October 9, 2013
I am super happy to report that our Cho Oyu team have all made it back to Kathmandu and that the trip has now come to an end. These are long hard trips and it was great to see all the work pay off for the team. We have now done Cho Oyu 24 times (22 successful) and put 207 climbers on the summit. The 14 successful climbers from this 2013 trip included 2 guides, 7 clients, 5 sherpas. We also had 1 climber and 1 sherpa turn from the plateau, just below the summit (they were going too slow, so the guides turned them).
Before departing Kathmandu the team had the chance to get together for a team dinner at the Rum Doodle restaurant. Also, they enjoyed a guest appearance by famous Himalayan historian Liz Hawley. Liz is coming up on her 90th birthday. Great to see you again, Liz!
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- Cho Oyu team dinner at Rum Doodle (Kaji Sherpa)
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- Meeting with Liz Hawley in KTM (Ang Jangbu)
Thanks for following along with the Cho Oyu blog this year. The first time I went to Cho Oyu was in 1995, with a team of climbers and guides that I organized. At this time we were one of the first commercial teams to try Cho Oyu. If I recall, when we started the trip there had been only 9 Americans climb Cho Oyu, and when we went home there were 13 more. Over the years Cho Oyu has been a great trip for us, but it is never a lay-up. We have a lot of respect for this climb, and every year it is a big challenge.
Eric Simonson