Blog for www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Open Charity Challenge to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) led by Alan Ward in November/ December 2011

2012-01-01T18:58:00.012Z

Photo: TMC group at Everest Base Camp in December 2011

On November 29^th our Open Charity Challenge group trekking to Everest Base Camp arrived to Kathmandu. Alan Ward was the western leader for this team of fifteen which also included four visually impaired (“VI”) people with one person having no sight.

One of the VIs, David, had already joined two of our treks both led by Alan, in 2007 he trekked to Upper Mustang in Nepal and in 2010 attempted to climb Stok Kangri in Ladakh. David got in touch with us at end of last year with the idea of planning a trek to Everest Base Camp to coincide with his 60^th birthday. Of course we were delighted to be able to help him and he also recruited several friends from his walking group Milton Mountaineers and Vitalise Holidays.

In September Alan organised a training weekend for this group in Brecons, this worked well so that the team could get to know each other. From feedback received I gather everyone found Alan’s various presentations and discussions over the course of the weekend very helpful and aided their preparations for the trek to Everest Base Camp.

Based on our experience with organising David’s previous treks in the Himalayas we realised that each VI would require a sighted helper from UK as well as one Sherpa guide to escort them at all times along the trail. After discussing this set-up on their return I understand worked well with Sherpa guides taking the lead during the day due to their knowledge of the route while also being supported by UK helpers. Then on arrival to lodge in the afternoon UK helper would take over showing VIs around the lodge such as dining room, bedroom and washing facilities.

I enjoyed meeting this group on their return to Kathmandu and hearing about how the trek went for them. They experienced good weather with sun every day and also everyone acclimatised well to the altitude (as a result of our tried and tested 14 day trek itinerary!). The feedback I received was they enjoyed staying at the lodges we had carefully selected for them and I gather Zamling in Namche and Mother Earth were their favourites.

Great news that all VIs and helpers plus the rest of the group (apart from one) made it all the way to Everest Base Camp and/ or Kalapatar. This is a fantastic achievement for everyone in the group and is truly inspirational. When they got back in Kathmandu there was a lot of interest by Nepalese media and VIs had interviews with Kantipur TV,several radio stations and also articles/ photos in several newspapers including Republica (see photo below).

Photo: VIs in Kathmandu published in Republica

This is a photo of David, Jimmy, Leigh and Terry in Kathmandu a few days ago after successfully completing Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal, it is a really special achievement for them as they are all visually impaired with one person having no sight.

I would like thank Alan Ward their western leader and UK helpers (Diana, Rob, Meg and Emma) as well as the rest of the group who supported VIs throughout their trek. A huge thanks to our Nepalese sirdar, Buddhi Rai, plus the Sherpas (Tenzing, Purna, Mangal, Prem, Kulungman and Uttar) as well as the porters who did a superb job making it possible for everyone to achieve their objective of walking to Everest Base Camp.

Thanks also to Rohan Designs Limited who kindly donated over 20kg of clothing for KEEP’s porters lending bank, Alan brought this gear out with him and shortly after arriving to Nepal visited their office in Kathmandu to hand these items over to them.

The Mountain Company is organising two Open Charity Challenge treks in Nepal for 2012, we have a western led Everest Base Camp group in November and Alan is coming back again to lead our Annapurna Base Camp trek also in November. Please get in touch with us soon if you would like to join one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Photos and trip report for Kanchenjunga Circuit led by Jhire Rai in November 2011

2011-12-28T14:50:00.019Z

We had five members signed up for Kanchenjunga Circuit trek in November 2011. As our minimum group size for a western led trek is six people we decided to ran this group with Jhire Rai as Nepalese Sirdar.

For two members of this group, Neil and Roger, this was their third trek with The Mountain Company as they had also trekked Manaslu Circuit in October 2007 and again with Jhire on Dhaulagiri Circuit in October 2009. We are very grateful to get repeat bookings from people and really appreciate their loyalty in coming back for another trek, at least it shows we are doing something right! I would like to thank Neil very much for allowing us to use his beautiful photos of his trek around Kanchenjunga on TMC blog and website.

The group arrived to Kathmandu on November 2nd and on 3rd flew to Bhadrapur in east Nepal. Normally for Kanchenjunga Circuit one flies to Biratnagar and then onto Suketar however this year the mountain airstrip at Suketar is being reconstructed so instead the group had to fly to Bhadrapur then had a long bus ride to Taplejung (near Suketar). I gather Suketar airstrip should be open by Spring 2012 trekking season.

This November the weather was rather unsettled in Nepal as my group had experienced on Mera Peak, I gather our Kanchenjunga Circuit group had some days with rain in the afternoon for first week. Higher up above Ghunsa the mornings were clear and fine then by afternoon some clouds would bubble up. However overall the conditions were pretty good and this group were lucky to get superb views of both north and south face of Mount Kanchenjunga.

I met our Kanchenjunga Circuit group on their return to Kathmandu after the trek at end of November, we went for a meal together at K Too steakhouse to hear more about how the trek went for them. The feedback I received was overall they had a very good trek and enjoyed the wide variety of landscape and seeing the culture of the villages they passed along the way. Compared to Neil and Roger's two previous treks with us (Manaslu Circuit and Dhaulagiri Circuit) they found Kanchenjunga Circuit physically more demanding with longer walking days and also thought that the trail was rougher in places. In fact some of the paths had been damaged by the earthquake that hit this area in mid September however these were passable with some extra care and attention!

I have uploaded several of Neil's photographs below to give you an idea of the landscape and scenery of Kanchenjunga Circuit trek.

Photo: terraced fields near Chirwa

Photo: Local woman at water tap

Photo: Jhire Rai (Sirdar) with school children

Photo: Lhonak camp

Photo: walking near Lhonak

Photo: glacier near Pangpema

Photo; north face of Mount Kanchenjunga

Photo: TMC group at Oktang

Photo: south face of Mount Kanchenjunga

Photo: Ramche camp with Mount Jannu left

Photo: farmhouses near Yamphudin village

Photo: farmhouse

Photo: looking south to middle hills

I would like to thank the trek crew for looking after everyone so well on our Kanchenjunga Circuit trek especially thanks to Sirdar Jhire Rai and Sherpa guide Prem as well as Sangram their cook.

The Mountain Company is planning to organise Kanchenjunga Circuit trek in November 2012 and 2013 so please get in touch with us if you are interested in joining one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Dhaulagiri Circuit (Nepal) led by Dom Rudd in October 2011

2011-12-28T10:54:00.010Z

Our Dhaulagiri Circuit in October 2011 was the fifth time The Mountain Company had organised this trek, I led our first one in May 2008 then Gary Pfisterer led in October 2009, myself again in October 2010 and followed by Lee Farmer in April 2011. This time the leader for our Dhaulagiri Circuit group was Dom Rudd (International Mountain Leader) for more information on his background and experience.

The advantage of having organised this trek several times before is that we have developed cumulative experience and knowledge that our new leaders can tap into. They will have access to all previous trip reports sent to us by each leader after completion of the trek as well as the detailed Trek Leader’s notes written by us with information for each day such as timings, points of interest and any risks to be aware of along the way. Please click here to view all of our Dhaulagiri Circuit trip reports published on TMC blog.

The group arrived to Kathmandu on October 8^th, from our experience running this trek it is best to start after the first week of October to allow time for monsoon to wind down as Myagdi Valley is particularly wet place due to its north-south orientation. Clouds travel up from the south on plains of India and then at end of valley are blocked and forced to rise by Dhaulagiri resulting in high levels of precipitation. This timing worked well as on this trek there was very little rain during this trek as they approached Italian Base Camp.

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri 7th highest in world at 8,167m

Our acclimatisation schedule for Dhaulagiri Circuit is conservative with two nights at Italian Base Camp at 3,660m, two nights at Glacier Camp at 4,200m and two nights at Dhaulagiri Base Camp at 4,700m. This itinerary worked well for the group and felt well acclimatised to safely cross French Pass into Hidden Valley. Some snow fell at Dhaulagiri Base Camp during evening of October 20^th however the day for walking to Hidden Valley on 22^nd dawned clear, crisp and cold. Dom was up early this morning to check the weather and conditions and made the decision to proceed as planned.

There was fresh snow on the trail slowing progress although the weather was good with bright sunshine and the view from the approach to French Pass back to Dhaulagiri was spectacular. Just after crossing French Pass the cloud rolled in and wind picked up causing snow to drift across the path filling footprints with soft windblown snow. The first group arrived to camp in Hidden Valley at 4pm and second group only 40 minutes behind, everyone was glad to see that camp was set up with all tents erected and a cup of tea served shortly after their arrival!

Photo: Dhaulagiri Base Camp

Our Dhaulagiri Circuit itinerary has two nights in Hidden Valley whereas most other operators only have one night here as they are not properly acclimatised so need to get down in altitude as soon as possible. Feedback from most people in our groups is that they like having a spare day in Hidden Valley as is one of the highlights of this trek. This is not only so that they can they have a well-deserved lie in after a long day crossing French Pass and wait for the sun to warm up before having breakfast but also give them a chance to explore and enjoy this beautiful valley. Some of the group attended an ecole de glace organised by Dom showing them the basic techniques for using crampons and ice axe for self arrest.

Everyone enjoyed their rest day in Hidden Valley and felt rested for the final leg of the trek crossing Dhampus Pass and descending into Kali Gandaki Valley. On October 24^th the group left camp at 7.40am on a very cold morning, it took the group two hours to reach the summit of Dhampus walking on snow in good condition with no ice. There was very little snow coming down from the pass and then everyone made good progress on the snowy traverse taking four hours before making the descent to Yak Kharka and down to Alu Bari camp. This year crampons were not required for this day’s walk from Hidden Valley however it is essential to bring in day pack as sometimes there are sections of ice. In fact the traverse tends to be icier in May as our groups have always needed to use crampons at this time of year whereas in October it is usually fine without crampons. This group made good time with last members arrived to Alu Bari at 3.15pm.

On the next day the walk down to Marpha village was spectacular and on arrival the group visited the monastery and after a glass of apple juice continued to Jomsom. After handing out tips to the crew the group had a special dinner of fresh chicken, roasted potatoes and a tasty cake cooked by Saila to celebrate the end of the trek. The next day the flight to Pokhara flew on schedule at 9.15am with spectacular views over to Dhaulagiri and down the Kali Gandaki gorge, then on arrival to Pokhara the group flew back to Kathmandu.

Photo: Chonbarden gorge

The group had a final dinner at Kilroy’s restaurant in Kathmandu and by chance I was around as just got back from my Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan so I came along too, it was great to meet everyone and hear how the trek went and get feedback from the group.

I would like to thank Dom for doing a superb job leading this group. The local crew worked hard throughout this challenging trek so thanks to Lhakpa Rita Sherpa (Sirdar), Saila Tamang (cook) and Sherpas: Prem, Sangram and Sonam as well as of course all of the porters.

The Mountain Company is organising two Dhaulagiri Circuit treks in 2012, the first one in April will be led by Jill Lawson and second trek will be in October. Please get in touch with us soon if you would like to join one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Photos and trip report for recce trek to Mardi Himal Ridge (Nepal)

2011-12-23T11:16:00.029Z

In December I went for a short trek along Mardi Himal ridge as I heard that recently new lodges had been built now making it possible to do this as a teahouse trek rather than camping. I started walking from Phedi a short taxi ride from Pokhara and then walked up to Dhampus following the standard Annapurna Sanctuary trail up to Pitam Deurali where one turns off this main trail to Mardi Himal.

Photo: Mardi Himal map from ACAP

Photo: Dhampus village with Mount Machhapuchhre behind

Photo: sign for Forest Camp (Kokar)

Photo: trail in forest

From Pitam Deurali the trail continues through forest and is very quiet compared to the busier trail from Phedi in fact I only saw one other trekker during the whole of my time on Mardi Himal. At Forest Camp (2,600m) there are three small lodges I stayed in one near the camping ground. The rooms are quite basic and there is no dining room so I had my meals in kitchen, so in some ways this is more like a homestay and very enjoyable to get to know this friendly family from Siding village.

Photo: lodges at Forest Camp

Photo: Mardi Himal ridge

Photo: sign for Low Camp (Humal)

Photo: Danphe pheasant in cloud

From Forest Camp to Low Camp the trail continues through the forest and at Low Camp there are two basic lodges one with a basic dining room with open fire. The view from Low Camp is superb with Mount Machhapuchhre visible up the valley. An hour or so above Low Camp along trail to High Camp one breaks out above tree line and towards the west there is a good view to Annapurna South and Hiunchuli. The trail continues along the Mardi Himal ridge mainly on grass with some isolated rhododendron bushes along the way. Look out for colourful Danphe pheasant on this section of the trek.

Photo: lodge at High Camp

The lodge at High Camp is larger than lodges at Low Camp and Forest Camp, this one has eight rooms and a separate dining room with heater. The view from the lodge is superb to Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre (Fishtail). My plan for next day was to get up early for sunrise view of the mountains then walk up the ridge towards Mardi Himal.

Photo: dining room with heater at High Camp

The following morning was cold and clear with a heavy frost on the ground and after a quick breakfast I started walking up the ridge. There is a reasonably well established trail through the grass with a few steeper sections however overall not too challenging. Look out for the dzos (yak/ cow crossbreds) grazing up here as well as many more Danphe pheasant. In the summer the sheep and goats from lower villages are brought up to graze I passed a number of herders huts along the way however at this time of year unused as too cold.

Photo: view of Mount Machhapuchhre

Photo: view of Annapurna South and Hiunchuli

Photo: Mardi Himal ridge

Photo: Mount Machhapuchhre

After three hours I reached Upper View point at 4,200m this is where one can look into the Annapurna Sanctuary unfortunately at this stage the clouds rolled in so I decided not to proceed any further to Mardi Himal Base Camp as it was getting quite cold. From speaking to the lodge owner at High Camp he told me Base Camp was a further hour or so along the ridge from Upper View point therefore it should be possible to do this in a day trip however a long day and no doubt you would feel the effects of altitude at Mardi Himal Base Camp at 4,400m.

Photo: Upper view point at 4,200m

Photo: view into Annapurna Sanctuary

On the way back down I decided to go take the trail down to Siding Village rather than follow Mardi Himal ridge back to Pitam Deurali, this is a better option for a circuit trek and so that you can see these traditional villages in Mardi Himal valley. The owner of lodge at Low Camp has a homestay in Siding so I stayed there for the night. This was very enjoyable as the couple speak good English and interesting to see village life and talk with the family. The owners have a buffalo behind their house so at breakfast I had fresh milk which was very tasty!

