support:
Press:
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Friday, May 1, 2009
The first ascent of Jobo Rinjang
It is with great happiness that David and I report the first ascent of Jobo Rinjang (6,778 meters) via the direct south face, in the Khumbu Region of Nepal, climbing alpine style over 6 days (from April 20 to April 25), summiting on April 22nd.
After a week's worth of scouting and further acclimatizing, we settled on what we determined to be possibly the only "safe" line that we could foresee doing alpine style on the entire Lunag Massif (see the last post for a full description and images of the massif). We were amazed at the near impenetrability of this group of peaks. The entire south side of the massif was a nearly all shear cliff. Added to this was a constant barrage of rock fall as it seemed there was no decent quality stone anywhere. The north and east sides were completely rimmed in hanging glaciers and careful studying revealed absolutely no safe routes. The west side of the massif sits entirely in Tibet - this might be a viable option for climbing the Lunag's, but inaccessible to us.
Amidst all this chaos, the south face of Jobo Rinjang seemed to maybe hold something for us. A swath of ice led directly up the 1,700-meter face, snaking between rock bands and two ice cliffs high on the face. This was to be our route. It was difficult to access the objective danger initially. It appeared that perhaps the right-hand and larger of the two ice cliffs drained mostly right of the ice line, while the left and smaller one would perhaps spill left. What we didn't count on as much, and which took us by surprise, was the rock fall danger from multiple rock bands across the entire face.
Watching the ice cliff drain right: (photo: JP)
We packed up our kit and left base camp in Lunag (5,050 meters) on April 20th. The first part of our journey was to cross the great confluence of the Nangpa La and Lunag Glaciers, then make our way west up the Lunag Glacier to the base of the face. The total distance was over 4 kilometers of very tedious (and perhaps dangerous) rubble-filled, boulder-shifting, ice and rock maze. After many close call (and fun rides with tent-sized boulders threatening to kill us) we arrived safely at the base of the face, not that much higher than base camp (5,100 meters). Much of the sides of the glaciers are steep debris walls that have not yet reached the angle of repose, but luckily here was an easy way to get off the glacier and access the mountain.
Our first big dilemma was that it looked like there was no good place to bivy on the face until above the hanging glaciers. This was nearly 1,500 meters above us. Banking on our prior 4-weeks of acclimatization, we decided to go for it and it proved to be one of the hardest days in the mountains either of us ever have experienced.
We awoke in the wee hours of the morning and started heading up the mess of ice, snow, and rock scrambling to gain the initial ice path. Once we hit the blue ice, we started simul-climbing.
We packed up our kit and left base camp in Lunag (5,050 meters) on April 20th. The first part of our journey was to cross the great confluence of the Nangpa La and Lunag Glaciers, then make our way west up the Lunag Glacier to the base of the face. The total distance was over 4 kilometers of very tedious (and perhaps dangerous) rubble-filled, boulder-shifting, ice and rock maze. After many close call (and fun rides with tent-sized boulders threatening to kill us) we arrived safely at the base of the face, not that much higher than base camp (5,100 meters). Much of the sides of the glaciers are steep debris walls that have not yet reached the angle of repose, but luckily here was an easy way to get off the glacier and access the mountain.
Our first big dilemma was that it looked like there was no good place to bivy on the face until above the hanging glaciers. This was nearly 1,500 meters above us. Banking on our prior 4-weeks of acclimatization, we decided to go for it and it proved to be one of the hardest days in the mountains either of us ever have experienced.
We awoke in the wee hours of the morning and started heading up the mess of ice, snow, and rock scrambling to gain the initial ice path. Once we hit the blue ice, we started simul-climbing.
Getting on the face: (photo: JP)
David can just be seen here coming up in the center of the picture: (photo: JP)
A look back south across the valley: (photo: JP)
Looking up into the heart of the mountain: (photo: JP)
Joe getting onto the ice: (photo: DG)
Looking down the initial bit of ice: (photo: JP)
Joe on steeper ice above: (photo: DG)
David climbing up to a belay: (photos: JP)
Then out of no where we heard the tell-tale rapidly spinning sound of looming death - a rock the size of a microwave went zipping past us - and we were just worried about the hanging glaciers. The rest of the climb, I kept my head back and eyes glued to the terrain above us. Several more rocks careened past us, but we were lucky enough to be spared.
Things went smoothly for several hours as we efficiently gained elevation.
Then out of no where we heard the tell-tale rapidly spinning sound of looming death - a rock the size of a microwave went zipping past us - and we were just worried about the hanging glaciers. The rest of the climb, I kept my head back and eyes glued to the terrain above us. Several more rocks careened past us, but we were lucky enough to be spared.
David leading out: (photo: JP)
Joe leading up high: (photo: DG)
As we got higher, the going got slower, mainly due to altitude and fatigue. We began to wonder if the ice would ever end. As the day wore on, the weather started changing for the worse, but we continued our ascent, and started pitching out some steeper sections. In became dark and started snowing, but finally we made a horizontal traverse right to the top of the right-hand hanger.
Climbing into the upper runnels as it starts to get dark: (photo:JP)
Arriving at camp at 6,500 meters exhausted, 21 hours later: (photo: JP)
That video sums it up, the next morning luckily dawned clear again and we had a great day climbing the upper headwall.
Looking out the tent in morning: (photo: JP)
The day after: (photo:JP)
David crossing the edge bergschrund that we camped in: (photo: JP)
A view to the south into the Khumbu:
A great unobstructed view of Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu:
Above our bivy, the climbing changed from ice to our favorite: steep unconsolidated snow flutings. With no real protection or belays, we carefully worked our way up.
