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A Crossing of the Tesi Laptcha – October 2014
The Autumn Season
tends to be the preferred season for trekking in Nepal, the monsoon has passed,
the atmosphere is less hazy and the mountains look magnificent in their new set
of post-monsoon white shawls. It was always the case, not only in Nepal but in
other parts of the world that the seasons would be predictable; here it was, cold,
hot, wet and dry. But as a result of global warming and climate change that is
no longer a foregone conclusion and according to the experts our climate in
Nepal will become more extreme as time goes on.
Having tried to beat the weather system in June resulting in a trip to Sikkim that
did not turn out as expected I planned for a second bite of the ‘wish list
cherry’ in October 2014.
The Tesi Lapcha is a high pass between the
Rolwaling and Khumbu regions of Nepal. The pass is at an altitude of 5744m and
presents a not inconsiderable challenge, with the unclimbed Tengi Ragi Tay
(6948m) to the north and the trekking peak Parchamo (6273m) to the south. The
aim of our trek was to cross the Pass and to try to take in Parchamo.
The Rolwaling Himal stretches across the
northern section of the Dolaka District through the Guarishanakar Conservation Area
and eventually join the Landung Himal at the boundaries of the Guarishanakar
Conservation Area and the Sagarmatha National Park.
In 1952 the British Cho Oyu Expedition lead
by Eric Shipton, including a young New Zealand climber, Ed Hillary and a young climber from Great Britain, Tom Bourdillon. The expedition set off not
only to try to make the first ascent of Cho Oyu but also "to test the
ability of several mountaineers to climb to great heights;" to find a
group of climbers able to attempt Mount Everest
in 1953; to test oxygen gear, clothing, and equipment; and to study the
physiology of high-altitude climbing.
Unfortunately, the Chinese closed the
Tibetan side of Cho Oyu and the best feasible route to the summit became
out of ‘official’ reach to the expedition. The climbers, including Ed Hillary
and George Lowe, attempted the Southwest Ridge but were stopped due to technical
difficulties and avalanche danger at an ice cliff above 6,650m
(21,820 ft). There were also reports that Chinese troops were only a short
distance away across the border.
Although the 1952 British Cho Oyu
Expedition was unsuccessful members, including Hillary did manage to summit
11 ‘new’ peaks and explore the valleys and passes to the west of the Nangpa La and
down into the Rolwaling district including the first
crossing of the Tesi Lapcha, before returning home.
The bus journey from Kathmandu was long,
bumpy and hot, nothing unusual in that for early October. After stopping
overnight in Chhetchhet we made a leisurely start on the magic staircase and
the 466mts climb up to Simigaon. The trail is well marked and a few lodges can
be found there offering comfortable accommodation. The following morning
arrived but parcelled up in a wrapping of thick low cloud, through the breaks
we could see that the rain of the previous night had laid a thin layer of snow
over the nearby hills. A continuing steady ascent took us through
the forests
and pasture land of the middle valley until we arrived at our second camp site
in the early afternoon, but more importantly, before a mega storm hit us which
put down at least four inches of rain in just a couple of hours. Sadly the
tents did not arrive at the same time, but we were able to find shelter in a ‘local’ lodge
from where we could watch a lake forming over what was going to be our
camp-site. A dal-bhat and some local ‘wine’ tasting helped to keep the
dampness at bay. Many people had been caught out by the sudden turn in the
weather and all afternoon groups of drenched trekkers were beating a
hasty retreat back down the valley. Luckily for us a few islands remained above the
water level of our lake and we were able to at least get the tents erected
before dark. The next day saw a slight improvement as we set off towards
Bedding in the hope that we would arrive early enough to dry everything out,
weather permitting.
the forests
and pasture land of the middle valley until we arrived at our second camp site
in the early afternoon, but more importantly, before a mega storm hit us which
put down at least four inches of rain in just a couple of hours. Sadly the
tents did not arrive at the same time, but we were able to find shelter in a ‘local’ lodge
from where we could watch a lake forming over what was going to be our
camp-site. A dal-bhat and some local ‘wine’ tasting helped to keep the
dampness at bay. Many people had been caught out by the sudden turn in the
weather and all afternoon groups of drenched trekkers were beating a
hasty retreat back down the valley. Luckily for us a few islands remained above the
water level of our lake and we were able to at least get the tents erected
before dark. The next day saw a slight improvement as we set off towards
Bedding in the hope that we would arrive early enough to dry everything out,
weather permitting. 
