Trip Reports

Mera and Island Peak - 15 Apr to 14 May '11

Written by Leader Terry Moore, May 2011

After meeting at Heathrow airport an excited group departed for Nepal, and for some, their first experience of the Himalayas. One night in the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu was sufficient to see us embark on the short flight to the Hillary & Tenzing Airport at Lukla the following morning.

From here the seven of us set off along the less popular trail towards Mera Peak with our team of porters, cook staff and climbing Sherpas. Unsettled weather this April for many years saw a lot of cloud, though we were spared a soaking with only frequent daily showers. Campsites along the trail were excellent and improving each year, with new lodges and tea houses being built. Ed’s mail order boots were giving him foot problems otherwise everyone was in good health.

After a week of acclimatizing we dropped into the Hinku valley to start our ascent of Mera Peak. Everyone except me was feeling fit. I had developed a flu type virus so it was rest at Kote for me. My group under the leadership of Ollan from another JG Mera group ensured everyone was in for a summit bid. Unfortunately Roger had developed similar symptoms higher up and was to descend to Kote as well. He later flew out to Kathmandu by helicopter unable to recover in time to rejoin the group over the high pass return to the Khumbu region.

After some glacier training on the Mera La and a rest day at Khare the group joined Ollans’ team and summitted on 30th April in perfect weather. Excellent views of Everest, Makalu and Kanchenjunga at first light gave spectacular panoramas of the Himalaya. Sherpa Lhakpa made the last few steep moves to the very top of the Central Summit (6461m), and a very tired but elated group descended back to Khare. Due to unseasonal heavy snow on the Amphu Labsta Pass (5500m) the crossing for our large group of porters would be testing so we opted to enter the Khumbu via the high pass of Zatrwa La (4610m). This proved testing too and crampons and ice axes were a must in what was a difficult snow descent towards Lukla.

Our time to climb Island Peak near the top of the Khumbu area was limited so everyone agreed to ascend Gokyo Ri (5357 metres), approaching the peak via Namche Bazaar and the high lakes of Gokyo. By now Tim was acquiring a large collection of postcards and looking for a post box to offload them! Some stability in the weather now gave us astonishing views of Cho Oyu (8201m) and the northern slops of Everest. Everyone was fit and acclimatized and, our now, smaller team of porters worked hard, with only a night of camping at Dole before reaching Gokyo. The pack of playing cards with all the 8000m peaks on were getting well used by now and Tim was still reading his Michael Palin book on the Himalaya! An early start the next day gave us the best opportunity of a cloudless sky to view the mountains. After some patience it cleared on the top and we were rewarded. The racing snakes -Tomas and Ed arrived first. We could see boiling clouds around the impressive peaks of Cholatse (6335 metres) and Tabuche (6495 metres).

We descended to Phakding via Namche Bazaar for a donut treat at the bakery then on to Lukla for that amazing flight back to Kathmandu. Colin’s nose had almost stopped dripping from – well just the snivels. Our early arrival at Kathmandu was celebrated with steaks in the Everest Steak House and some shopping in Thamel before boarding our flight back to Heathrow Terminal 4.

A great expedition with flexibility in the programme that worked out really well. Confucius he say “A plan is bad plan if it cannot be changed”.

Terry Moore, Expedition Leader « Previous report | Next report »

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