Pachermo and Kyajo Ri Peak Climbing

You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you in the arrivals hall and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.

Rest is the only item on today's schedule. Thamel's gear shops are a few minutes' walk away and stock most of what a climber discovers they have left at home.

Your guide calls at the hotel in the evening to introduce themselves and confirm tomorrow's plan. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your guide runs the full briefing at the hotel: the twenty-six day plan, the acclimatisation profile, the summit day, and — at length — the Tashi Lapcha, which is the crux of every itinerary in this valley and the reason the trip is a traverse rather than a round trip.

Then the equipment check. Boots are tried with crampons on, harnesses fitted over climbing layers, and anything unsuitable swapped for rental kit here rather than discovered at 5,500 m.

Our office lodges the climbing permit, the Gaurishankar Conservation Area permit, the Sagarmatha National Park permit for the far side and the TIMS card. Overnight in Kathmandu.

East out of Kathmandu on the Araniko Highway and then onto the hill road through Dolakha and Charikot, the district headquarters, with Gaurishankar filling the northern skyline on a clear morning.

Beyond Charikot the road descends to the Tama Koshi and follows it north on rough track through country that was badly hit by the 2015 earthquake and has been rebuilt since.

Chetchet (1,400 m) is a handful of buildings at the road head where the walking starts. Around 8 to 9 hours. Overnight at Chetchet.

Across the Tama Koshi on a suspension bridge and then straight up — 600 m of steep switchbacks through terraced fields and bamboo, which after a day in a vehicle is a blunt reintroduction to walking.

Simigaon (2,000 m) sits on a shelf high above the river, a Sherpa village of stone houses with a gompa on the rise above it and, from the top of the village, a first view north to Gaurishankar.

It is the last village on the road side of the valley and the last with any road connection at all. Around 4 hours. Overnight at Simigaon.

North into the Rolwaling gorge proper, contouring through dense forest high above the Rolwaling Khola on a trail that is narrow, rooty and frequently exposed.

This is protected habitat within the Gaurishankar Conservation Area — oak, rhododendron and bamboo, with red panda and musk deer in it and almost nobody else on the path.

Dongang (2,800 m) is a clearing beside the river with a couple of simple shelters. The gorge is deep enough that the light goes early. Around 6 hours. Overnight at Dongang.

Up the gorge as it steepens and then opens, with the forest thinning into juniper and the walls pulling back.

Beding (3,690 m) is the principal village of the Rolwaling — a single line of stone houses along the river with a gompa at its centre, occupied mainly in summer and quiet the rest of the year.

The Rolwaling Sherpas are the same people as the Khumbu Sherpas and crossed the Tashi Lapcha to settle here; the valley is regarded as a beyul, a hidden sacred valley, and hunting has traditionally been forbidden in it. Around 6 hours. Overnight at Beding.

Climb high, sleep low. The morning walk goes up the hillside behind the village toward 4,300 m, on steep grass and rock with the whole valley opening below.

Gaurishankar (7,134 m) stands directly across the valley — a sacred mountain, closed to climbing from the Nepal side for many years and still very rarely attempted — and from the high point the Rolwaling glacier is visible running east toward the Tashi Lapcha.

Back in Beding for the afternoon. Your guide takes the first saturation readings tonight. Around 4 hours. Overnight at Beding.

A short and open day up the widening valley, past mani walls and grazing yaks, with the walls of Rolwaling rising on both sides.

Na Gaon (4,180 m) is the highest settlement in the valley — a scatter of stone huts and walled barley plots used in summer by the people of Beding, and almost empty in the climbing seasons.

It is the base for everything above: Yalung Ri, the Tsho Rolpa and the Tashi Lapcha are all reached from here, and there is nothing beyond it but glacier. Around 3 to 4 hours. Overnight at Na Gaon.

The second acclimatisation day, and the one that sets up everything above. The morning walk climbs north toward the Yalung Ri base camp area at around 4,800 m and returns.

The view from up there covers the whole head of the valley: the Trakarding glacier, the moraine dam of the Tsho Rolpa, and the notch of the Tashi Lapcha on the eastern skyline.

Back at Na for the afternoon. Your guide reviews saturation trends this evening before the group commits to the glacier. Around 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at Na Gaon.

East up the valley from Na on moraine and grazing ground, with the walls closing in and the last of the vegetation giving out.

The trail climbs onto the lateral moraine and then the Tsho Rolpa appears — Nepal's largest glacial lake, three and a half kilometres of grey-green water held behind a moraine dam at the snout of the Trakarding glacier.

