The expedition begins
in Kathmandu where you meet the guide, crew and team
members and our Tibet visa is issued. Then we drive
up the Friendship Highway to Zhangmu, the Nepal-Tibet
border, where our Chinese liaison officers and Chinese
transport meet us. The gear goes by truck while we travel
by Landcruiser 4wd. We take time to acclimatize at Nyalam
(3750m).
We cross the main Himalayan range over the Lalung La
(pass: 5150m) to Tingri (4350m) where we spend a further
two nights acclimatizing. From here briefly retrace
our route to the turn off for Shishapangma BC. We leave
the main metal road at the top of one pass and descend
into a stunning wide valley then bump up a grassy plain
to BC with the Himalaya spread in front of us. We set
up base camp at a place called Chinese Base Camp and
stay perhaps three or four nights, depending on how
everyone feels and the schedule of the yaks. Base camp
is a temporary but comfortable affair with large cook
and mess tents. We trek to advanced base camp (ABC).
ABC is to the north of the main Himalayan range, slightly
sheltered from the Nepal weather systems. There are
views of the upper section of the mountain. 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 rough moraine to a camp where we change boots
for the glacier. We will put a camp in here. We cross
a large glacier via a trail marked with flags to a flat
area then begin the climb to Camp 1, several hours away
and over some crevassed slopes that should have ropes
fixed over them.
Camp 1 lies on a huge almost flat snow field that is
cut by narrow but deep crevasses, although sometimes
they are well covered.
There are several options for the placing of camps from
this point. The route crosses the rest of the flat glacier
then climbs. Usually this broad slope has ropes fixed
up sections of it. It could avalanche in bad conditions.
Above is a huge area, a gentle ridge. We will probably
put a camp here at first, then perhaps move it further
along after staying for the first time.
The more usual place for Camp 2 (7150m) is further along
and almost under the face of Shishapangma, near a col.
It is possible to summit from Camp 2 but since we are
aiming for the true summit we will definitely establish
Camp 3 on the ridge at 7400-7500m. The climb to this
ridge steepens as we get higher and it is normal to
fix 400-800m of rope.
From Camp 3 we have a spectacular view that stretches
way into the distance to the north and also we can see
Everest and Cho Oyu.
Summit day means a very early start. There are two possible
routes: the ridge and the face. We will decide which
is safer at the time.
The ridge (in yellow): At first we climb along the broad,
easy ridge without ropes then at around 7900m the ridge
gets steeper and narrower so we will fix this section.
Once at the lower summit we fix another 100m of rope
to traverse the almost knife edged ridge to the easier
terrain to the true summit.
The Face, normal route (in yellow then green): from
close to the summit we traverse out. These slopes are
often in bad condition.
New route (in blue): from Camp 3 we descend a little
onto a broad plateau and will probably have to put a
camp there. The slopes from there on are moderate.
The panorama is breathtakingly magnificent. After summitting
it is normal to descend to Camp 2 and from here the
big job of clearing the mountain.
