Peak Promotion

Everest Base camp – April 22, 2010 Peak Promotion. Salt Lake City Group

We are now backing in Thamel, Kathmandu relaxing and slowly readjusting after an amazing few weeks in the Khumbu!
It all started quite late in the evening when we arrived at the KTM Airport and Mr. Wongchu with a big welcoming smile was waiting to greet us. We said our hellos and introduction, then he and his team went to work gathering us and our luggage though the maze of immigration, customs, and KTM chaos. Literally within minutes we were all comfortably in a beautiful new van on our way to the hotel. The next day we met with our guides and did a last gear check before our flight to Lukla. It was easy to see by the smile in their eyes that our Sherpa guides were experienced and eager to get us into the Khumbu! Next stop, after an exciting flight was the Airport in Lukla where the whole trekking adventure really starts. The mountains are green and tall, the people eagerly waiting to help with smiles, and a new found calm in the air. Our trek had commenced!

A trek with Peak Promotion is an incredible way to see this part of the world, and I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking out a great adventure. They are a professional guiding company with all the experience and professionalism one would expect form a well established guiding outfitter. But apart from just good services, they have incredible guides, a great knowledge of the area, and are exceptional at the planning and logistics that are involved in an otherwise chaotic country. Almost immediately from the get go, our group and the guides got along great and became a real team that continued up to the beautiful views of Everest Base camp and all the way back to Kathmandu. It will be a trip to remember and I look forward to coming back to Nepal and trekking with P.P. again!

Thanks again to Peak Promotion and out incredible guides.
Nima M.
Salt Lake City, UT,
U.S.A.

21 April 2010

Once again we hit the trail with clear blue skies .  We headed down hill to Chukkung today.  Will be nice to be at 15,609 feet for a few days.  We started out our morning with a small fording of the river.  Sounds like a glacial dam broke above, releasing flood waters.  The bridge that we had crossed less than a week ago was partially intact, but surrounded by rapids.  Once again, Ang Dawa and Ang Karma literally pulled us through.  We passed above Pheriche and remembered fondly the steamy hot shower we all enjoyed there.   From above Dingboche we had an amazing view of Island Peak.  Looks pretty small in comparison to nearby mountains, but still a little intimidating.  After lunch in Dingboche, began a gradual uphill to finish off our day in Chhukkung.  Marcie has added french fries to her list of things not to eat prior to afternoon uphill walks.   Jasminna is stiil trying to figure out a way to give water to the Sherpa  dogs along the trail.  After showers, ginger tea, and digestive crackers, we got to spend time talking with people who had just gotten back from Island Peak.  Sounds challenging, but we are feeling strong and ready.  We plan on practicing with our climbing gear tomorrow and getting pumped up.  Also, will be resting up for our big summit attempt in the wee hours  of the morning on April 24^th.

Stacee, Marcie, Lexi and Jasminna

23^rd April 24, 2010

Day Five: Tengboche to Dengboche

We started the day with Good Morning tea and cornflakes and eggs for breakfast at the Tengboche Guest House.  Don started out not feeling so well, but with fluids and pharmaceuticals, he lives to walk another day – and several more thereafter.

Tim walked off from Tengboche without his camera, not realizing it until we had descended down to the river.  He and Mingmar dashed back up the hill (Tim stopped dashing around rounding the bend) and retrieved the camera.  Tim, Mingmar, and Tendi then double-timed it to catch up with the group.  Tim said he must be famous on the trail now because every Sherpa he passed would laugh.

We were fortunate to participate in a Puja ceremony at the Pangboche monastery.  Lama Geshe gave us the following wishing prayer:

Give up all intention to harm others from your heart

And do your best to benefit them all

If each and everyone feels the universal responsibility to do so,

We will all enjoy the feast of peace.

The Lama gave each of us a blessing, tying a cream silk kata and an orange lisle thread around our necks for good luck on our trek.  He also gave each of us a card containing a story about Jomo Langma  (Everest) with his name and our name written on it in Tibetan.  It was a moving ceremony, and we all felt a lift in the step as we climbed out of Pangboche.

We had lunch in Shomare – potatoes, spinach and bread like an unsugared elephant ear.  The altitude is starting to sap our appetites but the starch was good to get us going.

From lunch, we still had about   l,500 feet to climb to Dengboche, not counting dropping down to the river again.  After climbing up from the river, we crossed a tree-less landscape of rock and low juniper.  Ama Dablam towers overhead, showing a different aspect from Tengboche.  Nuptse now obscures Everest.  Island Peak fills the valley above Dengboche.

We are settled in at the Hotel Family Dengboche, around 14,400 feet in elevation.  Tomorrow is another “rest” day, meaning we hike our tails off, but get to come back to the same beds.

Source: 23rd April, 2010- Tengboche to Dengboche

22^nd April 2010

Day 4 of our trek has brought us to Tengboche.  We left Namche Bazaar this morning around 8:00 am after another great breakfast.  The hotel we stayed at in Namche was wonderful.  Beautiful views, spacious rooms, hot showers, and flush toilets.  While we were sad to leave the conveniences, we were excited to proceed with the trek.