The lake has grown substantially since the 1950s as the glacier has retreated, and it has been monitored and partially drained because of the flood risk to the villages below. Camp goes up on the moraine above it. Around 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at the Tsho Rolpa.

The hardest walking day of the approach. The route drops onto the Trakarding glacier and follows it east for five to six hours over rubble-covered ice — loose, slow, unstable ground with rockfall from the valley walls in places, and no trail whatever.

The crew moves the group quickly through the exposed sections and takes its time on the rest, which is the correct order of priorities.

Tashi Lapcha Base Camp (5,000 m) is a tented camp on the moraine below the col, with Pachermo rising directly above to the north. Overnight at base camp.

A working day on the glacier ice above camp, and it prepares for two things rather than one. Rope-team travel with correct spacing, crevasse rescue, jumaring on fixed line with a pack, changing over at anchors, and abseiling.

The abseil and the changeover get extra attention because the Tashi Lapcha is descended on fixed rope with loads, and that comes two days after the summit when everyone is tired.

In the afternoon the group walks part-way toward high camp and back. Meanwhile the Sherpas are above, fixing the ice slope on Pachermo and rigging the col. Overnight at base camp.

Roped from the moment the group leaves camp. The route climbs north onto the glacier and works up it for three to four hours, weaving between crevasses on the marked line with a moderate load.

Pachermo high camp (5,500 m) is a set of platforms stamped out on the glacier below the south face, exposed to the wind funnelling over the col and cold as soon as the sun goes.

The rest of the day is preparation: kit laid out, rope teams assigned, an early dinner, and your guide's weather call and turnaround time. Overnight at high camp.

Roped and moving by two in the morning. A short glacier crossing leads to the foot of the face, and then the climbing begins.

The snow and ice slope runs at 45 to 50 degrees on fixed rope for three to four hours, sustained and steady, with the sun arriving somewhere around 5,900 m.

The top of the slope gives onto a short corniced crest, taken one at a time. From the summit (6,187 m): Gaurishankar and Melungtse west down the Rolwaling, the Tsho Rolpa a grey sliver far below, Everest, Lhotse and Cho Oyu east over the Khumbu, and directly beneath you the notch of the Tashi Lapcha that you cross the day after tomorrow.

The descent abseils the slope and reverses the glacier to base camp. Ten to thirteen hours. Overnight at base camp.

The day held in reserve, and on this itinerary it covers two things — a second attempt on the peak, or a wait for the col.

If yesterday failed on conditions, the group returns to high camp today and climbs tomorrow. If the summit went to plan but the Tashi Lapcha is loaded or the forecast is wrong, the day is spent here waiting, because the pass is not something to be crossed on a marginal morning.

Your guide makes both calls at base camp on the evidence rather than the schedule. The Sherpas use the day to check and re-rig the col. Overnight at base camp.

The crux of the trip and a very long day. Moving by three in the morning, the route climbs from base camp onto the glacier and up fixed rope to the notch of the Tashi Lapcha (5,755 m), reaching it around dawn.

The col is narrow, hung with prayer flags, and the view from it is the whole point of the traverse: Rolwaling and Gaurishankar behind, the Khumbu and Everest ahead.

The descent is the serious part — steep fixed rope down onto the Drolambau glacier, then a long crossing of it and its moraine, and finally the drop into the Bhote Koshi valley. The ground is loose, the day is long and the group is fully committed from the moment it leaves camp.

Thame (3,800 m) is the first village since Na Gaon and the home village of Tenzing Norgay and Apa Sherpa. Twelve to fourteen hours. Overnight at Thame.

A rest day after the pass, and it earns its place. Yesterday was twelve to fourteen hours on loose moraine and fixed rope, and the second peak of the trip starts tomorrow.

Thame (3,800 m) is a good place to spend it — the home village of both Tenzing Norgay and Apa Sherpa, with a monastery set into the cliff above it that holds a Mani Rimdu festival each spring. There are lodges, a stove and a menu after twelve nights of camping.

Your guide reviews the group's condition this afternoon and confirms who is going on to Kyajo Ri. Overnight at Thame.

The trip leaves the map again. From Thame the route crosses the Bhote Koshi and climbs east into the Kyajo Drangka, a hanging valley with no lodges, no teahouses and no trekking route in it.

The trail is a yak path through juniper scrub and then open pasture, steep in places, following the stream up into a narrowing valley with rock walls closing on both sides, and then onto moraine.