David getting jiggy with a snow fluting: (photo: JP)
Great views of Cho Oyu: (photo: JP)
After several rope-lengths, we pulled over onto the summit dome.
Joe coming up to the summit: (photo: DG)
Summit Success!!!: (photos courtesy: JP)
Our plan at this point was to maybe get a crack at some of the other summits in the massif. But we were a full 2 kilometers from Lunag I and a long Kang Nachugo-like knife edge ridge separated us from the other peaks. We camped on the summit of Jobo Rinjang (the only real flat spot anywhere to be found) and made an attempt on the ridge the next day. I won't go into too many details of the attempt, other than to say the ridge was heavily corniced with unconsolidated snow with warm temperatures during the day, making for risky conditions. We tried some antics for an entire day and got ourselves into some funny hard terrain, but ultimately we were unsuccessful.
Camping on the summit with Everest in the distance: (photo: JP)
Looking north toward Nangpa La: (photo: JP)
Getting ready for the next day's activities: (photo: JP)
What lay between us and Lunag I: (photo: JP)
Following are some images and video from what we were up to: (photos: JP)
We returned back to the summit of Jobo Rinjang for another night on top: (photo courtesy: JP)
The next day it was time to head down. The weather was perfect, albeit too very warm, which made us nervous about rockfall on the descent. We downclimbed from the summit several pitches, until able to start V-thread rappelling in solid ice.
Joe leading the rappels: (photo: DG)
Some rappelling shots: (photo: JP)
We made every rappel by pulling the rope through a V-thread, thus leaving absolutely no tat or garbage and no trace of our ascent on the mountain. (photos: JP)
Rappelling down the lower couloir. We made exactly 20 60-meter raps down the face before we started downclimbing again. (photo: JP)
And finally down the lower slopes: (photo: JP)
On the lower section we encountered some serious rockfall - but came out unscathed.
The cheif was watching over us today: (photo: JP)
David (circled) running down the lower slabs dodging bullets, err, microwaves: (photo: JP)
We made it down to the glacier by early evening and crashed out in the tent. The next morning we made our way back over the crazy glaciers to base camp in Lunag.
Our excellent team in base camp - our cook Dawa, and assistant Pemba: (photo: JP)
We hiked around a little more for some pictures, then loaded up the yaks to head out to Lukla: (photo: DG)
On the way out we stopped at some of our friend's remote homes to visit. Here is the mountain paradise of Chhule: (photo: JP)
Where we hung out, ate, and swapped stories: (photos: DG)
We slowly made our way back with several stops for drinking Chang and Thungba. Eventually arriving back in Lukla for our flights back.
[Post Addition]
Here are some images from the last post with the route line drawn in.
From the southeast:
From the southwest with Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu in the distance:
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Approach and Lunag Massif Exploration
We left Namche Bazar on April 11 and reached the Sherpa settlement of Tarnga (4,050 meters). Not realizing the lack of lodges in Tarnga, we again got to stay with a wonderful Sherpa family that invited us into their home. The next day we hiked to base camp in Lunag (5,050 meters). Lunag was a small abandoned outpost, with a few dilapidated buildings. This is one of the first good spots where Tibetans coming over Nangpa La can graze their yaks, but now with the northern border being closed, it was desolate and lonely.
Our first task was to scout out this huge mountain in front of us and see what it had to offer. We spent several days hiking around the mountain and crossing back and forth across the huge glaciers that surrounded it. What we eventually realized was that we were indeed looking at more of a complex series of peaks and not just one mountain, like we originally projected. There was a line of summits on the Nepal-Tibet border that formed a north-south ridge crest, culminating in a southern high point of 6,895 meters. Then jutting out of this to the east was a long sharp ridge which led over two kilometers to a huge pyramidal peak of 6,778 meters.
Since our expedition was exploratory as much as anything, I'd like to share our findings and many images from around the peak. As it turns out, it seems that this mountain is too complex to have a single name. So after our climbing exploits (report to follow), and further research and discussion with locals and experts, we came up with a naming scheme for the massif, which hopefully will clear up any misunderstandings.
First though, before I continue, I want to point out that our Nepal Ministry of Tourism Permit was actually only valid, as was eventually determined, for the mountain Jobo Rinjang, which turns out to be the peak of 6,778 meters at the eastern end of the massif.
Since there is not a single super-prominent summit to the massif(and the actual highest point of the massif is visible from very few places in Nepal), I think the entire set of peaks should be called the Lunag Massif, with each distinct summit give a number. The highest point would be Lunag I, then each peak to the north given an increasing number. (One other peak to note is "Little Lunag" - a small sub-peak of 6,492 meters, adjacent to Lunag I to the south.) The only main summit not along this south-north trending ridge line is Jobo Rinjang. Jobo Rinjang is by far the most prominent point from most view points in Nepal and perhaps the most aesthetic due to its pyramidal appearance. It also marks the confluence of two huge glaciers, the Nangpa La coming down north from Nangpa La (pass), and the Lunag Glacier, splitting these two like a massive ship's prow.
Here are the elevations of the peaks:
Lunag I - 6,895 meters (6,907 on some maps)
Lunag II - 6,891 meters (6,903 on some maps)
Lunag III - 6,795 meters (6,821 on some maps)
Lunag IV - 6,781 meters (6,797 on some maps)
Lunag V - 6,550 meters (6,590 on some maps)
Little Lunag - 6,492 meters (6,507 on some maps)
Jobo Rinjang - 6,778 meters (6,777 on some maps)
Below I have labeled the peaks of the massif, assigning Lunag I to the highest point of 6,895 meters, and the lower peaks to the north Lunag II - Lunag V (more might be possible).