Bedding (3690mts) is the largest community
in the valley and does provide several lodges that cater for trekkers. However,
we were camping and we needed to dry out anyway. So far we had ascended
steadily in small altitude steps so we hadn’t felt the need for an
acclimatisation day, this was to be saved for Na. The weather was not good and
for the first time we doubted that the conditions higher up would be good enough
for our attempt on Parchamo, if the rain that fell lower down fell
as snow above then a crossing of the Tesi Lapcha might even be in doubt.
However, we were spurred on by the thought of the journey back to Kathmandu in
the bus!
Once again we reached our end of day
destination in plenty of time and got organised and dried out the remainder of
our soggy gear. That was just before the next heavy precipitation arrived,
which at the altitude of Na fell as snow. We had plenty of time so elected to
take an extra day in Na to allow the snow to settle. It was at this time that
we got information of the disaster that was unfolding on the Annapurna Circuit.
Our storm was also part of that system, the weather in the Bay of Bengal had
forced the departing monsoon back across Nepal laden with plenty of moisture.
We also got some information on the conditions higher up on our route from a
rapidly retreating French group who were uttering statements referring to the
‘impossible’ nature of the route and the amount of new fresh snow on the
Trakarding Glacier.
After two days resting and eating we were
ready for the route ahead, but not for the bus journey back. We headed out past
the aptly named ‘Lorry Park’ and up into the small sub-valley running parallel
to the south-west of Tsho Rolpa. By now the weather had improved but the
potential of deep snow remained. There are various camping options along this
section of the valley but we decided to stop at what is often called ‘Kabug’ on
the maps but by the little tea house the sign reads ‘Ckhukyima Tea House’. This
decision was partly based on the fact that the boys had chatted up ‘Bhini’ who
runs the tea house and she saw an opportunity of opening up for business. As
this was the last bit of civilisation until we reached Thyangbo Karka on the
Khumbu side of the ridge I for one was not going to argue.
Setting out from the tea house we were
faced with a stiff climb to by-pass a very large landslip, from the top of
which you get fantastic views of the route head, and the equal distance of
descent back down into the valley to gain the glacier. Once down in the valley
bottom another good camping place becomes obvious and this one is again called
‘Chhukyima’ on the map. It is easy to get confused as nowhere on the ground is there any
indication of Kabug.
Gaining access onto the glacier was
difficult with the ground covered with thick snow, luckily our joint route
finding and mountaineering skills paid off and no false lines were taken but
the ice-ridges between the crevasses did need careful negotiation, a slip would
have proved very painful if not fatal. The day was long and the route was
tough, we were heading for what is known as ‘Noisy Knob’, a strange sounding
name until you reach it when everything drops into place; literally! However,
we stopped a couple of hours short of our intended destination and sort refuge
amongst the boulders where we found enough space to flatten the snow and pitch
the tents. 
Next day we continued on up the glacier
which seemed increasingly difficult if not impossible to escape from, the
valley terminated in the mighty west wall of the Tesi Lapcha Danda, a hanging
glacial face of nearly 2000mts while the northern side, and the side we were
due to exit from, the challenge looked equally as steep and nasty looking. We pushed on in the
knowledge that there really was a way into the upper valley. This did
eventually appear in the form of Noisy Knob, a rock buttress the ascent of
which we safe-guarded with a fixed hand line. All around the eyrie were the potential for avalanches, the route was safe but the surroundings were
impressive, real Himalayan scenery. At the top of the Knob a short traverse lead
into a bottomless gully and another hand-line was felt required. The ground
above was exposed and posed an interesting scramble up snow covered rocks and steep hill side. 
