From: Michael Hamill
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2014 4:01 AM
To: Eric Simonson
Subject: Tingri Update

Eric,

We had a good hike outside of Tingri today. The Team is all healthy, happy and  pretty fit. There’s a new restaurant here at the Hoo Ha Hotel and they’ve cleaned up the town a bit so things are improving. I talked to Phunuru last night and the IMG Sherpas made it to Cho Oyu base camp with the gear truck without issue, and were working on setting up camp.  Phunuru checked the loads and said that everything was accounted for.  He said there are only three teams of Sherpa at base camp now. We plan to head in to base camp tomorrow morning.

Mike

September 2, 2014

Mike Hamill reports that the team finished up their acclimatization day in Nyalam with some fun with the local fashion.   Today they were back on the road, for a spectacular drive from Nyalam up and over the Tsong La pass and down to the Tingri plains and the old town of Tingri  (4,348m/14,268ft).  From the pass they had nice views of Shishapangma, and from near Tingri they got their first views of Cho Oyu and Everest.  When they see those big peaks everything starts to become very real!  The will spend two nights here, with more acclimatization hiking tomorrow before moving to Base Camp.  Tingri is an ancient village, linked to Namche Bazaar in the Khumbu (Nepal) by the trade route over the Nangpa La pass.  The Cho Oyu team’s route to Advanced Base Camp will take them quite close to this pass.  After  spending many nights in this town myself, over the years, my recollection is mainly about all the dogs!

Eric Simonson

September 1, 2014

The Cho Oyu climbers and Tibet trekkers had a good drive yesterday from Zhangmu (2300m, 7500ft) up the deep canyon of the Bhote Kosi river gorge to Nyalam (3,750 m, 12,300 ft). This is a very steep and windy road, which has been improved a lot over the years. It is only 35km between the two towns, but there is a huge difference in the geography. Zhangmu is down in the sub-tropical forest zone, perched on a steep hillslope above the Friendship bridge. Nyalam is right on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, surrounded by mountain peaks, but the terrain is starting to open up. The team will spend two nights in Nyalam, for acclimatization.

Mike Hamill reports that today the team went for a nice hike up the valley towards Shishapangma south face BC and that everyone is healthy and acclimatizing well, and that the weather has been good. The plan for tomorrow is to continue on to Tingri, which will require them to cross the Tsong La (pass), at over 17,000 feet (this will give them their first big views of the Himalayas and the 8000m peak Shishapangma).

Eric Simonson

August 30, 2014

The IMG Cho Oyu climbers and sherpas crossed the Friendship Bridge, went through the Chinese immigration and customs, and are now in Tibet. It sounds like their 4am start paid off, as they were able to reach the landslide early enough to take the shortcut trail which crosses directly through the debris field where the road is being rebuilt (later in the day this route is closed by the Army to keep people away from the construction work). Phunuru was able to send some photos and Mike Hamill reports “the landslide was HUGE and there’s a lake behind it now. All the Sherpa are here. Everything is going smoothly so far. We’re moved in at Zhangmu planning to make the drive to Nyalam tomorrow”.

Eric Simonson

August 29, 2014

IMG Cho Oyu climbers and Tibet Trekkers (Mike Hamill)

Good news from Nepal on several fronts. In Kathmandu, the Cho Oyu climbers and Tibet trekkers and all their luggage have arrived safely, so that is a great way to start the trip. After completing gear checks, the team received their visas at the Chinese Embassy today. This evening they had a team meeting and dinner, and are all set to depart at 4am tomorrow. Expedition leader Mike Hamill reports that he visited and had a nice chat today with Elizabeth Hawley, the famous Himalayan historian.

Closer to the Tibet border, Ang Jangbu reports that the IMG Sherpas reported that they safely reached Kodari with all the luggage from both trucks. Sounds like it was a bit of a muddy epic, but with the help of porters they were able to get past the big landslide area.

Hopefully the team will reach Zhangmu tomorrow, or if they are delayed, then the next day. We are now in touch with our Chinese Liaison Officer who is in Zhangmu waiting for them to arrive. Once they get there and pass Chinese immigration and customs, they will move all the gear from the Nepal trucks to Chinese trucks, and then head to the local noodle restaurant for some good home cooking. So far so good!

Eric Simonson

August 27, 2014

Cho Oyu Sherpas load the truck in Kathmandu for another adventure to Tibet (Ang Jangbu Sherpa)

We have been doing Cho Oyu (8,201m) since 1995, and since then have done 24 trips (22 of them successful) to the world’s 6th highest peak.  This year marks our 25th expedition, and we are looking forward to getting started.  IMG guides Mike Hamill and Josh McDowell are now in Kathmandu to receive the team and do gear checks.  Every year the trip is a bit different, and for 2014 traveling to Base Camp in Tibet is complicated by a massive landslide that wiped out some of the road (and killed over 150 people) near the Nepal town of Barisbise on the way to Kodari (the Nepal town on the Tibet border).  The road is not yet rebuilt, so the IMG team and all their gear will need to travel on foot through this area.

Ang Jangbu reports that the plan is to get all the gear to Kodari ahead of members.  The sherpa team loaded the truck this afternoon for an early morning departure to Lamosangu with Nima Karma, Ang Karma and Fura Gyalzen. They are being met by Raju from Kodari with porters and they will start portering to Barabise and on to Kodari on different trucks from Barabise.   The first truck will then return to Kathmandu tomorrow afternoon and we will load the remaining loads on the truck including member base camp duffels tomorrow evening and depart early next morning with 2 other sherpas, Mingma Chhiring and Mingma Tenzing.

The team will do their group dinner at Hotel Tibet night of the 29th, and then will then depart 4AM Saturday morning for Lamosangu with Mingma Dorge, Kaji, and sirdar Phunuru.  It will take them 3-4 hours to walk past the landslide area to Barabise, and then get on another bus to Kodari. Hopefully they will reach the border by 2:30PM before Chinese immigration close down.  If they are delayed and don’t get to border before Chinese immigration/customs shuts down then they might end up spending the night at Kodari.

Eric Simonson