Trip report for Upper Mustang trek led by Alan Ward in September '08

Photo: Upper Mustang

In September '08 Alan Ward led a group for The Mountain Company to Upper Mustang in Nepal. I have copied Alan's description of this fascinating region below:

"The Kingdom of Mustang is located at the northern end of the Kali Ghandaki Valley, the world’s deepest gorge which, at it’s southern end lies between the spectacular peaks of the Niligiri Range (7,055m – 7,134m) and Dhaulagiri (8,167m). At an average altitude of 4,000m the Kingdom is geologically and culturally part of the Tibetan Plateau and has an arid and dry landscape with colourful rock formations containing thousands of long abandoned cave dwellings. Trekking groups were first allowed into this restricted area in 1992 with the government charging for special area permits. In recent years, only about 1,000 visitors reach Lo Manthang, the capital and this has resulted in the Tibetan culture being largely undisturbed. The trekking routes were used by salt caravans crossing from Tibet into Nepal and settlements are few and far between. Mustang became an independent kingdom in 1380 and the current royal family can trace their lineage back to this date. During the 1960’s, the Tibetan Khampa guerillas, trained and funded by the CIA, used Mustang as their stronghold against the Chinese." 

The highlight of the trek is visiting Lo Manthang, the capital of Upper Mustang, as described below by Alan: "Everyone was looking forward to reaching Lo Manthang, capital of Mustang, the last forbidden kingdom. Crossing a level plain to the last climb up to the Lho La (3,950m) was a relief to all as we finally saw Lo Manthang beyond the cairn and prayer flags at the pass. Before long we were enjoying lunch at the Hotel Mystique, our lodge and camp site for two nights. Our camp site was just in front of the lodge and looked eastwards towards the colourful Thakla Danda and Rijopuwa Danda mountain ranges. Our tour didn't take too long as Lo Manthang isn't a large settlement but we found two gompas and the teaching school interesting. During the afternoon we were granted a royal audience with the King of Mustang. Being in Lo Manthnag was like going back in time. The only water supply seemed to be in the main square where women were washing clothese and men were filling water containers before disappearing down narrow alleyways to houses beyond the square. The afternoon was spent at leisure with some of the group relaxing in camp whilst others continued wandering around the walled city." 

The Mountain Company is planning on organising another Upper Mustang trek in September '09, please get in touch if you are interested in joining the group. For more information please take a look at the Upper Mustang webpage

Everest Base Camp!!

Photo: Islamic Relief group at Everest BC

Congratulations to the team from the Islamic Relief who successfully trekked to Everest BC and Kalapathar on December 1st. They raised a large amount of money for water projects in developing countries, so well done to everyone involved! With increasing numbers of trekker visiting the Khumbu during the peak trekking month of October, my top tip is to go later in the year at the end of November and into December . The weather is normally stable at this time of year with sunny days and there are far fewer trekkers around. In fact from speaking to The Mountain Company's October Everest BC group I am convinced that it was colder in Gorakshep in October than late November....

Mera Peak summit! Trip report for expedition led by Roland in November '08

Photo: Mera Peak summit November 2008

Congratulations to the Mera Peak team who summitted on November 16th '08! We used the same itinerary as last year following the trail south of Lukla through the interesting villages of the Solu Khumbu and over the passes via the Panch Pokhari (five holy lakes) before joining the traditional Zatra La route at Kote. This itinerary is longer than walking in via the Zatra La, however this gives everyone the opportunity to increase their fitness levels and gain better acclimatisation before attempting Mera Peak at over 6,400m. It is for this reason that The Mountain Company has one of the best summit records. 

We also believe that November is the optimum time of year to climb Mera Peak, the weather is usually stable with sun and blue skies. Also there are far fewer groups tackling Mera Peak in November compared to October. This is especially important at High Camp where there is limited space. Roland will be leading the Mera Peak expedition in November 2009, so please get in touch soon if you are interested in joining him. For further information please take a look at the Mera Peak page on our website, you can also download the Trip Dossier and view our photo gallery from there.

Trip report for Lunana Snowman led by Roland in October '08

The Lunana Snowman group arrived back to Thimphu yesterday afternoon after successfully completing this epic trek across northern Bhutan. The Snowman trek is known as one of the most challenging in the Himalayas crossing over 14 high mountain passes and covering 400km over 28 days of trekking.

Photo: beautiful farmhouse with Mt Jitchu Drake in background

The Mountain Company only organises the complete Lunana Snowman trek from Paro to Bumthang. Some of the shorter versions of the "Snowman" trek start in Punakha and others Lunana via the Nikka Chu valley. My feeling is that if you are going to do the Snowman it is worth doing the complete traverse rather than smaller sections of it. We found the quietest & most remote part of the trek was from Thanza to Bumthang where we only saw two trekkers in 10 days! This is very unusual in the Himalayas these days during the peak season of October.

