Getting ready to climb Mera Peak in Nepal

Spring 2017 Mera Peak, Amphu Labtsa Pass Expedition

This first installment of Life in the Mountains will be a lengthy description of our preparation for a trekking expedition to Mera Peak in Nepal.  Today:  September 16, 2016

Expedition:  “A journey undertaken for a definite purpose.”

Our purpose is to climb a mountain, a high pass, and return home safely.  But that is not all.  We are also going for the adventure, challenge, and learning experience such an endeavor offers.  We want to give our son the pleasurable experience of visiting the wonderfully unique and beautiful country that is Nepal.  Perhaps he will be inspired by the towering peaks as he pushes his experience into the realm of extreme high altitude.  And maybe too, he will be touched by the gentle nature and sincere kindness of the people.  It is also our hope that we might share some of ourselves with those with whom we cross paths.

A little background:

We (expedition members) are a family of 3 living in the mountains of Colorado, outside of Boulder.  For my wife Chris, this will be her second trip to Nepal.  Our son Max is finishing elementary school this year and is looking forward to an exciting time.  My name is Jeff and this will be my third climbing expedition to Nepal.  We live in a house that my wife and I built/are building.  More on that in a separate installment.  The house sits on a granite outcropping at 8,800 ft or 2682 m.  Not a bad place from which to start high altitude trekking/climbing.  And not a bad place to practice rappelling/abseiling and top roping.  Our son has lived here since he was born.  My wife and I tend towards being very fit for our age and our son has been active in the mountains  from an early age.

photo: Max with Chris, photographed for a 2009 interview with Yellow Scene magazine

photo: Max rappelling the granite rock next to our house

photo:  Max rappelling next to the house with his first plastic double boots

photo: Max pointing at the prusik (red line) holding him during the rappel. It is a safety device that can prevent an uncontrolled fall should the climber lose their grip on the break (two tan lines draped over his right thigh) for any reason.

photo:  Max rappelling next to our house

Genesis for this trip:

Sometime about a year and a half ago, after the big earthquakes in Nepal, my wife and I agreed it was time to go back, see some friends there, do a little climbing, spend some money there, and share with our son a wonderful experience before he heads off to middle school.  Since then we have been training (directly and indirectly) to give ourselves the best chance to succeed.  This is a good time to share some thoughts as we prepare for this expedition.

We have a purpose, a goal, but it would be empty and impossible without help.  Luckily there are many people in Nepal ready and waiting to help.  The greatest need for help is in the areas of transporting climbing gear, cooking, and sleeping accommodations for 1 month on the trail.  Since we were last there, the preferred way to trek is to go from tea house to tea house.  Rather than transport all our gear half way around the world, I am now learning about renting gear for the climbs, in Lukla or other villages.  Tea houses take care of the cooking and accommodation requirements rather nicely.  For the need to carry gear, we are looking to employ 4 porters but that number is not final at this time.  The expedition at this point consists of 3 family members, 4 porters, tea house keepers, and our sirdar and friend Chhongba Sherpa.  We will also ask for the help of climbing Sherpas as Chhongba sees fit.  I think this will be invaluable, especially for Max.  My wife and I have not climbed the ice in Ouray Colorado since before our last trip to Nepal in 2006.  I don’t think we will come across vertical water ice on this trip but it will be nice and reassuring at this point to be with proficient climbers familiar with the routes and able to lead them.  As for our son, he has done some nice snow climbing which included rappelling and we are confident he has the skills to climb/rappel the final headwall of Mera Peak (central) and rappel down the north side of Amphu Labtsa Pass.  Maybe the point here is that The Expedition has taken on new meaning.  It is no longer two “fit” adults and their budding mountaineer son.  All of these people mentioned come together to become an integral part of The Purpose.  The lodge people are practicing their trade, the porters are practicing theirs, and the sirdar and climbing Sherpas are no doubt leading trips this Fall.  The strength of the team will be unknown until the various challenges are attempted.  The answer to this question is also part of The Purpose: how strong will this team be?  From past experience, the people of Nepal surpass all hopes for expedition help.  Best to take care of your end of the bargain!

photo: Jeff climbing in Ouray, photographed from the bridge spanning the gorge. Chris also climbed this route.

photo: Chris climbing some ice back in the gorge at Ouray before the 2006 Nepal trip. Jeff climbed this route as well.

