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expedition report - part 1 The Paldor 2004 Alpine Skills
Development Programme was designed to expose new climbers to the harsh
realities of alpinism (read: always tired with heavy packs in bad
weather). In this respect, the project has achieved its aim - the team
was sorely tested by poor conditions right from the beginning.
Paradoxically, one of these newbies is now raring for more (???). Read
on for her story. Our team was formed in early
December 2003. There were 3
newbies Sham, Lay Hoon and me, who then knew nuts about alpine climbing led by one well-experienced climber
Rozani. Under Roz’s guidance, we were progressively put through 4
months of rigorous training to prepare us for the Programme’s
expedition to Paldor Peak in Nepal. We touched down in Kathmandu on 21 April, and spent 2 days wandering the dusty streets of Thamel doing last-minute gear shopping. On 23 April, we gratefully left the pollution of Kathmandu for Syabrubensi in a private bus. With a
worsening Maoist insurgency, the army had set up numerous roadblocks
along main roads out of the city. Trekking to Base Camp We reached Syabrubensi after a
6-hour ride. The next day we started the several-day trek towards Base
Camp. The weather was sunny until after lunch, when it rained cats and
dogs and then hail (ouch!). But it seemed all worth the trouble when we
were later rewarded with the longest rainbow that we had ever seen. Over the next 2 days, it was
cloudy and drizzly. We trekked through the terrace farms of Gatlang,
alpine forest, the cow-dung ridden pastures of Yuri Kharka and descended
down-valley to the mining camp of Somdang, where we noticed
unusual glitter on the trail and in every rock, evidence of the
metal-rich (lead and zinc) geology of the region. After Somdang, we followed the Mailung Khola upriver to make camp at Kop Kharka. That afternoon, we got our first load of snow - highly unusual as it rarely snowed on the way to Base Camp at this time of the year. We stayed two days at Kop Kharka to help ourselves acclimatize, and to also hopefully wait out the bad weather. There was also some bad news - not expecting the heavy snow,
few of our porters had brought proper shoes or sunglasses to protect
from snow-blindness. It became uncertain whether our porters could
continue on towards Base Camp safely. The rest days at Kop Kharka
were highlighted with bouldering (during a rare sunny hour), a couple of
snow fights, an acclimatization hike to the Lari Mines higher up, and
pujas conducted by Mingma to pray for good weather. On the third day, we had an
early start trekking to Base Camp, taking advantage of the hot morning
sun. We had lent whatever footwear and sunglasses we could spare to some
of the porters. Most of them also tore pieces from the plastic sheets
that were initially used to protect their loads from the rain, to wrap
around their feet. It was a 4-1/2 hour trip
through a well-broken trail in ankle to shin-deep snow. Our whole
caravan stopped for a suspenseful 20-minutes, when Mingma, Rozani and a
few others searched for the cairn that marked the way to Base Camp.
Finally, it was sighted and we made our precarious way up a steep gully
as snow started to fall heavily. Fortunately, Base Camp was only 15
minutes away, and all of our porters made it to Base Camp without
incident.
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the
peak
new! expedition report
On the trail from Syabrubensi to Gatlang.
Sham, Mingma and Lay Hoon bouldering at Kop Kharka.
Snow dump at Kop Kharka.
A difficult passage to Base Camp.
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