Cho-oyu, the worlds sixth highest mountain at 8201 meters, lies on the Nepal / Tibet border. Cho-oyu is considered an ‘achievable’ 8000m peak with minimal objective hazards and the climbing route follows a relatively straightforward line to the summit without any significant technical sections. This expedition presents a real opportunity for climbers to enter the world of 8000m climbing. There is no better testing ground, ease of access and ease of route means that you can save your energy for the climbing.
The North West face, now considered the normal route, is fairly straight forward with only a couple hundred meters requiring fixed rope. Camp one can usually be reached without climbing on snow. Advanced base camp offers a breathtaking view over the Nangpa La to Nepal and the Khumbu valley. This is the most popular 8000 meter peak for climbing in Through Tibet.Travel High Solu P(Ltd) leading adventure travel company, Trekking and Expedition organizer arrange both the logistic support to BaseCamp and fully guided climbing up to the summit. From Cho-oyu base camp, we trek to the advance base camp at 5700m. We climb through steep moraines to a shoulder at 6400m where camp I is set up. From here we climb up through the ridge and fix rope to climb a 50m high serac barrier split by a ramp to set up the Cho-oyu camp II at about 7000m. Climbing Cho-oyu becomes easier and places our attack camp III at 7500m on the North West face. Cho-oyu summit is a long way at the far end with huge snow fields.
Mike Bronson, Denver, Colorado, USA
Chuck Ramey, Tacoma, WA. USA
Aley Mills Willis, Seattle, WA. USA