On our approach to the Lunag Massif, Jobo Rinjang is the pyramidal peak in front:
The massive Lunag Glacier and the Lunag Massif:
Base camp in the moraine's edge at the outpost of Lunag:
A great view of Kyajo Ri at sunset from base camp:
A few dilapidated shelters at Lunag:
Starting one of our scouting missions of the Lunag Massif:
Studying the south face of Jobo Rinjang for a possible route. Rockfall was a major concern as it seemed to be constant down the faces.
An overview of the Lunag Massif, Pasang Lhamu peak, and Cho Oyu from the south. None of the Lunags are visible in this picture (except Little Lunag on the left), they are all behind Jobo Rinjang.
Evening time on the jumbled confluence of the Lunag and Nangpa La Glaciers, looking west:
The 1,700-meter south face of Jobo Rinjang with Mt. Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu in the distance:
A rare view of the south wall of Lunag I. Our original plan was to hike to the col here between Little Lunag and Lunag I and climb the southwest ridge to the summit. Our map showed the Lunag Glacier gently rising to this col - apparently things have changed dramatically or our map was erroneous.
The north side of the Lunag Massif. Jobo Rinjang is on the left and only Lunag III - the peak on the right - is visible.
Looking farther north to Lunag IV and V. Nangpa La (pass) is on the right:
A picture taken on the way out just after the ascent, showing drier conditions:
All photos on this page by Joseph Puryear.
Our first task was to scout out this huge mountain in front of us and see what it had to offer. We spent several days hiking around the mountain and crossing back and forth across the huge glaciers that surrounded it. What we eventually realized was that we were indeed looking at more of a complex series of peaks and not just one mountain, like we originally projected. There was a line of summits on the Nepal-Tibet border that formed a north-south ridge crest, culminating in a southern high point of 6,895 meters. Then jutting out of this to the east was a long sharp ridge which led over two kilometers to a huge pyramidal peak of 6,778 meters.
Since our expedition was exploratory as much as anything, I'd like to share our findings and many images from around the peak. As it turns out, it seems that this mountain is too complex to have a single name. So after our climbing exploits (report to follow), and further research and discussion with locals and experts, we came up with a naming scheme for the massif, which hopefully will clear up any misunderstandings.
First though, before I continue, I want to point out that our Nepal Ministry of Tourism Permit was actually only valid, as was eventually determined, for the mountain Jobo Rinjang, which turns out to be the peak of 6,778 meters at the eastern end of the massif.
Since there is not a single super-prominent summit to the massif(and the actual highest point of the massif is visible from very few places in Nepal), I think the entire set of peaks should be called the Lunag Massif, with each distinct summit give a number. The highest point would be Lunag I, then each peak to the north given an increasing number. (One other peak to note is "Little Lunag" - a small sub-peak of 6,492 meters, adjacent to Lunag I to the south.) The only main summit not along this south-north trending ridge line is Jobo Rinjang. Jobo Rinjang is by far the most prominent point from most view points in Nepal and perhaps the most aesthetic due to its pyramidal appearance. It also marks the confluence of two huge glaciers, the Nangpa La coming down north from Nangpa La (pass), and the Lunag Glacier, splitting these two like a massive ship's prow.
Here are the elevations of the peaks:
Lunag I - 6,895 meters (6,907 on some maps)
Lunag II - 6,891 meters (6,903 on some maps)
Lunag III - 6,795 meters (6,821 on some maps)
Lunag IV - 6,781 meters (6,797 on some maps)
Lunag V - 6,550 meters (6,590 on some maps)
Little Lunag - 6,492 meters (6,507 on some maps)
Jobo Rinjang - 6,778 meters (6,777 on some maps)
Below I have labeled the peaks of the massif, assigning Lunag I to the highest point of 6,895 meters, and the lower peaks to the north Lunag II - Lunag V (more might be possible).
On our approach to the Lunag Massif, Jobo Rinjang is the pyramidal peak in front:
The massive Lunag Glacier and the Lunag Massif:
Base camp in the moraine's edge at the outpost of Lunag:
A great view of Kyajo Ri at sunset from base camp:
A few dilapidated shelters at Lunag:
Starting one of our scouting missions of the Lunag Massif:
Studying the south face of Jobo Rinjang for a possible route. Rockfall was a major concern as it seemed to be constant down the faces.
An overview of the Lunag Massif, Pasang Lhamu peak, and Cho Oyu from the south. None of the Lunags are visible in this picture (except Little Lunag on the left), they are all behind Jobo Rinjang.
Evening time on the jumbled confluence of the Lunag and Nangpa La Glaciers, looking west:
The 1,700-meter south face of Jobo Rinjang with Mt. Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu in the distance:
A rare view of the south wall of Lunag I. Our original plan was to hike to the col here between Little Lunag and Lunag I and climb the southwest ridge to the summit. Our map showed the Lunag Glacier gently rising to this col - apparently things have changed dramatically or our map was erroneous.
The north side of the Lunag Massif. Jobo Rinjang is on the left and only Lunag III - the peak on the right - is visible.
Looking farther north to Lunag IV and V. Nangpa La (pass) is on the right:
A picture taken on the way out just after the ascent, showing drier conditions:
All photos on this page by Joseph Puryear.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The American Alpine Club Spitzer Cutting Edge Award.
