Cho Oyu 8,201m Expedition

Mt. Cho-Oyu was formally discovered 152 years ago by the survey of India, when it carried out the great trigonometrical survey, during 1849-1851. Initially, the survey did not consider Cho Oyu in the group of highest mountains of  Nepal Himalayas. Cho Oyu means "Goddess of Turquoise" in Local Sherpa Language. Cho Oyu, at the westernmost part of Khumbu sub system, is located in between two peaks in the north and south. It sits astride the border of Nepal And Tibet, China. From The Tibetan Side, true summit of Cho Oyu lies across a board plateau, whereas from Nepal it is a vertical cliff and thus very difficult to scale. It is located 32 kilometer west of Sagarmatha.

Base camp is a temporary but comfortable affair with large cook and mess tents. Now the trekking begins with the two days walk to advanced base camp (ABC). We may take an acclimatization day at the halfway point,. Again, depending on how everyone is acclimatizing. ABC is in the heart of the Himalaya at 5720m, surrounded by fantastic peaks and close by is the Nangpa -La, an old but still used yak train trading route between Nepal and Tibet. ABC also boasts a superb view of the route on Cho Oyu. This is our main base camp and we plan to stay here and higher for the duration of the expedition. Every person gets a tent to their own.From ABC it is several hours of tough walking on a vague path over moraine-covered glacier to the start of the mountain proper. After a short, steep climb is Lake Camp (Camp 1: 6065m) where we have a tent to store gear. Camp 1 is an hour or two up the steep slope, which improves the higher you climb.Camp 1 is either perched more or less on the ridge at 6430m and the real mountaineering begins from here. The ridge is soft, so easy enough climbing, then it broadens out and we climb successive huge steps, several of which probably require fixing a rope up. We will fix a new rope in co-operation with other expeditions on the mountain. Normally one rope is used for ascent and another for descent. Although the route is crevassed, normally these pose no problems. Camp 2 is on the edge of a large plateau at 7,130m although we will carefully assess where to put it. For our summit attempt we will establish a light Camp 3 across the plateau and up on a minor ridge at 7560m. Above Camp 3 are two rock steps where we fix another set of ropes prior to our summit bid. Summit day: Above the rock bands the slopes are still reasonably steep and we may take a line to fix there, depending on conditions. However once on the crest of this ridge the terrain is straightforward although it is a long haul to the summit plateau. The panorama is breathtaking and magnificent, including Everest 8848m, Lhotse 8501m, Nuptse 7855m, Chamlang 7319m, Ama Dablam 6812m and other peaks of the Khumbu region to the east and south. To the west are the Melungtse and Gauri Sankar massifs and to the north is pure Tibet. It is normal to descend to Camp 2 and from here the big job of clearing the mountain begins.

Itinerary