Photo: archery competition near Laya

Photo: view from Karchung La (entrance to Lunana)

Photo: approach to Gophu La

As you can see from the photos we experienced good weather and excellent conditions on the passes. The timing of this trek is very important in order to increase the chances of successfully completing the journey as well as getting good views along the way! The optimal time to start the trek is at the end of September when the monsoon should be winding down which places the group in Lunana around mid October hopefully before the winter snows block the exit passes.

Photo: Gophu La (exit from Lunana)

The Lunana Snowman is a very special trek passing through a beautiful and unsploilt region of the Himalayas. The area is still heavily forested and this year's group saw the following animals & birds along the trek: Blue sheep, marmots, Himalayan black bear & cub, blood pheasant, lammergeier and birds of prey among others.

The Mountain Company is planning on organising the Lunana Snowman trek for September/ October 2009 so please get in touch if you are interested. For further information on this trek please see our Lunana Snowman trek page.

A few days in Kolkata

I arrived to Kolkata a few days ago in advance of my Lunana Snowman (Bhutan) group coming in on September 25th. This is my first visit to the city that I have heard so much about, since my first trip to India in 1992 I have got to know the other “Metro” cities of Delhi and Mumbai quite well but never made it to Kolkata. I have had an enjoyable stay so far here, the people are very friendly and there seems to be less hassle from street hawkers than some of the other large cities in India. From the airport my taxi driver delivered me directly to my hotel without trying to persuade to stay somewhere else, this must be a first during my time in India! On my first day I went to the Victoria Memorial, this impressive building was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 1901 Diamond Jubilee although was finally completed 20 years after she died. Next to the memorial is a beautiful park called the Maidan over 5km long right and right in the centre of busy Kolkata.

Photo: Victoria Memorial, Kolkata

On the way to the memorial I saw a large street procession with horse drawn carriages decorated with flowers and brass bands. This might have been something to do with the Durga Puja starting in a weeks time. This annual festival celebrates worship of Hindu goddess Durga throughout West Bengal where it is a five day annual holiday and the biggest event of the year.

Photo: street procession

Walking around the city is interesting seeing the old Colonial buildings mixed with new shopping malls and offices. There is certainly no problem getting transport with many yellow Ambassador taxis around (constantly honking their horns!) and also the infamous human powered rickshaws. I have not used taxis or rickshaws to get around yet as I prefer to walk with most places pretty close to my hotel on Sudder Street.

Photo: human powered rickshaw

Photo: ubiquitous yellow Ambassador taxi

I will be offline while in Bhutan, I fly to Kathmandu on October 29th and will then write a post to the blog letting you know how we got along on the Snowman trek! 

Roland Hunter 

Best dressed porters on the Baltoro!

Photo: our well equipped porters at Concordia

At The Mountain Company we believe in providing the right equipment to our porters especially when climbing a high pass such as the Gondogoro La at 5,600m. In line with our ethical approach to porter protection we invested over USD$5,000 purchasing porter equipment in Pakistan this summer.

All of our porters crossing the Gondogoro La were lent the following items: wind jackets and trousers, good quality walking boots, sunglasses, socks and gloves. We also paid the porters their equipment money as per government regulations.

The handout of gear was captured on video by Alistair who has posted it onto YouTube, the link is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRBK-Yyjm2E

Trip report for K2 & Gondogoro La led by Roland in August '08

Photo: K2 as seen from Concordia

The August '08 K2 & Gondogoro La group have just returned from Pakistan. This year we certainly had our share of good luck with no landslides blocking the Karakoram Highway (KKH) or Skardu to Askole road as well as having great weather for most of the trek.

To top it off we flew back to Islamabad from Skardu at the end of the trek. This flight is notoriously unreliable and is often cancelled due to poor weather or lack of available planes. Flying back at the end of the trip saves a two day bus ride on the KKH and means having two nights at our hotel in Islamabad and a chance to do some sightseeing and shopping.

Photo: Climbing up Gondogoro La

This year the Gondogoro La was in a good condition and all of the group successfully crossed the pass. This was especially good news after last summer when a large crevasse blocked the route up the Gondogoro La. Having spoken to the Hushe Rescue Team, who are responsible for maintaining the fixed rope on the pass, there was a large serac fall during the winter that luckily plugged this crevasse.

Roland did a recce of the Gondogoro La the day before the group arrived to Ali Camp (on their rest day after the long day to K2 BC and Gilkey memorial) in order to check the quality of the ropes and anchors. Generally the ropes were in a reasonable condition, however we put in 200m of extra rope secured by icescrews and snowstakes to protect our passage. The Mountain Company donated this equipment to the Hushe Rescue Team (as well as paying the toll to cross the pass) so hopefully will be used in the future to increase the security of other groups going over the pass.

Photo: Gilkey memorial near K2 BC

Roland is planning to return to Pakistan next summer to lead the Snow Lake Biafo and Hispar trek in July and K2 & Gondogoro La trek in August. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining him.