Dan Mazur's Kangchenjunga Spring 2002

16 April Dispatch: The day started at dawn, with a cacophony of Tibetan voices babbling outside Himalaya Chungda's place as our staff worked together with the man himself to organize our loads for the next stage of the journey, from Ghunsa to Pangpema, where basecamp is located. There was much shouting, and sorting of loads, and reweighing, and carrying of sacks back and forth. It seemed that we would have 32 porters and no yaks for this stage of the journey. Our local porters were nearly entirely local woman, whose children clung to their skirts, and chased each other around the yard, and curiously poked, looked into, and jumped on the bags. Our strategy at this point, because we had not enough porters, was to get all of the member's personal bags, the basecamp tents, and the kitchen, up to Pangpema. We sorted and loaded and changed, and loaded, everything, until it was sure to be accommodated on the backs of these 32 porters. Finally after breakfast, everyone set off at around 1000 am, except for Dan, who remained behind to make sure the remaining 72 loads would be transported safely to basecamp, purportedly the following day. On that crystal clear morning, with stunning views of the surrounding forests and peaks, the mood of the group was one of excitement and anticipation, to reach basecamp and also to be reunited with Chris Grasswick and Stuart Findlay. Dan spent some time with Himalaya Chungda, who was now the local representative of the Kangchenjunga conservation area project (KCAP). They discussed various things, and park fees were paid, on the behalf of each member. Also, arrangements were made to purchase three legs of a yak (to feed to the members and staff in basecamp), 60 kilos of potatoes, and 30 kilos of spinach. In addition, there was time to sort out the chaos of the records of the expedition so far, after more than a week of being on the go continuously. In the evening, the family joined together with the staff, for a quiet time of sipping butter-tea (su-cha), and watching as the men of the house prepared fresh noodles in an Italian pasta roller. After a delicious thukpa soup, it was time for sleep, and we drifted off, thinking of the uniqueness of this place, and the people of Ghunsa, who, unlike the people of Phale, had come here in the recent past (perhaps during the last 100 years, and whose mother tongue was Tibetan. Although, they had been here long enough that, although they still spoke solely Tibetan with family and friends and had Tibetan names, they had been through some amount of schooling, so knew how to speak and could understand Nepalese fairly well. Whereas the Phale people related mainly to Tibet, and still ran their yaks through the passes, following the ancient Tibetan trading routes, the Ghunsa people were sort of balancing a tightrope between Tibet and Nepal, and their homes contained as many mementoes and imported food items from Nepal as they did from Tibet. 

17 April Dispatch: Early in the morning, a gaggle of about 20 people showed up at Himalaya Chungda's, and began working with the staff, to organize things into "yakable" sized portions. Each yak could carry about 60 kilos (30 a side), and a bit more or less, depending on the individual yak. There was the usual conflagration of kids, as their parents herded the yaks near, and things were tied on to the mighty beasts, who generally cooperated, with the occasional random and violent oss of horns, or lunge and lurch toward another yak, or event the yak herder. Some of the loads had no yaks, and these were shouldered by some crusty and ancient toothless-looking woolen tunic clad men and women, who staggered off with their loads, perhaps to another paddock in the village, or who knew where. It is a certain moment of uncertainty, as you see your effects carried away on the back of someone who you know will not be able to get very far. Will they be able to find another conveyance? Kaji, the sirdar, later mentioned that each family in the village provided at least one yak and porter, in order to increase fairness, and minimize jealousy and favoritism. So, our little band finally set off up the road, following a small group of 5 Zopkiok, and walked slowly up the beautiful Ghunsa river valley, through lovely forest of Hemlocks and Pines, until the trees began to shrink and dwindle, and the vegetation grew low and thick with dense head-high stands of what looked to be un-leafed scrub oak and dwarf juniper, climbing the steepening craggy boulder strewn sides of the valley. Our little band clung to the north side of the valley, and we looked down into the precipice far below, where the ghuns and kola still raged. We walked and scrambled across some very steep and loose boulder strewn terrain, where the surprisingly sure footed zopkiok managed to weave there way on tiny crumbling paths above large probably fatal drops. Finally we crested a high boulder scrub oak ridge, and then looked into a lovely south facing side valley across from the monstrous 7000 + meter wall of Jannu, an incredibly frightening looking peak. We hiked down into this tiny beautiful valley, and crossed a side stream and were suddenly upon a lovely plain of potato fields, and yak pasture, dotted with rough boulder and plank shacks. We made our way over to one, and pried open a crude board door, and walked down a cave-like dark hallway, and popped into a surprisingly bright room, dotted with Tibetan paintings of Buddha, flower arrangements, and tables containing Chinese cola and beer. A sweet melody was emanating from a purple ghetto-blaster, a lovely rendition of some quaint Tibetan folk songs. The "windows" were squarish holes bashed through the 70cm or so thick mud and stone walls, covered in plastic. Overall, the effect was very nice, and we spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening relaxing and drinking tea, listening to the music. We were in the summer village of 4000 meter high Kambachen, a potato growing, and yak pasturing centre for the people of Phale and Ghunsa. Finally, the evening crescendoed with with a plate of dal bhat and fresh yak meat, and we headed for bed on a few rough hewn plank benches. 