It is with great excitement and appreciation that we would like to announce our receiving of the 2009 Spitzer Cutting Edge Award from the American Alpine Club. The award has been created to back American expeditions to the toughest alpine objectives in the world. From both David and I - our deepest gratitude goes out to the AAC. Thank you for helping us reach our climbing dreams!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The Route Is Chosen - The Climb Is On
Joe and David made it to base camp in the village of Lunag on 4/12. After days of scouting the peak, they picked a hard but safe line they think will go. It is the direct South face of Jobo Rinjang at 6,778 meters.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Let's Roll - Lunag
We're off and ready for our main course - The Lunag Massif. We got some great views of our objective from Kyajo Ri.
Here it is:
Another view of the Lunag Massif from the summit of Kyajo Ri:
Most of our gear is already on its way to base camp. We hope to reach base camp in Lunak, on the 12th. We will then spend several days scouting out our objective and choosing a line, before attempting the mountain alpine style. We hope to make updates via sat phone, so check back often for current news!
Here it is:
Another view of the Lunag Massif from the summit of Kyajo Ri:
Most of our gear is already on its way to base camp. We hope to reach base camp in Lunak, on the 12th. We will then spend several days scouting out our objective and choosing a line, before attempting the mountain alpine style. We hope to make updates via sat phone, so check back often for current news!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Success climbing Kyajo Ri
David and I are back in Namche Bazaar after a great 7 days climbing Kyajo Ri (aka Kyazo Ri) - 6,186 meters.
We started our adventure in Namche, with our fully loaded Cilo Gear packs with all of our climbing gear and food:
The first day was very short to the small village of Mende (3,740 m), high on the hillside above the Thame valley and below the Kyajo Drangka - the hidden hanging valley that leads to Kyajo Ri from the south. Expecting to spend the night here at a tea house, we were horrified when we arrived to find the only accommodations to be a gross corporate hotel monstrosity at the lower end of the town. We wandered up the settlement a ways and came across a true gem of a Sherpa family who invited us into their home for the evening. We spent the rest of the afternoon with Pemba Rita Sherpa and her two daughters Tsering Doka and Lhakpa Kanchhi helping plant potatoes in their field.
That night we had some of the best Dal Bhat in the Khumbu. We left early the next morning to follow a faint yak trail up and over steep hillsides into our valley. Here we are with Lhakpa and Tsering in front of their abode:
With a lot of ups and downs, we finally made our way into this magical valley and made camp at 4,500 meters. Massive walls towered over the perfectly flat bottomed valley. Look carefully for our small yellow tent in the bottom of the following picture:
Day 3 was another longish day as we climbed two steep inclines with intervening broad valley floors.
There was a quite a bit of snow up higher.
We made our camp at 5,300 meters, at the southern edge of the Kyajo Glacier and in full view of our objective.
The next day we made our way up to the 5,700 meter col in the left hand side of the images. Our climbing route went up the left hand skyline.
Climbing up to the col was mostly talus with a bit of scrambling.
Our high camp in the col:
The following image shows our climbing route - easy mixed through the rock band then up the central ridge crest. We were excited to see that the climb was going to be mostly pure blue ice. It has been a very dry winter this past year in Nepal and lots of ice is showing on all the peaks. The climb is pretty short, only about 10 pitches after the initial slope.
Day 5 we awoke to perfect blue skies and got a reasonably early start on the route. Here's just after coming through the rock band, with our tent below.
And me leading at about the same spot:
Looking down at the Kyajo Glacier:
And up into the route:
David coming up to the first belay. We climbed the route in 3 simuled pitches - we only had 4 ice screws so we couldn't get more than 3-4 ropelenghts at a time. Most of the climbing is 50-55-degree ice.
David taking the sharp end:
We were a little miffed to find garbage and remnants of past climbing expeditions. There were old tattered fixed lines, pickets, and ice screws on the route. We didn't expect to see any trash from a peak that can easily and should be climbed in alpine style.
David coming up to the summit:
On the top!
Joe on the summit:
The weather on the summit was perfect. No wind and quite warm, although it looked as if a storm might be brewing to the west.
We rappelled using V-threads and pulling the rope through the hole, thus leaving no trace of our ascent on the mountain.
As we descended, the impending storm hit. The winds picked up and it started snowing.
By the time we got to the tent is was a full on nuking storm complete with massive thunder and lightning with several lightning strikes less than 1 second away.
We cowered in our tent for the next 12 hours as we got pounded. We huddled around the Jet Boil stove and ate our Wai Wai noodles in the dark.
The next day miraculously dawned clear again, but cold.
Thank goodness our Sherpa Adventure Gear kept us warm!
We hightailed it out of there, fully expecting the weather to change again.
Rappelling a rock step in the gully:
We were right, the weather changed again and I saw a Yeti through the snow storm:
A nice dry gully down low; now an ugly snowy mess:
We camped again in the basin at 4,500 meters under a cool boulder that kept us dry that night.
On Day 7 we made the final exodus out of the valley.
We stopped back in to visit our friends in Mende. Lhakpa and Tsering's brother Pasang was there too.
Cool bandannas and sunglasses.
The whole family is headed to Chulle in the Bhoti Koshi valley to heard their yaks. We hope to visit them on the way to base camp in Lunak.
We are now back in Namche, or Nauche as the locals like to call it, for a few days of rest and preparation for Jobo Rinjang.