Our end of the bargain:

We’ll be changing the way we do things this time and I feel it is all for the better.  The entire expedition will be insured against injury and in case of the need for evacuation (including Sherpas and porters).  The evacuation insurance for foreign climbers is not an easy thing to find.  While most travel insurance offers evacuation insurance, it often stops short of evacuating climbers in distress on remote Himalayan peaks.  Read your policy carefully before going on a trip like this.  Fortunate for us, the American Alpine Club realized this problem for its members and organized a comprehensive evacuation plan, especially for climbers in need, anywhere in the world.  The key to the plan is that the party in distress contact the evacuation provider first thing and rely on them for the rescue.  Therefore, a satellite phone is also required.  The AAC provider has countless accounts of successful remote evacuations all over the globe including some in Nepal.  The insurance is free when you join the AAC.  We feel it is the responsible thing to do for our family and the 3 of us will be members before the trip (Max is already a member).

Our end of the bargain doesn’t stop there.  The health and fitness of the entire crew has a direct effect on the quality, enjoyment, safety, and success of the expedition.  The following is our attempt to maximize our health and fitness as it relates to high altitude trekking and climbing.  This is meant as a reference for those who might like to plan a similar trip.  This kind of information is sparse at best on the internet. I merely include it for what it is worth, if anything.  Every individual will work out a plan, and there are infinite ways to do it.  

I have a sedentary job, offering no endurance or strength training.  I also have a long lunch hour.  Some of the scientists at work are avid cyclists and we go out riding every day for about 22 miles, beating up on each other while keeping the pace around 23 mph (between warm up and cool down).  When the weather is too cold for cycling, I hike for an hour each day in the foothills behind our campus.  Update 11/4/16 :  The weather has been gorgeous, but I stopped riding after a bout with sciatica and started daily hiking earlier this week.  The sciatica cleared up after some stretching, and the hikes relate directly to trekking fitness. The hikes (out and back) are from NIST, where I work, into the forest beneath the Flatirons. The distance is about 3.5 miles and takes about 55 minutes at a good pace (600 foot elevation gain). I find them very relaxing and peaceful. Update 2/24/2017: I managed to hike this 3.5 miles nearly every weekday since 11/4/16. I enjoyed every occasion. Until there is skiable snow, we (the family) will take longer hikes at altitude on the weekends.  After that, the cross country ski season starts and we will enjoy a ski trail near our home, starting at Beaver Reservoir and heading toward Sawtooth Mountain.  By the looks of it, we ski between 6 and 8 miles each outing.  Sometimes we mix it up and go for a shorter snowshoe.

Max’s life to this point has been enriched heavily by mountain experiences.  Between his birth and 3 years of age, Chris and I carried Max in the child carrier

photo:  Jeff, Chris and Max on a hike near our house

everywhere we went in the mountains.  His first camping trip (age 9 months) was 2 weeks long at Chris’s remote field study site in Montana.  At the age of 3, Max was too heavy and active for us to carry, so we found a Max-sized backpack for him to carry on the 4.5-mile hike to the study site.  I told him the two of us would walk up to the camp before the others, an elevation gain of 1865 feet.  We took breaks, ate snacks, and eventually arrived no worse for the wear.  

photo:  Toddler Max hiking near the campsite at the Montana field study site

Max has been hiking that trail with us every year since.  This outing is one of our family rituals.  Now he and I climb and explore the steep slopes surrounding the camp while his mother puts in 12-hour days blissfully scrambling across the rocks studying pikas in the talus below the cliffs.  The camp for the pika study is at an elevation of 9000 feet, and the study site itself stretches for miles.  The highlight this year and last was our scramble/climb from camp to the top of Overlook Mountain (peaking at a final elevation of about 10,200 feet).  The elevation we gained is not particularly impressive, but there is no trail to the summit and the route finding is a lot of fun.

