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Autumn 2005 Cho Oyu Expedition
Directed by Eric Simonson • Led by Justin Merle and Ang Jangbu Sherpa
2005 Expedition Dispatches
Dispatches will be added in chronological order below as news comes in from the climbing team in Tibet.
September 29, 2005
I spoke this morning to Ang Jangbu, who had just arrived in Kathmandu and also with Justin who had just arrived in Xegatse. Yesterday the team evacuated Base Camp after moving down from ABC with the yaks the day before. They spent their last night together in Tingri, then split up... with Jangbu and the Sherpas heading back across the border to Nepal and Justin and the climbers heading for Lhasa (where they will arrive tomorrow after an easy drive on good road from Xegatse.)
Looking back on the trip everything went very smoothly and we had a great team. Congrats again to all the summiters: Justin, Rob, Gary, Jack, Rich, Phubu, Danuru, and Phunuru! It is worth noting that Rob, at age 65, becomes (we think) the oldest American to have ever summited an 8000 meter peak. Way to go!!!
Thanks for following our 2005 IMG Cho Oyu Expedition.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
The sun rises over Mt. Everest (on the right with Lhotse and Nuptse) viewed from the summit of Cho Oyu (photo: Da Nuru Sherpa)
September 25, 2005
Ang Jangbu reports from ABC that the IMG team left Camp 3 about 1:30 am and was successful in reaching the summit of Cho Oyu this morning Sunday September 25 at approximately 9am Nepal time. All members reached the top within about 10 minutes of each other. The descent was accomplished smoothly and all members returned to Camp 2 by about 3 pm. The team was able to pull down Camp 3 today on their descent from the summit, and tomorrow the Sherpas will finish pulling down Camp 1 and 2. By tomorrow evening all members will be back to ABC. Yaks have been ordered for the 27th. By all accounts everyone is doing fine. We'll look forward to getting their personal stories of the climb when they get back to ABC. Congratulations to Justin, Rob, Garry, Jack, Rich, Phubu, Danuru, and Phunuru!
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
September 24, 2005
Ang Jangbu reports that the team is doing well and the weather is looking good. They made it to camp 3 in three and half hours from C2 today. Plan is to get up early and be climbing by about 1:30am (Nepal time) tomorrow morning for summit. The climbers will be Rob, Garry, Jack, Rich, Justin, Phubu, Danuru, and Phunuru.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
September 23, 2005
The IMG 2005 Cho Oyu climbing team, led by Justin Merle and including Robert Hottentot, Jack Sutton and Gary Giss all pulled into Camp 2 in reasonably good timing. The team spent last night at Camp 1 and then woke up Friday morning, took a look at the sky, the forecast and each other and said "We climb!" So they'll drink some water, eat some food and rest at Camp 2 and then plan an early start to the summit on Saturday morning. Jangbu will remain at Advance Base Camp in support and will keep us informed of their progress. We'll let you know how it goes when we hear more from Jangbu!
—Erin Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
September 21, 2005
Greetings to our friends at lower altitude! Things are fine here at ABC. For entertainment, we've been watching yak trains go over the pass. We are now planning to head uphill from ABC on Thursday and are shooting for summit bids on Cho Oyu on Saturday. We'll hope for decent weather and a good, clear day on top!
—Justin Merle,
International Mountain Guides
September 17, 2005
Dear Families and IMG Friends,
Ang Jangbu here. Just wanted to update you all on what is going on up here. Jack, Rich, Garry, Rob, Justin and Danuru are sleeping at Camp 2 tonight. I just talked to Justin and everyone is doing well. As you know, Charles arrived a little later than the rest and is working to get his acclimatization schedule in sync with the rest of the team. He went up toward Camp 2 and then turned around from above the Ice Cliff this afternoon and is sleeping at Camp 1 tonight. Phunuru and Phubu carried from ABC to Camp 3 and are spending the night at Camp 1 tonight with Charles.
Plan for tomrrow is everyone to come down to ABC. Phunuru and Phubu will make a second carry to 3 tomorrow before coming down. Climbing sherpas from some other teams fixed rope in the Yellow Band day before yesterday and sounds like some teams might be headed for the summit early as 9/21.
More tomorrow when everyone gets down. Please say hello to everyone for us!