We started our adventure in Namche, with our fully loaded Cilo Gear packs with all of our climbing gear and food:
The first day was very short to the small village of Mende (3,740 m), high on the hillside above the Thame valley and below the Kyajo Drangka - the hidden hanging valley that leads to Kyajo Ri from the south. Expecting to spend the night here at a tea house, we were horrified when we arrived to find the only accommodations to be a gross corporate hotel monstrosity at the lower end of the town. We wandered up the settlement a ways and came across a true gem of a Sherpa family who invited us into their home for the evening. We spent the rest of the afternoon with Pemba Rita Sherpa and her two daughters Tsering Doka and Lhakpa Kanchhi helping plant potatoes in their field.
That night we had some of the best Dal Bhat in the Khumbu. We left early the next morning to follow a faint yak trail up and over steep hillsides into our valley. Here we are with Lhakpa and Tsering in front of their abode:
With a lot of ups and downs, we finally made our way into this magical valley and made camp at 4,500 meters. Massive walls towered over the perfectly flat bottomed valley. Look carefully for our small yellow tent in the bottom of the following picture:
Day 3 was another longish day as we climbed two steep inclines with intervening broad valley floors.
There was a quite a bit of snow up higher.
We made our camp at 5,300 meters, at the southern edge of the Kyajo Glacier and in full view of our objective.
The next day we made our way up to the 5,700 meter col in the left hand side of the images. Our climbing route went up the left hand skyline.
Climbing up to the col was mostly talus with a bit of scrambling.
Our high camp in the col:
The following image shows our climbing route - easy mixed through the rock band then up the central ridge crest. We were excited to see that the climb was going to be mostly pure blue ice. It has been a very dry winter this past year in Nepal and lots of ice is showing on all the peaks. The climb is pretty short, only about 10 pitches after the initial slope.
Day 5 we awoke to perfect blue skies and got a reasonably early start on the route. Here's just after coming through the rock band, with our tent below.
And me leading at about the same spot:
Looking down at the Kyajo Glacier:
And up into the route:
David coming up to the first belay. We climbed the route in 3 simuled pitches - we only had 4 ice screws so we couldn't get more than 3-4 ropelenghts at a time. Most of the climbing is 50-55-degree ice.
David taking the sharp end:
We were a little miffed to find garbage and remnants of past climbing expeditions. There were old tattered fixed lines, pickets, and ice screws on the route. We didn't expect to see any trash from a peak that can easily and should be climbed in alpine style.
David coming up to the summit:
On the top!
Joe on the summit:
The weather on the summit was perfect. No wind and quite warm, although it looked as if a storm might be brewing to the west.
We rappelled using V-threads and pulling the rope through the hole, thus leaving no trace of our ascent on the mountain.
As we descended, the impending storm hit. The winds picked up and it started snowing.
By the time we got to the tent is was a full on nuking storm complete with massive thunder and lightning with several lightning strikes less than 1 second away.
We cowered in our tent for the next 12 hours as we got pounded. We huddled around the Jet Boil stove and ate our Wai Wai noodles in the dark.
The next day miraculously dawned clear again, but cold.
Thank goodness our Sherpa Adventure Gear kept us warm!
We hightailed it out of there, fully expecting the weather to change again.
Rappelling a rock step in the gully:
We were right, the weather changed again and I saw a Yeti through the snow storm:
A nice dry gully down low; now an ugly snowy mess:
We camped again in the basin at 4,500 meters under a cool boulder that kept us dry that night.
On Day 7 we made the final exodus out of the valley.
We stopped back in to visit our friends in Mende. Lhakpa and Tsering's brother Pasang was there too.
Cool bandannas and sunglasses.
The whole family is headed to Chulle in the Bhoti Koshi valley to heard their yaks. We hope to visit them on the way to base camp in Lunak.
We are now back in Namche, or Nauche as the locals like to call it, for a few days of rest and preparation for Jobo Rinjang.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
We're off for Kyajo Ri
We're leaving tomorrow for Kyajo Ri. Our plan is to leave Namche fully loaded and walk up to the small town of Mende. From here we will head up the Kyajo Drangka, the long southerly drainage that comes off the south face of the mountain. We will take 8 days of food and work our way up to a high camp at 5,700 meters. From here we will make the final summit push on the southwest ridge. Afterwards we'll return to Namche to make our final preparations for our Jobo Rinjang expedition.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Name Game
On our trek, we found even more names for our mysterious peak. Here is a complete list of the names (including variations) we have found so far:
Lunag Ri
Lunak Ri
Jobo Rinzang
Jobo Ribjang
Jobo Rinjang
Jo Robsang
Raungsiyar
Raunsiyar
Perhaps the name Jo Robsang was the most interesting, as this was the name a local in Lungden called it. From here, the eastern peak of 6,778 meters is visible. In fact, from most angles in and around the Bhoti Koshi valley, this peak appears to be the summit and the higher 6,895 point is not readily discernible. This could lead to a lot of confusion. My new thinking is that some variation of the name Jobo Rinjang applies to this prominent point, while Lunag applies to the entire massif.
We'll find out more as we get closer to the mountain.
Lunag Ri
Lunak Ri
Jobo Rinzang
Jobo Ribjang
Jobo Rinjang
Jo Robsang
Raungsiyar
Raunsiyar
Perhaps the name Jo Robsang was the most interesting, as this was the name a local in Lungden called it. From here, the eastern peak of 6,778 meters is visible. In fact, from most angles in and around the Bhoti Koshi valley, this peak appears to be the summit and the higher 6,895 point is not readily discernible. This could lead to a lot of confusion. My new thinking is that some variation of the name Jobo Rinjang applies to this prominent point, while Lunag applies to the entire massif.