Chris also has a pika study in Colorado at the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research site, located above the University of Colorado (CU) Mountain Research Station.  Max has accompanied Chris to the top of Niwot Ridge (11,500 feet), Brainard Lake area, and various locations in Rocky Mountain National Park, observing pikas, every year since he was born.

   

photo: One-year-old Max enjoying pika research in the field, off trail, on Ute Ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park (left) and on Niwot Ridge in the Indian Peaks Wilderness (right)

Now Max enjoys the status of a field assistant, helping his mom set traps and working with several other (college-aged) field assistants every summer. He especially looks forward to making new friends among the field assistants every year.

photo:  Eight-year-old Max releasing a pika at Chris's Montana study site

His mother puts in countless miles above treeline every year in her weeks of field study work.  She is genetically gifted in this sense and has stamina and strength beyond compare.  Finally, for years, Max has also been participating in the Wild Bear day camp program operating in Boulder and Nederland.  Many days, during summer vacation, the councilors take the kids hiking and exploring while learning about nature.  We pack water and a lunch and he comes back with stories every time.

Other places we have hiked recently:

• 7/19/2015  Max and Jeff climbed Mt. Audubon (8 miles round trip, 13,223 feet final elevation).

• 10/22/2015  Max and Jeff climbed to the base of the Tyndall Glacier (in RMNP), up the right side of the gorge to Flattop Mountain and back to Bear Lake with full alpine packs (steel gear to climb the glacier).  A long day of 9 or 10 miles round trip and 3000 feet of elevation gain.  Most of the gorge hike is off trail and involved hiking over and around car-sized boulders, plus low-level free climbing/scrambling.

• 6/25/2016  Max and Jeff hiked/snowshoed in the snow through the woods to Mitchell Lake for snow climbing and rappelling using crampons, axe and rope (round trip 4 miles carrying climbing gear while snowshoeing).

photo: Max rappelling on vertical snow above the Mitchell Lake pika study site, photographed by “Max-Cam” (a Go-Pro on Max’s helmet).  

photo: (Max-Cam photo)  Max free climbing the snow field to the beginning of the rappel.  Dad didn’t fasten the leash to the axe securely, hence he is climbing without a leash in this photo.  The issue has since been corrected.

• 7/4/16  Max, Grandpa Jay and Jeff hiked to Blue Lake (4 or 5 miles round trip, around 11,300 feet final elevation).

photo:  Grandpa Jay and Max, Mount Toll above Jay's head

photo:  Max in front of Blue Lake and Mount Toll

• 7/9/16  Max and Jeff finished a successful snow climb up Mt. Toll.  On our way to the 12,979-foot summit, we simul-climbed approximately 1000 vertical feet on steep snow using crampons, axe and rope (around 9 miles round trip).

photo: Max-Cam view of Jeff leading the simul-climb portion of an ascent up Mount Toll

photo: Max-Cam view of his own axe and crampon work during the simul-climb on a warm day

• 7/16/16  Max and Jeff climbed Mt. Audubon (8 miles round trip and 13,223 final elevation).

photo: Max on top of Mt. Audubon with Mount Toll behind to the left

• 8/15/16-8/19/16  Max and Jeff spent 5 days climbing and exploring at the Montana study site (around 10,000 feet).

• 8/27/16  Max and Jeff hiked to Black Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (9-plus miles round trip).

