Page 12 - 2013 AMA Spring

“So you’re bringing those you mad man?!”, were the first words I heard from Olan, as we loaded my skis in to the back of his van. We were en route to London Heathrow
to join up with the rest of the team bound for the Nepalese Himala- yas to attempt Himlung Himal (7126 m). To the best of our knowl- edge, our team of six climbers from the West Country – all civilians, though myself (East Midlands UOTC) and Justin (ex-PWRR) had been service personnel (well,sort of in my case) – would be the first wholly British team on the mountain. All being well, we would come home with the first British ascent and, for myself, ski descent.
Himlung is located near the Nepal-Tibet border, north-east of the Annapurna range, above the Nar-Phoo valley. This region of Nepal is relatively untrodden, with the majority of trekkers and climbers continuing past on the Annapurna circuit.
Setting off in mid-September, we had taken a chance on the mon- soon finishing, but arrival in to Kathmandu showed us that it was still in full swing. The madness of taxis, mopeds, buses, stray dogs and sacred cows all competing for the same road space was accentuated by the constant rain creating huge puddles and small rivers of water running down the only space left for pedestrians. We met our Sirdar, Furtemba, our two other climbing sherpas, Dormae and Angdou and the porters after a day of the obligatory Thamel experience of bargaining and being offered more incense than any- body would know what to do with, and in the still falling rain we set off for the start of the Annapurna circuit. The rain made this an eventful journey, with landslides and flooding causing the road to be impassable until teams of local men had cleared the mud and debris. What is nominally a 6 hour drive to Besisahar turned in to a 11 hour monster that saw us arrive weary and greeted by already full guest houses. Luckily, just as we were having to consider a night in the bus, Furtemba managed to secure us beds for the night – though he did get the owners out of bed and convince them to cook us dinner at 2300 hrs!
We had secured a bus for the journey from Besisahar to Jagat – normally most trekkers first day of walking. We loaded everything on to the bus and a 4x4 truck and started up the ‘road’. Some epic off-road skills were demonstrated by our driver, as we snaked and slid up the muddy, hole-ridden road that would struggle to pass as a bridleway in the UK. Some scary moments ensued as we passed close to the edge of partly washed away road surface that sunk further under the weight of the vehicles. On more than one occasion we were ready to leap out the open door of the bus! A large landslide finally halted our already slow progress and we were forced to bid farewell to our heroic driver and make the last few kilometres to Jagat on foot. This was where I was introduced to leeches, managing to break my duck with a hungry chap on my heel. Luckily he was washed off when we had to cross a river and I didn’t have to resort to removing him myself.
The following two days took us through Dharapani and then Koto, on the north-eastern corner of the Annapurna circuit. The weather was starting to settle down, the monsoon’s power finally wan- ing. In the brief, but fierce periods of sunshine, we were treated to glimpses of the Himalaya’s breathtaking beauty between the clouds– tasters of what was to come. The might of the monsoon was certainly plain to see, the river swollen and the waterfalls thun- derous from the months of rain.
Exercise
HiMlung
HiMAl
By Jonathan Fuller
10 ARMY MOUNTAINEER