1st Expedition – Cho Oyu

On 6th September departure from Milano and arrival at Kathmandu.
After some days in the Nepalese capital for legal formalities I left towards the Tibetan border by minibus. I arrived at Zhangmu (Nepal) and I went on to Nyalam, where I stayed one day. Then I went to Tingri (4300 mt) that is the starting point to get the Chinese BC at 5000 mt. . At Tingri the yaks will be loaded with necessary goods and tools for life at the base camp and for the ascent. 3 – 4 days are necessary to The stay at the ABC will last 25 – 30 days and the flight back to Italy will be at about mid October.

The aim of the expedition

The goal of this ascent is to get the summit of Mount Cho Oyu (8201) following the Tibetan face (normal route), alone, in the alpine style, without high altitude porters, oxygen and fixed ropes.

Information about Mount Cho Oyu

It is a mountain of 8201 metres on the border between Nepal and Tibet. The normal route goes up the Tibetan face following the via traced out by an Austrian expedition in 1954. There aren’t particular technical difficulties, nor dangers.

There are two good periods for its ascent: April-May (before the monsoon) and September-October (after the monsoon)

According to statistics the best time is before the monsoon because there’s less snow on the mountain, days are longer and it isn’t too cold.

There are two ways to reach the BC:

• by land Kathmandu – Tingri
• by air Lhasa – Tingri

1. The journey by land from Kathmandu to Kodari is about 4 hours. Kodari is the last Nepalese village. A quite big group of people will “assoult” your bus and take your luggage to the Chinese border (don’t worry: keep your hand luggage with you and go on). Once you have got your Visa you walk till the “Bridge of Friendship” where Chinese officers will take your temperature (they won’t let you enter their Country if you have got temperature, SARS still exists there) and check your documents and sometimes also your baggage (if they ask you to open it, wait for your guide companion who will settle everything giving them a tip). After 1 Km you’ll find the jeep and a lorry for the baggage. After 40 minutes you’ll arrive in Zhangmu, an ugly village where your hand luggage will go through the x-ray machine and you’ll deal with formalities (if you have a satellite phone, put it in your luggage otherwise you’ll have to pay a tax in case they find it). After an hour and a half you’ll arrive in Nyalam (3750 mt) where you’ll spend a couple of days to acclimatize (my suggestion: use your rest day to walk in the surrounding mountains up to 4500 mt). After a 4-hour drive, 160 km of a white road and the Tong La Pass at 5050 mt, you’ll arrive at the Tingri village (4230 mt).
2. Lhasa Once in Kathmandu you reach Lhasa by land. The capital city is at 3600 mt and is divided into two parts: the new Lhasa, mainly Chinese, has been built in the late 30s; the old Lhasa, Tebetan, develops around the monastery of Jokhang. Lhasa-Gygantze: the road climbs up the slopes of Kampala La (4990 mt) from where you can admire Lake Yamdrok. You can reach the third biggest city of Tibet climbing over Karo Pass (5010 mt), that is between two glaciers.
3. Gygantze-Xigatze: crossing the cultivated valley of Nyagqu by Tashilumpo, residence of Pangh Lama you reach the second most important city of Tibet.
4. Xigatze-Tingri: transfer to Xegar and then you go on to Tingri, interesting Tibetan village and belvedere to Mount Everest.

Now you have another day to relax, to visit the old Tingri and to climb a mountain of 4800 mt.

Tingri-Chinese BC(5000 mt): 1 hour and half by jeep. The street ends there (you have the occasion to climb the mountain overhanging the camp (5560). One more day of relax, then you load the yaks (60 kgs each, if more you’ll have to pay). A Chinese officier will ask you to pay a caution money of 500 $. You’ll be given a receipt for it. The money will be given you back showing the receipt, if any porter claims a credit.

Chinese BC-Middle halting-place: 5400 mt, 10 km

Middle halting-place- ABC (5720mt), 15 km. It is possible to do it at a stretch, it depends on your physical condition and acclimatization.
There are different ways to get acclimatized. I suggest to feel your body. Don’t make the ryth of other people to influence you. Don’t be afraid if you are behind them, if you need it, take one more day. The biggest mistake is to follow other people. Someone prefers to stay at the ABC for some days. I personally prefer to go higher without load and then go back to the ABC.

Some general consideration: the ideal altitude to get acclimatized is about 5300 mt; at this hight your metabolism allows a good physical recovery, while at 7000 you only lose strengh. So is no use going to 7000 and stay there for some days to acclimatize yourself. It’s better to go and stay at this altitude just for an hour and then go down to ABC again. The pace must be regular when you climb. The ABC isn’t on the snow but on a moraine (a sort of labirinthe). Then there is a huge gravelly soil (600 mt drop). You check immediately your physical state! (from ABC to C1: 4 km, it takes about 4-5 hours).

C1-C2 (7100 mt): it’s almost entirely on snow, it’s about 2 kms, 4-5 hours. At about half way to C2 there is an high sarac (30,40 mt, about 70 degrees). There is usually a fixed rope. The tent is placed on a wide area. From C2 you can try to reach the summit (as I did in 8 hours) or you can stop at C3 (7600 mt), where there is little room for the tent.

C3-Summit (8201 mt): after 100 mt there is an high rock – 20 metres, 4+, without fixed ropes. Then you go on along a never ending plateau. Only when you see Mount Everest high above the Horizon, you realize that you have reached the summit. In case of poor visibility, this part of the climbing can be really dangerous (you can lose your bearings, so GPS can be useful). From C3 to the summit there are 3 kms of mixed ground, about 7-8 hours.

I don’t think there is air rescue on the Tibetan face of Cho Oyu. In case you decide to give up before the scheduled time, you’ll have to pay for the jeep to Kodari (about 1000$).

Summer Training

During July and August I climbed mountains for more than 30.000 metres:

• Cervino Cervinia – Summit reached in 3,19 hours
• Gran zebru Parcheggio dei Forni – Summit reached in 1,55 hours
• Ortles Sloda – Summit reached via Hintergrad in 2,35 hours
• Presanella Val di Genova – Summit reached in 2,37 hours
• Vioz Peio paese – Summit reached in 2,05 hours
• Cevedale malga sea – Summit reached in 1,58 hours
• Cima Tosa Pradel – Summit reached in 2,15 hours

I climbed all above-mentioned mountains wearing gym shoes and alluminium crampons where needed.

Considerations

I decided to climb my first 8000-high-mountain alone, without oxygen and sherpa because I wanted to try a fair climb. Nowadays money is everything and to climb an 8000-mount seems to be just another thing you can buy. So I wanted to do something against modern tendencies. The experience has been positive, I realized that it isn’t enough to discover the mountains using your eyes, you must use your heart. Moreover, I’m sure that what I’ve seen from the summit can’t be experienced from people “taken” there by an organization.

Dedication ...

I want to dedicate this climbing to Christos Barouchas, strong mountaineer and excellent man. His dream finished on 5th October at 7100 mt. The mountain took him. I’m really sorry for losing such a good friend.