Photo: homestay in Siding village

Photo: buffalo at homestay

From Siding I walked out to the road head at Lumre, on the way from Siding I passed the villages of Kalimati and Ghalel. I gather Kalimati is mainly a Brahmin village with Ghalel and Siding mixed Brahmin and Gurung. From Lumre there is a shared jeep departing ever hour or so however this is a very crowded so better to organise a jeep from Pokhara in advance.

Photo: children walking to school from Kalimati village

Photo: farmhouse near Kalimati village

Overall I enjoyed this trek and in some ways this is similar to Kopra Ridge, both of these treks would be a good choice if you are looking for a short trip away from the busy trails of Annapurna Sanctuary however still getting superb mountain views. Mardi Himal trek has a good variety of scenery from forest lower down on the ridge to grassy slopes higher up with views of the big mountains followed by visiting several traditional villages on the walk out.

The Mountain Company plans to start organising treks on Mardi Himal Ridge from Spring 2012, shortly we will have a trek webpage set up for Mardi Himal with Trip Dossier on our website however in the meantime please get in touch if you are interested in joining this trek.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for recce trek to Kopra Ridge (Nepal) using community lodges

2011-12-05T01:57:00.040Z

By chance when I was leading our Mera Peak Expedition in November I met Mick Chapman at Khare, in fact we also nearly met in Spring as he was also leading a group on Makalu Base Camp to Everest only a few days behind my group. Over a cup of tea in Khare Mick asked what my plans were after Mera Peak and I replied was interested in having a look at some community lodges in the Annapurna I had vaguely heard about. Mick quickly explained that he had helped set up these community lodges so I was speaking to the right person!

The concept behind the community lodges is the ownership of each lodge belongs to a village rather than individuals with profits contributing to community projects such as funding local schools. This pioneering project was started by Mahabir Pun a social worker from this area as well as Nima Lama and Mick Chapman from UK. Funds to build these lodges were raised by local villages, donations from businesses in Kathmandu and friends of Nepal from overseas. A training program has been provided to the local villagers who run each lodge covering food preparation and lodge management.

In Kathmandu earlier this year I met several people who had recently done Kopra Ridge trek and after seeing their photos I decided this was a trek I would like to do. From these photos and hearing about Kopra Ridge I had no doubt our clients at The Mountain Company would be interested in walking this trail in the future. The mountain views from Kopra Ridge include Mount Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Fang and Nilgiri and also from Ghandruk one can see Mount Machhapuchhre (also known as Fishtail) and Mount Hiunchuli. I heard that the best part of the Kopra Ridge trek experience is how quiet the trail is with few other trekkers around as this network of community lodges is quite new (completed March '09) so at least for the moment it is not very well known.

Photo: Ghandruk village

Photo: traditional house in Ghandruk

After my Mera Peak group left Kathmandu I took the bus to Pokhara and on November 29th took a taxi to Nayapool to reach the roadhead. On my first day I followed Modi Khola river and walked up to Ghandruk village (2,012m). Ghandruk is a mountain village inhabited mainly by the ethnic caste of Gurungs, this village is famous for being a major recruiting source of Ghurka soldiers for both British and Indian army. There are several Victoria Cross holders still living here. Most of the houses are of traditional design however there are now a few newer concrete buildings being constructed these days. There are fine views of Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Machhapuchhre and Hiunchuli from the village.

Photo: Common Langur monkey near Tadapani

The next day I walked for three hours or so to Tadapani following the main trail although at the junction I turned off and took the quieter trail to Kopra Ridge rather than continuing to Ghorepani. In fact as soon as we left Tadapani, Tekar my guide pointed out a Common Langur monkey swinging in the trees and then shortly after leopard pugmark and scraping. This section is a lovely walk through rhododendron and oak forest and follows a trail originally used by villagers from Ghandruk to take their buffaloes, sheep and goats to the higher pastures in the summer months.

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri from Bayeli Community lodge

The trail starts to ascend above the tree line and follows a ridge to Deurali (small pass) and then continues up to Bayeli Kharka (3,420m) where the first community lodge is located. From the lodge the view to west is dominated by Mount Dhaulagiri and at 8,167m is the seventh highest mountain in the world. Several places along the way we saw the colourful Danphe pheasant the national bird of Nepal.

Photo: dzo near Kopra Community lodge

In the morning I walked a short way above the lodge for sunrise, this was well worth doing to see the colours change on the south west face of Dhaulagiri and then back to the lodge for a cup of tea before having breakfast. Shortly after leaving the lodge we saw a Himalayan tahr standing high up on the grassy ridge above us looking down as we walked by. This section of the trail is on a grassy slope and traverses through pasture with a number of herders huts and near Kopra lodge we saw a herd of dzo (crossbred cow and yak).

On approaching Kopra Ridge one sees the tip of Annapurna South however it is only on arrival at Kopra Community lodge the full panorama is revealed: Mount Dhaulagiri, Nilgiri, Fang and Annapurna South can all be seen from the lodge. After lunch we went for a short walk down Kopra Ridge to a viewpoint overlooking Kali Gandaki river far below in this deep valley.

Photo: view of Dhaulagiri from Kopra Ridge

Photo: view of Annapurna South from Kopra Ridge

Photo: sunrise view of Dhaulagiri and Kopra Community lodge

The plan for next day was to walk to Ghorepani, after an hour of descent we reached Upper Chistibung community lodge and after a cup of tea we carried on down to Swanta village for lunch. Along the way we got more great views of Dhaulagiri with this mountain providing a lovely backdrop to the terraced fields and traditional houses in the nearby villages. At Swanta village we had lunch at the Swanta Community lodge and then visited Swanta Primary school. There are two teachers in this school funded by the profits from community lodges. In the afternoon after an hour or so walking we joined the main trail to Ghorepani where there are of course far more others trekkers making one appreciate the quieter days walking on Kopra Ridge.

Photo: Upper Chistibung Community lodge

Photo: dining room at Upper Chistibung Community lodge

Photo: Mount Dhaulgiri and Swanta village

Photo: Swanta Community lodge

Photo: Swanta Primary School

After having now walked the Kopra Ridge there is no doubt in my mind this is one of the best short treks in Nepal. This trek contains all of the elements of a classic Nepal trekking experience including villages, wildlife, panoramic mountain views and range of landscape from forest to high alpine. And of course at the same time you are contributing to the local community and supporting the various projects funded by profits from these community lodges.

The Mountain Company plans to start organising treks on Kopra Ridge from Spring 2012, shortly we will have a trek webpage set up for Kopra Ridge with Trip Dossier on our website however in the meantime please get in touch if you are interested in joining this trek.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Selected photos of Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan (September 2011)

2011-11-21T07:46:00.034Z

I have added below a selection of photos from The Mountain Company's 2011 Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan:

Photo: Taktsang (Tiger's nest) monastery near Paro

Photo: Mount Chomolhari

Photo: Mount Jitchu Drake

Photo: herd of blue sheep

Photo: approach to Ngele La

Photo: Lingshi camp

Photo: Lingshi dzong (damaged from recent earthquake)

Photo: camp below Tiger mountain

Photo: Laya village

Photo: women dancing in Laya village

Photo: view from Karchung La (entry into Lunana)

Photo: summit of Karchung La at 5.240m

Photo: valley near Tarina

Photo: lake near Kesha La

Photo: camp near Lhedi village

Photo: view of Lunana valley

Photo: farmhouse in Thanza village

Photo: wall paintings in Thanza

Photo: cordyceps sinesis (caterpillar fungus)

Photo: Lunap woman

Photo: camp near Tshorim lake

Photo: yaks near Tshorim lake

Photo: valley near Gwechewoma

Photo: view from Phorang La to Mischugang camp

Photo: Worithang camp

Photo: yaks carrying our gear

Photo: forest and waterfally near Dur Tsachu

Photo: our wonderful crew at the end of the trek

Please also take a look at photos of our 2008 Lunana Snowman trek:

Photos (1): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Photos (2): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Photos (3): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Photos (4): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Photos (5): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Photos (6): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Photos (7): 2008 Lunana Snowman trek

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Lunana Snowman (Bhutan) led by Roland Hunter in September/ October 2011

2011-11-21T07:44:00.061Z

Photo: Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines)

The Mountain Company's 2011 Snowman group had fourteen members with people coming from UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, India, Portugal, Ukraine and Ireland. It is common with our groups to have different nationalities signed up although this was our most international group yet. It is great to have a mix of clients especially on a long trek like Lunana Snowman and this certainly makes for interesting conversations along the way.

I flew by Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) into Paro on September 22nd to help with the organisation and preparations for the trek before the arrival of the group. It was good to see our Bhutanese crew again especially Dawa (Sirdar) who I had trekked with on our 2008 Snowman trek. Dawa knows the remote Lunana region extremely well having completed Snowman many times including two treks back to back a few years back.

The group arrived to Kathmandu on September 23rd and then flew by Druk Air into Paro on 24th, it was good to finally meet the group after being in touch for so long with everyone on email. After lunch of "Ema Datse" (Bhutanese national dish of cheese and chilies sauce with red rice) we drove to our hotel near Paro. In the afternoon we visited Paro dzong although unfortunately could not go to National Museum as this had been damaged by the recent earthquake.

Photo: Taktsang (Tiger's Nest monastery)

On 25th we hiked up to Taktsang monastery (also called Tiger's Nest) this is the famous cultural icon of Bhutan. Guru Rinpoche flew to this location from Tibet on the back of a tigress and the gompa was consecrated to tame the Tiger demon. The trail to Taktsang starts outside Paro and climbs about 900m to reach the monastery located at an altitude of 3,120m. Everyone enjoyed the walk and it was good to stretch the legs after travelling for so long.

Today the weather was cloudy with some rain and we were hoping the weather would clear for flights to land at Paro airport later in the day. This is because one member was still waiting for his trek bag to arrive after being held up in London. In Nepal my partners Tulsi and Prashant did a great job collecting the missing bag on arrival to Kathmandu and then later in the afternoon, when the visibility had improved at Paro airport, the Druk Air flight landed at Paro . Now everyone was ready and looking forward to starting the trek!

Photo: Mount Jitchu Drake

Selecting the right time of year is essential for improving ones chances of successfully completing the Snowman trek. The crux of this trek is getting in and out Lunana before the winter snows close the high passes (Karchung La and Gophu La both over 5,000m) guard the entry and exit of this remote valley. There is a narrow weather window between the end of monsoon and onset of the snows that will block the passes. As this is a long trek at 28 days there is a tradeoff by starting at end of September where it is quite likely the first few days will be rainy however this means we should be out of Lunana before the onset of winter snows.

I was well aware that when I completed my first Lunana Snowman trek in September/ October 2008 that our group was fortunate with the weather and conditions. Since then I have read numerous read accounts of groups who a attempted this trek in other years where there was far more snow making crossing of the passes more challenging and in some cases impossible for pack animals to continue due to the depth of snow.

On 2008 Snowman we experienced rain for the first day of the trek at the tail end of the monsoon and then very fortunate to get clear weather for the next 27 days! Again in 2011 we experienced a very similar weather pattern with one day of rain at the start of the trek and then settled and stable weather for rest of the time. There was some light snowfall overnight towards the end of the trek at Mischugang and Worithang however this snow soon melted after the sun came out in the morning.

Photo: campsite at Lingshi

In terms of itinerary we organise the complete Snowman trek from Paro to Bumthang. There are very few other trekking operators that run the complete Snowman trek as most groups take the shorter exit route from Lunana down the Nikka Chuu valley. In fact we had two people in our group who had already done this shorter version of Snowman and came back again to Bhutan to do it properly! It was very interesting to hear their views on the differences between the two Snowman treks, they both confirmed that the longer Snowman to Bumthang is far better and includes the best days of the entire trek such as Tshorim Lake, Gophu La, Phorang La & Saga La, Dur Tsachu hot springs and the Djule La pass.

There is also an increasing number of trekking companies that are shortening the Snowman by walking from Punakha to Laya then attempting to cross Karchung La pass into Lunana. This itinerary reduces the number of days and therefore cost of the trek however this is risky as there is simply not enough time to acclimatise to the high altitude before crossing Karchung La into Lunana. We met several groups following this itinerary where members had to turn back with altitude sickness and also several others who were rescued by helicopter later on in the trek due to combination of exhaustion and altitude sickness (also by pushing hard like this people are more susceptible to getting sick from chest infections etc).

Photo: on summit of Karchung La (5,240m)

In terms of logistics the crux for organising the Lunana Snowman trek is to arrange the animal transport in advance and work with reliable contractors. We had four changeovers of pack animals: first from Paro to Chomolhari BC; then to Laya; then to Thanza and finally at Dur Tsachu to Minchugang. It is also important to consider whether to use yaks or horses, in fact these days more groups are relying on horse transport mainly because they are faster than yaks. However yaks are stronger and are able to cross high passes even if there is some snow that would make the trail impassable for horses. We decided to use horses on three sections of the trek and use yaks for the section from Thanza to Dur Tsachu where there are several high passes to cross.

Many groups hope to find yaks on arrival to Thanza in Lunana however this is a risky strategy as the yak herders from Lunana are not reliable and often groups wait up to a week to find animal transport. The main reason is because the Lunaps make serious money picking Cordyceps Sinesis ("caterpillar fungus") over the summer, these are sold to the Chinese as herbal medicine and is worth more than per kg than gold! As a result the yak herders are not very interested in working with trekking groups to make money and also at the same time do not like to take their yaks out of Lunana valley in case earlier snows block their return journey.

Dawa had arranged to use yaks on the section from Thanza to Dur Tsachu however had made an agreement with a yak herder living near Dur Tsachu. This meant that the yaks were heading on homeward direction with our group. The contractor was same one we used in 2008 and is reliable although I was still relieved to see the yaks arrive a day early on our rest day on Thanza!

I was very surprised to meet another group who were hoping to find yak transport and local Lunap guide on arrival to Thanza however not unsurprisingly they were unable to find either yaks or guides so were forced to continue onto Bumthang with their Laya horsemen. The problem for this group was that none of their crew including their horsemen had ever walked on the trail from Thanza to Bumthang so they had no idea where to go! The trail is not very obvious in places so it is essential to check before departure that your guides, cooks and yak/ horseman have previously walked this way before.