• 10/1/2016 Max and Jeff hiked 9 miles (round trip) to the top of Flattop Mountain and back down, using the regular hiking trail (elevation gain around 3000 feet; final elevation 12,324 feet).

photo: Max having lunch above what is left of the Tyndall Glacier in RMNP

• 10/22/16 Max and Chris hiked up Niwot Ridge and surrounding areas to spend 6 hours looking for pikas.  The highest elevation was around 12,000 feet.  Max did some route finding and the winds were “make you stumble” force.

• 10/29/16  Max, Chris, Angela and Goots rode bikes 2 miles and then climbed most of the way up Mt. Audubon before getting weathered off and riding the bikes 2 miles back to the car.

• 11/3/16  Chris and Shana spent a few days on Niwot Ridge trapping pikas at about 11,500 feet elevation.

• 11/5/16 Chris, Max and Shana hiked to the top of Niwot Ridge from Brainard Lake after a 2-mile ride to the trailhead, but not before Max tripped on a fence and bloodied his knee (elevation 11,500 feet after suffering some adversity). Followed by 2 mile bike ride back to the car.

• 11/11/16  Chris and Max climbed the Twin Sisters (6.6 miles round trip and 11,427 feet final elevation).

• 11/12/16  Chris, Max, and Jeff climbed Mt. Audubon.  Wind was at our face all the way to the top and Max did great following his climb the previous day (8 miles round trip hiking and final elevation 13,223 feet).  The gate to the trailhead is closed now so we biked 2 miles to the trailhead and 2 miles to the car.

• 11/24/16 Chris, Max, and Jeff went for a beautiful hike at Wild Basin. This is the southeast corner of Rocky Mountain national Park (15 minutes from our house). We linked a couple trails together and hiked 6.5 miles for Thanksgiving. Max said it was the best way to spend the holiday. I agree.

  

  Photo:  Chris and Max hiking at Wild Basin on Thanksgiving day

  

  Photo:  Max hiking on Thanksgiving day in RMNP

• 1/2/2017 Max and Jeff X-C skied around 8 miles in beautiful conditions at Beaver Reservoir near our house.

• 1/7/17 Max practiced winter rappelling next to our house after a 2 foot snow fall. It was a beautiful day.

photo:  Max rappelling with high altitude gear (including mittens and Koflach boots)

photo:  Max rappelling the rock directly below Jeff

• 1/16/17  Max and Jeff X-C skied 8.4 miles towards Saw Tooth mountain.  We saw the most snow we have ever seen back there in January.

photo:  Max skiing on MLK day.



photo:  Max returning from near the base of Saw Tooth mountain MLK day

• 1/27/2017 Chris and Max XC-skied all day with the Gold Hill School

• 1/28/2017 Max and Jeff practiced rappelling and ascending on the rocks next to our house  

  

  Max's first experience with an ascender (right hand) next to our house

  
  

  

  Max reaching the top of his first rope ascent 

  
  

  

  Max topping-out next to our house

• 2/3/2017 Chris and Max XC-skied all day with the Gold Hill School. It was the last of 4 straight Friday ski days.

Easily side-tracked...So...our part of the bargain is to stay fit and healthy.  Even with that, there are no guarantees.  I became quite ill both times I trekked in Nepal (food or sanitary related).  And both times, the expedition commitment was such that I took minimum time to recover and pressed on in a diminished state.  All these hiking outings, climbing practice, bike rides, etc., seem so distant when illness strikes.  Similarly, on the first Nepal trip in the Spring of 2001, our 3-man team suffered from low-level altitude sickness while on Island Peak.  Our physical coordination and mental capabilities were less than 100%.  We spent a fitful night at high camp and that may have been the mistake (the opposite of “climb high, sleep low” doesn’t work well).  We were not being guided on the climb, and made our own decision to turn around.  In 2006, Chris and I waited in Chukhung for a two-day snow-storm to subside.  After dumping almost 2 feet of fresh snow, the weather cleared and we went up Island Peak.  We stood at the same high point as on my previous trip.  Because the luggage containing our technical climbing gear never arrived in Nepal until the last day of the trip, we knew we would not climb to the summit.  Our Purpose that time was to climb Island Peak using our own tools and our own skills.  We were in great shape and we were both well acclimated.  We enjoyed a nice lunch and took some pictures of the beautiful views, before heading down.

