Page 23 - 1994 AMA Summer

Paldor - A Himalayan peak
Capi. D Penry. INT Corps.
Trekking Peaks, Alpine Peaks, - whatever the Nepalese Mountaineering Association choose to call their lowest catagorised summits, these 18 peaks seem to hold a continuing attraction to Army expeditions of small size, with small budgets
and with only a small amount of time available away from work. The reasons are obvious enough. Climbing permits come to a very reasonable US $ 300 maximum; logistics are pretty straightforward; it’s just - well, it’s easy, isn't, it.
But perhaps no small reason for this popularity is Bill O’Connor’s widely read book The Trekking Peaks of Nepal, (Crowood Press, 1989). Supported by a succession of photos and sketch maps, Bill takes us up all the peaks and along the treks that lead to them. It is the only readily available source of information on many of these mountains, and his enthusiastic text, steering the reader through the bureaucracy and planning and then on to the hills themselves, is practically guaranteed to act as a powerful itching powder on the feet of any self-respect­ ing climber.
Nothing wrong with that you might say, and more power to Bill for providing the past and future catalyst for so many worth­ while excursions. But it is worth remembering that books such as this are prone to going quickly out of date, not least because conditions and circumstances in the Himalayas can and do change very quickly indeed, a foray of ours to Paldor Peak in October 1992 provided some valuable reminders of this, and the differences between what we expected and what we found may be of interest to future expeditions who are considering Paldor or any other of these fine peaks.
At 5928 metres Paldor is one of the less difficult of Nepal's Alpine summits. It rises from the Ganesh Himal in the border regions to the north of Kathmandu, west of the better known Langtang Himal and in country considered remote even by Himalayan standards. The first ascent was probably by anoth­ er Bill, Bill Tilman. In Nepal Himalaya (Cambridge University Press, 1952) he briefly touches on three days spent climbing "this modest mountain', apparently with few complications. Forty years on Bill O’Connor describes his five day trek to Base Camp from the trailhead at Dhunche, and goes on the detail a days haul up some moraines to a High Camp, then across the ‘flat and uncomplicated' East Glacier to the North- East (Tilman’s) Ridge, and thence to the summit. He grades the route Alpine AD.
All pretty straightforward, and attractive given our circum­ stances. We were, at 5 people, a small undertaking; we were on the sort of skin-tight budget that meant the words ‘Individual Responsibility’ appeared regularly down the clothing and equipment list; and, most critical of all, we had only a fortnight away from work to bag ourselves a peak. We had to rely on the careful study of Bill’s information to give us the best possible chance of success.
Deviations from the expected became evident from soon after
our trek agent had presented us with garlands of dead flowers at Kathmandu's airport and taken us into town. The Rum Doodle Bar, one of this city's most famous landmarks, and more importantly our exercise namesake, was found to have closed down. There was careful deliberation before we agreed to carry on with the trip regardless, but this unexpected turn so early seemed to set the scene for other surprises later on.
Travel to Dhunche and the subject trek into Base Camp proved to be much easier and quicker than we expected, pue to the expansion of a small mining complex at Lari and the support­ ing labours of a Napalese Army engineer regiment there is now a motorable road all the way from Dhunche to the hamlet of Somdang, a days walk below the usual Base Camp site. Even on foot the way was fast, although it meant bypassing some scenic villages we succeeded in reaching Base Camp in just three days to allow us to spend more of our previous time on the hill later on.
Paldor’s austere Base Camp is set amid the rubble of two ter­ minal moraines. It receives direct sunlight for only a short time each day, and there is little in the way of shelter for porters and. despite being equipped with extra clothing against the cold, ours did not fare well. Later on the conditions were poor enough for me to authorise the early striking of the camp in
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