Photo: cordyceps sinesis ("caterpillar fungus")

On October 27th day we arrived to Minchugang at the road head and after celebrating everyone's achievement of completing one of the most challenging treks in Himalaya we thanked our Bhutanese crew for their help during this long trek and handed out their tips. Our bus was waiting for us so we drove onto Bumthang and checked in at the lovely Swiss Guesthouse, everyone enjoyed staying here with their friendly hospitality, good food and beer (Red Panda weissen beer on tap)- for more information on Swiss Guesthouse

Photo: Lunana

Lunana Snowman is one of the most challenging treks in Himalaya due to the logistics involved, it is also one of the most beautiful trek visiting a remote area rarely seen by other trekking groups especially if you follow the longer exit from Lunana to Bumthang. Of course Lunana Snowman is a long trek and expensive to join however it is a very special place to visit summarised well by Mark one of the members of our 2011 Lunana Snowman trek- see his comments below:

"The Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan was for me a dream fulfilled that transcended the magical. Yes - it was long and challenging but now indelibly etched on my mind as the most beautiful place I have been privileged to visit. The highlights were....Karchung La....the rest day in Thanza......Tshorim Lakes....Saga la (surprisingly for me)....simply stunning... and inevitably the Swiss Guest House! Superb leadership by Roland; a master logistician and outdoorsman.....an absolute gentleman." Mark Simmonds 2011 Lunana Snowman trek

On a personal level I felt incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to walk the Lunana Snowman trek for the second time and also was proud of the groups' achievement with all fourteen members of the team completing the trek. There are few other trekking companies who have successfully organised the complete Snowman on more than two occasions.

Of course none of this would be possible without our wonderful Bhutanese crew who worked very hard and looked after us well throughout this long trek. Kahdinche (Bhutanese thanks) to Dawa (Sirdar), Tashi (guide), Tsering (guide), Tenzing (cook) and helpers Karma, Pema, Dogguy and Nima. Many thanks also to Kinley Tshering and Wangmo based in the office in Thimphu for all their help organising the logistics of this trek.

Lunana Snowman trek is now part of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT"), this is a trek crossing the Himalaya from Arunchal Pradesh in India through Bhutan to Nepal, India and Pakistan. For more information on the Bhutan section of GHT please take a look at The Geat Himalaya Trail website

Yesterday I uploaded to TMC blog a selection of photos from 2011 Snowman trek please click here to view these photos. I also wrote a brief report on 2011 Snowman trek shortly after return so I suggest you also read this report.

If you are considering joining the Lunana Snowman trek in the future then I suggest you read a book by Kevin Grange called Beneath Blossom Rain: Discovering Bhutan on the Toughest Trek in the World and also well worth reading Bhutan: A Trekker's Guide (Cicerone Guide) by Bart Jordan. This is the best guidebook currently available for trekking in Bhutan and covers most of the Snowman trek.

The Mountain Company is planning to organise our Lunana Snowman trek in September/ October 2012 (dates:September 21st to October 26th 2012), please get in touch soon if you are interested in joining this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Mera Peak (Nepal) led by Roland Hunter in November 2011

2011-11-20T09:25:00.020Z

Photo: summit day on Mera Peak

Our Mera Peak Expedition arrived back to Kathmandu as planned on November 18th, we were very lucky to fly out of Lukla on schedule as there was a backlog of over 1,000 people waiting for flights as a result of several days of cloudy weather causing cancellations. In fact we were also lucky to fly into Lukla at the start of the expedition on October 31st, our plane landed at 5.25pm and there were no more flights for four more days. Our pilot must have wished he had stayed in Kathmandu as he was also stuck in Lukla for this period! Take a look at the article on BBC website about the delays in November at Lukla (Tenzing- Hilary airport)

I have led groups to Mera Peak during the month of November since 2007 and usually the weather at this time of year is stable with sunny days however this year the pattern was rather different. We experienced cloud and rain until we reached Kote and then it cleared up with several sunny days while at Tagnag and Khare. On November 12th we trekked to the camp at Mera La and as predicted by our weather forecast there was some cloud in the valleys however we were luckily enough to be above the cloud and basking in the sun at this altitude. As we walked to High Camp on November 13th cloud built up by midday although then dropped off again later in the afternoon to reveal the superb view from High Camp of the surrounding mountains.

At 3am on November 14th our group left High Camp on their summit attempts, it was a clear & starry night and pretty cold especially as there were strong gusts of wind. Although by the time the team arrived at the summit there was little wind and superb views in all directions including five 8,000m peaks: Everest, Cho Oyu, Lhotse, Makalu and Kanchenjunga. Nine of our group reached the summit of Mera Peak some climbing Central summit and others climbing to the South summit, so congratulations and well done to everyone!

Unfortunately the day after the summit walking back to Kote we descended into the cloud and there was snow overnight as well as for most of the next day. These conditions made our walk to Thuli Kharka (camp before Zatra La) quite challenging while the group arrived in late afternoon some of our porters arrived in the dark after a long day for them.

On November 17th we crossed Zatra Og and Zatra La passes for our return trek to Lukla. The conditions on descent were pretty good as recent snow was soft with no ice however we decided to fix rope to aid our porters and for group to use as extra security. The snowline was much lower than usual and most people kept their crampons until shortly before Chutanga where we had lunch. Here we met another group heading into Mera Peak and heard more about the number of people waiting for flights to Kathmandu due to the bad weather and in fact this group were fortunate to arrive at Lukla by flying Twin Otter to Lamidanda and then by helicopter to Lukla.

On arrival to Lukla I checked the weather forecast in an internet cafe and unfortunately it did not look too promising for the rest of the week however on the next morning we were woken in our tents by the sound of the large Russian MI17 taking off and on looking out of the tent we could see the weather was clear with blue skies. Our flight to Kathmandu with Tara Airlines took off at 11.30am and three hours later (!) we landed at Kathmandu- usually the flight takes 35 minutes although as Kathmandu airport was busy we circled for a while then we had to divert to Biratnagar for refuelling.

Overall our Mera Peak group was very lucky this year, in spite of the worst weather I had experienced on this trek since 2007 we managed to fly into/ out of Lukla on schedule and also had good conditions on our summit day. In fact only the next day a large group of forty people from Leeds Metropolitan University (undertaking acclimatisation research) went for the summit and only six members of their team reached the top- by reading their dispatches it sounds like they hit bad weather with snow and strong winds.

My view is that November is probably the best month to climb Mera Peak. I have been leading groups at this time for last five years and the vast majority of these days on trek we experienced sunny and stable weather. It is worth pointing out that one can get snow and bad weather at anytime of year however on balance November seems to better than other months. Interestingly in the past we have organised groups to Mera Peak in October and April and both of these trips also hit bad weather on their summit days. There are other factors in choosing the best time of year to climb Mera Peak for example in October it is much busier and can be hard to find enough space for all of the tents at High Camp. By December the days are getting shorter and it is much colder so I would certainly not want to be climbing Mera Peak at that time of year.

The other notable comment to make from this year's expedition to Mera Peak was the number of porters that died while we were there from other groups attempting the mountain. It was very sad to hear of three porters dying near Tagnag and my understanding from speaking to owner of Mera Guest House was that the cause of all of these deaths was severe altitude sickness. It seems that in at least one of these deaths the porter was sent down alone while the rest of the group carried on to cross Amphu Laptsa (of course you should send a sick porter down with another porter).

From meeting other groups along the way on Mera Peak it is clear that most of them are ascending way too fast and not spending enough to acclimatise to high altitude. Of course what most people in these groups did not consider is the effect of rapid ascent on their trek crew, it may well be fine for members of the group who are probably anyway taking diamox and also not carrying much weight however it certainly is not fair on the porters carrying heavy loads.

Our approach at The Mountain Company has always been to design our itineraries to allow for adequate time for natural acclimatisation, for example our Mera Peak itinerary from arrival to Kathmandu is 22 days which is 2 or 3 days longer than several other UK based operators. By having these extra days means you have a far higher chance of summitting Mera Peak and also more likely to enjoy it at the same time! We also include one contingency day in our Mera Peak itinerary so provides a buffer in case of any delays along the way.

As always I would like to thanks our Nepalese trek crew who did a great job this year under challenging conditions. Danyibad to Lhakpa Rita Sherpa (Sirdar) and to our Sherpas: Nima Tendi Sherpa, Lhakpa Dorje Sherpa, Sonam Sherpa and Lhakpa Gyaljen Sherpa. Of course thanks to Saila Tamang our cook who along with the rest of the kitchen crew provided tasty food throughout the expedition.

The Mountain Company is planning to organise two Mera Peak Expeditions in 2012, the first one is in Spring from April 15th to May 6th followed by our Autumn departure from November 4th to 25th. Please get in touch soon if you would like to join one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Our September/ October 2011 Lunana Snowman group successfully complete this trek across northern Bhutan

2011-10-28T14:10:00.017+01:00

Photo: Mount Jitchu Drake

Photo: loading yaks at Worithang camp

I arrived back to Kathmandu yesterday with our 2011 Lunana Snowman group after being lucky enough to lead this trek for the second time, my first Snowman was in September 2008- click here to read 2008 Snowman trip report.

Our itinerary is the complete Snowman trek starting in Paro and finishing in Bumthang taking twenty eight days and crossing fourteen mountain passes over 4,500m. There is no doubt in my mind this is one of the most beautiful and remote treks in the world.

Overall the trek went very well we were lucky with the weather enjoying settled sunny conditions for most of the time and very little snow on the passes, I will post some of the photos onto TMC blog later on. I will also write a detailed trip report when I get back to Kathmandu after my Mera Peak Expedition starting in a few days time.

Photo: Punakha dzong

Congratulations and well done to all fourteen members of our group who successfully completed this challenging trek across northern Bhutan. Of course none of this would be possible without our wonderful Bhutanese crew who worked very hard and looked after us well throughout this long trek. Kahdinche (Bhutanese thanks) to Dawa (Sirdar), Tashi (guide), Tsering (guide), Tenzing (cook) and helpers Karma, Pema, Dogguy and Nima. Many thanks also to Kinley Tshering and Wangmo based in the office in Thimphu for all their help organising the logistics of this trek.

The Mountain Company is planning to organise Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan in September/ October 2012 please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for K2 Base Camp & Gondogoro La led by Roland Hunter in August 2011

2011-09-03T09:00:00.018+01:00

Photo: rockfall at Urdukas camp

This year’s K2 trek started on an inauspicious note when I found out the evening before flying to Pakistan there had been a landslide on the train line from London to Gatwick…landslides are not common in London however I gather this incident was caused by a burst water pipe. I only found out about this by chance while reading BBC website so then arranged a minicab to airport- if I had not read this on evening before I would have probably missed my flight!

The Mountain Company's K2 Base Camp & Gondogoro La group met up in Islamabad on August 6th and next morning as planned we went to the airport for the flight to Skardu in northern Pakistan. We were informed by airline around midday this flight was cancelled due to bad weather in Skardu valley. After reviewing the weather forecasts for next few days the chances of flying looked low so we decided start driving on early morning 8th along the infamous Karakoram Highway (KKH), we decided to take the road over Babusar Pass (4,200m) rather than following KKH through Besham in Kohistan region.

The drive went well and after spending a night in Chilas at Shangri La hotel we continued onto Skardu and along the way we only encountered two small landslides on KKH resulting in a slight delay. This was the first time that I had driven over the Babusar Pass I can highly recommend this road as not only is it shorter than going through Besham it also passes through a beautiful valley. There is less risk of landslides blocking this road and also this Babusar valley has better security than Kohistan along KKH.

On morning of August 9th we took jeeps from Skardu to Askole, this village is the starting point for K2 Base Camp trek. For our first five days on the trek we experienced cloudy conditions and most days we got some rain by late afternoon or evening. Based on my previous six treks to K2 this amount of precipitation was unusual. My concern at this stage was the amount of fresh snow falling on the Gondogoro La pass increasing the risk of avalanche on Concordia side and also rockfall/ mudslides on Hushe side. In fact there had already been one incident earlier in the summer when one porter had been killed and also a number of others injured as a result of a rock slide near Gondogoro La pass.

On August 16th we had a rest day at Urdukas camp at an altitude of 4,130m, Urdukas is known as a good campsite located off the glacier so much warmer for the crew and also has fixed facilities such as toilets and washbasins provided by an NGO called Mountain Glacier Pakistan. Urdukas is a fine place for a rest day as at 4,100m it is helpful for acclimatising before continuing onto Concordia. On our rest day all of the Mountain Co groups are given mountaineering training with demonstration and practice sessions for the techniques required for crossing the Gondogoro La pass.

At 2pm while I was instructing one of our team members I was shocked to feel the ground shaking and then heard the dreaded rumbling noise of rockfall, immediately I ran over to the top of the hill overlooking camp to see how much rock had fallen. My worst fears had come true as it was apparent that the large rock above Urdukas had fallen and then crashed down through camp to the glacier below destroying everything in its path. There was much confusion over the next hour as we attempted to check all of our trek crew however luckily we knew early on that all of our trekking group were fine.

Sadly it became apparent that three of our porters had been killed in this rockfall and one porter had sustained a shoulder injury and there were also three other porters from another group that had been injured. In fact there were eight porters camped directly under the rock and when this fell luckily for them the rock bounced over their heads and continued down the slope. Fortunately in our group we had a veterinary doctor and a nurse, they performed a superb job turning our mess tent into a field hospital and immediately started to provide medical assistance. At this point I was in touch via satellite phone with our Pakistan ground operator in Islamabad to explain the situation and request an immediate helicopter evacuation. From our initial assessment it became apparent that two injured porters from the other group needed to be flown to hospital as soon as possible.

As I explained the situation to our local agent they immediately started to set in motion the organisation of a helicopter rescue by contacting all of their connections. As a result of their impressive efforts Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan approved a humanitarian mission by helicopter to evacuate the bodies and injured porters. The next day at 11am a Russian helicopter (MI 17) landed at Urdukas and in fact this was only possible due to the work from members of our group who set to work extending the helipad to enable a large helicopter to land. And even after all of their work there was barely sufficient room for landing and at the time I was worried the helicopter might abort and fly back to Skardu! I gather this was the first time in history of the Baltoro that a helicopter had been used for the emergency evacuation of porters (rather than foreigners), so many thanks to Pakistan Army and all involved for arranging this.

After the helicopter had taken off flying back to Skardu we had a meeting with our porters to figure out plans for the rest of the trek. Initially all of the porters made the decision to return to their villages and of course while the group was disappointed we accepted bearing in mind what happened and of course understanding their shock after this sad event. Following the porters’ initial decision however after an hour or so it became clear some porters were keen to proceed with trek. After protracted discussions a deal was struck where we would stay at Concordia for two nights although the porters made it clear that they did not want to cross the Gondogoro La pass. In the end half or our porters decided to leave to return to their villages and we continued on with the trek with the remaining porters.

