October 18, 2010

IMG guide Mark Allen reports:  “Today the group trekked for several hours up the Dudh Koshi River and crossed into the Imja Khola Valley gaining elevation to Tengboche.

The forecast today was for rain all day so we were pleasantly surprised with overcast skies and cool temps. The mountains continue to be elusive and flirt with us, only allowing a view of the upper part of Ama Dablam for about half an hour. We have only seen glimpses of the high peaks. Behind the veil of clouds they have received several inches of new snow. It will be a marvelous view, the clouds are lifting tonight and we can see their shapes in the moonlight. Everyone is excited for morning.

Tengboche is the largest and most important Buddhist Monastery in the region. This Monastery was built in 1910 but has been destroyed by fires and earthquakes and rebuilt twice. It is home to about 50 monks. The group was certainly feeling the altitude today as we climbed 1800 ft out of the river valley up to the pass where the Tengboche Monastery is located.

After arriving at the Monastery a few members went to the nearby Sherpa Bakery that specializes in feeding western travelers large pieces of chocolate cake and coffee. It’s a strange paradox but is one of the nicest treats after a week of fried rice and veggie momos (Nepal dumplings).  Following the group’s chocolate cake bender we visited the main sanctuary and observed around 20 monks in a daily evening service and mantra mediation and musical choirs.

We have descended into the village of Deboche and will spend two nights here in a tea house. Tomorrow we have a full rest day planned to acclimatize to the new elevation. Everyone is in good health and is very anxious to see the rest of the valley and the high peaks. Our sirdar, Phu Tashi, wants to take us to the nearby nunnery and better view of the peaks near our tea house lodge. We are having a great time and are all looking forward to moving up Valley to Pheriche. Wish us safe travel and we will keep you posted when we have more to tell.”

Mark Allen

Check out the Ama Dablam Team’s progress by following the SPOT GPS Messenger trail!

October 16, 2010

Acclimatization is super important, as the team prepares to move higher up the valley.  IMG guide Mark Allen reports on the second full day in Namche that the weather has turned rainy and overcast, so they are exploring the town today, before moving up, tomorrow.

Yesterday the team trekked north towards to Thamo, where they had lunch while waiting out a rain storm and enjoyed Sherpa Tea and veggie soup in one of the local Sherpa tea houses.  Then, half of the group headed back to Namche to spend the afternoon in town while the remainder continued a few more hours north to the quiet town of Thame and the Thame Monastery.

Mark says: “we walked in and out of light drizzle following a wild river in an open gorge with high rock walls on either side. All along the way lots of evidence of Tibetan Buddhism with monuments and prayer flags and kata scarfs on bridges and passes wishing us safe travel.  Above Thame we trekked to the Monastery, perched on the hill nestled into a rock cliff. We managed to time it perfectly with the service and watched about 20 monks perform the daily chants dressing in traditional monk attire. They played horns and bashed symbols and drums at the end of each chant. We made the long walk back to Namche and had a big yak dinner and started our nightly card game to determine the Champion of Namche.  Everyone is in good health. The forecast is set to improve tomorrow for our trek out to Deboche tomorrow, so the group is looking forward to seeing the mountains for the first time.”

One of our Ama Dablam climbers, Mark Ursino, is also blogging about his experience on this trip – you can check out his site at www.markursino.com.

Eric Simonson

Follow IMG's Mark Allen & IMG climbers in Ama Dablam

October 15, 2010

Ang Jangbu and Mark Allen report that the team has successfully climbed up the “Namche Hill” from the river valley to Namche Bazaar, the main town of the Khumbu.  Now they are at 11,000 feet, so it’s time to hang out for a few days while allowing the body to catch up on the altitude.  Namche has some great shops to visit, a nice bakery with yummy treats, and several internet cafes.  Over the next couple days the team will visit the colorful local market on Saturday, and also  the nearby villages of Khunde and Khumjung for some nice acclimatization hiking.  So far everything has gone smoothly with trek sirdar Phu Tashi and his sherpa crew doing a great job.

Eric Simonson

Looking down on Namche and the valley below

Namche street scene

October 14, 2010

Team photo at the Rum Doodle in Kathmandu.

IMG Senior guide Mark Allen reports from Nepal that everything has gone smoothly for the autumn IMG team which consists of some Everest Base Camp trekkers, Lobuche (20,075ft) climbers and some Ama Dablam (22,494ft) climbers.

This morning everyone flew successfully to Lukla (about 9400’) and all their duffels made it in too, so that is a good way to start the trip – on schedule with all your gear!

Today they are hiking to Phakding, the first night on the trail, down in the river valley at about 8900 feet.  After traveling halfway around the world, enduring the Kathmandu duffel shuffle and the excitement of finally hitting the trail,  that first night down by the Dudh Kosi River is fantastic — all the stress melts away and the sound of the river lulls you to sleep.

Tomorrow the team will trek to Namche Bazaar, and along the way they officially enter Sagarmatha National Park at the Monjo entrance station.  So far everything is going well and we are looking forward to the next update from the team.

We’ll keep you posted!

Eric Simonson