Namaste-Himal Sunder Cha

[Valdez Telehead]

In celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary's first ascent of Mt Everest, Tabitha and I hiked nearly 200 miles over 3 weeks from Jiri to Everest Base Camp. I have tons of photo's to yet peruse as we just arrived back in Alaska so I will follow up with some photo's later. Nepal is simply Alaska on steroids. The trek was amazing and strenuous to say the least.

Looking forward to posting some Valdez skinning and skiing once I get my head clear.

Here's my EBC photo with the woman who lets me live with her.



Oopsie near Lhotse.

[Matt J]

Nice photos and congrats on the trip. Look forward to seeing more pic's when you get a chance.

Hope you guys have a good season up on the pass. I've got a friend up that way and hope to make it up some time. Maybe this will be the spring!

[Valdez Telehead]

First week(s)was mostly up and down 3000' passes in the midlands. If you fly in to Lukla, you miss the lush green valleys, farms, and kids. As lifetime birders we had more on our agenda than just big mountains. This was Day 3 as we neared mystical Bandahar from Shivalia. Tabitha wore long dresses most of the time for cultural respect. This group of charmers lived the middle of nowhere in a stone house. Little has changed since 1953 in this region. Trekkers and climbers rarely visit since the Lukla airport was built. There are no roads, just trails and mountain people.

Om mane padme hum,….

[Danno]

Nice pics, want to see more!

[jfb]

From Jiri! Good on ya. And that's a great photo of the kids. I went up the Gokyo Valley next door (from Lukla) in March, before the crowds. It was for different reasons but it was likewise wonderful. From that trip:

Obligatory shot of prayer flags, mountain, etc.



With the missus on Gokyo Ri with Chomolungma and Lhotse in the background.



More here

[NoPin]

Great pictures, jfb! My wife and I are leaving this coming Wednesday for four weeks of trekking in the Langtang region and your pictures are definitely helping stoke our excitement.

[Valdez Telehead]

The climbs were relentless below Lukla, more so than above. We trekked over a couple passes of 10-, 12- and 14,000' and then back down again. Places like Goyam, Nunthela, and Bupse lay hidden deep in the lower Himal forest, each providing more earth beauty the we had imagined possible. A bright sun each morning would give way to misty clouds by noon.

Tomorrow- Mountains!

Tabitha

Local

Oaks

Alaska tree-hugger

[shoestring]

love all of the photos - Nepal is, indeed, a very special place. the trek to lukla seems like it was amazing...in the annapurna region, i really enjoyed seeing the differences from the valleys to passes.

before moving west in 2007, my now wife and i spent about two months in nepal - we trekked the annapurna circuit, did a trek up the goyko valley (pretty sweet, huh, jfb), and did an amazing kayaking trip out of pohkra. before our trip, i was really focused on sport climbing in thailand (we spent about five weeks in tonsai before heading to nepal) and my wife did most of the research for the nepal portion...i was truly blown away by the people, culture and mountains in nepal.

thanks for sharing...

[jfb]

Love those "lowland" pix, VT. And yes, shoestring, very sweet.

[Dr.Faustus]

Love these shots and the flickr set. Thanks!

[Valdez Telehead]

The skies turned perfect blue forever once we left the forest. Everest was first visible from Tengbouche miles below Lukla, which was the perfect portal to the most stunning mountain scenery I've ever seen. Summits just kept popping up one after another. Ama Dablam had climbers on it and it would have been neat to visit all the "base camps", but we had only one in mind. We were fortunate on our "rest" day to do one minor feature called Nangkar Tshang (5200m) above Dingbouche which was one the best days of the trip. But things just kept getting bigger and higher.

Tomorrow : The Khumbu Glacier

Tabitha at Tengbouche Monastery.


Ama Dablam 6,856m



Kantaga 6,685m



Taboche Peak 6,387m

[Valdez Telehead]

The Kumbu Valley was so sunny. We spent three days at Gorak Shep just for fun and to watch our water bottles freeze in our sparse lodge rooms. One day, while Tabitha rested, my porter and I snuck off and after an hour or so came upon the north face of Pumo Ri as viewed from 18,000. Stunning to say the least and looking back, we spotted Everest and Lhotse. It was here I dug my highest snow pit ever finding bottomless sugar snow, aged over two week with a wind skin.

When I would try to trace a route with my finger up one of these peaks, it stopped well short of the summit. Ascending higher, while desirable, was above my head and my skill sets to say the least. I have been above 14000 feet many times in my life and I was lucky the thin air had little affect on me even near 18000. It all felt so good…the air, the culture, the history, and the possibilities! Blue skies continued as we packed up and hustled our way away from the highest earth on earth towards Kunde and then Lukla.

Tommorrow : Last One: The Fattest Ski Line I Ever Saw.

Tabitha hustles up the Kumbu Valley from Dengbouche towards Lobouche East (6119m)



Sunrise excites mist above Lhotse (8501m)




Took some effort to get to the South Face of Pumo Ri 7165



Chomolungma 8850m and Nuptse 7861m

[Rock_Doc]

wow . . . . . breathtaking . . . . . astoundingly beautiful . . . . . thank you so much for sharing these photos

[Valdez Telehead]

Attempting to ski in the area looks rather feeble. Besides the remoteness, altitude and coldness, the EBC peaks gets little snow and it's more composed of old dirty glaciers and old snow. And its all wickedly steep. From the top of any peak would require super efforts, so most ski smears I suppose. Certainly there are some notable ski descents in the region. Two weeks before we arrived in the area, a snow storm dumped a few feet of which most that remained still lingering on shaded north aspects.

But one peak stood out above all other's as a ski peak, Lingtren. (6749m) Others have spotted it, but few if anyone has climbed it. Maybe Shipton?. Sickness 10+. It's got a huge line off the summits with endless flukes. It's isolation is begging for a ski alpinist. I has to be climbed the human way, not some "other" way that would cheapen the scene. Someday, someone will come along. The only thing in AK that would come close would be the Mt. Sanford's SW Face.

This ends my trip reports to one of the wild places on earth. I had a new camera, thus I am jazzed the photo's are coming out super for sharing once I got home. We would like to hike in from the Tibet side someday via Lhasa and Bejing. This am in Valdez the snows have returned with 12" overnight and it time to get caught up on all that involves. I have some catching up to do!

Tabitha wanderlusts through the Khumbu towards EBC.



Pumo Ri and Lingtren loom at the head of the Khumbu.



Lingtren up close from EBC. Ski this?



A map helps.