As the group trekked to Concordia on August 19th the weather started to clear and we were lucky to get fine views of Gasherbrun IV at head of the valley. On the next day during our walk to K2 Base Camp and Gilkey memorial the views of K2, Broad Peak and other surrounding mountains were superb. The weather stayed fine for the rest of the walk down the Baltoro so we were lucky to get fine views of Masherbrum, Mustagh Tower, Broad Peak, Gasherbrums, the rock spires of Trango, Cathedral, Lobsang etc.

The porter tragedy at Urdukas was an incredibly sad day for everyone however at least we know that we did everything possible in the situation by providing medical assistance and arranging helicopter evacuation back to Skardu. Everyone in our group pitched in any way they could to help out so I would like to thank everyone very much for their efforts.

The camping terraces at Urdukas campsite were first cut out by Duke of Abruzzi and Vittorio Sella's 1909 expedition to K2 over 100 years ago and since then this place has been used by every trekking and expedition group visiting the Baltoro on their way to Concordia. Therefore we were simply incredibly unlucky for this sad event to have happened while we were camping at Urdukas.

As anyone who has spent time in the mountains knows there is always a degree of objective risk associated with travelling in these areas especially Karakoram range where rock is loose and mountains steep so the resulting risk of rockfall and landslides is relatively high. Of course for the Balti people of Braldu and Hushe valleys this risk is even experienced in their villages and was brought home last year when a number lost their lives due to flash flooding in Skardu and Talis village.

Several members of our K2 group and also The Mountain Company have donated funds to the family of dead porters, this contribution will help until their insurance claim is processed and their money received in 5 to 6 months time. If anyone reading this blog feels like they would like to help contribute to these families then please get in touch with us and we can help arrange this for you.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Our treks guaranteed to run in Nepal for Autumn (Fall) 2011

2011-07-31T16:40:00.012+01:00

Photo: walking on glacier to High Camp on Mera Peak

The Mountain Company has a number of treks guaranteed to run for Autumn (Fall) in Nepal, if you are interested in joining one of these departures then please get in touch with us soon.

There are still international flights to Kathmandu at reasonable prices for most of October and November however it is likely this will change soon as we get closer to the peak trekking season in the Himalaya.

The following treks are now guaranteed to run and there is currently availability if you are interested in joining one of these groups:

Dhaulagiri Circuit

October 9th to 28th 2011

Langtang and Laurebina La

October 20th to November 5th 2011

Mera Peak Expedition

October 30th to November 20th 2011

Kanchenjunga Circuit

November 2nd to 27th 2011

Annapurna Sanctuary

November 5th to 20th 2011

Everest Base Camp

November 6th to 24th 2011

Everest Luxury Lodges

November 19th to December 4th

Everest Base Camp

November 29th to December 17th 2011

Please get in touch at anytime if you have any questions or would like any further information about any of our treks.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Recent interviews with The Great Himalaya Trail website

2011-06-21T08:07:00.009+01:00

Photo: Mount Makalu

The Great Himalaya Trail website recently published information provided by The Mountain Company about two successful treks we organised recently on sections of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT") in Nepal.

In Spring 2010 I led a group along on GHT section across Upper Dolpo walking from Juphal to Jomsom, click here to read this article on The Great Himalaya Trail website

In Spring 2011, I also led a group along on GHT section crossing from Makalu BC to Everest region, click here to read this article on The Great Himalaya Trail website

We also provided a number of photos to The Great Himalaya Trail's Flickr account for Makalu to Everest.

Hopefully this will be useful for others planning to walk in remote places throughout Nepal in the future, please get in touch with us if you need any further information about these treks.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Summer 2011 newsletter from The Mountain Company

2011-06-07T10:42:00.004+01:00

I have just finished writing the Summer 2011 newsletter for The Mountain Company, please click on link below if you would like to read:

Summer 2011 newsletter from The Mountain Company

Enjoy!

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Dhaulagiri Circuit in April 2011 led by Lee Farmer

2011-06-01T08:34:00.010+01:00

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri see from French Pass

In April this year The Mountain Company organised our fourth trek around Dhaulagiri Circuit. I led our first Dhaulagiri Circuit group in May 2008 then Gary Pfisterer was the leader in October 2009 and I led another group in October 2010. I have copied the links below to previous trip reports written on this blog:

Dhaulagiri Circuit trek in May 2008 led by Roland Hunter

Dhaulagiri Circuit trek in October 20010 led by Roland Hunter

In April we had nine people in our Dhaulagiri Circuit group and this trip was led by Lee Farmer and their Nepalese Sirdar was Jhire Rai. Lee is an Everest summitter and also a qualified International Mountain Leader.

Everyone arrived to Kathmandu on April 24th then flew to Pokhara on 25th to start the walk that afternoon after meeting the crew and having lunch in Beni. At this time of year the first few days are always hot and humid however of course the temperatures cool off at higher altitudes. We have chosen the best time in the Spring season for this trek, by starting in the last week of April means that the group will cross Dhampus pass on May 7th and French pass on May 9th. From our experience this is the optimal time to increase chances of crossing these high passes as weather is usually settled and temperatures warmer compared to March and April.

As it turned out this group experienced good weather and conditions for both days crossing French and Dhampus passes. As is usual in Spring the trail over Dhampus pass is icier and more slippery than in October, Lee decided that the group should put on crampons below Dhampus Pass and kept them on for all of the snow traverse to above Yak Kharka. In fact there was even one section of fixed rope on descent of Dhampus pass placed by a Czech team climbing on Dhampus Peak who kindly allowed our group to use for extra safety and security. This contrasts to when I led this trek in October last year when we put on crampons at top of Dhampus pass however most people took them off again shortly afterwards as were not really required for extra security on the traverse. It is essential that everyone in the group (and also crew and porters) bring crampons then make the decision whether to put them on while on trek.

We have received good feedback from the group about this trek, as explained in our Trip Dossier this is a tough and challenging trek however it is an achievable objective for fit hill walkers. One of the reasons we send a western leader for Dhaulagiri Circuit is to provide training and instruction on basic mountaineering skills as most people booked onto this trek have never used crampons and ice axe beforehand.

Lee gave an "Ecole De Glace" training session at Dhaulagiri Base Camp where he showed the group how to fix crampons to their boots properly and then demonstrated techniques for walking with crampons such as duck walking, front pointing and hybrid style. Then Lee discussed the use of an ice axe by demonstrating self belay and self arrest. After this demonstration everyone had a chance to practice these techniques. From discussion the group after this session everyone felt confident they had the right skills to safely cross the high passes on the Dhaulagiri Circuit.

This was the first time that Lee had completed the Dhaulagiri Circuit trek and his comments on the trek were as follows:

"I thoroughly enjoyed this trek- high and wild. It was a great immersion into a more remote part of Nepal. It was good working with the team I had and all worked very hard. Tulsi and Prashant in Kathmandu were excellent and very organised and the sherpa team of cooks and porters were very good and I particularly liked working with the Sirdar Jhire Rai."

As ever I would like to thank the trek crew for their work on this trek as we would not be able to visit this amazing area of Nepal without them! Of course thanks also to the leaders Lee Farmer and Jhire Rai.

The Mountain Company is organising Dhaulagiri Circuit trek in October 2011 and also April 2012 please get in touch if you would like to join one of these departures. Our October 2011 trek is now guaranteed to run and there is currently availability, this trip will be led by Dom Rudd. Our April 2012 Dhaulagiri Circuit trek will be led by regular Mountain Co leader Alan Ward.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

DIL Trust UK successfully reach Everest Base Camp in April 2011

2011-05-30T10:13:00.011+01:00

Photo: Everest summit

Congratulations to the team from Development in Learning ("DIL") Trust UK who successfully trekked to Everest Base Camp in Nepal with The Mountain Company in April this year. In spite of poor weather and conditions up high the group carried on with admirable determination to reached Base Camp on April 26th.

DIL Trust UK seeks to establish or adopt, and operate primary and secondary schools for less privileged children, primarily girls, in the under-developed and rural regions of Pakistan. Their Everest Base Camp trek was a fundraiser for this good cause in Pakistan, for more information take a look at DIL Trust UK website.

Thanks to Georgina Hobbs and Nepalese Sirdar Buddhi Rai for their help in making this trek such a success and of course thanks also to the porters who carried the group's gear for everyday of the trek.

If you are interested in trekking to Everest Base Camp to raise funds for a charity of your choice then please take a look at our Open Everest Challenge led by Alan Ward with dates November 29th to December 17th 2011. This trek is now guaranteed to run and there is currently availability please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Part Two: Trip report for The Great Himalaya Trail (“GHT”) trek from Makalu to Everest completed in May 2011

2011-05-23T04:55:00.018+01:00

Photo: rapel/ abseil down West Col (approx 250m)

Continued....after everyone had crossed Sherpani Pass we walked over West Barun glacier to the top of West Col passing the site of Baruntse Advanced Base Camp. This camp could be used if group was too slow in crossing both passes in one day however at over 6,000m it is too high and no doubt people would suffer from altitude sickness. It is much better to get over West Col and descend to Upper Baruntse Base Camp at 5,700m.

The rapel down West Col is about 250m long and follows a steep line on ice and through some rocks (see photo above). The issue is the time taken for porters to lower their loads down to the base of West Col, this is a slow process especially as there is risk of rock fall for the crew helping at the bottom of the pass. Unfortunately during the lowering one of our loads broken open and six tents fell into a crevasse at the bottom of the pass however that night we had enough shelter with most of the group sharing their tents with three people rather than the more spacious two per tent!

After the long day crossing the passes we decided to have a rest day at Upper Baruntse Base Camp while our climbing Sherpas went up to help bring down the last loads from top of West Col (non essential items like extra food etc) and also to look in the crevasse for our tents. In the end they were successful in recovering two tents however four of my Mountain Hardwear Trango 3.1s were lost (these were new tents costing a total of US$3,000, ouch!). Luckily our Sirdar knew a Baruntse expedition leaving Base Camp that day and they kindly lent us two more Trango 3.1s so we had enough tents for rest of the trek.

After our rest day we walked to Amphu Laptsa High Camp, the trail descends to Baruntse Lower Base Camp and then follows rocky moraine into the upper Hongu Valley past the higher of the Panch Pokhari Lakes. Shortly after arriving to camp I set off with our climbing Sherpas to take a look at the pass and fix ropes in advance of our crossing tomorrow. From camp we followed a rocky trail to the glacier where there was an ice step of 10m to access the glacier then an easy trail to the top of the pass. The view from Amphu Laptsa is superb with Baruntse and Chamlang and also looking back to West Col it was possible to see the route we had followed.

This was my first time crossing the Amphu Laptsa, I had heard from others how dangerous this pass is especially for porters so I wanted to fix as much as possible for safety and security. In fact the conditions were very snowy this year so we had to fix an extra 300m of rope lower down on descent where usually one walks out on a rocky trail.

The next morning the group left camp at 4.30am with dawn appearing as we walked up the rocky trail, it was a beautiful sight to see Chamlang and Baruntse tinged with the morning glow. The group made steady progress up to the top of the pass and the started the rapels on the otherside, it was certainly a relief to get off the ropes and start on the trail down to our camp near Imja lake.

There was no doubt the next day the group was tired however there was a strong sense of accomplishment as we had successfully crossed the three passes into the Khumbu and now there was an easy trail to follow to Lukla. Most people took their time walking down to Dingboche while reflecting on the last few weeks and enjoying the mountain scenery of the upper Imja valley with views of Lhotse Shar, Island Peak, Cho Polu, Peak 38 and further down the valley Cholatse and Taboche.

Of course none of this trip would not have been possible without our amazing Nepalese crew. Many thanks to our porters from Kharikhola (and a few also from Kathmandu), our climbing sherpas Chhongba Sherpa, Tashi Sherpa and Lhakpa Sherpa, our walking sherpas Dawa Sherpa, Lhakpa Chirring Sherpa and Ang Babu Sherpa. Thanks also to our cook Gombu Sherpa and of course our Sirdar Pema Tshiri Sherpa who kept the show on the road.

I would like also to thank Robin Boustead for his help and assistance in the organisation of this trek. If you are thinking of walking a section of The Great Himalaya Trail then you must get a copy of his guidebook Nepal Trekking and The Great Himalaya Trail by Trailblazer.

You might be interested to see some of the photos of this trek please click on link below to see Part Two with photos from Sherpani Pass to Khumbu:

Part Two: photos of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT") from Makalu Base Camo to Everest crossing Sherpani Pass, West Col and Aphu Laptsa

If you have not already read Part One of my Trip Report I have copied the link below:

Part One: Trip report for The Great Himalaya Trail (“GHT”) trek from Makalu to Everest completed in May 2011

The Mountain Company is planning to organise our Makalu to Everest trek again in Spring 2012 so please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Part One: Trip report for The Great Himalaya Trail (“GHT”) trek from Makalu to Everest completed in April/ May 2011

2011-05-22T13:15:00.014+01:00

Photo: Mount Makalu as seen from Base Camp

The trek from the Makalu region to Everest is known as the most difficult section of The Great Himalaya Trail (“GHT”). Completing this section of GHT has been an ambition of mine since I summited Mount Makalu in Spring 2009, I was hoping after this climb to walk out over Sherpani pass, West Col and Amphu Laptsa passes however as it turned out we summited late in the season so had to return on the easier and faster trail to Tumlingtar.

Please click on the links below to see the story of my summit day on Makalu and photos from Makalu expediton 2009:

Our summit day on Makalu May 2009

Part one: Makalu expedition photos

Part two: Makalu expedition photos

Part three: Makalu expedition photos

Part four: Makalu expedition photos

Following my expedition in 2009 I got to know the Makalu area well and also had trekked to Everest Base Camp many times with groups however had not been over the three passes that link these two treks. The first pass is Sherpani at 6,200m followed by West Col at 6,150m then the last pass is Amphu Laptsa to enter Everest region.

For our Spring 2011 we had twelve people booked onto our Makalu to Everest trek with most of them having already been on a trek with The Mountain Company on a previous occasion. Our Makalu to Everest trip was a reconnaissance trek and we clearly explained to everyone that we would only cross the passes if we encountered good weather and conditions, if unable to make the traverse to the Khumbu then we would have to retrace the trail back to Tumlingtar.

Selecting the right time of year is very important for this trek in order to maximise the chance of successful crossing the passes. While I was on expedition to Makalu in 2009 we heard of several groups in March and early April who were not successful and were forced to return to Tumlingtar as attempted this trek too early in the season. Therefore when planning our Makalu to Everest trek we carefully selected the dates and in the end decided to fly to Tumlingtar on April 24th and back from Lukla on May 19th. As one gets into late April the weather is much warmer and our plan was to cross Sherpani and West Col on May 10th, there is usually stable weather around this time when teams on Everest and Makalu are also making their summit bids.