18 April Dispatch: We were up early, and Kaji announced we would go for basecamp, skipping the usual stop at the plain of Lonak. Apparently, Kaji decided we should place our faith in god regarding the 72 yak loads, and assume they would reach basecamp the day after we did. I decided to carry my sleeping bag. We ate a quick breakfast of rice and tea, and set off at a clip, marching across open alpine tundra and climbing occasional tumbles of jumbled boulder moraines, and we reached the vast delta of Lhonak, located on the Lhonak river, along the Kangchenjunga Glacier, across from the Lhonak glacier, at 4500 meters. It was a hot and warm day, apart from the occasional breeze, and the sun was burning us. We saw several large eagles (probably Lamergeiers) circling lazily above the rock and ice strewn wastes of the Kangchenjunga glacier. By this time, the Ghunsa Kola was gone, and the valley was fully choked with glacier. The Lhonak plain was a lovely one of short tundra grass and lichen, matted together in the normal alpine way. Sitting here at 4000 meters, we observed a few new-looking stone huts around, and wandered around seeing if there was any chance to find a cup of noodles or a bowl of soup, but no one was here. A porters came down to tell us they had arrived in basecamp with the bulk of the group that morning, and that everything was all right in basecamp. A long tirade ensued, when one of the porter-leaders complained that their group had not gotten enough loads, and we were reminded of the reputation of the Ghunsa people for fighting over the right to provide porter and yak for expeditions. Finding neither food nor drink, we carried on up the valley, walking along tundra plateaus and through boulder choked gullies, traversing toward our destination of Pangpema. Looking southward across the ice cliffed and ponded Kangchenjunga Glacier, we scanned up a side valley, and were surprised to recognize the beauty of Kangchenjunga itself, and we were able to see quite a bit of our route, especially from camp 3 at 7000 meters upward. Our way continued, and the staff picked a well traveled trail which dropped into the moraine, and Dan picked a slightly less traveled path which stayed high on wet tundra. After forty minutes or so, Dan stumbled upon the camp, in a secluded green valley, of the Nepalese graduate students we had been traveling with for so many days. They were well ensconced, in a comfortable tent, playing cards, and resting. Tomorrow was their big day to go out and check their temperature measuring instruments, placed at strategic intervals about the valley, some as high as 6000 meters. They were also planning to record rates of avalanche, ice, and rock fall, using a score card system and a watch. After enjoying a welcome cup of milk coffee, Dan moved on, and descended a bit, and reached a series of grass plateaus interrupted by rock gullies, and was reunited with Kaji and our Sherpas and the group walked the last few kilometers to Pangpema, a pleasant  tundra plateau at 5000 meters, where they  found the initial stages of our basecamp being setup. There was also a Japanese trekking group camped there, and they had been there for three days. But, the main joy in reaching Pangpema was to be reunited with our entire climbing team, now whole once again, with the addition of three Nepalese members from  Taplejung and Ghunsa, which now comprised in total:  
Mark Bryant USA
Felix Berg Germany
Steve Dodson USA
Mike Farris USA
Stuart Findlay Scotland
Kungdup of Ghunsa Nepal
Chris Grasswick Canada-Hong Kong
Malte Hagge Australia
Krishna Lama Nepal
Ian Lloyd England
Daniel Mazur USA
Julio Mesias Ecuador
Paul Rowntree England
Ang Galu Sherpa Nepal
Dorje Sherpa Nepal
Jangbu Sherpa Nepal
Kipa Sherpa Nepal
Matay Sherpa Nepal
Nike Sherpa Nepal
Dorje Tamang Nepal
Kaji Tamang Nepal
Tek Bahadur Tamang Nepal
Ivan Vallejo Ecuador

