Leeds Metropolitan University

Everest West Ridge 2006

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Dave Wilson

Location

Nyalam

Time

27th March 2006

The flight over from London went very smoothly after a fairly chaotic departure from Heathrow. We arrived in Kathmandu late afternoon on the 23rd March to a welcome ceremony at The Summit Hotel where we were presented with Bhudist flowers and some very strong sake. It was a real Oasis in the desert after a long flight.

By the time we got to Kathmandu our base camp manager Pete Longbottom and our ground agent Kit Spencer had gone ahead of us to Zangmu on the otherside of the Tibetan border to get a head start on getting the freight through. We all followed on from Kathmandu at 3:30 in the morning after a fairly quiet night. We were all aware this was going to be a long day.

The drive to Friendship Bridge on the border was fairly smooth. There was a very strong police and military presence in order to keep the road open which we were very thankful for. This is the main trading route between Nepal and Tibet and there have been many recent Maoist blockades here, but we got through by about midday.

There is a real marked difference in scenary as you cross through from Nepal to Tibet. You really notice the difference as you move through from the ramshackle dwellings of the Nepalese to the big sqaure buildings of communist Tibet.

We arrived in Zangmu later that afternoon after a 4 ½ hour jouney up a Mountain road through ever thickening snow and heavy drifts, taking us to 3500m and a well deserved lunch at the Mountaineers Restaurant. A few of us then had to have a meeting with the Chinese Mountaineering Association Rep to iron out a few issues that had arisen, (such as a lack of 4x4s!) and various other transportation matters. Once all that was square, away we were able to find our accomodation and relax a little.

We had our first trek on Sunday 26th. A fairly easy climb to 4400m and some stunning prayer flags. Everyone is feeling very fit and healthy and coping well with the increase in altitude. Our second trek today has gone equally well.

The best thing so far though has to have been our discovery of some hot showers and hot deep baths down the road which everyone has been queueing up for patiently. This is a big unexpected luxury.

Carnegie Visiting team 26 April

John O'Hara 24 April

John Allan 24 April

David Jackson