The other factor that has prevented groups crossing these passes is the amount of time spent acclimatising to the high altitude and therefore during the planning stage we incorporated into our itinerary plenty of time before crossing Sherpani and West Col. As our Spring 2011 trek was billed as a recce the itinerary was flexible and in the end we decided to have three nights at Makalu Base Camp, two nights at Sherpani Low Camp and one night at Sherpani High Camp. Not only is spending this amount of time important for the groups’ acclimatisation but also for the porters and crew who are of course carrying much more weight than us!

The group flew into Tumlingtar as planned on April 24th and we were very lucky as we heard that flights were cancelled for the next four days due to weather, that would have been a bad start to the trip having drive for 24 hours in a bus and of course losing valuable days from the trek. The landing at Tumlingtar is on a wide grassy plateau so easy and not too scary compared to the hairy Lukla airstrip, in fact they are in process of adding a hard surface of tarmac to Tumlingtar so will be even smoother next year.

After meeting our kitchen crew in Tumlingtar we had lunch then took Landrovers along the jeep track through the market town of Khandbari and onto Chichila where we camped for the first night. That evening there was heavy rain and in fact throughout this trek we experienced far more rain compared to 2009 (after returning to Kathmandu we heard that this year all expeditions throughout Nepal had been experiencing more precipitation than usual). However by the morning the clouds had cleared and we were rewarded with a superb view of the Himalayas including our first view of Makalu and Chamlang.

For our first day trekking we were mainly walking along the jeep track to the village of Num however on the second day walking to Sedua we were off the road and following a local trail through the fields and forest down to the bridge over Arun river. Our permits were checked in Sedua and then next day continued to the last village at Tashigaon. We had some keen birdwatchers in the group and it was fascinating to see some of the birds pointed out such as common mynah, crested bunting, streaked laughing thrush, green backed tit however the two birds that really stand out were the stunningly colourful verditer flycatcher and firetailed sun bird (seen near Khongma campsite)

From Tashigaon we walked through the lush cloud forest to Khongma where we stayed for two nights to acclimatise before crossing Shipton La. This campsite at 3,600m was at the snowline and both afternoons we had hail and snow. On our acclimatising day most of the group joined a morning walk along the Khongma ridge, by “climbing high sleeping low” this helps the acclimatisation process. After the first mani wall along the ridge there was snow on the trail however we continued to the second mani wall at just over 4,000m.

On the next day the crossing of Shipton La went well although we had no views along the way as it was a cloudy day (very common to get poor visibility on crossing Shipton La...). There is one steeper section on the climb up to Shipton La before the lake called Kalo Pokhari however it was not too icey so group and porters managed this without fixed ropes. It is worth pointing out that the maps are very inaccurate for this section of the walk, for example Nepa Maps shows three passes after the lake when there is only one (Keke La). After crossing the passes we camped at Debotay where there is one small hut, this place is not marked on the maps however there is more space and better water source than Mumbuk further down the trail.

From Debotay we descended into the Barun Valley passing through a landslide area then through several yak meadows (kharkas) to our camp at Yangle Kharka. The next day we continued to Langmale Kharka passing through the last section of forest made up of rhododendron and pine trees before climbing above the tree line. As there is a 750m ascent from Yangle Kharka we decided to spend two nights in Langmale Kharka for acclimatisation before continuing onto Makalu Base Camp.

We were very lucky with the weather on our day trekking to Makalu Base Camp, the views of Peak 6 & 7, Chamlang, Honku Chuli and of course Makalu were sensational. Personally it was an enjoyable day bringing back lots of memories from my Makalu expedition two years ago and it was good to take time walking along the trail to absorb this amazing scenery.

In the end we decided to stay three nights at Makalu Base Camp to help with acclimatisation, on the first day we gave some mountaineering instruction to the group for ascending and descending fixed ropes and other useful tips for crossing the passes. On the second day the group went for a walk on the slopes to east of Makalu Base Camp where they reached an altitude of 5,300m with good views of Lhotse and Everest.

After three nights at Makalu Base Camp everyone in the group was sufficiently acclimatised to ascend to Sherpani Low Camp at 5,200m where we also spent two nights. This trail starts from Makalu Base Camp and stays to left (west) side of Barun Valley and does not descend onto the glacier as one does for the approach to Makalu Advanced Base Camp. The trail follows the ablation valley and lateral moraine then becomes rocky as traverses past several side valleys however the trail is reasonably well marked by cairns. The view of Makalu changes throughout the walk on this day as the West ridge becomes more prominent and also North West ridge appears and then at the end of the valley Lhotse and Everest soon becomes visible.

The trail to Sherpani High Camp is also on rocks involving lots of boulder hopping followed by a loose scree slope as one turns the corner to enter the valley leading to Sherpani High Camp (a good idea to wear helmet here as there is some risk of rockfall in this section of the trail). Sherpani High Camp is located an altitude of 5,700m just before the glacier, from here the trail to Sherpani Pass starts on moraine to the right and then after passing the icefall descends onto the glacier and follows this to the base of Sherpani Pass.

After arrival to Sherpani High Camp myself and the climbing Sherpas went to have a look at Sherpani Pass and to fix ropes before the group's crossing tomorrow. Following the glacier to the base of the pass we then fixed ropes to the top, the route starts on a snowy gulley traverses left on a rock step then follows easier ground to the summit of the pass. The view is superb from the pass with the flat West Barun glacier and West Col visible and also Baruntse, Chamlang and Honku Chuli. There is a 50m or so rapel/ abseil from Sherpani Pass to the other side descending onto West Barun Glacier.

Our plan for the next day was to cross both Sherpani Pass and West Col to get to Upper Baruntse Base Camp (5,700m), of course this would be a long day however the other option of camping between the passes at over 6,000m did not sound like a good idea as altitude sickness would be very likely at this height. We left Sherpani High Camp at 1.15am and made good progress to Sherpani Pass with dawn appearing as the group started the climb to the pass. Luckily at this point our porters were ahead of us and after a waiting for an hour or so all of the porters had lowered their loads and started their walk across the glacier to West Col.

As this Trip Report is longer than usual I have decide to write in two parts, hopefully this level of detail will be helpful for others planning to do this trek and of course this trek is likely to get more traffic in the future as Makalu to Everest is the crux section of GHT. I will write Part Two of this Trip Report shortly covering this trek from West Col, Amphu Laptsa to Khumbu region.

At this point you might be interested to see some of the photos of this trek please click on link below to see Part One with photos from Tumlingtar to Sherpani Pass:

Part One: photos of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT") from Makalu Base Camo to Everest crossing Sherpani Pass, West Col and Aphu Laptsa

The Mountain Company is planning to organise our Makalu to Everest trek again in Spring 2012 so please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Part Two: Trip Report for The Great Himalaya ("GHT") trek from Makalu to Everest completed in May 2011

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Part Two: photos of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT") from Makalu Base Camp to Everest crossing Sherpani Pass, West Col and Amphu Laptsa passes

2011-05-20T07:20:00.040+01:00

Photo: view of West Col from top of Sherpani Pass

Photo: Baruntse seen from Sherpani Pass

Photo: Chamlang and Honku Chuli seen from Sherpani Pass

Photo: rapel/ abseil from top of West Col

Photo: abseil/ rapel from West Col (approx 240m)

Photo: Upper Baruntse Base Camp

Photo: Baruntse seen from Upper Baruntse Base Camp

Photo: descending to lower Baruntse Base Camp

Photo: moraine ridges on trail to Amphu Laptsa High Camp

Photo: one of the Panch Pokhari lakes

Photo: morning climb up Amphu Laptsa

Photo: scree slope on Amphu Laptsa

Photo: Amphu Laptsa glacier

Photo: view of Hongu valley from half way up Amphu Laptsa

Photo: seracs on Amphu Laptsa

Photo: view of West Col from Amphu Laptsa

Photo: top of Amphu Laptsa Baruntse behind

Photo: descending Amphu Laptsa

Photo: view from Amphu Laptsa to upper Imja glacier

Photo: abseil/ rapel down Amphu Laptsa

Photo: camp near Imja lake

Photo: Imja lake and Cholatse & Taboche

Photo: Lhotse and Island Peak

Photo: Cho Polu

Photo: trail to Chukkung

Photo: Chukkung Ri

Photo: Dingboche (4,400m)

Photo: Kangtega and Thamserku

Photo: Upper Pangboche village

Photo: chorten near Pangboche and view of Everest

Photo: Tengboche monastery

Part One: photos of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT") from Makalu Base Camp to Everest crossing Sherpani Pass, West Col and Amphu Laptsa passes

2011-05-20T05:30:00.005+01:00

Photo: farmhouse near Sedua in Arun valley

Photo: young girls near Tashigaon village

Photo: working in fields near Tashigaon

Photo: cloud forest above Tashigaon with Shipton La behind

Photo: crossing snowy Shipton La

Photo: Langmale Kharka (4,400m) in Barun valley

Photo: approaching Sherson with Chamlang, Honku Chuli and West Barun glacier icefall

Photo: Alistair and Chhonga with Peak 6 and 7

Photo: Makalu Base Camp

Photo: Makalu with Barun Pokhari (lake)

Photo: approaching Sherpani Pass Low Camp (5,200m)

Photo: Sherpani Pass Low Camp

Photo: Everest and Lhotse as seen from Sherpani Pass Low Camp

Photo: Makalu as seen from Sherpani Pass Low Camp

Photo: trail to Sherpani High Camp

Photo: trail to Sherpani High Camp (Barun glacier below left)

Photo: entering valley to Sherpani Pass High Camp

Photo: Sherpani Pass High Camp (5,700m)

Photo: view to Makalu Advanced Base Camp

Photo: glacier leading to Sherpani High Camp

Photo: base of Sherpani Pass with Makalu behind

Photo: climbing snow gulley to Sherpani Pass (fixed ropes)

Photo: climbing rock traverse to Sherpani Pass (fixed ropes)

Photo: view from Sherpani Pass to glacier approach

Photo: Buddhist prayer flags on Sherpani Pass

Photo: view from Sherpani Pass to Chamlang and Honku Chuli

Photo: abseil/ rapel from top of Sherpani Pass

Photo: descending Sherpani Pass

Spring 2011: Swiss rescuers standby in Nepal

2011-04-16T17:11:00.009+01:00

Photo: heli rescue on Manaslu (Copyright: Nepal mountain rescue cell)

Photo: heli rescue on Dhaulagiri (Copyright: Nepal mountain rescue cell)

An email from Menno Boermans - Alpine Rescue Center:

For the second year, mountain rescue specialists of Swiss Air Zermatt are present in the Nepalese Himalayas. In the months of April and May they are training Nepalese helicopter pilots and rescuers of Fishtail Air how to perform rescues at high altitude. In the meanwhile the crew is standby, to come into action when someone is facing a life threatening emergency.

In spring 2010 -the first season Air Zermatt and Fishtail Air joined forces- the team made history by saving the lives of three Spanish climbers from almost 7000 meter on Annapurna. A performance which got a lot of attention worldwide and was honored with the Eurocopter`s 2011 Golden Hour Award in the United States. Other rescue and recovery missions in 2010 where performed on Manaslu, Dhaulagiri and Mount Everest.

The team is stationed in Lukla and able to initiate high-altitude rescue attempts within hours of receiving a call. If necessary they fly a so-called human sling operation, an aerial maneuver originated in the Swiss Alps (1970). The rescuer will be brought to the patient, hanging from the helicopter on a longline, a rope that can be extended up to 200 meters. After doing a quick patient assessment the rescuer will evacuate the climber by clicking the harness onto the longline. In a second rotation the rescuer will be flown of the mountain.

To practice this kind of evacuations, in March 2011 the Nepalese crew underwent special training missions in Switzerland. Air Zermatt's chief pilot Gerold Biner emphasizes that the goal of the Nepal Air Rescue Project is that in the future the Nepalese team can carry out missions by themselves.

Winter climb of Mount Toubkal (4,167m) the highest mountain in North Africa

2011-03-22T14:55:00.027Z

The main objective for my month's visit to Morocco was to climb Mount Toubkal (4,167m) the highest mountain in North Africa. As described in my earlier post on this blog Photos of Imlil, Aroumd and Ait Souka villages in High Atlas mountains I had to wait for three days in Aroumd village due to the heavy snowfall in the mountains before heading up to refuge at the base of the route to Toubkal.

With over metre of fresh snow there was significant avalanche risk in the mountains and also decided to let someone do the hard work of breaking trail to the summit! I was lucky on my second day in Aroumd as the sun started to shine and had good weather for the rest of the trip. With the heat of the African sun most of snow low down near the village melted fast and consolidated higher up.

Photo: skiers descending from refuges

On March 19th I walked up to Les Mouflons refuge, this walk takes about five to six hours. There were several groups of skiers coming down from the refuge and amusing see several wipe outs (not serious of course) as they tried to find ways through the increasing number of rocks as the snow melted in the sun.

There are two refuges at the base of Mount Toubkal, having spoken to several people who had previously visited this area some people preferred one refuge and some the other one. In the end I stayed at the lower refuge called Les Mouflons, this is a newer building only three years old and I thought was quite comfortable with friendly staff. The other refuge Neltner is the original one opened in 1938 and is known as being warmer however having looked around seems smaller and less spacious.

Photo: Les Mouflons refuge (lower left) and Neltner refuge (higher right)

That evening in the refuge I met some Brits who had climbed Toubkal that day and picked up some tips about the current conditions on the route. Next morning I set off a little later than planned (breakfast was slow to arrive), in the end started from the refuge at 7.45am however at least the route was still in shade so the trail was frozen so did not break through the surface of the deep snow like later in the day.

Photo: South Cwm route on Toubkal as seen from refuge

I was following the South Cwm route which is known as the easiest way to the summit. The trail is clearly visible from the hut, first it heads south then starts the ascending through a series of switchbacks then enters the South Cwm between Toubkal West (4,030m) to the right and Toubkal main summit out of view to the left. There is a pass between these peaks called Tizi n'Toubkal from where one heads in a north east direction to the summit.

Photo: South Cwm route

Photo: scree slope near summit

Photo: final traverse to summit

Photo: group approaching summit

Photo: summit of Mount Toubkal (4,167m)

The summit is marked by a metal tripod, the views are superb over to Jebel (Mount) Sirwa in the south and Jebel Sahro range in south east direction. My trek earlier in the month was in the Jebel Sahro area, I posted photos and description of this in my blog article Winter walk in Jebel Sahro range in Morocco. One can also see down to Marrakech on the plains to the north west.

