Cholatse Expedition

6,440m

2022-05-15

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After the successful summit of Kyajo Ri, we headed back to Namche Bazar for two days to recover and get ready for Mt. Cholatse. After Namche we ascent to Gokyo where we spent two days. Gokyo is located next to a big lake and it is surrounded by 6,000m mountains. We ascent up to Gokyo Ri (5,357m) to see the panoramic view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. The next day we left Gokyo and we hiked to Dragnak, the last village before Cholatse base camp. To reach Dragnak from Gokyo village we cross a long glacier that is connected with Mt. Cho Oyu. While we were crossing the glacier, we saw many glacier lakes with a light blue color and at the end of the glacier, Mt. Cho Oyu created a very beautiful view. We reached Dragnak and we made the last preparations for the Cholatse climb.

The next day we headed to Cholatse base camp which is one hour and a half from Dragnak. The base camp (4,700m) is located in a flat valley where many yaks use to visit during the day to eat the fresh grass. We reached the camp and the staff welcome us with a hot tea and a delicious meal. We had two days of rest in the camp as we were already acclimatized from Kyajo Ri. The days were warm and sunny.

After two days of rest, we left base camp and the final summit push began. During the climb, we set up two camps as the way to the summit was long. On the way to camp one, we crossed several crevasses and then we climb up a 250m headwall. Camp one (5,600m) was comfortable and located in a ridge col.

The next day we reached camp two (5,850m). The camp was very small but with a beautiful view. We rest for a few hours and at midnight, we head to the summit. The way was long with deep snow and many crevasses. We reached the summit in the morning and then we descent to Camp two to sleep as the summit day was long and tiring. The next day we reached base camp and we celebrate our Cholatse summit.

It was a hard climb but the views made us forget about the big effort.

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