mera and island peak with amphu labtsa pass

by **Archm** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:27 pm

Thanks Damien,

I was looking at going there, possibly next year, so any info is appreciated..

have you climbed spantik, or been to the karakoram before?

by **Damien Gildea** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:33 am

Not been to Spantik, but a friend has guided it several times.

i have been to the Karakoram four times - 3 x Hunza/Passu/Chapursan and 1 x Baltoro/G1.

Great place, just no easy mountains!

D

by **radson** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:04 am

Damien Gildea wrote:Well, I was going to post and say stay away from Pumori. It used to be easy, now it's just dangerous.

I thought of Baruntse too, as it's got popular recently due to Tibet being closed. But that will have you going through the Hongu again, doubling up.

If Tibet re-opens, then Lhakpa Ri is indeed a good choice, it seems. Very easy, with views of Everest etc.

The US-UK based commercial groups do little other than the above, plus Ama Dablam, of course. You might note that some companies have advertised to guide the north ridge of AmaD, a fantastic line, that would be doable with fixed ropes. Much less rock than the SW ridge route, but more cornices etc. You see the ridge well from Island Peak etc.

But Euro companies guide other peaks like Putha Hiunchuli over west of Dhaulagiri. It's technically very easy, though has a reasonably long trek in. Much less crowded than the Khumbu and Annapurna. Google to see who is going there when you need to. Churen Himal is right next door to it and of similar difficulty, though a tad higher. I think Putha is guided more.

Out of Nepal, Peak Lenin in Kyrgyzstan is still an OK option. The other Pamir and Tien Shan peaks can be a bit tougher. In Pakistan there is really only Spantik, and though easy, the success rate on that is not so good, given the number of commercial teams that try it. In India there are guided ascents of Satopanth and Kun, the latter being very popular with French companies.

D

Damien has mapped out about 10 years of trips for me. Thanks mate.

by **Damien Gildea** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:46 am

10 years and several new credit cards :-)

A Swiss guide I know did Satopanth last year and said it was quite nice. Kun looks quite good, not a mound, but no idea what the climbing is like.

You wanna brush up your French so you can go with this guy, Paolo Grobel:
http://www.paulo-grobel.com/05_expes/01_projets.htm

He's done some great trips lately. Slightly different methods - slow single push, no back and forth - but really good success on unusual peaks. 2nd ascent of Mamostong Kangri last year, first ascent of a big peak in the Langtang. I'd give Manaslu a miss unless you want to die under a ton of ice, but Ratna Chuli looks really nice. Not hard and I think only one ascent ever.

And on this page:
http://www.paulo-grobel.com/05_expes/02_modemploi.htm
if you click on "comment choisir" (how to choose?) you get a pop-up that gives - in French - his description of all the routes on the Trekking Peaks and info on Nepali peaks in general.

D

by **radson** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:14 pm

Damien, Thanks for this. I find this really interesting. My colleague here at work is French, so I shall ask him to translate for me.

On a side note. I managed to read your article on the history of Antarctic Mountaineering in the 2006? Journal. A great read.

by **AndrewSmyth** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:54 am

Guys

Thanks for all the info, all very much appreciated. Was keen on the Karakoram but also knew/heard about the fickle weather which sounds frustrating to say the least, especially when I can only get away every 2 years or so as I have a young family and bills to pay.

Hopefully Tibet will re-open but I think companies will shy away from there for a while to come. Maybe a tougher 6000er for now, not Ama Dablam though as cannot accept the abjective risks right now. Baruntse would have been perfect if it was in another part of Nepal - away from Mera and Island.

And Nelson, I have posted some photos of the valley and pass just now with a few more still to go. Have many more of Mera, Island and the villages in between but thats for another day.....

by **Nelson** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:37 pm

Great photos, Andrew. Thanks for posting, brought back good memories for me.

The agency that you went with must have had a "no clouds" option for your trek. Does that cost as much as a single supplement?

by **AndrewSmyth** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:52 am

Nelson wrote:Great photos, Andrew. Thanks for posting, brought back good memories for me.

The agency that you went with must have had a "no clouds" option for your trek. Does that cost as much as a single supplement?

Nelson

Yes, the gods were smiling - to an extent! The monsoon finished about a month late last year so the first 4 days of the trek were battling floods and leaches. After that we had near perfect weather, except for the predictable duststorms at Island BC. Our leader suggested we were just very very lucky (which normally doesnt follow me and my climbing agenda) so we can be thankful for that.

Im writing a trip report and have a few more photos to post (pre Mera, and on/around Island) and will be getting those up in the next week or so.

mera and island peak with amphu labtsa pass

Who is online