Trip Reports

Tharpu Chuli - 9 to 28 Oct '11

Written by Leader Terry Moore, October 2011

After meeting most of the expedition members at London Heathrow airport, our flight via Delhi to Nepal gave us amazing views of the Himalayan mountains as we descended into the Kathmandu Valley. On arrival at the Summit Hotel we met other expedition members and prepared ourselves for the short flight to Pokhara the following morning. Here we met our last member, Sarah, as well as our climbing Sherpas. We were now a full group raring to go.

Our trek began at Naya Pul, was a short drive away, where we met our porters – the main launch pad for the Annapurna Range. From here a hot dry trek via Poon Hill and Tadopani gave us some amazing views of the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna mountains as we started our acclimatising phase of the expedition. En route we saw a troop of Langur Monkeys cragging on the cliffs above the small village at Banthanti – in search of honey. Once in the Annapurna Sanctuary we were surrounded by the giants of Annapurna South, Hiun Chuli, Annapurna 1 and the magnificently Matterhorn-shaped Machhapuchare - all glistening in snow. Our objective – Tharpu Chuli (5,663m) nestled right in the middle of these peaks and we could see clearly its sharp ridges leading to the summit. At Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) we rested for a day and practiced our ascending and descending techniques on some nearby rock outcrops.

After crossing the South Annapurna Glacier a steep climb up the grassy slopes put us at our base camp at 4,500m and from here we had awesome views of the south face of Annapurna 1, currently under siege by a Korean expedition, and also the Annapurna South Face made famous by Sir Chris Bonington in 1970. Now acclimatised we prepared ourselves for the move up to High Camp, but a thunderstorm and snow showers soon stopped us in our tracks. After a weather check and some good luck it cleared 24 hours later and we moved up to High Camp at 5,000m on 22 October.

From here our climbing Sherpas set up fixed ropes high on the mountain to within 300 feet of the summit and returned in darkness, thus assuring us of a rapid ascent the next day. At midnight we awoke to a star-studded sky, so we set off up broken ground in darkness and onto the small glacier below the summit col. Moving up the fixed ropes on the headwall we could now feel the biting cold but pressed on and soon saw the surrounding peaks as we climbed to the ridge in the emerging twilight. Sadly Sarah was feeling unwell and descended with Pemba Norgu to High Camp. Continuing up the sharp snow ridge we moved on to the summit just as the sun was lighting up the south faces of the Annapurnas. At 6.30am nine of us huddled on the small summit for photographs and celebrations of a magnificent achievement. In a 360 degree panorama of peaks in excess of 7,000 metres in height and with a clear blue sky we absorbed the breathtaking views. The summit was ours to enjoy.

Our descent was spoilt slightly by intruding climbers now making their way up our fixed ropes. After some negotiations by our Sirdar - Tashi, fixed ropes were exchanged or sold as we moved on down to High Camp. After a well-earned lunch at High Camp we descended on down to Machhapuchare base camp, returning with our porters who were now happy to be going home.

The trek out to Naya Pul via the hot springs at Jhinudanda allowed some of us to sample the amazing hot baths by the river. We continued on down to our last campsite at Syauli Bajar where we celebrated with our Nepali staff our successful climb with some local rakshi, beers and some Bagpiper whiskey (much to Fred’s liking), and a hearty meal of chicken Dhalbaat. Rolf did the honours of making a fine speech and handing out the tips to our hard working staff.

This was a great expedition with some memorable moments, both on and off the hill.

Terry Moore, Expedition Leader « Previous report | Next report »

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