Page 12 - RAFMA Winter 2003

Between 24 Mar and 27 Apr 03, the following members of RAFMA attempted to climb Langtang Ri in the Nepalese Himalaya:
Stu Boyce
Andy Davies Simon Moore
Ade harris
Brian Parry (AMA)
The diary extract below offers an interesting insight into the challenges that faced them.
Kathmandu (24-27 March)
24 Mar
25 Mor
26 Mor
27 Mar
We boorded a Qatar Airways A300 at Heathrow on the evening of 24th March 2003 ond after o brief stop in Doha arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport at
around midday on the 25th. Here we were met by the Summit Trekking bus and taken to the Summit hotel where we were all greeted with a small ceremony involving a mug of spirit ond a hard boiled egg.
Following a leisurely breakfast, we met with Liz Hawley of Reuters to inform her of our intentions on the mountain. We noted that there had been good success rates on the mountain, with four out of five expeditions having summited. The team then deported to Thamel in order to round up the remaining food that we needed for the trip. The rest of the day was then spent checking counting and packing the equipment that we intended moving up the mountain.
A further administration day. The morning was spent putting the final touches to the equipment pile. Then later in the day Stew, Andy and Bri headed back into town for a briefing from the DA's Office and to collect the peak permit from the Tourist Office.
The walk in (28 March - 9 April)
28 Mar
29 Mar
30 Mar
31Mar
Travelling by bus in Nepal is always an experience and today's journey was to be no exception. By 0730 the 5 expedition members, the sirdor, 2 climbing Sherpas, o cook, a cook boy and no less than 35 porters were in the bus. This number was to increase to 42 porters by the time that we eventually arrived at Syabru Bensi. This was a long drive indeed, especially for Stew who had picked up the (almost) inevitable stomach bug in Kathmandu. It was a frail man indeed that arrived at the start point for the expedition that evening.
No-one had slept well. The dogs of Syabru Bensi had been barking most of the night; apparently they do this whenever they feel the need to scare off the snow leopard, most reassuring! After the usual kit faff that seems to be necessary before the porters will set off, we started a slow and gentle approach to the village of Lama Hotel (2480m). During which we saw several troops of Langur and Brown monkey. Later that day Ade and Simon took an acclimatisation walk to Chhunama (c2775m). Sadly the word from the locals was that there was an unusual amount of snow in the region.
We continued up the valley, taking tea at Chhunama ond lunch at Thangshyap. Stew was still suffering after a wretched night. We arrived at Langtang (3480m) for the night just as the rain set in which soon turned to snow. Elpi, our sirdar, was now expressing his concerns obout the amount of snow on the mountain.
There was about 4" of new snow by the morning, not an ideal situation. However, the team arrived in good spirits at Kyangjin by lunchtime. After lunch Ade and Simon took an acclimatisation
Right Avalanche on Langtong Glacier.
Below left: Ade, Boycey, Brian Parry and Andy at Base Camp.
n 2
RAFMA Journal 2003
Sherpa’s Peema i & Tenzing at G&SOm Langtang /.summit behind.