Photo: view from summit

Photo: group on summit

Photo: Roland on summit

Photo: back at Les Moufons refuge with route behind

After admiring the summit view for a while I descended back to refuge for lunch with the round trip taking just under four hours and then continued down to Aroumd village in a further three hours or so.

In winter Mount Toubkal is a fun and easy objective suitable for someone with basic mountaineering skills using ice axe and crampons. By May or June the snow has melted from Toubkal and the trail follows scree and rock all the way to the summit making this is a popular trek to the highest mountain in North Africa.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Photos of Imlil, Aroumd and Ait Souka villages in High Atlas mountains (Morocco)

2011-03-22T12:33:00.029Z

Last week I stayed in Aroumd village where had several days exploring the area before my climb of Mount Toubkal (4,167m). The day before my arrival to Aroumd there had been large snowfall in the mountains and all the way down to village level so I decided to leave it a few days to allow time for snow to consolidate before heading to the summit of Toubkal.

As I wondered around Aroumd, Imlil and Ait Souka villages I took some photos as the scenery looked wonderful with this fresh snow. I also visited the superb Hotel Kasbah du Toubkal, this would be a wonderful place to stay with stunning 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains, for more information about this property please take a look at their website.

I will write a trip report on this blog about my climb of Mount Toubkal shortly needless to say it was well worth waiting for!

Photo: Imlil village (1,740m) with Tizi n'Tamatert behind

Photo: view of Toubkal massif from Aroumd village

Photo: Imlil village and surrounding mountains

Photo: muleteer and his mule near Imlil

Photo: Hotel Kasbah du Toubkal

Photo: inside Kasbah du Toubkal

Photo: sherpherd and his flock near Ait Souka village

Photo: view from near Tizi n'Tamatert

Photo: Aroumd (or Aremd) village (1,945m)

Photo: trail to shrine of Sidi Chamharouch

Photo: mules on the trail

Photo: Muslim shrine of Sidi Chamharouch (2,300m)

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Winter walk in the Jebel Sahro mountain range in Morocco

2011-03-11T17:34:00.026Z

I just got back to Marrakech after a short walk in the Jebel Sahro mountain range in Morocco. Jebel Sahro is south of the High Atlas and is ideal for winter trekking during months from November to March. I must admit it is rather nice escaping from London at this time of year for some winter sun with most days temperatures around 25C. As these mountains are quite low in altitude this area gets far too hot over the summer months so not possible to trek at that time of year.

The Jebel Sahro is a stunning mountain range with strange sandstone and conglomerate formations containing isolated Berber villages, please take a look at the photos below to get an idea of the scenery. It is worth pointing out that I have no photos of the first two days of this trek as my new camera decide to reformat the memory card on afternoon of second and deleting all of my photos!

After flying to Marrakech with Easyjet (£90 return, bargain!) I spent a few days exploring the city before travelling over Tizi n Tichka pass to Ouarzazate. This town is the gateway to the south and located near to the Draa, Dades and Ouarzazate valleys. Due to its strategic importance during French colonial times was a garrison town for the French Foreign Legion. However these days Ouarzazate is better known for the legendary marathon des sables race that is organised from here every year.

Photo: Ali, Berber muleteer from Ihrazzoun village

After one night in Ouarzazate I travelled to the small town of Nkob where I met my muleteer, Ali, a Berber from the nearby village of Ihrazzoun. We went to the Alimentation General to buy the food for the trek then set off early next morning. The first section of the trek crosses a flat plain following a “piste” (jeep track) and passes a few villages before a short climb then descent to a Hanedour village overlooked by a derelict kasbah.

Photo: Tassigdelt

The first night on the trek we stayed at Ali’s house in his village called Ihrazzoun. It was interesting seeing a Berber house and their way of life of course shortly after arriving we were offered a cup of mint tea with dates and almonds. I was a little surprised when Ali’s father ask me to make the next round of tea, so with some help I learnt how to do this following the various rituals and it is certainly more complicated than make a cup of tea back home!

Photo: Camel's Head from Igli village

On second day of the trek we walked past two superb conglomerate towers of Bab n Ali, sorry I have no photos however please take a look at this link for a photo of Bab n Ali

On third day we walked past two more striking rock formations known as Camel’s Head and Tassigdelt. We started to gain altitude and later on we scrambled up to the highest point called Kouaouch at 2,592m. From the summit there are superb views back to Nkob and also northwards to the snowy peaks of Mgoun in the High Atlas. That evening we camped at Tizi N’Ouarg at 2,200m in a high meadow with several goat herders living nearby.

Photo: conglomerate rocks

Photo: Ali riding on his mule

Photo: view towards Nkob

Photo: view from summit of Kouaouch to High Atlas mountains

Photo: isolated tree

Photo: Draa valley and High Atlas in distance

Photo: looking back to Jebel Sahro from Tagdilt village

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

K2 & Gondogoro La in August 2011 now a guaranteed departure

2011-02-17T10:38:00.010Z

Photo: K2

The Mountain Company's K2 & Gondogoro La trek in August 2011 led by Roland Hunter is now guaranteed to run. There is still availability so please get in touch if you would like to join the group, for more information on our K2 & Gondogoro La trek

This will be my seventh trek to K2 Base Camp and as usual I am looking forward to returning to Pakistan this summer, if you are interested please take a look at Trip Reports from our previous K2 & Gondogoro La treks

Please get in contact with us soon if you would like to join this group

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Mother Earth: new lodge in Lobuche on Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal

2011-02-05T18:00:00.009Z

Photo: Mother Earth lodge in Lobuche

When trekking to Everest Base Camp with a group in December 2010 I noticed a brand new lodge in Lobuche called Mother Earth. Construction of this building had just finished and after knocking on the door for a while we woke the security guard who agreed to show us around.

I was very impressed with this new lodge, there is a large dining room and bedrooms are well designed with carpets on the floors. Apparently the roof is made from special material (imported from Europe) that insulates the building when cold at night but cools the building when heats up during the day.

For those of you who have stayed in Lobuche you will be aware there is a lack of quality lodges in this location, up until now the best one was Eco Lodge however their service level and standards have dropped over the last few years. There is no doubt that the Mother Earth will be the best lodge in Lobuche when it opens at the end of February, however of course it is also far more expensive.

At The Mountain Company for our Everest Base Camp trek we use the best teahouse lodges in each location therefore we have decided from now on to put all of our groups in the Mother Earth lodge. You will be glad to hear this is a free upgrade as we have decided not to increase our selling price, for 2011 it is still £1,045 (or US$1,695) land only from Kathmandu.

Please get in touch if you would like further information on our treks to Everest Base Camp, we organise six fixed date treks each year and also several private departures.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Tips and advice for a successful trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal

2011-01-25T00:13:00.024Z

Photo: The Mountain Company's group at Everest Base Camp

Over the last five years I have led groups totalling more than a hundred trekkers who have successfully walked to Everest Base Camp. The following are my top tips to increase your chances of reaching Base Camp:

1. Walk slowly. You will hear your Sherpa guides telling the group to walk “bistari", in Nepalese this means slowly. You must slow your walking pace right down compared to your normal speed back home especially when going up hills. If you are out of breath you are walking too fast.

You need to walk at a steady pace throughout the entire duration of the trek, you should arrive to your lodge each afternoon hopefully not feeling too tired. It is best to keep your energy and reserves for the longer more challenging days at higher altitude such as walking to Everest Base Camp and up Kalapatar.

2. Hydrate, you must drink fluids throughout the day and night. You need to drink plentiful amounts of water as being well hydrated aids the acclimatisation process. Lower down it can be quite warm where you are likely to sweat walking up the hills. At higher elevations your breathing rate is increased even when at rest so you lose more moisture especially as the air is cold and dry.

In my day pack I carry two Nalgene bottles (each with one litre capacity) however I also make sure to drink additional fluids at meal times. A top tip is drink one litre of water before breakfast as you are likely to wake up dehydrated in the morning. When you go for a pee your urine should be clear and copious, if is not then drink more fluids.

3. Do not rush your itinerary, you must allow enough time for necessary acclimatisation. Almost everyone can acclimatise to high altitude although you need to ascend slowly to allow time to adapt to the lower amount of oxygen available to one's body.

The Mountain Company’s Everest Base Camp itinerary has fourteen trekking days (total nineteen days from Kathmandu), from our experience this is enough time for most people to acclimatise. If you take fewer days then this will significantly decrease your chances of reaching Everest Base Camp and may also put you at serious risk of getting severe altitude sickness.

It is important to read about acclimatisation before your trek and be aware of the symptoms of high altitude sickness. I suggest you download an excellent and informative booklet called Travel at High Altitude by Medex

There are several other useful websites well worth reading, I have copied the links below:

Base Camp MD

High Altitude medicine

British Mountaineering Council

4. Be careful what you eat and drink in Kathmandu in order to minimise your chances of getting sick. Travelling in developing countries like Nepal unfortunately carries a risk of picking up a bug that could lead to travellers' diarrhoea.

You can reduce this from happening by eating at good quality tourist standard restaurants in Kathmandu, drinking bottled water and of course not drinking any water direct from the tap (even for brushing your teeth). It is also a good idea to bring hand sanitiser with you. If you end up getting travellers' diarrhoea then you should take medicine as early as possible (for bacterial diarrhoea take an antibiotic). This is especially important if you are at a high altitude as your body’s resistance level is lowered due to lack of oxygen. Oral rehydration salts (eg diarolyte) are also worth taking as these replace electrolytes lost.

The Mountain Company includes The High Altitude Medicine Handbook (Micro edition) in our medical kits on treks to help with diagnosis and treatment.

5. Build your fitness level before departure. You certainly will not regret getting in shape, this will increase your chances of reaching Everest Base Camp and there is no doubt at the same time you will enjoy the trek far more. However you do not need to be super fit to walk to Everest Base Camp, this trek is an achievable objective for most people as long as you follow our advice.

During the week try to undertake aerobic exercise at least three time a week by visiting the gym, running or swimming. If your schedule does not allow for this then try to add more walking to your daily routine. You will find that small amounts of exercise on a regular basis is the best way of increasing your fitness level.

Of course the best training is to go hill walking, try to make an effort to get away for several walking weekends before flying to Kathmandu you will find that walking for two days in a row is a good way of simulating the trekking experience.

Good luck with your trek, remember to walk slowly (bistari!). Please get in touch with us at The Mountain Company if you have any questions or would like further information about trekking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

The Mountain Company's camping treks guaranteed to run in 2011

2011-01-20T07:09:00.014Z

Photo: Mount Makalu at 8,462m

The Mountain Company has the following camping treks already guaranteed to run in 2011: Dhaulagiri Circuit in April, Makalu to Everest in April, Lunana Snowman in September/ October, Mera Peak in late October and Kanchenjunga Circuit in November.

Dhaulagiri Circuit trek starting on April 24th 2011 will be led by Lee Farmer. The Mountain Company has successfully organised this challenging trek on three previous occasions and over the years has developed a good knowledge and understanding of this itinerary. If interested in this trek I suggest you read our Trip Reports on our website

Makalu to Everest starting on April 23rd will be led by Roland Hunter. This is a reconnaissance trek exploring this remote region of Nepal crossing three high Himalayan passes: Sherpani at 6,135m, West Col at 6,143m and Amphu Laptsa at 5,850m. We have a strong Sherpa team coming with us on this expedition who have completed this challenging trek many times before. There are currently only two places available in this group.

Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan starting on September 23rd 2011 will be led by Roland Hunter, he knows this trek well having led a group who successfully completed this trek in 2008. The daily permit fees in Bhutan are scheduled to rise by 25% in 2012 so if you are thinking of doing Lunana Snowman than you should do it in 2011! If you are interested in this trek I suggest you read our Trip Report from Snowman in 2008.

Kanchenjunga Circuit trek starting on November 2nd 2011 will be led by Gary Pfisterer, he knows Kanchenjunga very well after having led three expeditions to climb this mountain from both the North and South sides. His late wife Ginette Harrison was the first woman to successfully climb to the summit of Kanchenjunga and survive the descent.

Mera Peak expedition starting on October 30th 2011 will be led by Roland Hunter, this is his sixth expedition to this mountain and is looking forward to his sixth summit! For more information on these previous expeditions please take a look at our trek report page on The Mountain Co website

We are also very close to getting enough people signed up for Stok Kangri in July, K2 & Gondogoro La in August, Dhaulagiri Circuit in October and Mera Peak in October. Please get in touch with us soon if you are interested in joining one of these camping groups later this year.

The Mountain Company

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

2011 New Year Newsletter from The Mountain Company

2011-01-05T17:38:00.005Z

I have just finished writing The Mountain Company's New Year Newsletter, please take a look to find out more about our exciting and ambitious program of treks for 2011.

If you have not yet signed up for The Mountain Company newsletter please register for our email list

Happy New Year and trek on!

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Islamic Relief Everest Challenge successfully reach Base Camp on December 12th

2010-12-19T03:02:00.009Z

Photo: Mount Everest

All fourteen members of of the Islamic Relief Everest team successfully reach Base Camp on December 12th 2010, so congratulations to everyone in this group for completing their challenge while raising significant funds for charity.

This is the fourth Everest Challenge trek that the Mountain Company has had the privilege of organising for Islamic Relief. Each of their Everest treks has been during the month of December, like previous years we experienced sunny and clear weather for thirteen days in a row.

In my view this is one of the best times of year to trek in the Khumbu as there are very few other trekkers so there is no problem getting rooms in the lodges for a larger group, easier to secure flights to/ from Lukla and the trail is much less busy than peak months of October and November.

Click here to read Altaf and Ateeq's blog on their Everest Challenge for Islamic Relief

Click here to find out more about Islamic Relief Challenges

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Mera Peak expedition in November 2010

2010-11-20T06:49:00.011Z

Photo: summit day on Mera Peak

Our Mera Peak group safely arrived back to Kathmandu yesterday, we were very fortunate to fly out of Lukla as planned as for the last five days the weather has been cloudy with only a limited number of flights operating to and from Kathmandu.

Yesterday there was a back log of over two thousand people waiting in Lukla to fly out to Kathmandu so our group was very happy to hear through our connections and ongoing relationship with Tara Airlines that we had confirmed seats for the first flight; we got back to Kathmandu around midday- for more information on the delays take a look at this article in Daily Mail.

