Trip Reports

Mera and Island Peak - 15 Apr to 14 May '05

Written by Leader, May 2005

The spring 2005 Mera and Island Peak expedition has just returned to Kathmandu and will be back in the UK in a couple of days. The expedition, led by Ed Chard, saw all team members reach the summit of Mera Peak (6,476m)in cloudy and cold condtions at the end of April. The team members were; Darren and Traci Stevens, Peter Hazzlett, David Rothman, Barry Farbon and Mike Spencer. The team expeirenced a tragedy when a Japanese climber from another team suffered a heart attack on the summit of Mera and died. We helped as best we could but nothing could be done. Ed used the Jagged Globe Satellite telephone to organise a recovery of the climber's body. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

The expedition then went over the Mera La and into the Hongu Valley. We trekked in near perfect conditions, passing many snow capped and beautiful mountains. We then crossed the technical pass of the Amphu Labtsa, climbing small steps of Scottish grade II. After abseiling 300m down the other side of the pass, we trekked to a well-earned rest at Island Peak base Camp. Unfortunately, the area was hit by a huge dump of unseasonal snow, which would have made the the ascent of Island Peak too dangerous. The team decided not to climb and descended back down the Khumbu Valley to Dingboche. After stopping for various cake and drink stops, the the team arrived back at Lukla airport on 10 May. All in all it was a full and enjoyable trip, made possible by Karma Sherpa and a great support team of Sherpas, porters and cook staff.

Ed Chard, expedition leader« | »

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