We'll find out more as we get closer to the mountain.
Meeting Andrew Lock
On our trek, coming off of Cho La pass, we had the great pleasure to meet Andrew Lock - Australia's foremost high-altitude mountaineer. Andrew was extremely humble and low key and it wasn't till after 20 minutes of chatting that we figured out who he was and what he was up to. Andrew will be attempting to climb Shishapangma this spring, which will be his 14th and last 8,000 meter peak. Apparently he has already climbed Shishapangma twice, but only to the commonly climbed central summit. In true style he will not be satisfied until reaching the true summit.
Check out Andrew's website and expedition dispatches: http://www.andrew-lock.com/
Best of luck to you Andrew!
Check out Andrew's website and expedition dispatches: http://www.andrew-lock.com/
Best of luck to you Andrew!
Back from acclimatization trek
David I have arrived back in Namche Bazar after an amazing circuit of the Khumbu. We hit five points over 5,300 meters. Since I highly recommend this as a great way to acclimatize (and I don't have a ton of time to fill in the details), I'm going to write out what we did as an itinerary.
Day 1 - Fly to Lukla (2,860 m) and make the short hike to Phakding.
Day 2 - Hike to Namche Bazar (3440 m).
Day 3 - Hike to Thame (3800 m), with lunch in Thamo at the Tashi Dele Restaurant.
Day 4 - Climb Sundar peak (5377 m), a fun hill above Thame that has a cool bit of scrambling to reach the true summit.
Day 5 - Hike a short distance to Lungden (4362 m) at the base of Renjo La.
Day 6 - Cross Renjo La (pass) (5,417 m) to Gokyo (4,750 m) - lots of snow and calf deep trail breaking for us, but good trail.
Day 7 - Climb Gokyo Ri to true summit (5,483 m) - again lots of snow and trail breaking for us between false summit and true summit. Descend and hike to Dragnag (4,690 m) at the base of Cho La.
Day 8 - Cross Cho La (pass) (5,420 m) to Tukla (a.k.a Dukla, Duglha) (4,620 m).
Day 9 - Hike round trip to Kala Pathar (5,643 m).
Day 10 - Descend back to Namche Bazar from Tukla.
Here are a few photos from the adventure!
Us with our good friends Chhewang Nima and Lhamu Chhiki in Thamo:
David hiking up Sundur Mountain with Kwangde behind:
David helping load a yak at Lungden:
Our first climbing objective, Kyajo Ri from the west:
Our first look at our main objective, in the distance is Jobo Rinjang:
Hiking up toward Renjo La:
David on Renjo La:
On the real summit of Gokyo Ri:
A picture of Joe!
Hiking up toward Kala Pathar:
Yaks taking loads up to Everest Base Camp:
A porter with the north face of Kang Tenga in the distance:
Day 1 - Fly to Lukla (2,860 m) and make the short hike to Phakding.
Day 2 - Hike to Namche Bazar (3440 m).
Day 3 - Hike to Thame (3800 m), with lunch in Thamo at the Tashi Dele Restaurant.
Day 4 - Climb Sundar peak (5377 m), a fun hill above Thame that has a cool bit of scrambling to reach the true summit.
Day 5 - Hike a short distance to Lungden (4362 m) at the base of Renjo La.
Day 6 - Cross Renjo La (pass) (5,417 m) to Gokyo (4,750 m) - lots of snow and calf deep trail breaking for us, but good trail.
Day 7 - Climb Gokyo Ri to true summit (5,483 m) - again lots of snow and trail breaking for us between false summit and true summit. Descend and hike to Dragnag (4,690 m) at the base of Cho La.
Day 8 - Cross Cho La (pass) (5,420 m) to Tukla (a.k.a Dukla, Duglha) (4,620 m).
Day 9 - Hike round trip to Kala Pathar (5,643 m).
Day 10 - Descend back to Namche Bazar from Tukla.
Here are a few photos from the adventure!
Us with our good friends Chhewang Nima and Lhamu Chhiki in Thamo:
David hiking up Sundur Mountain with Kwangde behind:
David helping load a yak at Lungden:
Our first climbing objective, Kyajo Ri from the west:
Our first look at our main objective, in the distance is Jobo Rinjang:
Hiking up toward Renjo La:
David on Renjo La:
On the real summit of Gokyo Ri:
A picture of Joe!
Hiking up toward Kala Pathar:
Yaks taking loads up to Everest Base Camp:
A porter with the north face of Kang Tenga in the distance:
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Update from the Trek
Joe and David are on Renjo la Pass. Feeling strong and healthy, everything is OK
(message from sat phone)
Monday, March 23, 2009
Namche Bazar
David and I have arrived in Namche Bazar at 3,440 meters. Namche is the center of the Sherpa community here in the Khumbu Valley. It is very quiet here compared to past times I've visited. This is partly due to being a little early in the tourist season, and partly due to the fact that the Tibetan border is closed. There are no Tibetan traders in town and what is usually a sprawling market of imported Chinese goods is now empty fields that look like they might be starting to cultivate. Otherwise everything is status quo. We will leave tomorrow to start our acclimatization trek. Our goal is to head up the Thame Valley and cross Renjo La (5,465 meters), then down to the Goyko Valley. If we are feeling good and have the time, we will continue over Cho La (5,420 meters) and come back down the valley that leads to Mt. Everest. The trek will take us a week or 10 days. There is a lot of fresh snow up here now; hopefully conditions will be good going over the passes. That's all for now.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
We're Off!