 

The mountaineer Frank Smythe, in The Kangchenjunga Adventures (1930), describes adventure this way:  “By ‘adventure’ I do not necessarily mean the taking of physical risks.  Every new thought or new invention of the mind is adventure.  But the highest form of adventure is the blending of the mental with the physical.  It may be a mental adventure to sit in a chair and think out some new invention, but the perfect adventure is that which the measure of achievement is so great that life itself must be risked.  A life so risked is not risked uselessly, and sacrifice is not to be measured in terms of lucre.”

As Chris and I were descending, we watched a handful of clients from other expeditions continue up the crux of the climb, blindly ascending a fixed rope from another year.  I believe the person who placed the rope was a strong snow and ice climber.  I also believe the clients were blind in that they trusted their life to an untested rope, unknown rope partners, with no hope of stopping a fall in the event of a rope failure.  They would all fall to the gaping bergschrund together, holding their ascenders, if the rope was too weathered to hold the combined weight of multiple climbers.  Every ascent relies on a degree of luck/good fortune mixed with things like skill, fitness, wisdom, trust, etc.  Each climber has to weigh how much luck he is willing to accept in that mix, and take personal responsibility for his own life.  Their expedition was a success.  They fulfilled their Purpose of summiting a Himalayan trekking peak.  Nor were we disappointed with our decision.  Again, sidetracked...

Meds:

In addition to foreign travel shots from our family doctor, we will also bring a first aid kit and our usual bag of medicine containing ibuprofen, antibiotic prescription, antibiotic cream, imodium, diamox, aspirin, maximum zinc content sun block (aka Desitin diaper cream).  (update 1/17/17) The company Burt's Bees sells diaper cream called Baby Bees that has the same zinc content as Desitin. I prefer the smell of Burt's so we'll be bringing it on the trip. I have had basal cell skin cancer removed two different times and I don’t mess around with sun exposure.  In addition, I’ll be wearing full ski goggles and I will probably devise a nose shield for use up high on the snow.

Equipment:

Another part of the bargain involves equipment.  Trekking in Nepal can entail any level of inclusive provisioning.  I have read of one agency that provides essential items like high altitude boots, clothing, and climbing gear in addition to the food, lodging and porter services that most people request.  Deluxe treks like this might be advantageous when climbers with a common Purpose are assembled from the far reaches of the globe into a climbing team, as is the case with many agencies these days.  It assures the team starts with adequate equipment for a safe climb, instead of leaving this up to interpretation.  I have been in contact with our sirdar and he has a 4-season tent we can use up high after we get past the tea houses.  This is great because we won’t need to pack our own 4-season, 11-lb tent all the way from Colorado.  Traveling that much lighter will help.

Chris and I both have a good supply of climbing clothes and equipment.  Max’s wardrobe is coming together.  Mountaineering companies don’t make kid-sized versions of the same, proven clothing we use, so I have opted to sew my own versions of his Polartec Power Shield shell pants with full leg zippers (helpful when nature calls or you need to remove a layer without removing your boots), Polartec Classic 300 fleece pants with full length zippers, and Polartec Power Dry long underwear.  You can buy Polartec fabric here.  

