Trip Reports

Mera & Island Peak - 7 Oct to 5 Nov '05

Written by Leader Andy Chapman, November 2005

The trek into Mera Peak went without incident and we made steady progress to the high camp in good weather, apart from the last hour where we had light snow. Our sherpa team, under the leadership of our Sirdar, Karma, went ahead of us to establish the camp. Once there, the weather turned for the worse with very heavy snow from 1pm. For 18hrs solid it deposited at least 60cm of snow and the tents had to be cleared every 2 hours. At 3am I went out to observe the weather and could just about see 5 metres in front of me! We waited until 8am and decided to decend to the Mera La, as any attempt on the summit would be almost impossible through the fresh, heavy snow.

At the Mera La, we discused our options and Karma was concerned about the amount of snow in the Hongu Valley and the safety of our porters. The team decided to head to the Khumbu via Lukla, although this meant retracing our steps down the Hinku Valley, it allowed us to head for Dingboche and climb Nangkar Tshang. This proved to be an atrrcative peak with excellent views of the surrounding mounatins. Despite not achieving the expedition's aims, it was a great experience with a frinedly group of people, with fantastic memories, not least the flight to and from Lukla.

Andy Chapman, Expedition Leader

[Editor's Note]

October is one of the prime months for mountaineering in Nepal, but it shows that in the mountains, a big storm can hit at any time. The storm that hit our group on October 20 was the same one that cost the lives of a group of French climbers and Sherpas on Mount Kangaru (including some Sherpas who have worked for Jagged Globe before on Everest). This was widely reported in the media in October 2005.

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