Today’s hike was sharply uphill at the beginning, followed by a fairly steep downhill to a river which runs through the valley.  We ate lunch at the low point of the hike right by the river.  Once again, the meal was great.  The quality of the meals has been one of the surprises of the trip for most of us.  We don’t know if that will continue throughout the trip, but it has been a pleasant surprise.

We started hiking again around 12:30.  The trail was quite steep all the way to Tengboche.  Unfortunately, about halfway up the trail, we got behind a caravan of about 10 yaks loaded down with bags and supplies.  In addition to slowing we down quite a bit, them kicked up a lot of dust.  We couldn’t get around them until just before we arrived at Tengboche.

Tengboche sits at an altitude of 12,600 feet.  It is a small village of mostly hotels for trekkers.  There is a Buddhist monastery at the top of the hill when you first arrive in town.  We were told that roughly 100 monks live at the monastery.   We were given a tour of the monastery by our faithful lead guide, Tendi.  We saw the main worship room which consists of one large statue of Buddha in the front center of the room.  There are 3 benches that the monks sit on in the middle of the floor.  The walls are painted with scenes from the life of Buddha.

The Nepalese staff assigned to our group has been great.  We have four porters who carry our bags.  These are young men who are quite small, but have amazing strength.  Both of them are carrying two bags which combined must weigh 80-100 pounds.  In addition to Tendi, there are four other Nepalese who walk the trails with us.  Their names are Rinji, Mingmar Dendi, Mingmar, and Jiwan. They rotate being the lead hiker and hanging toward the back to make sure no one falls behind.  So far, all of us are hiking strong and feeling pretty good.  No significant altitude problems or sicknesses to report.  Tomorrow, we head to Dingboche at roughly 14,800 feet where we will file our next report.

Read Full Story: 22nd April, 2010- Namche to Tengboche

21th April, 2010

Day four of the Trek started with clear skies and another great breakfast of cereal, eggs and toast. Today is a rest day and acclimatization day, but this also meant that we hiked to the Sherpa village of Khumjung and back to Namche Village. This allowed us to gain some altitude and then sleep lower before we push higher into the Khumbu to Tengboche tomorrow.

We started by hiking up to the Namche Museum which lies just above town.  This was an old military post and is now a museum.  This was a great start as we were able to get our first views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, and Ama Dablam. WOW. The museum was really interesting and we enjoyed Tendi’s talk. Tendi is our lead Sherpa, “Sirdar”.

We then hiked up to the Everest View Hotel which sits approximately at 13,000 feet and has SPECTACULAR VIEWS of all the previously mentioned mountains. This hotel has the claim of being the highest hotel in the world. We had a coke and enjoyed the views. Again WOW what a place.

The hike down to Khumjung and thru town was a special treat as we were the only folks doing this. We had lunch at Ama Dablam View Lodge. The name says it all, as the view of the mountain is spectacular. We were treated with watching the moon rise directly above Ama Dablam. This Sherpa village was a special treat as it allowed us to view the local High School and the kids playing. What a treat. One of the young ones was very talkative and his English was very good. He startled Alan with questions and it was magical and funny to watch.

The hike back to Namche had nice views as we came down the other side from where we walked up. We passed a small Monastery and back into town we strolled.

Read Full Story: 21th April, 2010- An acclimatization day

Today we made it to Everest Base Camp, elevation 17,335ft. It took about 2-3 hours from Gorek Shep over glacial moraine on quite rocky terrain, but worth every step. The Kumbu icefall was spectacular, spilling out from the pass between Lola peak and Nuptse peak right to the foot of base camp, where it merged with all the colorful tents of the many climbing expeditions.  We heard and saw multiple rock and ice falls which seemed to last minutes echoing off the cliff walls which surrounded us. When we arrived at the official Everest Base Camp entrance, we were met with hot lemon tea and cookies, which definitely hit the spot. Ang Dawa Sherpa lead us to the Everest ER, where we were given a friendly welcome from Dr. Luann Freer and Dr. Steve Halverson, both from Montana.  They showed us around the ER and then we all sat down in the Peak Promotion tent for a lunch which included fresh cucumbers and orange slices(yum)!  Right after lunch we saw a rescue helicopter land to fly someone who had been sick for a while to Kathmandu. It is amazing they are able to land a helicopter there, they didn’t even turn the engine off….just loaded her up and took off. We then said goodbye to everyone and started back to Lobuche.  Jasmina hiked up to Kallapatar today, and then we met up with her in Gorek Shep and from there all headed down together to Lobuche. I will admit it felt great to go downhill. Tomorrow we are heading to Chhukung where we plan to stay two nights and do some training before heading to Island Peak base camp.  Thanks again to the Everest ER doctors and Peak Promotion for making us feel right at home.