The importance of footwear can not be over-stressed.  Our trek will involve 28 days and 100 miles plus/minus of walking up and down steep trails.  The very real possibility exists for toes jamming into the end of boots while descending steep trails all morning (leading to loss of toenails) if the footwear is too short or the foot improperly restrained.  As well, it is possible to bruise the soles on your feet because your shankless, light-weight shoes stepped on too many pointy rocks for one day.  Then imagine doing it again the next day, and the next.  Then there are blisters, to which the whole foot is prone.  On our last trek I used Lowa Trekker hiking boots and enjoyed every step.  They are amazing in that you can buy them one day and start trekking the next without any issues (almost no break-in required).  The downside is they retail for around $300 and don’t last ten years.  Being frugal, this time I opted for $300-dollar Limmer standards instead.  I spent the first year breaking them in.  Did I mention I like to plan way ahead? : )  I wear them almost every day to work and used them on all the hikes mentioned previously.  I am confident they are now a good match for my feet.  And they are a 10-year boot.  They offer good support carrying a pack all day on uneven terrain and they have a bonus in that they work well with crampons for springtime snow climbing.  Max will be wearing a used pair of La Sportiva Makalus, ladies version.  We can often buy high-quality, lightly used gear in Boulder, near where we live, and these boots being narrower than men’s fit the bill.  They have a full steel shank but Max is able to run in them.  He has thoroughly tested them this past year and they pass with flying colors.  Update 11/4/16 :  Chris will also use the La Sportiva Makalus, having found a perfect pair last week at the Neptune Mountaineering annual gear swap for $40.

In terms of weight...I don’t personally spend a lot of extra money trying to minimize the weight of climbing gear.  A lot of it is steel and aluminum after all.  Hiking and climbing involve strength, endurance, and fortitude.  Save your money and become stronger and or lose a pound or two of useless fat is my thinking.  Or look at any porter during the trek and be inspired.

scanned photo: Kumar Rai, amazing porter, taking a breather and admiring the view on the way to Island Peak after 2 days of fresh snow. His load is the dark object behind him with the blue tarp sticking out.


These boots we are using are not lightweight but they are great for day after day of trekking.  Similarly the whole family uses Koflach Arctis Expe double plastic boots for snowshoeing, glacier travel, and (in the case of Chris and Jeff) ice climbing.  These boots have never failed us.  I once plunged a foot into a mountain stream while crossing a snow bridge in the dark.  My boot filled with water.  I was wearing neoprene (vapor barrier) socks, so I decided to see how this would work.  We hiked a long 10 miles on that winter day, and my foot never became cold.  I put on dry, warm socks at the car and never had a problem.  Another thing about these boots: you can sleep with the inner boots in your bag (not on), crawl out of your bag in the morning, slip the inner boot and your foot into the frosty outer boots, and you are ready to go.  I have not tried modern leather climbing boots up high, but I don’t think you can sleep with them in your bag (comfortably), and I imagine they can start out pretty cold and stiff in the morning, especially if your feet sweat the day before.

You can find gear/clothing lists on many of the trekking agency websites.  We will bring all the items that worked well on our last trips to Nepal.  In terms of Max and equipment:  we have what we think will keep him toasty warm and still allow him to climb.  He is already aware that we will be watching him extra close and asking for feedback, looking for any signs of frostbite or AMS.  

The last thing I would like to mention in the clothing section is gloves vs mittens.  Gloves are great until they stop working.  Not a lot can be done once your fingers begin to freeze in gloves and you are a long way from a source of heat.  We will be wearing our gloves this winter in extreme Colorado conditions to fully understand where they stop working.  I personally prefer mittens anyway.  I have never had them stop working.  Liner gloves inside mitten liners inside mitten shells.  I try to never reduce my hand insulation to bare skin when I am up high.  Things like cameras and carabiners need to work with the minimum of a liner glove for brief periods of time.  I bought a pair of nice lightly used OR Alti mittens for Chris (thanks people of Boulder)  while Max and I will be using various other mitten liners and mitten shells.

Timeline:

Now is a good time to talk about the why-fors of the trip dates and itinerary.

