This Article first appeared in
AAC(UK) Newsletter 186
published Summer 2010

All Photos by Simon Cane

Ampha Lapcha Pass

Atop Island Peak

Heading up Ampha Lapcha Pass

Heading up Island Peak

Mera, Island and what lies betwen

Simon on Mera Peak Slope

Sunset from Mera High Camp
and Kanchenchunga

Towards Everest
from the slopes of Mera

Mera, Island and what lies between

by Simon Cane

All I could see ahead of me in the beam of my headlamp was the rope linking me to the figure ahead. I looked up briefly and swivelled my head around; nothing but blackness above and snow below. I returned my gaze to the boots ahead, and kept on plodding.

Slowly the shape of the mountain ahead appeared as the light grew. By the time it was fully light, and the previously hidden spectacular world appeared, we had stopped plodding and were faced by a crevasse to the right, a steep drop to the left, and a vertical ice cliff straight ahead. I thought that this was supposed to be a trekking peak!

We were approaching the summit of Mera Peak, the first of three high points on a trek to Nepal organised by AAC(UK) members George & Margaret Taylor. The party of 17 included some trekking novices, like me, and some experienced climbers and trekkers. The ‘party of 17’ was closer to a party of 60 when the sirdar, eight climbing sherpas, ten cook-boys and thirty plus porters were included.

The objectives of the trip were to climb Mera Peak, 6,461m and Island Peak, 6,189m, and to link the two by going up the remote Hunku valley and crossing the 5780m Amphu Lapcha pass. This is what had attracted me to the trek – I had scanned all the brochures, but could not decide between the advertised treks to Island Peak or the treks to Mera Peak – and here was a trek that did both. As a walking guide I have completed dozens of hut-to-hut Alpine trips, but this scale of endeavour was new to me.

The direct routes to both peaks are well travelled. Island Peak in particular, as it is just off the Everest trek route, was crowded – the base camp was overflowing and there were queues to climb up and descend the final narrow ridge to the peak. However the indirect route we took to Mera Peak from Lukla via the Duhrekom Dondu ridge, taking eleven days to allow for good acclimatisation, was refreshingly quiet.

Even quieter was the trek over the Amphu Lapcha pass. We left Mera Peak high camp, perched on loose slabs 500m below the summit, and descended to the Mera La col, but instead of following the main trail west back down to the Hinku valley towards Lukla we headed east to the Hunku valley. The map showed no trail, and apart from the occasional narrow path there was little on the ground to show that the valley was used. Even the yellow biscuit wrappers, a form of litter so frequent on the main trails, were absent.

The route followed the valley, sometimes through the rock scattered floodplain, sometimes on the moraines that lined the valley. There were no settlements at this altitude, and only on a couple of occasions did we see anyone else. The scenery was paradise for anyone interested in glaciated landscapes – gigantic moraines towered over the valley sides, glaciers and glacial lakes emerged from side valleys, the variety of rock types and colours scattered over the hillside was fascinating. The moraine dust blowing over the barren ground was less exciting.

Eventually we reached a spot for camping below the Amphu Lapcha pass. The pass was not obvious from the camp-site – it was not at the lowest point of the col due to the vertical drop on the far side, and the approach to it seemed to be blocked by a small glacier improbably stuck to the side of the mountain in a series of thick terraces. We were apprehensive about crossing this pass, and wondered how the porters felt, as they did not have the gear, like crampons, that we did. They would also have to be lowered by the sherpas, along with our bags, down the far side. The security of the fixed ropes through the glacier terraces enabled us to appreciate the beauty of the ice features. The looseness of the scree and ice on the far side below the abseil was more of a trial. However it was a tribute to how carefully the sherpas had fixed ropes, and set up lowering and abseil points, that all bags, cook-boys, porters and trekkers arrived safely on the far side.

Two things struck me during the trip. The first was how the Himalayas are geologically very active, and hence the maps cannot be entirely relied upon. On the trek to Mera Peak we had found one completely new village (Korthe), one missing village (Mosom Kharke), and a missing lake (Sabai Tsho). These changes were related to the fact that, since the map was produced in 1987, the Sabai Tsho lake had burst through its moraine dam & had washed away the village and part of the trail. Over the Amphu Lapcha pass the map showed the large Amphu glacier, although the glacier was hardly evident as we picked our way down through loose rubble (and some ice) to the valley bottom. Once there we had to go down the Imja valley for 3 km to cross the valley below the lake that had replaced the glacier shown on the map.

The other thing that struck me was the value of good preparation for trekking at altitude. The Taylors had organised a meet in the Swiss Alps in the summer to climb a few 4,000m peaks in order to learn some of the techniques, and try out our gear before the ‘real thing’. In Nepal the route taken to Mera peak was longer than the direct route, so we had eleven days to acclimatise to the altitude – and comparing our experience with other trekkers on the Mera peak this longer walk-in certainly paid off. Preparation on health issues also paid off – a leaflet produced by Medex, ‘Travel at High Altitude’, was particularly helpful – this can be found at: www.medex.org.uk.

Thanks are due to George and Margaret for arranging it, and for Wilderness Experience staff in Nepal who provided the local organisation.

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Last Updated 10 June 2010

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