Trip Reports

Khumbu Climber 8 April to 6 May 2001

Written by Leader Kenton Cool, May 2001

Khumbu Climber ll, led by Kenton Cool and Di Forbes, had a very successful expedition with all 12 team members summitting Lobuche East, 11 summitting Island Peak, and six reaching the top of Pokalde.

In addition to the great climbing and fantastic Himalayan views, the group had a really good time and were supported by a strong Nepalese team.

Pokalde was the first peak on the itinerary and while most of team made it to high camp, only half were sufficiently acclimatised to climb the mountain on summit day. The conditions were good despite the previous day's snow fall.

From Pokalde the team trekked to Island Peak base camp and climbed the mountain over a two day period in nearly perfect weather conditions. Although the head wall was icier than expected it made for interesting climbing and 11 people summitted.

Because of delays in reaching Lukla at the start of the expedition, it was not going to be possible to complete the itinerary and climb both Lobuje East and Parchemo. So the team elected to climb Lobuje East and return to Namche Bazar by way of the Cho La Pass and Gokyo.

All the team successfully summitted Lobuje East over a two-day period (with Kenton Cool, Kevin Hynes and Jeremy Winsor climbing the mountain twice since they enjoyed it so much!). From Lobuje, the team trekked over the Cho La Pass and on to Gokyo. Unfortunately the weather was not great and so not everyone managed to see the views from Gokyo Ri. However the trek back to Namche Bazar provided stunning views.

On the final night in Lukla, the Nepalese staff prepared a great meal and everyone joined in the dancing including the hard working porters. All in the all it was great expedition and everyone really enjoyed it.

Alison Johnson « Previous report | Next report »

Jagged Globe Newsletter

We publish an email newsletter with trip reports and latest availability, plus features, competitions and general news of our climbing, trekking & skiing activities.