The bulk of our group had arrived this very morning, but Stuart and Chris
had been here for three days, and seemed quite glad to see us, especially the large cooking staff. They told us stories of endless plates of boiled potatoes, dirty rice, and butter tea, as they had made their way past Ghunsa and wandered upward alone, for three days. They had even climbed a beautiful 6000 meter peak behind basecamp in their free time, hoping to acclimate faster. Also, they had seen a large herd of the native wild blue sheep, very close to basecamp. We enjoyed watching them mop up vast quantities of delicious food prepared by our kitchen staff, headed by the culinary dynamic duo of Krishna Lama and Kipa Sherpa. Everyone got their personal basecamp tents up (we have learned to provide one per member, because we hate the sight of blood), and like one happy family, we hung out and chatted and drank tea together, and hoped the remaining 72 loads would arrive early the next morning. Before heading off to sleep, some of the Japanese trekkers came over to visit,, and we chatted with Masanoko, who told funny stories about her apartment (she referred to it as a doghouse) in Osaka, where she lived with her Akita, named Taki (which means waterfall in Japanese). After lots of giggling, we bade her team well, and headed for sleep. 

19 April Dispatch: We awoke to the most incredible view of the mountain unrolled before us. The monstrous Kangchenjunga glacier, and the entire northwest face, which we intend to climb. The sun was out, there were no clouds, and no wind. The view of our entire route, top to bottom, was daunting, exhilarating, humbling, terrifying, and uplifting, simultaneously. It has been our longstanding custom to spend the first day in basecamp familiarizing all of the members and staff with the equipment and methods we use, and after breakfast, we set out to do just that. Our 72 yak loads had not arrived, but we did have our medical bag, so we had conducted an extensive review of our 30 kilos of medicines, medical equipment and procedures with all of the members taking copious notes. We reviewed all altitude illnesses, plus other potential complications. We went through the medical kit in deep detail, reviewing the uses of all of the medicines and equipment, with special intensive sessions with each member in how to give injections, how to use the gamow bag, and how to use medical oxygen. During the intervening time, all of the yak loads apparently arrived in quick fashion, and it was a sight to see them coming over the hill and landing here in pangpema. The Japanese left, and we wished them luck and said good bye. We paid the yak herders, (there loads now strangely numbered 77 instead of the original 73, but, other than complaining a bit, there was nothing we could do. After a delicious lunch, we now continued our training as all of the equipment had finally arrived. While the clouds and wind of the afternoon, so common in this region, blew in, we reviewed procedures on how to use our powerful 5 watt walkie-talkie radios, kindly provided by our sponsor: Tandy-Radioshack. Then we all dressed in our climbing gear, and proceeded to an area where Felix, Tek, and Dorje Tamang had fixed rope for our practice. All of the members demonstrated their equipment was present, and properly fastened to their bodies, then they demonstrated their proficiency in ascending fixed ropes using safety slings, passing anchors, abseiling (rappelling) down the lines, setting up a belay, installing anchors, and lowering someone down a cliff. We found this group practice session to be a excellent team-building exercise, in addition to improving everyone's skills, and encourage sharing of various ideas about climbing technique. Ang Galu Sherpa and Dorje Sherpa also participated in the training fully, as they are our apprentice sherpas, in addition to our three main line veteran sherpas. In the afternoon, we returned for tea and biscuits, and then continued our training day with a review of our high altitude food and cooking equipment (hanging canister-gas stoves). We stretched a rope across the now well-installed mess-tent, and all the members had a chance to practice cooking in their own high-altitude stove. During our training, the staff worked very hard to install a toilet tent, a storage tent, perfect the kitchen and organize a food storage pantry. Finally, as darkness came, we were tired from our day of practice and work, and learning, and the cooks produced a massive and incredible tasty five course meal, topped off by a delicious vanilla iced carrot cake. Chris showed himself to be a champion eater, as he was the only one with enough room for seconds on the cake, which was indeed a bit dense as it had been made from eggs, sugar, flour, and carrots, in a pressure cooker over a kerosene stove. We crawled into bed over-full, but feeling good about the careful and sensible progress our team was making, after so many days of unexpected challenge, before we had even reached Pangpema, in this now-comfortable grassy basecamp which is to be our home for the next 40 days or so.

Thank you very much. Cheers for now. Yours
Sincerely, Daniel Mazur from http://www.SummitClimb.com

Please join us in watching the "live-update" status of 2002 climbing expeditions to Nepal and Tibet on: http://www.everestnews.com/kang2002.htm