It has finally rained here in Kathmandu so everything is looking much better. David and I are off to the Himalaya tomorrow morning. We will fly to Lukla, then spend two days hiking to Namche Bazaar. Our first goal is to spend some time acclimatizing by taking the loop over Renjo La, essentially circumnavigating Kyajo Ri. Then we will spend a week or so climbing Kyajo Ri, a beautiful looking trekking peak between the Thame and Gokyo valleys. Then we will head back north up the Thame valley to our base camp in the tiny settlement of Lunag. From here, after doing some reconnaissance to find a proper route, we will attempt Jobo Rinjang alpine style. We're hoping to update as much as we can via satellite phone and internet where available. The whole expedition will last until early May.
Cheers to all and thanks for checking out our blog!
Cheers to all and thanks for checking out our blog!
Friday, March 20, 2009
A Huge Thanks to All Our Sponsors and Partners!!!
We'd like to extend a big thanks to all our sponsors and partners that have provided gear and support for this expedition:
Sherpa Adventure Gear makes top quality climbing apparel. From base layers, soft shells, hard shells, synthetic and down insulation, and hats, we are outfitted head to toe. Sherpa Adventure Gear apparel is all made right here in Kathmandu. After our great success on Kang Nachugo last season, we are excited to be using Sherpa gear again on this trip.
Petzl manufactures excellent ice and alpine climbing gear, in addition to numerous other climbing related products. We'll be using Petzl icetools, crampons, ice screws, harnesses, helmets, headlamps, and various other climbing gear on this trip.
Cilo Gear makes the best alpine climbing packs in the world. Handmade in Portland, Oregon, these packs rule. The packs feature brilliant designs made with super high-tech materials, including Dyneema, making the packs ultralight and durable. We're psyched to both be using the Dyneema 45L on our climb.
Feathered Friends makes the best sleeping bags on the planet and always have. Hand made in Seattle, Washington it doesn't get any better than this. We're both using the Feathered Friends Snow Bunting for our climb.
La Sportiva is a high quality footwear manufacturer for ice, rock, and mountaineering. I'll be using their Spantik boots for this expedition.
Sterling Ropes makes super-durable and well crafted climbing ropes in the USA. We'll be using their Evolution 8.4 mm half ropes for our expedition.
Another thanks goes out to Bonair Winery. After much consideration about the merits of taking sponsorship from the alcohol industry, we decided based upon the quality of product to accept limited sponsorship from select companies meeting our high criteria. Only one winery made the grade. Bonair Winery in the Rattlesnake Hills of Washington State makes the most exceptional wines we have ever had the pleasure to experience. Bonair Winery has provided us with support by means of satellite communication, which will be vital in updating this blog.
And last but not least, thanks to Climb High Himalaya for providing unparalleled expedition support. Again, Rajen Thapa has come through for us to layout an awesome adventure. Raj is a logistical genius and we highly recommend his services for anyone climbing or trekking in Nepal.
Sherpa Adventure Gear makes top quality climbing apparel. From base layers, soft shells, hard shells, synthetic and down insulation, and hats, we are outfitted head to toe. Sherpa Adventure Gear apparel is all made right here in Kathmandu. After our great success on Kang Nachugo last season, we are excited to be using Sherpa gear again on this trip.Petzl manufactures excellent ice and alpine climbing gear, in addition to numerous other climbing related products. We'll be using Petzl icetools, crampons, ice screws, harnesses, helmets, headlamps, and various other climbing gear on this trip.Cilo Gear makes the best alpine climbing packs in the world. Handmade in Portland, Oregon, these packs rule. The packs feature brilliant designs made with super high-tech materials, including Dyneema, making the packs ultralight and durable. We're psyched to both be using the Dyneema 45L on our climb.Feathered Friends makes the best sleeping bags on the planet and always have. Hand made in Seattle, Washington it doesn't get any better than this. We're both using the Feathered Friends Snow Bunting for our climb.La Sportiva is a high quality footwear manufacturer for ice, rock, and mountaineering. I'll be using their Spantik boots for this expedition.Sterling Ropes makes super-durable and well crafted climbing ropes in the USA. We'll be using their Evolution 8.4 mm half ropes for our expedition.Another thanks goes out to Bonair Winery. After much consideration about the merits of taking sponsorship from the alcohol industry, we decided based upon the quality of product to accept limited sponsorship from select companies meeting our high criteria. Only one winery made the grade. Bonair Winery in the Rattlesnake Hills of Washington State makes the most exceptional wines we have ever had the pleasure to experience. Bonair Winery has provided us with support by means of satellite communication, which will be vital in updating this blog.And last but not least, thanks to Climb High Himalaya for providing unparalleled expedition support. Again, Rajen Thapa has come through for us to layout an awesome adventure. Raj is a logistical genius and we highly recommend his services for anyone climbing or trekking in Nepal.
Meeting with the Ministry and Sherpa Adventure Gear visit
Today we met with the Nepal Ministry of Tourism and received our permit for Jobo Rinjang (6,666 meters). Apparently they might be interested in changing the name and the official elevation should we climb the peak, but we're not going to hold our breath. This time the visit was very quick and uninteresting, I guess this is a good thing! Our expedition will not officially start until April 15.
In the briefing room:
Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is our liaison officer:
We also visited the Sherpa Adventure Gear Factory where we held a product development meeting, discussing our experiences with the Sherpa apparel that we've been using and are about to use on our upcoming trip. We're very excited about some of the new designs and technologies coming out.