In spite of the cloudy conditions in Lukla towards the end of the trek we had good weather for the rest of the time and experienced no precipitation during eighteen days of trekking. In fact for most of the days when Lukla was cloudy we were walking high above this level with the poor visibility confined to the lower valleys. My view is that November is the best time to climb Mera Peak, the weather is more stable at this time of year as by then well into the post monsoon period also far fewer other expeditions than during the month of October. Personally I would not want to climb Mera Peak in December as it would be too cold up high on the mountain and with fewer daylight hours resulting in more time walking in the dark before sunrise.

Our summit day was November 15^th, we were very lucky to have clear weather with great views from Kanchenjunga in the east to Makalu, Lhotse, Everest and Cho Oyu further to the north. On leaving High Camp at 3.20am we experienced high winds with strong gusts however all twelve in our group carried on with admirable determination to successfully reach the summit of Mera Peak. Congratulations and well done to everyone.

Compared to last year the Mera glacier has clearly undergone a number of changes, firstly there are now more crevasses along the section to Mera La as well some large crevasses opening up before High Camp. However there is still an established trail on the glacier winding its way between these slots making the risk of glacial travel still quite low risk at this time of year. It will be interesting to see how the glacier changes over the next few years if these crevasses open up more then perhaps it might require ladders to cross over the snow bridges in the near future. The second change is the large amount of rock sitting on top of the ice on the entry ramp onto the glacier, there has been significant rockfall from the ridge above. The presence of these rocks on the ice makes it more challenging for climbers walking onto and off the glacier and of course especially awkward while wearing crampons.

This is the fifth year in row that I have led The Mountain Company’s Mera Peak expedition in November and our groups have successfully summitted every year. I have been very lucky to work with the same team of fantastic Sherpas for each of these expeditions; I would like to mention a very special thanks to our sirdar Pemba Tamang (double Everest summitter plus Manaslu and Shishapangma) and his brother Nurbu Tamang as well as Ngima Dorje Tamang and Rana Magar. Thanks also to Saila Tamang and Kumar who, as ever, worked very hard in the kitchen providing an endless supply of tasty meals.

The Mountain Company is organising two expeditions to climb Mera Peak in 2011, the dates for our first trip is from April 10th to May 1st 2011 and second one from October 30th to November 20th 2011. Lee Farmer will lead our April departure and I will lead our November departure. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining one of these expeditions to climb Mera Peak.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Our October Everest Base Camp group successfully trek to Base Camp and Kalapatar

2010-10-31T13:55:00.005Z

Photo: Mount Everest

On my return from Dhaulagiri Circuit on 27th I went over to Hotel Tibet to meet our Everest Base Camp group to hear how their trek went , I gather everyone made it successfully to Everest Base Camp and most went up Kalapatar on the next day. Similar to my group on Dhaulagiri Circuit they also experienced some unstable weather with precipitation at Pangboche village however by the time they reached Lobuche the skies cleared off and the views from Kalapatar were superb.

Congratulations to everyone in this group, and of course a special thanks to Buddhi Rai who led this trip and looked after the team so well.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Dhaulagiri Circuit in October 2010

2010-10-28T08:26:00.011+01:00

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri as seen from French Pass

Our Dhaulagiri Circuit group arrived back to Kathmandu yesterday with everyone successfully completing this trek known as one of the most challenging (non mountaineering) in Nepal. This is the third Dhaulagiri Circuit trek that the Mountain Company has organised and the second one that I have personally led. In October 2009 Gary Pfisterer led our Dhaulagiri Circuit trek and I first completed this trek with a group in May 2008.

It was interesting to see the differences in the conditions and weather between my two treks around Dhaulagiri one in late Spring season and the other in Autumn. As is typical in May one generally gets clear mornings then cloud tends to build from mid morning then clears off again in the evening. However in October once the stable post monsoon weather has set in with high pressure across the Himalaya then one can have blue skis and views all day, this is the weather we experienced this October crossing French and Dhampus Passes. Although the weather is more stable in October the advantage of going in May there is likely to be fewer other trekkers around and also you will see mountaineering expeditions at Dhaulagiri Base Camp.

However this year there was a heavy monsoon that extended into October, and as a result we had several rainy afternoons and evenings while walking up Myagdi valley. In fact this valley is known as being wet as the orientation is north to south with clouds travelling up from India then collide with Dhaulagiri at the top of the valley causing high levels of precipitation. The Myagdi valley is clearly a rainy place with sub tropical forest up to Sallighari camp.

Once crossing French Pass into Hidden Valley one enters an area affected by the rain shadow of Dhaulagiri with sparse vegetation comprising isolated patches of moss and grass. Like Dolpo further to the west it is only during the monsoon season from June to September that this area gets significant amounts of rain and at this time yaks are brought up to graze in Hidden Valley.

The condition of Dhampus Pass was far easier to cross this October compared to May with a well established trail in snow with no icey sections and in fact in the end most of the group did not need to use their crampons and ice axes. However when I crossed Dhampus Pass in May there were several icey sections on the traverse after descending from the summit of the pass and with these conditions crampons were essential for trekkers and of course for all of the crew.

The other main difference I noticed compared to May 2008 was the improvement in the trail, in particular the path before Boghara village has now cut into the rock whereas before there was just a fixed rope to help climb over a rock slab! Beyond this village there are several other sections of the path that have been widened making the walk easier than before. The other challenging section is the descent down the lateral moraine from Italian Camp down onto the glacier, for the first time a trail has been cut into the moraine however we still felt a rope was necessary to secure the safe passage of the group and porters. Also several of the old log bridges have been replaced with well constructed cantilever bridges, in fact it is now possible to use mules to carry loads all of the way to Italian Base Camp.

I was surprised that most other groups on the Dhaulagiri Circuit were still ascending way too fast and breaking all of the rules of acclimatisation with most other people we met complaining of headaches and other symptoms of altitude sickness. Of course one has to consider the entire trekking team including the health of all of the porters and kitchen crew as they are the ones working hard at these altitudes! The main consideration on this trek is the risk of someone getting serious altitude sickness in Hidden Valley, if this happens then one has to ascend either French or Dhampus pass in order to descend in altitude.

Our acclimatisation schedule seemed to well by spending two nights at Italian Camp (3,660m), two nights at Glacier Camp (4,200m) and two nights at Dhaulagiri Base Camp (4,700m) then we crossed French Pass into Hidden Valley where we also spent two nights. For most people the highlight of the trek was the day exploring Hidden Valley and spending two nights here would not have been possible if the group and crew were not sufficiently acclimatised- click here for photos of our day walk in Hidden Valley.

Our October 2010 group were very lucky as the weather cleared on the morning before we walked into Hidden Valley staying sunny and clear for the rest of the trek, we experienced classic Autumn trekking with superb views of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Nilgiri, Dhampus Peak and Tukuche- click here for photos of Dhaulagiri Circuit trek from October 2010

One of the group Piotr Zycki has also posted some excellent photos on Pbase.com

Congratulations and well done to everyone in our October group for completing this trek! My view is that in spite of the improvements in the trail and construction of new bridges Dhaulagiri Circuit is still one of the hardest treks in Nepal and careful planning and preparations are required to ensure the safety and well being of the group and trek crew.

The Mountain Company is organising two Dhaulagiri Circuit treks in 2011, one starting in late April and the second departure starting in mid October, please get in touch if you are interested in joining one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Photos of day walk in Hidden Valley on Dhaulagiri Circuit trek

2010-10-28T02:48:00.020+01:00

Our 2010 Dhaulagiri Circuit group spent two nights camping in Hidden Valley and luckily there was far less snow compared to when Gary's group stayed there in October last year. As a result there were a number of options for day walks to explore the area, most of the group decided to walk down Hidden Valley whereas I had my eye on a ridge overlooking camp on the western side (see red arrow indicating this ridge in photos below).

As hopefully the photos show, this is a really good walk with superb views over to the Nilgiri and Annapurna ranges also back to Dhaulagiri and French Pass as well as looking down Hidden Valley. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to find an easily walkable viewpoint in Hidden Valley, we plan to incorporate this walk into our Dhaulagiri Circuit itinerary for April and May 2011 departures.

Photo: ridge on western side of Hidden Valley

Photo: as above

Photo: Hidden Valley camp

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri and French Pass

Photo: Mount Tukuche

Photo: view from top of ridge looking down Hidden Valley

Photo: view from top of ridge over to Nilgiris and Annapurna

Photo: view down into Hidden Valley

Photo: top of the ridge

Photo: view east from the ridge

Photos of Dhaulagiri Circuit trek in October 2010

2010-10-27T13:34:00.028+01:00

I have just got back to Kathmandu after leading our Dhaulagiri Circuit trek, as you can see from the photos below we had good weather and superb views for the days crossing both French and Dhampus passes. I will write a full Trip Report shortly on this blog with more details about the trek and changes experienced since I first walked this route in May 2008.

Photo: View of Sibang village with Dhaulagiri range behind

Photo: Farmhouse in Muri village

Photo: Nepali boy near Boghara village

Photo: trail along Myagdi valley

Photo: walking in Chonbarden gorge

Photo: Chonbarden gorge

Photo: group near Glacier camp on Chonbarden glacier

Photo: icefall on Tukuche Peak

Photo: lateral moraine ridge leading to French Pass

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri as seen from French Pass

Photo: Prayer flags on French Pass

Photo: descending French Pass

Photo: Hidden Valley

Photo: Hidden Valley camp with Dhampus Peak and Pass behind

Photo: summit of Dhampus Pass

Photo: Tukuche Peak from Dhampus Pass

Photo: snow traverse after Dhampus Pass

Photo: further along traverse with Nilgiris range behind

Photo: looking down to Kali Gandaki valley after traverse

Photo: view of Nilgiri range from Alu Bari camp

Snow leopard cub filmed for first time by BBC Natural History Unit

2010-09-29T13:36:00.004+01:00

A wild snow leopard cub has been caught on camera for the first time in the Bhutan Himalaya. The cub was filmed investigating a camera trap set up by BBC Natural History film crew, they believe that the cub had been left near the camera while its mother snow leopard went hunting. To view some of this video please click on link below:

Baby snow leopard filmed in wild mountains of Bhutan

The same BBC film crew also found tigers living high in the Himalaya for the first time. The hope is that it may be possible to use the Himalaya mountain range as a wildlife corridor to link up the fragmented populations across South Asia. To view some of this video please click on link below:

Lost tiger population discovered in Bhutan mountain

The Mountain Company is organising the Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan during September/ October 2011. This trail traverses the Bhutan Himalaya crossing many high passes including the area near where this footage was filmed, for more information on our Lunana Snowman trek

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Autumn 2010 newsletter from The Mountain Company

2010-09-11T17:46:00.003+01:00

I have just finished writing The Mountain Company's Autumn newsletter, please click here if you would like to read it

If you have not yet signed up to our quarterly newsletter, please click here to sign up and register for our newsletter

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Severe flooding in Baltistan during August 2010

2010-09-11T12:20:00.029+01:00

Photo:landslides at Talis village

Photo: Talis village

On August 7th, I was at Islamabad airport with The Mountain Company’s K2 & Gondogoro La group waiting for our flight to Skardu. By midday we were informed this flight was cancelled due to bad weather in Skardu, we were of course disappointed by this delay however little did we know at the time the amount of devastation this weather had caused in the Baltistan region of Pakistan.

Baltistan has suffered from floods and landslides in the past however according to Felix Baltistan Foundation this is the first time has turned into a severe catastrophic situation. Monsoon rains do not usually affect this area in northern Pakistan, this is because of the rain shadow effect of the Himalaya range making a natural barrier to the rain clouds coming from the south and east. However on morning of August 7th heavy monsoon arrived to Baltistan resulting in widespread damage caused by landslides and flooding. In the villages of Talis and Qumran sadly fifty one people were killed and throughout the region many animals were killed, trees fallen and crops lost.

The Felix Baltistan Foundation is a non govermental organisation ("NGO") set up by a group of Basque mountaineers in memory of Felix Iñurrategi who died in 2000 while climbing on Gasherbrum II. The Foundation's aim is to help villages in the Hushe valley by improving their living conditions with projects directed towards the basic aspects of life such as education, agriculture and infrastructure.

Shortly after the floods on August 7th several members of Felix Baltistan Foundation provided emergency relief to people of Talis village. They gave out hot meals to families that had been left homeless and in coordination with local authorities and the Red Cross tents were distributed to affected families.

Going forward the Foundation’s objective is to continue their support by helping the villagers face the upcoming winter. The three basic areas in which they will be working on are: food support for next six months; recovery of agricultural lands; and reconstruction of their houses to help protect people against the elements (temperatures can drop to -20 Celsius during the winter).

To find out more about the Felix Baltistan Foundation take a look at their website. Please get in contact with the Foundation if you would like to contribute to their good work in the region.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip Report for Stok Kangri expedition led by Alan Ward in July 2010

2010-09-09T13:05:00.011+01:00

Photo: view from summit of Stok Kangri

This year Alan Ward led The Mountain Company’s expedition to Stok Kangri (6,123m) in Ladakh northern India, he was helped by our Ladakhi guide Angchok and also our Nepalese climbing guide Shera. Overall the expedition went well with two members of the group summiting and the rest successfully reaching high up on the mountain.

After flying to Leh at 3,505m the team spent three days acclimatising to this high altitude while spending time to explore Leh and the surrounding area. On their second day they visited Leh Palace then climbed to the hilltop gompa and the ruined fort. Next day the team took jeeps to Khardung La, at 5,359m this pass is known as the highest motorable road in the world. Not only is the view impressive but driving up here is helpful for acclimatisation before starting the trek.

Our Stok Kangri itinerary starts from the village of Chilling located on the Zanskar river before entering the Markha Valley, then after crossing Ganda La at 4,983m we make the approach Stok Kangri Base Camp.

On arrival to Base Camp, Alan was informed by the Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF) representative that it was no longer possible to use the High Camp on the mountain. The reason given was that villagers from Stok were unhappy with the rubbish left at this camp and were worried about pollution of their water supply. While I respect their view on this matter the issue is without using High Camp makes climbing Stok Kangri far more difficult and risky in terms of lack of acclimatisation and forcing a very long summit day. Hopefully in the future a solution will be found to satisfy everyone involved, perhaps by more stringent monitoring of expeditions on the mountain?

Luckily after much discussion IMF granted our group approval to use High Camp due to the fact we had a blind climber in our group however as it turned out the pack animals were unable to proceed to the “higher” High Camp due to snow on the trail.