Marcie, Stacee, Lexi, Jasmina

Read Full Story: 20th April, 2010- From Everest Base Camp

19th April, 2010

What a wonderful day!  We had a bit of snow last night, leaving clear blue skies today….a perfect backdrop for gawking at Nuptse, Pumori, Everest, Lhola, AmaDablam and all the other Himalayan mountains I’m trying to remember the names of.  We’re peeking over at Everest Base Camp (“the EBC”) from our tea house at Gorakshep.  We gained elevation gradually from Lobuche then crossed a huge glacial moraine at the junction of three glaciers, stumbling over great views of Pumori and Nuptse all the way here.  We watched the moon rise over Lhola peak as we followed the Khumbu glacier.  After a light lunch in Gorakshep, Stacee, Marcie, and I walked “Bistare Bistare” (very slowly) up to Kalapathar, the “Black Rock” at the base of Pumori.  We peaked at 18,445’, mouths agape, looking out toward Everest and all the way down the Khumbu toward AmaDablam.  Tomorrow, we plan to visit Everest ER at the EBC and also a reputable bakery…???  I think there might even be a Starbucks up there, if we’re lucky.  Hope you are all well and remember: Bistare, Bistare!

-Lexi, Marcie, Stacee, & Jasmina

Read Full Story: 18th April, 2010- Lobuche

18th April, 2010

Started off our morning saying good bye to Vicki.  The trail started off in a flat river bed.  We then stopped for an early lunch, before the grunt up hill.  Made it to the Everest Memorial, where they memorialize climbers who have died on Everest.  No worse for the wear, we made it to Lobuche.  It took us about 5 hours to go approximately 2.5 miles. Whew!  Now at 16,269 feet.  We then took a short rest and then took about a half mile walk UP.  The views were great of the Khumbu Glaciers.  Definitely a change in the scenery and weather.  Starting to spit snow across the barren landscapes.  Have been enjoying trees  and flowers.  Now harsh in contrast.  Tomorrow we will go to Gorakshep.  If weather is cloudy will go on to Everest base camp.  If weather is clear, will see view from Kalapathar.  We are all still feeling well.  However, do see an occasional person being  “assisted” down.  Feeling thankful and lucky to have such great Sherpa guides.

Stacee, Marcie, Lexi, Jasmina

Read Full Story: 18th April, 2010- Lobuche

Day 3 20th April, 2010

Greetings from Namche Bazaar.   It is my turn (Alan) to do the update.  My wife, Penny, was with me in Delhi and Kathmandu so I missed some of the early group meeting which explains my absence in some of the pictures posted yesterday.

We started off this morning in Phakding with a hearty breakfast of apple porridge, eggs, and toast.  We started the hike around 8:20 am.  Phakding is at an altitude of around 8500 feet.  After crossing 3 suspension bridges which were a bit intimidating for those of us with a fear of heights, we reached our lunch destination around 11:30 am.  By that time, we had reached 9200 feet.  Lunch was great, potatoes, spring rolls, and a vegetable medley.

The hike after lunch was the toughest we have had so far.  Two more suspension bridges (one with a drop of about 500 feet) and a climb up to 11,200 feet when we reached Namchee Bazaar.

Namchee Bazaar  is a beautiful place.  Lots of two to three story buildings built around the mountainside.  Our hotel is first class.  Comfortable rooms, great views, and even a hot shower.

Everyone is doing great.  We all hiked strong, no one is sick, and we are having a great experience.  I don’t know who will do the update tomorrow, (only that it won’t be Dave), but we’ll report in.

Read Full Story: 20th April, 2010- Greetings from Namche Bazaar

Day 2- 19^th April, 2010

Kathmandu – to Lukla & Phakding

Our wake up call came at 4:15 am as we were to leave the hotel for our flight to Lukla. Don and Tim did not set their watches to the correct time so they arrived late and created pandemonium in the hotel at departure time. Now with the group 20min behind schedule the entire trip was in jeopardy due to the tight timing. However due to some creative driving through the streets of Katmandu we managed to get to the airport in time to make our flight. At the airport this time we were met by monkeys and chickens as we made our way to the tarmac.

The trip to Lukla was memorable for the views and the landing. For anyone that has not seen the Lukla airstrip I can only say “holy @#$%”. The airstrip is built on the side of a mountain with about a 25 degree pitch going uphill to help the plane stop after it has basically fallen from the sky.

In Lukla we were met by our porters that would accompany us for the balance of the trip. From Lulka we started our trek up the beautiful chaurikharka valley. After 2 hours of trekking we stopped for lunch in the small village of Thadokhosi. We had a home cooked meal of noodles and enjoyed the views. It was amazing to see local women talking on their cell phones. After lunch we continued our journey up the valley past yaks, chickens, horses and lots of other trekkers.

We have ended our first day of trekking in the small village of Phakding. Here we are staying at the Tashi Take lodge. The lodge is beside the river and we are looking forward to a good night sleep after our first day on the trail. Elevation 8,600ft.

Read Full Story: 19th April, 2010- Kathmandu to Lukla & Phakding