Itinerary, Nepal 2017 Date Day: Destination(s) 28-Feb Day 1: Arrive in Kathmandu 1-Mar Day 2: Kathmandu (visit Narayan in Bhaktapur) 2-Mar Day 3: flight Kathmandu - Phaplu (35 mins) 3-Mar Day 4: trek Phaplu - Nunthala 4-Mar Day 5: Nunthala - Kharikhola 5-Mar Day 6: Kharikola - Pangompa
 6-Mar Day 7: Pangompa - Narjing Dingma 7-Mar Day 8: Narjeng Dingma - Chalem Kharka 8-Mar Day 9: Chalem Kharka - Khula Kharka 9-Mar Day 10: Khula Kharka - Khote 10-Mar Day 11: Khote - Tagnak 11-Mar Day 12: Tagnak glacier (acclimatization day) 12-Mar Day 13: Tagnak - Khare 13-Mar Day 14: Khare - Mera High Camp 14-Mar Day 15: Khare (hiking to glacier, acclimatization) 15-Mar Day 16: Khare - High Camp 16-Mar Day 17: High Camp - Mera Summit - Lake Camp (big summit day!) 17-Mar Day 18: (contigency day) Kongma Dingma 18-Mar Day 19: Kongma Dingma - Hongu valley camp 19-Mar Day 20: Hongu Valley - Panch Pokhari camp 20-Mar Day 21: Panch Pokhari - Amphu Labtsa pass - Chhukung 21-Mar Day 22: hike Chhukung Peak - Dingboche 22-Mar Day 23: Dingboche - Lobuche 23-Mar Day 24: hike Kalapathar - Lobuche 24-Mar Day 25: Lobuche - Tengboche 25-Mar Day 26: Tengboche - Namche 26-Mar Day 27: Namche - Lukla 27-Mar Day 28: flight Lukla - Kathmandu 28-Mar Day 29: Kathmandu (sight-seeing) 29-Mar Day 30: another contingency day 30-Mar Day 31: fly back home

 We are in September now and I have been watching the Mera Peak weather almost daily for months.  September is the end of the monsoon season in Nepal, and this year the mountaintop saw a lot of snow according to the site linked above.  Over 1 foot of snow was forecast every day for the summit.  We’ll see if that corresponds to the early Fall trip reports from Mera Peak this year.   Along with that snow, the winds picked up: summer winds of 0 to 5 mph rose to 10 to 20 mph in late September.  Update 11/4/16 :  The winds were high (40 to 50 mph) for much of October.  Summit temperatures were around 22 F all summer and are now 18 F.  Not that much change.  Update 11/28/16: The winds have been around 40 mph up high and the temperatures in the single digits Fahrenheit for much of November. No measurable precipitation. A 5.6 earthquake struck the SoluKhumbu region today (one of over 400 aftershocks above 4.0 since the 2015 earthquakes). Update 12/12/16: The temperature on top has been around 14 F, with clear skies, and 30 mph winds on average. Temperatures at high camp have been around 23 F every day. Update 12/30/16: The summit weather has been brutal lately. The temperature has been in the minus teens Fahrenheit and the winds have been as high as 80 mph. I noticed the winds are usually 20 mph slower at the elevation of high camp and the temperature 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. Update 1/17/17: Temperatures at the peak are moderating, as is the wind. Temperatures are forecast to be around zero to slightly positive. Winds are holding right around 45 to 50 mph. Maybe the past month was the worst of it. No precipitation to speak of this past month. Update 2/4/2017: I have learned to look at the wind chill forecast now. This value has been steady, around -38 F to -40 F since the last update. Some days are warmer but then the winds will be in the 70 to 90 mph range. Other days might see temperatures around -9 with winds only around 30 mph. Update 2/24/2017: The forecast is predicting more cold weather on the summit. The temperatures were bouncing around 0 F for most of February and the winds were often 50 to 80 mph. No precipitation to speak of. Looking ahead into March, the temperatures go down and the winds decrease. There will be a little snow but the air temperatures might be too cold to hold much moisture. This will be the last weather update here. We are hoping to receive a 9 day weather text update March 13 on the satellite phone before summiting and going on to Amphu Labtsa Pass. When we are there, I am guessing the summit temperatures will be around 0 F and the winds easily in the neighborhood of 15 mph plus, with hopefully not a lot of fresh snow.  The heavy snows during this monsoon should act to cover and effectively bridge many crevasses and keep them that way until the snow begins to melt in late March 2017.  It may also alter the head wall at the top of the climb.  

