Mera Peak Expedition — Acclimatization in Khare

The following is a continuation of Mera Peak Expedition — Tangnag to Khare.

Thursday, 20 October

The morning started as our coldest yet, with the first light appearing at 5:30 am and the sun appearing over Mera Peak at 9am. Joel, Karlin and Chris were talking with an Indian climber who summitted the day before, and he mentioned that a member of his team had altitude sickness and would be helicopter evacuated before 9am. Our own Mike Miller had been talking for the past day about being taken out by helicopter as he didn’t feel well. On the trail, he was overheard the day before saying several times, “This would be a good spot to land a helicopter.”

Inbound

With that in mind, we quickly found Mike, DB and Buddi and let them know. Within a few minutes, calls were made to Kathmandu and just after breakfast the sound of a helicopter could be heard coming up the valley. It came in low in the valley as a way to put off climbing too high, too soon in the thin air.

Dust cloud

At the last minute, the bright yellow helicopter dove into a valley toward Tangnag to pick up speed and then crested the ridge to our east and set down in a cloud of dust on the ridge to the ridge above Khare. The rotors continued to turn as bags and people were loaded quickly.

Mike’s ride

The helicopter struggled to lift off for a second before gaining a meter or so of altitude and then dropping quickly off the ridge and out of view as a way of gaining air speed. It appeared again much lower in the valley, above Mera Glacier and quickly disappeared out of view beyond Tangnag nearly 600 m (2000 ft) below us.

Climbing Khare Ri

As an acclimatization day, we decided to hike to the top of Khare Ri, the peak just to the north of our campsite. From the camp we could see prayer flags and cairns on the hill above but little did we know this was NOT the top. We soon discovered this, though, as we climbed our way up in the bright sunshine and thin air.

Leaving our mark

When we finally reached the crest, we put Buddi’s excellent cairn-building skills to work and he quickly constructed a pile aroud five feet in height. It was great to leave our mark on the summit of the hill by putting up the biggest (and, of course, best) cairn on that spot.  We made our way quickly back down the hill as it had grown colder due to a high layer of cirrus clouds that had us concerned about possible poor weather approaching. With only two days to to the summit, the last challenge we wanted to face was poor weather. Our window for summitting was only two days if we were to reach Lukla for our flights back to Kathmandu.

Dr. Crevasse

Once back at camp it was much warmer even with the thin clouds as we were out of the wind and among breeze-stopping buildings. We were greeted with hot grape cool-aid (a Nepali original) that tasted great after the effort and had us feeling fortified and strong in a few minutes. DB informed us that Subash “Dr. Crevasse” Rai left for High Camp that day to establish three tent sights for the people heading up tomorrow. This would limit the amount of weight that would need to be carried tomorrow but also would ‘reserve’ decent sites that would be ready for our arrival without a wait for setup. If the weather at High Camp is cold or windy, having sites established can make all of the difference in the world.

We had some time for relaxing in the remaining sun and resting our bodies for what was sure to be one of the biggest challenges of our lives. This day broke the record for Jeanne and I as we climbed to 5197 m (17,050 ft) on Khare Ri, and the next two days would smash that record by a wide margin.

Rope practice

After lunch we did rope work with Pemba Dendi Sherpa, our local guide who was hired by Adventure Geo Treks. First we all brought out our equipment to make sure we were all set with climbing boots, crampons, ice axes, harnesses, carabiners, and an ascender/jumar. Once we did our inventory it was time to make sure safety lines were sized, cut and tied off at this lower, warmer altitude where thinking is clearer and we had time to prepare at a leisurely pace. We then made our way to a steep slope nearby where a rope was tied off, an intermediate stake fixed, and then each climber practiced rappelling and ascending using the prescribed methods of our climbing sherpa.

With everyone frozen from periods of inactivity it was time for tea, biscuits and more relaxation. Hot tea was served and we warmed up in the sun near our tents before each of us left to pack our duffel for the next day’s trip to High Camp. While we packed, large-flaked snow began to fall on our tents, leaving us wondering if there was greater accumulation along tomorrow’s route or if this was just the result of the afternoon’s passing low clouds. Dinner was an excellent combination of macaroni and spring rolls, finished off by canned pineapple. Last minute conversations were had about what to expect tomorrow, and with that, we retired to our tents for a much needed rest.

Up next: Mera Peak Expedition — Khare to Mera High Camp