Page 14 - 1995 Mountaineering Club Bulletin

ALthe end of March 1995 a tgroup of ten Royal Navy personnel travelled to Nepal to climb in the High Himalayas with the main objective being to climb a major 6,000 metre
Naya Kanga in Background viewed from Kyanjin Ri at 16.000 ft
conditions and some had climbed at altitude before. Myself and my co-leader, Bob, were forced off Pisang, another 6000m peak in the Annapurna Region, in 1991 due to unex-
trekking peak - Naya Kanga - situated in the Langtang Valley north of Kathmandu. This is the story' of their expectations, efforts, problems and their enjoy'ment of experiencing the Himalayas.
Like any major undertaking, especially the onerous task of organising a major expedition to a foreign country, the plan is normally conceived over a few pints, with a pen and paper and always grows like topsv. It did! 18 months in the planning stage using a land based agent in Kathmandu for the hire of Sherpas and Porters and recruiting a team of ten spread throughout the country' in Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scotland and Wales. We arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu to the usual chaos once out of the arrivals lounge and quickly trans­ ferred to our accommodation in the Thamel District. We spent a day sightseeing and a day hiring the necessary ice/snow gear which we had not been able to bring along before heading north and enduring a most treacherous bus journey with long drops into the valley and gorges below and travelling alongside the Trisuli River to Syarabrubensi. The roads wind dangerously dow'n the mountainside after Dhunche with the ever present danger of the bus toppling over!
The walk into Kyangjin at 14,000ft took several days and was most pleasant in the sunshine through bamboo forests filled with rhododendrons and along the Trisuli Khola river. It is a bird spotters paradise and even we novices observed over 30 species using a book brought along by one of the guys. We received con­ stant tales of trekkers being forced back at Kyangin because of deep snow so we were pleased to pass Langtang and enter the upper valley arriving at the foot of the mighty and most beauti­ ful mountain knowm as Naya Kanga with no snow on the valley floor, clear blue skies and a good weather pattern. The very' best of conditions for climbing a major peak.
We had used 7 Sherpas and 29 Porters to get us this far. Trekking Peaks in Nepal are a misnomer as they can be dangerous and technically difficult and should not be taken lightly. We had read Bill O' Connors “Trekking Peaks of Nepal” and come prepared with plenty of gear and sufficient at least for 2 pitches of safety ropes. All personnel were reasonably experienced in ice/snow
pected inclement weather and a heavy fall of snow. 11 people had died from one team on Pisang in 1994!
At 14000ft the team were now suffering from the effects of alti­ tude with headache, lack of appetite and general fatigue. It was expected and monitored by myself as team medic. One person was monitored throughout the early evening and experienced a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern in the night and another with a constantly high pulse rate but normal blood pressure - he was subsequently asked not to climb the following day. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is still a grey area and has very little to do with age, fitness or experience and can strike at any time. Interestingly, I chose to commence Diamox (a drug which reduces the severity of symptoms but does not eliminate the risk of AMS) with good effect, the others chose to wait another day with their symptoms remaining.
We had planned climbs intended for acclimatisation, fitness and training purposes on Kyangin Ri (15500ft) and Peak 5252 (5252m) and intended to explore the glacier at the end of the Langtang Valley, an area which few people venture into before returning to establish a Base and High Camp on Naya Kanga in preparation for the ascent. A spare two days had been set aside in case of inclement weather. We successfully climbed Kyangjin Ri (15500ft) the following day in lovely sunshine, clear skies and with superb views across the valley. We were able to view our intended camps and the route up to the top of Naya Kanga. The team were in good spirit although each person apprehensive as to how they will cope with the altitude, their own fitness and, par­ ticularly, the mental and physical aspect of climbing at altitude.
We awoke the following morning and were prevented from mov­ ing up the valley due to heavy mist and a light fall of snow. We waited anxiously for the pattern to change. It did not, instead we were subjected to a constant fall of snow dumping FOUR feet of snow in a 36 hour period requiring us to dig ourselves out of our tents throughout the night!! No matter how much we re-planned the future it became increasingly obvious that it would be impos­ sible to progress through the snow and it would be very danger­ ous to climb with the risk of avalanche and land slide. We were already hearing the familiar rumbles high above. Regrettably, we
ANNUAL BULLETIN
The 1995 RN Expedition to Naya Kanga
THE ROYAL NAVY & ROYAL MARINES MOUNTAINEERING CLUB
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