We purchased the airline tickets as soon as they became available for our travel dates (one year in advance).  We found the best prices on the airline rated #1 in the world the previous year (Qatar).  Please don’t lose our bags!  Now the only available budget tickets are with a less desirable airline and cost hundreds of dollars more than we paid.  The past two Nepal trips were at the same time of year and we had a marvelous time (in spite of sickness and lost climbing gear).  The first trip was clear and sunny the whole time.  We endured 2 days of continuous snow in 2006 but it did not have adverse effects and it left us with some great pictures of a dramatically changed landscape.

scanned photo: Chukhung in March 2006 after two days of snow

 We saw -16 F at night on both trips in Chukhung and everyone managed OK.  We were using tents at the time.  Chris and I both celebrate birthdays in March and it is kind of fun to be somewhere remote with family and Nepalese friends for this occasion.  I experienced only a few other trekkers on the trail in the beginning of March on past trips.  The numbers build as the days of the month pass.  The vegetation greens up nicely toward the end of March and makes for a beautiful walk to Lukla.

scanned photo:  Men building the new visitor center at the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park in 2006 on our return to Lukla.  The air was full of  the clanking of hammers and chisels quarrying the stone for the walls.  

Our trip is longer than many treks because of plans for a lengthy and slow approach to Mera Peak.  The long trek does two things.  It offers the most experience for our travel dollars.  It also maximizes our acclimatization and, with it, our chance for a successful climb.  We will practice the climb-high-sleep-low technique for acclimatization, and our sirdar has designed a great itinerary with this in mind.  We even have a day from base camp to high camp and back to base camp.  That is followed by a rest/acclimating day back in Khare. We don’t spend the night at high camp until the following evening (two days after we were first up that high).  I don’t know if the Mera Peak climb has been done this way before, but it suits our family well.  The trek will start at the small airstrip in Phaplu. The elevation is 7917 feet, about 900 feet lower than our house.  We went through this area before in 2001 while on a trek starting in Jiri.  This is a beautiful starting point; warm, with rhododendrons blooming, farming terraces, and good people.  The longer approach adds to the physical conditioning of each trekker and results in a progressively higher level of fitness each day.  This benefit should not be underestimated.  At the end of the trek you can leap tall buildings in a single bound.  : )  Not really.  We head up the Hinku Valley to Mera Peak, taking our time (longer than all itineraries I’ve seen), and then go for the summit.  After climbing, we go down to Mera La and head up the Hunku Valley and over Amphu Labtsa Pass.  From there, we go into the Khumbu region to climb Kala Pattar and hopefully photograph Mt. Everest, before returning to Lukla where we will fly out.

This account might be updated from time to time between 11/22/2016 and 2/26/17.  I will also try to respond with thoughts regarding any discussion people might start about trekking in Nepal.  I won’t have relevant Mera Peak climbing experience until we finish the trip.  Same goes for Amphu Labtsa Pass.  I plan to put together a trip report with pictures on this site after returning from Nepal.

Update 2/24/2017: We leave for Nepal in two days. We are feeling strong, healthy, and very excited. I enjoyed writing this blog and especially watching where in the world the site visits came from. People from over 15 countries (tropical and mountainous) stumbled onto this site intentionally or not. Hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to writing more (including altitude graph and route maps) after we return.

The economy of Nepal is heavily dependant  on tourism.  There is still much suffering in areas affected by the earthquakes.  Consider a trek in Nepal for yourself and for the people of Nepal.