CHULU WEST in the Annapurna region of the Nepal Himalaya is a trekking peak of 6419m (21,059ft).
A worthwhile objective in itself, but what better way to acclimatise than taking in the famous Annapurna circuit as a warm up!
That is the reason a group of nine friends headed by Steve lodge got to together and headed off on the oddly named Hen 90 (Himalayan Expedition Nepal 1990).
The team assembled in Kathmandu and checked in to the famous Kathmandu Guest house, the starting point of many Himalayan adventures and met some of the guides and Sherpa’s who would help us on our way.
Two Nepalese Village Girls
The road to Pokhara is now paved but in 1990 it was a long bumpy and dusty journey passing broken down vehicles blocking our path and following heavy lorries uphill barely making 10mph. From Pokhara a short drive to Phedi gets us to the start of the 23 day adventure. Walking amongst the peaceful villages is a real treat and after 8 days with a mixture of camping and tea house accommodation we arrive in Muktinath at the foot of the 17,200ft Thorong la pass.
Both Steve and I have brought our newly acquired paragliders with us carried by one of our 29 porters and decide to take a flight from the slopes above our camp. Steve inevitably lands in the main street (the only street) of the village almost bringing down the cables spanning the road, all amidst a crowd of very curious locals, whilst I followed down making a somewhat, spectacular heavy landing or some say crashing on the grass bank by the camp site.
Sherpa - Summit of Chulu West, Nepal
An alpine start and we are off, up and over the Thorong La, a perfect prelude to tackling Chulu. The fact that I had accidentally eaten kerosene flavoured rice the night before for my evening meal made this quite an event! Suffice to say that you can probably still follow the trail of vomit to this day.
Chulu West itself is an elegant peak, especially when viewed from the arid slopes of the pass. Base camp was set up by a frozen tarn beneath long scree slopes that lead up to a rock band that protects a more or less level ridge where we place our high camp.
The snow conditions are horrible on our summit day, thin crust over knee deep powder is hard work at this altitude. The final few metres are a delight, up a steeper section and onto a small sharp ridge to the summit which was just like sitting astride a cathedral roof.(I’m sure we’ve all done that at some time)
All six climbers reached the summit then is was back down to base camp and a nice cup of tea – no beer yet, but that will come. Meanwhile Steve is saying something about bad feet and on closer inspection his two big toes turned out to be frostbitten and looked something like burnt sausages. Two days on a mule and his arse is the same colour as his toes! so it’s time to hitch a ride on a passing helicopter that landed near by whilst on army exercise and a ride back to Kathmandu, while the rest of us finish off the trek back to Bessisahar.
We meet up again in Bessisahar and journey back to Kathmandu, medical science and insurance has saved Steve’s toe so it’s time for that beer and sizzling buffalo steaks..
By Stewart Wright