All in all another busy day in Kathmandu. It has been raining a little in the afternoons which has been very nice. Looks like we'll be headed into the mountains Sunday morning.
In the briefing room:
Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is our liaison officer:
We also visited the Sherpa Adventure Gear Factory where we held a product development meeting, discussing our experiences with the Sherpa apparel that we've been using and are about to use on our upcoming trip. We're very excited about some of the new designs and technologies coming out.
All in all another busy day in Kathmandu. It has been raining a little in the afternoons which has been very nice. Looks like we'll be headed into the mountains Sunday morning.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Lunag Ri - Expedition Name Change!
After meeting with Ms. Hawley, we can introduce even more confusion into our mysterious peak. Apparently there is yet another name for our peak. The newest name for our peak is "Lunag Ri", named after the glacier that sits at the southern base of the mountain and the small settlement of Lunag to the east. We believe this actually to be a more accurate name for the peak, and thus have changed the name of our expedition on this blog. The Nepal Ministry of Tourism, however, insists that the name be kept as Jobo Rinjang. Remember, Jobo Rabzang is the peak 12 km to the north, which is likely the source of the error. In addition, as stated before, the Ministry has the peak mislabeled as 6,666 meters.
Big thanks to Damien Gildea for helping us sort through some of this mess and also suggesting the name be Lunag Ri.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Kathmandu and meeting with Ms. Elizabeth Hawley
We have arrived in Kathmandu. Everything here is business as usual. The rolling electricity blackouts have become particularity bad, with power only coming on for 8 hours every 24 hours, in 4 hour blocks, with the block sometimes occurring in the middle of the night. This has made using the internet challenging at times, but as they say here "Kay Garnay", which is Nepali for "What to do?".
The air quality is also quite horrible, the worst I've seen. They have canceled the flights to Lukla for the past few days because of it. They say it hasn't rained here in 5 months, which apparently is very unusual.
We met yesterday with Ms. Elizabeth Hawley the world’s foremost record keeper on climbing in Nepal. She seemed genuinely interested in our expedition and we had a great time chatting about current events and climbing.
Today we did some final preparations and tomorrow we hope to have our permissions in order, which means we could be headed for the mountains as soon as Thursday.
Meeting with Ms. Hawley:
Ms. Hawley with her vintage VW Beetle:
The air quality is also quite horrible, the worst I've seen. They have canceled the flights to Lukla for the past few days because of it. They say it hasn't rained here in 5 months, which apparently is very unusual.
We met yesterday with Ms. Elizabeth Hawley the world’s foremost record keeper on climbing in Nepal. She seemed genuinely interested in our expedition and we had a great time chatting about current events and climbing.
Today we did some final preparations and tomorrow we hope to have our permissions in order, which means we could be headed for the mountains as soon as Thursday.
Meeting with Ms. Hawley:
Ms. Hawley with her vintage VW Beetle:
Friday, March 13, 2009
2009 Jobo Rinjang Expedition
On March 14, David Gottlieb and I are headed to the Nepal Himalaya to attempt Jobo Rinjang. Jobo Rinjang is a wild looking and massive unclimbed peak located on the Tibet/Nepalese border just west of Cho Oyu and southwest of Nangpa La Pass.
Jobo Rinjang vs. Jobo Rabzang or Jobo Ribjang
There is some naming confusion with the peaks in this area. There is a peak named Jobo Rabzang 12 kilometers to the north of Jobo Rinjang and located entirely in Tibet, just west of Cho Oyu. This peak has been climbed and has a height of only 6,666 meters. It is thought that perhaps the Nepal authorities might have misnamed our peak Jobo Rinjang, confusing it with Jobo Rabzang farther north. Also, according to the authorites, the "official" height of Jobo Rinjang is 6,666 meters, but this is obviously a mistake, as this is the height of the peak further north. Topographic maps put the height of Jobo Rinjang at 6,778 meters, and looking at images of the peak, it is definitely much higher than its like-named neighbor to the north.
In any case, the best translation I could come up with for the peak's name is "The Buddha of the Progress of Goodness"
Kyajo Ri
First up though, will be an ascent of Kyajo Ri (6,186 meters) for acclimatization. This beautiful pointed peak lies between the Thame and Gokyo Valleys.
Check back soon and often. We promise to update much more frequently this time around (we've got a sat phone!).
Jobo Rinjang vs. Jobo Rabzang or Jobo Ribjang
There is some naming confusion with the peaks in this area. There is a peak named Jobo Rabzang 12 kilometers to the north of Jobo Rinjang and located entirely in Tibet, just west of Cho Oyu. This peak has been climbed and has a height of only 6,666 meters. It is thought that perhaps the Nepal authorities might have misnamed our peak Jobo Rinjang, confusing it with Jobo Rabzang farther north. Also, according to the authorites, the "official" height of Jobo Rinjang is 6,666 meters, but this is obviously a mistake, as this is the height of the peak further north. Topographic maps put the height of Jobo Rinjang at 6,778 meters, and looking at images of the peak, it is definitely much higher than its like-named neighbor to the north.
In any case, the best translation I could come up with for the peak's name is "The Buddha of the Progress of Goodness"
Kyajo Ri
First up though, will be an ascent of Kyajo Ri (6,186 meters) for acclimatization. This beautiful pointed peak lies between the Thame and Gokyo Valleys.
Check back soon and often. We promise to update much more frequently this time around (we've got a sat phone!).
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