Regards,
—Jangbu,
International Mountain Guides
September 15, 2005
So everything is going just fine here on Cho Oyu after our first trip up to the Ice Cliff. We're back at ABC and the group rested the past couple of days — didn't see much sun though. It's been snowing and raining at ABC off and on the whole time. Today Charles went up to C1 with Danuru and they are doing fine — will spend the night. Jangbu went up later in the day, too. Tomorrow the rest of the group plans to go up to C1, the next day to C2 to sleep, then back to ABC. Charles will join the group in climbing to C2 if he's feeling acclimatized. We'll let you know how its going either via email or phone calls to the International Mountain Guides office! Until then,
—Justin Merle,
International Mountain Guides
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Justin called from Camp 1 on the satellite phone today to report that they had a good night up there, and were planning to climb up towards the Ice Cliff (partway to Camp 2). Charles continues to feel better now and yesterday hiked up to the Lake Camp, then back to ABC. He may do the same tomorrow. The plan for the rest of the team is to spend a second night at Camp 1, then return to ABC tomorrow for some rest. Ang Jangbu is now back at ABC, having gone out to Tingri with trekker Steve, who is now on his way back to Lhasa. The weather continues to be good, as you can see from the recent group photo taken yesterday at ABC looking south towards the Nangpa La pass and Nepal.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
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Justin and Jangbu report that all is well at ABC and everyone is doing fine now. Charles had a bit of a respiratory issue and retreated to Tingri for some R and R, but now he has returned and is feeling better. The team had the puja celebration at ABC with the Sherpas, which marks the beginning of the official mountain climbing. Yesterday everyone (except Charles, who is taking a rest) went up to Camp 1 for an acclimatization hike. This is rugged moraine along the glacier to the site of the "Lake Camp" (occasionally used by some teams), followed by steep rocky trail with some snow and scree up to Camp 1. The plan for the next few days is for everyone to cycle back up to Camp 1 (20,000 feet) and sleep up there for more acclimatization. Meanwhile, Danuru, Phunuru, and Phubu will start building the route and taking supplies up to Camp 2. Trekker Steve will be heading back home in the next few days, after hiking partway up to Camp 1 with the climbers.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
September 7, 2005
Justin Merle reports that the team has safely made it to Advanced Base Camp, at about 18,500 feet. Trekker Mike McNeil hung out with the climbers at BC then headed back to Lhasa (this was his plan.) Also, Charles has been fighting some bronchitis for the last week and was not feeling too well at IC, so he went back down to Tingri for some thicker air to see if he could shake it off and rejoin the group in a couple days. Everyone else is doing great at ABC and is planning to spend the next couple days doing acclimatization hikes and getting the camp squared away.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
September 3, 2005
Ang Jangbu reports that the team is now leaving for Intermediate Camp (the morning of the 4th - Tibet time). The hike will take them up to the snout of the Gyabrag Glacier, then up the east side of the lateral moraine to the IC site on a small outwash plain. They will spend one night at IC then continue on increasingly rugged moraine the next day, until finally ascending a side glacier on the left, within sight of the border and Nangpa La. The Sherpas and yaks have already made one roundtrip trip up to ABC to start getting the camp set up. For now the goal is just getting everyone up to ABC feeling good and finally being in position to start climbing.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
September 1, 2005
Ang Jangbu reported today that the entire team has now made it safely to Base Camp (about 15,000 feet) and that everyone is doing well. The plan for the next couple days is to get the gear sorted out and do some acclimatization hiking. Tomorrow a couple of the Sherpas will head up to Advanced Base Camp (about 18,500 feet) with 23 yaks to start getting that camp ready for the team to move into. The rest of the team will leave BC on September 4, along with the second wave of yaks. The climbers will spend a night en route at Intermediate Camp, about 17,000 feet on the east lateral moraine of the Gyabrag Glacier, before pushing on to ABC the next day. This route is the same as the famous trade route over the Nangpa La pass to Namche Bazaar in Khumbu, so they may see some trade caravans crossing over with to trade with the Sherpas.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
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STREAMING VIDEO
Justin Merle and Ang Jangbu report that everyone has safely reached Tingri. The Sherpas had a good drive up from Kathmandu and Justin's team had a long and bumpy drive from Xegatse, due to road construction. The Sherpas will move to Base Camp tomorrow to start getting it set up. The climbers will take an acclimatization hike tomorrow and another night in Tingri (a little over 14,000 feet) with the plan to move up to Base Camp the following day. So far everything is going smoothly for the team and everyone appears to be doing well with the altitude.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
August 28, 2005
Justin Merle reports that the team left Lhasa in three jeeps and traveled to Gyantse (13,500 feet) in the Nyang Chu valley, along the way visiting the famous Kumbum Stupa and Shalu Manastery. From there they continued on to Xegatse (12,800 feet), the second largest city in Tibet. Today they spend an acclimatization day in Shigatse and visit the carpet factory and Tashilumpo Monastary. Tomorrow they do the big drive to Tingri. We have heard that the road is in bad shape, so this will be a rump-buster, crossing two passes in the 17,000 foot range! We'll look forward to hearing that they have linked up with the Sherpa team in Tingri—from there it is just an hour drive to the Cho Oyu Base Camp.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
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We have received the news from Ang Jangbu that the truck and Sherpa team have all made it safely to Zhangmu, which is good news since the road to the border is sometimes blocked by landslides. They met the Liaison Officer at the Friendship Bridge, which is the actual border between Nepal and China. Justin reports from Lhasa that his crew has also made their flights safely from Beijing and that everyone is doing fine. They will spend tomorrow visiting the sights of Lhasa (the Potela, Johkang, Barkor) before starting their journey across Tibet.
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
August 25, 2005
Justin Merle reports from Beijing that all members and duffel bags have safely arrived. Just getting out the front door is sometimes the hardest part of the trip, so we are happy to report that the team's first steps on the way to Cho Oyu have gone smoothly! Our Beijing host, Li Guowei from the Chinese Mountaineering Association, joined the team today for a tour that included Tianiman Square, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City. Tomorrow the team flies to Lhasa. Ang Jangbu and the Sherpa team will leave Kathmandu tomorrow for Zhangmu, on the border. The plan is for the two groups to meet in Tingri on August 29th. So far, so good!
—Eric Simonson,
International Mountain Guides
IMG 2005 Cho Oyu Expedition at the Great Wall in China
2005 IMG Cho Oyu Team
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