Trip Reports

Tharpu Chuli - 22 April to 12 May '12

$Dining \'Al fresco\' below snow laden peaks in the Annapurna Sanctuary$

Written by Leader Mungo Ross, May 2012

Apparently the unofficial motto of the Bomb Disposal Squad is something like “If at first you don’t succeed, perhaps you chose the wrong job”. The same could apply to mountain guiding – cut the wrong wire, and............”BOOM”. So making decisions gets to be about making good decisions; not so much about what’s right or wrong, but about what’s going to work. And in the mountains (probably also like in bomb disposal), that decision-making relies a lot on experience, on developing that sixth sense. The 2012 spring season in Nepal has certainly been testament to that.

Particularly unseasonal unsettled weather, unpredictable temperatures, more snow than usual in some places and less in others, ongoing de-glaciation were just some of the factors that have conspired to demand canny consideration, flexibility and a preparedness to change plans. Changing plans is fine if the original plan is just a loose idea, nothing special; the process becomes more difficult if the plan has attached value, something paid for and defined in an Itinerary. Or worse still, is a life’s dream.

So much of what we do and have now is a consequence of packaging, advertising, marketing and selling with the added attraction of the encouraged quest to “live your dream”. There is nothing wrong with that, but the risk is that if dreams are chosen without awareness of a pragmatic sense of personal competencies, they can quickly become nightmares. And 'itineraries' are just that, timetables enabling a theoretical outcome. Ask a South American or Nepali “how long will this journey take?” and they genuinely do not know the answer, because the journey is yet to be made. Ask how long it took yesterday, or usually, or might it take and they can offer an honest answer.

One of the huge lessons of working at higher altitudes is being forced to deal with what is going on. Not what we want, or what should be, or what it says in the itinerary; the lack of oxygen in our cells demands acknowledgement and respect, compounding whatever else we decide to do. Making the decision to not even attempt Tharpu Chuli was easy in the circumstances; of course bitterly disappointing for the group, but that was our small misfortune in a season of catastrophes for so many others so close to where we were; a flash flood down the Seti Valley during our walk out, a crowded vehicle off the road just before we got there, a plane out of Pokhara crashing near Jomsom a couple of days later. And since we got home, the fatalities on Everest. That pinnacle of dreams and itineraries.

I think Don Whillans summed it up when he said “I don’t mind fighting my way out of trouble, but I’m buggered if I’m going to fight my way into it!”

If you haven’t been into the Annapurna Sanctuary, go sometime, and if you have, go again! What a fantastic walk; of course it’s popular but that’s because it’s spectacular – remember though, it is the Himalaya. Thank you everyone for sharing this time together, another three weeks in the mountains, another opportunity to learn a little more and gain on experience: Jagged Globe and Summit Trekking for the usual flawless organisation; a Sherpa, cook and porter team second to none; and a group who made the trip fun and one to remember.

Mungo Ross, Expedition Leader « Previous report | Next report »

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