Simonson

The 1999 International Mountain Guides Cho Oyu Expedition is finally all together in the small town of Tingri, 14,300 feet—the last stop before Base Camp. The Zhangmu group with Craig John and the Sherpas arrived midafternoon on Saturday the 28th. The Lhasa Group with Eric, Jason, and the climbers arrived late in the evening on Sunday the 29th. Each group had a story to tell!

Lhasa Temple

As it turned out, the Zhangmu group had a reasonably smooth trip after some delays the first day. Less than two hours out of Kathmandu, they encountered the first of five road blockages in a row caused by the heavy monsoon rains. It took seven hours for these to be cleared, before the road was opened again. Traffic was backed up for several miles on each side of the landslides...quite a mess. The road conditions were quite bad, and the shoulders of the road very soft in places. At one point, they saw a fully-loaded local bus hit the soft shoulder which then collapsed under the weight, dropping the bus to its axles and almost pitching it hundreds of feet over the bank. It would have been yet another of the classic Asian bus accidents we read about now and then!

Because of these delays, the team only reached Baribise the first day, a small roadside town several hours below the border. The next day the team set out in the morning but were only able to go about 15 miles, at which point they hit another series of landslides that had wiped out a kilometer of road. Here it was necessary to hire 30 porters who each made about three trips. These events are a windfall for the local people, and Craig reports that the porters would run back for another load so they could earn as much money as possible!

The Potala

Above this landslide, the team hired another truck which was able to make it over the Friendship Bridge to Kodari (Nepal Customs and Immigration) and all the way up the big hill to Zhangmu at 7,300 feet. Here they met Mr. Jong, the Liaison Officer. Since it was still early in the day, they loaded up the Chinese truck and after doing the Chinese Customs and Immigration formalities, continued on up to Nyalam at 12,300 feet. Amazingly, the road up the gorge was in good shape, and they didn’t have to stop for any further landslides.

After a night at Tashi’s in Nyalam (where they hired Kaysong, a Tibetan helper who was with us on Everest this past spring), Craig and the Sherpas continued up and over the 17,000 foot Tsong La and onto Tingri, reaching it ahead of schedule.

The Lhasa group also had a rugged journey. We left Lhasa on Saturday morning and started following the Tsangpo River Valley to Shigatse (12,800 feet). What became apparent immediately was how much water there was everywhere. The Tsangpo looked like the Colorado with huge brown standing waves, and every tributary was pouring in tremendous quantities of water from every side valley. In many places the road was mired down to one lane of mud and ruts, causing our speed to drop to about three miles an hour for long distances.

We finally got in to Shigatse late in the afternoon after about seven hours on the road. Some of the group headed over to visit the Tashilumpo Monastery while others prowled around the town. It was amazing for me to see how much the place had grown in the five years since I had been there. Now there are large buildings (maybe four to six stories) all over the place. While everyone else was doing Shigatse, I retired to my hotel room and took advantage of the cable TV to watch the Australia vs. New Zealand rugby game. It seemed a bit out of place in the middle of Tibet, but it goes to show you that this place is changing!

Road to Tingri

Yesterday was an epic. The trip from Shigatse to Tingri took us about 11 hours, and the road was terrible. Again, all the rain the last few weeks has really wreaked havoc. We had miles and miles of one-lane, muddy ruts, often axle deep. If we had not been in 4WD Toyota Land Cruisers, it would have been very difficult to get through several places. The worst was where other vehicles had become stuck, blocking the road and requiring us to go off-road through the hinterlands to get around. Our Tibetan drivers did a great job!

It was great to roll into Tingri at 7pm and see Craig. Yesterday Pemba, Pa Nuru, Lakpa, Ang Nima, Kami, and Kaysong went on into Base Camp to start setting up the tents and getting things ready. We are the first team to the mountain this year, so we will have our choice of the prime real estate for camp.

Last night we had a great dinner in the Chinese restaurant here in Tingri, run by a couple from Chengdu. Then it was time to be lulled asleep in our little mud-floored room at the Everest Veo Hotel by the generator throbbing into the night.

Today the rest of the Sherpas (Ang Pasang, Da Nuru, and Tashi) will head on into Base Camp with the second truckload of gear (the truck returned yesterday after dropping off the first load). Our plan is for all the members to follow tomorrow. This gives us an additional night here in Tingri to acclimatize.

So, today is a rest day. After 10 days of travelling, we are just a short drive up the plains of Tingri and then up the outwash and moraines of the Gyabrag Glacier from Base Camp. Hopefully, we can get the sat phone fired up here and send this email and some photos as well!

Everyone is doing fine, so far. Next stop Base Camp!

— Eric Simonson, MountainZone.com Correspondent

EXPEDITION DISPATCHES