Eventually the angle lessened but the terrain remained very
Himalayan like. The route weaved through the increasingly broad valley, all the
time ascending the moraines towards the final approach onto the glacier and
permanent snow field of the Tesi Lapcha. Our final camp on the Rolwaling side
was at 5520mts, finding somewhere suitable for our small group was not easy but
eventually with the by now well practiced ‘snow dance’ we flattened sufficient space for two small tents
and a larger cook tent in which the boys would huddle up together for the
night. As darkness began to move in so did more snow which was whipped up by a
fierce wind leading to a bitterly cold night and a pair of extra feet in my
sleeping bag, those belonging to our guide and long time friend Cherring Bhote!
With the cold night and the following days’ conditions being potentially
difficult we opted for a 4am start, a cup of tea, biscuits and then breakfast as and
when conditions would permit, never the less all pockets were stuffed with
chocolate and food bars just in case. 
It was not long before the sun rose,
however, being on the ‘wrong side’ of the ridge it would be several more hours
before the warmth either reached us or we reached its warmth. The deep snow was heavy
going despite the fact that we were simply contouring the valley towards the steep
ramp leading up into the Tesi Lapcha. At last into the sun, and the sky cleared
giving a bright day ahead. It wasn’t long before down gear was being stored in
rucksacks and sun protection was being applied, heading up towards 5744mts was
hard work in the deep and heavy snow.
Circumnavigating small or at least partially
filled in crevasses we eventually reach the ridge with the view
down into the
upper Langmuche Khola Valley. Parchamo was certainly not an option! The descent
from the ridge involves skirting around the lower buttress of Tengi Ragi Tay
also known as Agole (6948m) and then locating the correct line down the face to
less steep ground. With all the new snow it was felt that more hand lines
should be fixed down the gully, the view to the east was spectacular
however, there was little sign of less serious terrain which only went to
heighten our powers of concentration while descending the three ropes. Eventually we left the fixed lines and
glissaded
down the steep snow covered scree to the larger boulder field below.
The sun was beginning to drop and once we had got all the boys down the steep
ground safely they set off to locate a suitable camping space. Heavy legs were
now taking their toll and evening turned to night, head torches appeared and after what seemed like several hours, so did the tents.
down into the
upper Langmuche Khola Valley. Parchamo was certainly not an option! The descent
from the ridge involves skirting around the lower buttress of Tengi Ragi Tay
also known as Agole (6948m) and then locating the correct line down the face to
less steep ground. With all the new snow it was felt that more hand lines
should be fixed down the gully, the view to the east was spectacular
however, there was little sign of less serious terrain which only went to
heighten our powers of concentration while descending the three ropes. Eventually we left the fixed lines and
glissaded
Over the next couple of days we wandered
down into Lukla and either by good luck or good judgement we caught the first
flight back to Kathmandu.
I have to say this was one of the best
treks I’ve done in Nepal. Most treks aren’t ‘an adventure’, you can research
the trek from your computer using Google Earth or some other such software,
there are plenty of lodges along the way, the trails are well marked and the
guides give excellent briefing every night and morning. However, on this trek we had the
added spice of the weather and the ‘adventure’ was in the unknown outcome of
the trek, could we make the crossing in those conditions or would we have to
face a long walk out and that bus journey back to Kathmandu. This is not a
straight forward trek at the best of times, it is challenging, demands a
certain amount of fitness and in case of bad weather such as we had a degree of
mountaineering experience and technical skills.
Many thanks to Ian and Lynda Gray for their
good company, persistence in seeing it through and also to Cherring Bhote and
Wongchhu Sherpa and the lads for making it happen.
Ian Wall October 2014
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