Cho Oyu 2008 - failure and tragedy

Tags: Alpinism, Asia, China, Cho Oyu, Extreme Altitude, Mountains, Nepal, Unfinnished

I was not very keen on returning to Cho Oyu this autumn, but Erik finally convinced me to give it one more try. While the weather kept me from summiting last year, a bad troath and chest-infection stopped me effectively at 7500 metres this year. But failing to summit is nothing compared to the fate of Guy. He never got down again.

Sep 6 we left Kathmandu in a bus (more like a wreck), aiming for Kodari just before the Chinese border. I have both driven and cycled this road before, so this was not new territory for me. But for some of the others it must have been a great new experience, with nice scenery and crazy roads (and drivers). We spent the night in Kodari, and crossed the border early next morning. Immigration and customs was easier than ever before, no crowds, no fever-control and no rediculus questions from the chinese immigration. We had lunch in Zangmu, before we continued on the road to Nyalam (still a lot of road construction remains here). 2-3 hours later we arrived Nyalam, and at 3750m most of us felt the thin air. We stayed for 3 nights in order to acclimatize to the thin air. We had 2 full days for hiking and exploring around Nyalam. Some of us also used the opportunity to get a last shower, in what is supposed to be the only bath/shower in Nyalam. The canadians who was the first to try it out, came excitedly back to our lodge and told us the lady even offered "Blow the head"-service (according to a sign in the shower), but no-one dared to try it......

Sep 10 we settled into the bus again, aiming for Tingri. The most interesting part of that road is the crossing of Lalung-la pass (5050m) with splendid views of Shishapangma (8027m) and numerous other white jagged peaks on the Nepal/Chinese border. If we hadn't felt dizzy before, we did now. For John it must have been a pain in the ass (literally), because during a pee-stop he escaped under a bridge, and had an nasty attack of diarrohea. Most of us (including the busdriver) didn't notice, so he almost lost the bus. That was when all the poo-stories started (especially Rob and Ryan), and this kind of poo-talk kept going for the next 3 weeks, with a lot of farting inbetween the stories.....

Tingri at 4300m is, apart from the great views, a shit hole. Dusty streets infested with straydogs, give you an urgent need to get out of town as soon as possible. All of us did so the next morning, with a dayhike in the hills surrounding Tingri. Well, that was everyone except John, who felt most comfortable staying near a toilet.The two Norwegians must have misunderstood the purpose of the hike, because they traversered a whole ridge, almost exhausting themselves. Ian did too during all his solo-hikes.....

After two nighs in Tingri it was time to get to Chinese Basecamp (4900m), a drive that takes 1-2 hours from Tingri (depending on the vehicle).

-under development, as it's already 2011 I will now focus on getting this trip report finalized after all these years ----

Photo Album