The team set off for the summit at 4am, on leaving camp they headed up to the glacier which was very wet and slushy underfoot. After making progress climbing the mountain three of the group decided to turn back then two carried on with Shera to the summit. Alan thought that this year the conditions were much more challenging compared to his last visit to Stok Kangri. The view of our summiteers Ian and Paul was that Stok Kangri was more difficult than their previous trips to Mera Peak and Aconcagua.

Congratulations to the whole team it was a great effort given the conditions, I think everyone succeeded in making their own personal altitude records on this mountain.

The Mountain Company is organising an expedition to Stok Kangri in July 2011, please get in touch with us if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip Report for K2 & Gondogoro La led by Roland Hunter in August '10

2010-08-30T18:28:00.017+01:00

Photo: K2 seen from Concordia

I arrived back to UK this afternoon after leading The Mountain Company’s K2 & Gondogoro La trek in Pakistan. This year we had a full group of fourteen people and as often with our groups this was an international team with trekkers coming from UK, US, Australia, Greece and Mexico.

The group arrived to Islamabad on August 6^th, this was shortly after the heaviest monsoon rains in Pakistan for last 50 years causing widespread flooding throughout the country. In fact shortly before departure we were seriously considering whether to cancel however after researching the current situation and discussions with our contacts in Pakistan we were confident we could operate this trek as planned. As it turned out we made the right decision as we enjoyed good weather with fine views of K2 and other mountains around Concordia, we even had a beautifully clear day on crossing Gondogoro La.

When the group arrived to Islamabad we received reports that Karakoram Highway (KKH) was in poor condition with several landslides and a number of bridges washed away on the Besham to Islamabad section of the road. There is an alternative road for jeeps that passes through Naran and crosses the Babusar Pass although having checked the forecasts we felt it would be too risky to drive so we decided to rely on the flight to Skardu. On August 7^th we went to Islamabad airport however by midday this flight was cancelled, luckily on 8^th we finally boarded and successfully landed at Skardu airport.

On arrival to Skardu we heard that bad weather from 7^th caused a number of landslides in the region and near to Skardu sadly killed 45 people and in Talis village 13 people perished in further landslides, for further information please take a look at this article

The group stayed at K2 Motel in Skardu, this is located in a safe area however we could clearly see that the Indus river was flowing at a far higher level compared to my last visit in 2008. The next day we planned to drive to Askole however we heard the road was blocked in a number of places so instead we took a rest day in Skardu and sent some of our porters ahead to help repair these broken sections of road. We spent an enjoyable morning at Sadpara Lake before driving back to Skardu in the afternoon.

The next day we left early in jeeps for the drive to Askole however shortly after Shigar village we encountered a new block on the road where overnight a mudslide had destroyed the road. Everyone in our team as well as several other trekking groups helped by collecting rocks to build the road through the mud slide area. After several hours the jeeps were able to clear the block (with some impressive driving!) and then the group crossed over the river. Further along the road there was one further landslide where we had to swap jeeps then continued our drive to Thongol where we camped for the night.

The next morning we started the trek and after an hour we arrived to Askole, this is the last village on the trek until Hushe on the other side of Gondogoro La. The weather was sunny and very hot so everyone was hopeful the monsoon rains were retreating back south again. We experienced mixed cloud and sun for the next few days and in fact this made the walking very pleasant as otherwise can be very hot at this altitude.

The trek progressed as planned and after our rest day at Urdukas the weather starting to improve further and we enjoyed a memorable lunch at Goro 1 as the clouds dissipated over Masherbrum and by the evening we had clear views of this impressive mountain. We were very lucky as we had clear weather for the next six days while at Concordia and also for the crossing of the Gondogoro La.

After arrival to Concordia on 19^th we discussed the options for the next day, five people decided to make the long walk to K2 Base Camp and Gilkey memorial while the others opted for the shorter walk to Broad Base Camp. As ever it was an emotional visit to Gilkey especially seeing the new memorial and a broken ski from Fredrik Ericsson who died earlier this summer, for further information please see his blog

On 21^st the group enjoyed a rest day at Concordia and were blessed with perfect weather and incredibly views of K2 visible from the mess tent. On that day myself and our local Pakistan guide Monin from Shimshall village walked up to Ali Camp, then early the next morning we climbed up Gondogoro La to check the condition before the group arrived the next day. We decided to fix an extra 200m of fixed rope on the ascent of the pass to secure the section crossing a crevasse half way up the snow slope. As in 2008 we decided to donate this rope to Hushe Rescue Team.

Shortly after Monin and I got back to Ali Camp the group arrived after their walk up from Concordia, everyone enjoyed this trek as is one of the best days with superb views back to K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum group as well as Mustagh Tower. On approach to Ali Camp the glacial ice underfoot is easy to walk on with few rocks and Vigne Peaks high above look impressive with their ice and snow flutings

We decided to leave Ali Camp at 1am in order to ensure we had enough time to cross the pass and descend the other side. It was a beautiful morning with starry skies and nearly full moon illuminating the peaks around. The group made good progress to the base of the pass and by 7am everyone had summited Gondogoro La at 5,550m. As ever the descent is more challenging than ascent and we made steady progress however the unseasonal snow from week before started to melt releasing some rockfall, it was a good thing everyone had helmets for this descent! The recent snow made the rapel down the ropes easier than previous years however on reaching the bottom of the ropes the trail was less established than in 2008.

At The Mountain Company we believe strongly in looking after our porters, we are the only trekking company operating on the Baltoro that provides waterproof jackets and trousers plus walking shoes to our porters. We follow International Porter Protection Group five guidelines in Pakistan. We do not think it is appropriate for porters to cross Gondogoro La in plastic shoes and cotton shalwar kameez! Please take a look at this YouTube video that shows this gear being given out to our Balti Porters.

Our wonderful cooks and kitchen crew crossed Gondogoro La arrived to our campsite at Khuspang early and then kindly sent up a cooked lunch for us at High Camp, this food was very welcome and gave everyone renewed energy in order to carry on down to Khuspang. The next day we opted to continue our trek down to Shaisho rather than take a rest day. We heard that the bridge below Shaisho had been washed out by the recent rains and instead an enterprising ex High Altitude Porter had rigged a “jhola” or bucket bridge, after carefully inspecting the anchors and the set up we felt confident the group could cross safely and everyone in the group seemed to enjoy this experience of crossing the raging river below!

The next day we walked to Hushe village and then after handing out tips to our fantastic crew we drove to Skardu. The next morning on 26^th we tried to fly to Skardu although this flight was cancelled luckily on next day we fly back to Islamabad.

Overall we had a great trip with perfect weather at Concordia and for crossing Gondogoro La, as ever Pakistan is a true adventure destination and one needs to be flexible and be prepared for the unexpected! We certainly had our fair share of good luck on this trek and were fortunate weather improved when needed higher up. As ever I would like to thanks our superb Pakistan trek crew for looking after us so well, in particular our local guides Ghulam Hassan and Momin Shah as well as our cook Syed Jhan.

The Mountain Company plans to run our K2 & Gondogoro La trek again in August 2011 so please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group. We also plan to operate our Snow Lake Biafo Hispar trek in July 2011.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Availability for our Autumn treks in Nepal

2010-07-14T07:39:00.016+01:00

Photo: Mount Everest seen on Base Camp trek

The Mountain Company has a number of treks guaranteed to run in Nepal during the peak season of October and November, please get in touch with us soon if you would like to join any of these groups.

October

Dhaulagiri Circuit

Dates: October 10th to 29th 2010

Availability: six places left

Mera Peak expedition

Dates: October 17th to November 7th 2010

Availability: two places left

Everest Base Camp

Dates: October 10th to 28th 2010

Availability: four places left

Everest Luxury Lodge

Dates: October 23rd to November 7th 2010

Availability: seven places left

November

Mera Peak expedition

Dates: October 31st to November 21st 2010

Availability: one place left

Everest Base Camp

Dates: November 7th to 25th 2010

Availability: ten places left

Annapurna Sanctuary

Dates: November 5th to 25th 2010

Availability: four places left

Everest Base Camp

Dates: November 28th to December 15th 2010

Availability: 10 places left

April 2011

Makalu to Everest

Dates: April 23rd to May 21st 2011

Availability: 6 places left

If you plan to visit Nepal in the Autumn you should book your international flights as availability and cost are likely to start changing soon, please see our website for information on recommended travel agents

Please get in touch with The Mountain Company if you have any questions or if you require further information on any of our treks.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Portable Altitude Chamber (PAC)

2010-06-21T11:08:00.018+01:00

Photo: The Mountain Company's PAC bag

The Mountain Company took delivery of our second Portable Altitude Chamber ("PAC") last week. We have one PAC permanently based in Kathmandu for our Nepal treks and our second PAC will be stored in our London office for use on our western led treks in Pakistan, Ladakh and Kilimanjaro. We send a PAC bag on all of our western led treks in Nepal and the following treks in other countries: K2 & Gondogoro La, Snow Lake and Hispar La and Stok Kangri expedition.

So what is a PAC and what is it used for?

This equipment is used to treat altitude illnesses called Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). PAC works by increasing the pressure in the chamber using a foot pump, at high altitude the increased pressure simulates a descent in altitude by increasing the amount of oxygen to the victim.

If someone has HAPE or HACE the only treatment is immediate and rapid descent to a lower altitude however this is not always possible to do. PAC can be used to improves the person's condition before descending to safe altitude or to stabilise while waiting for helicopter evacuation. If a person has AMS the PAC can be used to abolish symptoms prior to further ascent.

Further information on PAC bags please take a look at Treksafe website

Photo: contents of PAC bag

We encourage anyone planning to trek at high altitude to read as much as possible about acclimatisation and high altitude illnesses before departure. I have copied links to several excellent internet resources below:

Base Camp MD website

High Altitude Medicine website

Medex Travel at High Altitude booklet

BMC website

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Summer 2010 newsletter from The Mountain Company

2010-06-15T16:32:00.003+01:00

I have just finished writing The Mountain Company's Summer newsletter, please click here if you would like to read it

If you have not yet signed up to our quarterly newsletter, please click here to sign up and register for our newsletter

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip Report for Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek in May 2010

2010-05-25T09:31:00.020+01:00

Photo: Bon Po Gompa overlooking Phoksumdo Lake

Our May 2010 Dolpo recce group arrived back to Kathmandu last week after a superb trek. The Upper Dolpo to Jomsom itinerary visits a remote region of Nepal, instead of following the more popular Dolpo Circuit we headed further north to an area very close to the Tibet border and then walked out on the challenging trail to Jomsom thereby completing one section of The Great Himalaya Trail (“GHT”).

Upper Dolpo is a culturally Tibetan region in West Nepal and during the course of the trek we visited many Buddhist and Bon Po (shamanistic pre Buddhist) monasteries. Up until 1996 foreigners were not allowed access to this region so the culture has largely been unchanged and unaffected by tourism. Of particular interest is Shey Gompa, this is revered as one of most important in Upper Dolpo where twice a year many pilgrims make a kora (or circuit) of Crystal Mountain this is known as a younger brother of Mount Kailash in Tibet.

“Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek is arguably one of the best treks in Nepal” and “better than Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan!” These were several comments heard while our group discussed the trek on our return Kathmandu last week (and between them this group had done a lot of trekking in the Himalaya).

If this is one of the best treks in the Himalaya then it is worth asking the question, why did we see so few people on the trail? We only met a handful of trekkers during our 3 weeks trip. It is likely that others have been deterred by lack of maps and guidebooks as well as logistical challenges and of course the extra cost to obtain the Restricted Area Permit.

While in Kathmandu I got all of the maps for Upper Dolpo however found they were all out of date and inaccurate. There are no current itineraries with reliable trail descriptions available and even the basic description in the new edition of Lonely Planet “Trekking in Nepal Himalaya” describes the old, disused trail for several sections. During our recce trek we figured out the itinerary from daily discussions with our trek crew, therefore it is essential that the Sirdar and/or cook has visited this region on a previous occasion.

Organising the logistics for this trek are challenging, the Upper Dolpo region is very remote so all groups have to be self reliant in terms of provisions, medical supplies and communications, we used a Thuraya satellite phone that worked well throughout. All food should be brought in with the trekking group as it is not possible to purchase locally in the villages. Our porters and kitchen staff walked in with our supplies for 9 days from the road head near Surkhet to Juphal.

There is no doubt that the difficulties and challenges of trekking in Upper Dolpo are more than worth the effort. We enjoyed seeing a wide variety of landscapes from pine forests in the Suli Gad valley to the stunningly intense blue colour of Phoksumdo Lake. As the trail travels further north the climate becomes dryer as a result of the great Himalayan rain shadow effect. Upper Dolpo is mainly comprised of a high, arid plateau cut by deep gorges in a variety of colours of ochre, sable and tan covered with sporadic vegetation.

Our group saw a lot of wildlife during our trek in Upper Dolpo: many herds of blue sheep, marmots, eagles, lammergeyer, langur monkeys and large variety of birds. We were very close to seeing the ever elusive snow leopard...we passed a trek group coming the other way in a very remote valley in Upper Dolpo who had seen one an hour earlier (this was the only group we saw for 2 weeks), although of course no sight when we got there! We also met a yak herder who had one of his baby yaks snatched by a snow leopard. It is great to know that Snow Leopards are still around, one day, one day...

In terms of time of year my view is that the best time to do this trek is during the month of May, this gives one the best chance of crossing the high passes out to Jomsom. September is probably more popular with trekking groups however often the passes are icey making travel impossible for the pack animals. This year we started the trek from Juphal on April 28th and finished in Jomsom on May 19th. We experienced dry conditions over all passes apart from a few residual winter snow patches on Kang La to Shey however our mules still managed to cross this pass with their loads.

The Mountain Company is planning on organising another Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek in May 2011, this group will be led by Gary Pfisterer for further information please see our website please get in touch with us soon if you are interested in joining the group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Upper Dolpo to Jomsom photos: Part One

2010-05-24T21:43:00.006+01:00

Photo: STOL airstrip at Juphal

Photo: Ringmo village

Photo: Ringmo Gompa (Bon Po)

Photo: Phoksumdo Lake

Photo: "Daredevil's trail" around Phoksumdo Lake

Photo: Walking to Chunemba

Photo: Looking down valley to Lar Tsa Camp

Photo: Trail to Snowfields

Photo: View from Kang La

Photo: Mules crossing Kang La

Photo: Village boys

Photo: Shey Gompa and Crystal Mountain

Photo: Descending Saldang La

Photo: Mani wall

Photo: Walking to Chharka La

The Mountain Company is organising our Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek in May 2011, please take a look here for further information.

Roland Hunter