Kyajo Ri Base Camp (4,550 m) sits on a flat shelf beside a small tarn with the south-west ridge rising directly above — the buttress, the ice slopes and the summit arête all visible from the mess tent. Around 7 hours. Overnight at base camp.

The second peak asks for something the first did not, and today is where your guide checks you have it. On the rock and ice above camp each climber works through moving on rock in crampons, jumaring where the rope runs over an edge, standing on small holds in stiff boots, and abseiling on a loaded rope.

After Pachermo and the pass this is a check rather than a lesson, and most climbers are noticeably sharper than they were at the Tashi Lapcha base camp two weeks ago.

Meanwhile the Sherpas are on the mountain fixing the buttress and the lower ice slopes. A short acclimatisation walk to 4,900 m closes the day. Overnight at base camp.

A steep 750 m on moraine, scree and then snow, four to five hours with a moderate load while the crew moves the camp.

High camp (5,300 m) is a set of platforms on a north-facing shoulder — exposed, shaded from mid-afternoon and cold. There is room for a handful of tents and nothing else.

The rest of the day is preparation: harnesses, crampons, axes and descenders laid out, the order of climbing set, an early dinner, and the final weather and turnaround call. Overnight at high camp.

Moving by one in the morning. A short glacier crossing leads to the rock buttress, climbed on fixed line in crampons on ground that would be a straightforward scramble in boots and is not straightforward at all in the dark at 5,500 m.

Above it the route moves onto snow and ice at 45 to 55 degrees for several hours, easing and steepening in turn, and then onto the summit arête — narrow, corniced, and climbed one at a time with the whole valley dropping away on both sides.

The summit (6,186 m) is a small pyramid with room for two or three people, looking east across the Khumbu to Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam, and west over the Bhote Koshi to the Tashi Lapcha and the Rolwaling peaks — including Pachermo, which you climbed two weeks and one valley ago.

The descent is by abseil, station by station, and it is slow. Twelve to fourteen hours. Overnight at base camp.

The last reserve day. On a mixed route it is used often — fresh snow on the buttress makes rockfall a real hazard and can close the route for a day even in otherwise good weather.

If the summit was missed, the group returns to high camp today and climbs tomorrow, with the fixed ropes already in place. Your guide weighs the state of the party as much as the forecast, which after a pass crossing and a previous summit is a real consideration.

If the climb went to plan, this is a rest day at base camp or an early start down the valley to bank a spare day against the Lukla flights. Overnight at base camp or Namche.

Camp comes down after breakfast and the whole valley is descended in a day — moraine, then pasture, then juniper scrub, following the stream back down the Kyajo Drangka to the Bhote Koshi.

From the valley mouth the trail contours south-east above the river past Thamo and Phurte, rejoining the main Khumbu trail at the top of Namche.

Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) after three weeks, two summits and a glaciated pass is a considerable shock — hot water, bakeries, an ATM and a great many other people. Around 7 to 8 hours. Overnight at Namche.

The last walking day. Steeply down from Namche to the Hillary Bridge, then along the Dudh Koshi through Jorsalle and Monjo, where you check out of the national park.

Through Phakding and past the mani walls, and then the final climb to Lukla (2,840 m), which always feels longer than it looks on the last day.

The evening is the end-of-trip dinner with the guide, the climbing Sherpas, the cook crew and the porters, and the point at which tips are given. This crew carried a full camp across the Trakarding glacier and over a 5,755 m col; the thanks should be specific. Around 6 to 7 hours. Overnight at Lukla.

Lukla flights leave early, before the valley wind builds. Thirty-five minutes to Kathmandu, or a landing at Manthali with a road transfer onward when the peak-season schedule applies.

Delays are routine rather than exceptional and can run to a full day, which is why no international departure is scheduled for today. If Lukla closes entirely, a helicopter seat can usually be arranged at your own cost.

The afternoon is free for a long shower and Thamel. Your summit certificate is presented in the evening. Overnight in Kathmandu.

The trip ends today. If your flight is a late one there is time for a last morning in Kathmandu — Boudhanath, Patan Durbar Square, or a slow breakfast on a roof terrace.

Our representative collects you from the hotel and drives you to Tribhuvan International Airport about three hours before departure.

If you are staying on in Nepal, we can arrange Chitwan, Pokhara, Lumbini or a Kathmandu valley tour. Safe travels — Climbers who finish this trip are generally ready for Ama Dablam or Cholatse, and both are a natural step on from Kyajo Ri.