Trip Reports

Lhakpa Ri - 1 to 27 May '04

Written by Leader Adele Pennington, May 2004

On the 27th May the Lhakpa Ri expedition members returned to their respective countries after a very successful expedition in Tibet.

The team travelled through Tibet taking in the most of the Tibetan culture except for the tea and explored several of the famous monasteries on route.

After travelling over numerous high passes the team finally drove over the Pang La to experience awesome views of Everest, Barunste, Makalu and Cho Oyu.

Pleased to be in Nepalese company the team acclimatised at base camp exploring the different branches of the Rongbruk Glacier. On Schedule the team moved up through interim camp and then to Advanced Base Camp. The journey on the Magic Highway weaving either side of the ice pinnacles started to wet the team’s appetite for their ascent of Lhakpa. On arrival at Advance Base Camp enthusiasm was dampened only slightly as the team rested with a few headaches. After 2 days of exploration to Everest Advance Base and the Raphu La the team were set for their summit attempt.

At 6.00am on the 20th may 6 team members set off for the 7,045m summits. The sun rose and we all had amazing views of the North East Ridge of Everest. Unfortunately the snow began to fall and our views disappeared as we made our way across the slopes of the Lhakpa La. At around 1pm the team finally reached the summit of this beautiful mountain, disappointingly with no views but with the altimeter defiantly registering 7,050m. After a 4 hour descent jumping over the now well-covered crevasses the team arrived back at Advance base to be welcomed back by their fellow team members who had unfortunately not made the summit. After a few hours of rest and recuperation the team were back on form and the mess tent was bubbling with climbers who had achieved their goal.

Congratulations and thanks to all the team members who participated in this superb expedition that was certainly a journey through time!

Adele Pennington, June 2004 « Previous report | Next report »

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