At 8,201m (26,906ft) Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world. It stands on the border between Tibet and Nepal in the Khumbu region of the Himalaya, 15 miles from Mount Everest. Its name in Tibetan is ཇོ་བོ་དབུ་ཡ, which means ‘Turquoise Goddess’. The six-week expedition will start from Kathmandu and will comprise 5 phases. 1. To Tue 10 Sept. Preparation in UK and assembly in Nepal. Equipment sourcing and testing, training, travel to Kathmandu, and collection of visas. 2. Tue 10 to Mon 16 Sept. Drive to the mountain. Travel from Kathmandu to Tibet via the Friendship Highway, across the Tibetan Plateau to Chinese Base Camp, acclimatising en route . 3. Tue 17 to Sat 21 Sept. Trek to base camp. While Yaks carry the high-altitude gear we trek to the mountain Cho Oyu Base Camp, below the north west face. 4. Sun 22 Sept to Wed 16 Oct. Climb to the summit. Climbing high and sleeping lower we progressively climb to Camp 3 with a view to making the first summit attempts on Thu 10 Oct. 5. Thu 17 to Sun 20 Oct. Safe return!
The purpose of this blog is simply to keep in touch: with family and friends, colleagues and climbing mates, and anyone else who is remotely interested in my dream of climbing a Himalyan 8000m peak. If there are gaps in the blog, please bear with me. It will not be through lack of trying to provide updates!