|
|
Cho Oyu Sale! 50% off...from Nepal side? The King of Nepal wants to make you a deal
Feb 18, 2005 17: 42 EST
Previously published Feb 10, 2005 12: 38 EST
Some weeks ago, before the King fired the government and took power, the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said that fifty percent of the expedition royalty amount for Mt. Cho Oyu will be waived for the occasion of Mt. Cho Oyu’s Golden Jubilee Celebration (2004). The new royalty amount for a seven member expedition team now costs only US $5000, down from US $10000. The new price is effective for five years from December 1, 2004 to November 30, 2009.
The catch
That would be wonderful news… if Cho Oyu was climbed from Nepal. But in 99% of the cases, it’s not. Cho Oyu's normal route goes from Tibet, on the north side of the peak, through the NW ridge. Therefore, the climbing permit has to be paid not to the Nepalese authorities, but to the Chinese.
Most teams start their trips in the more convenient starting point of Kathmandu and also hire logistics (porters, BC staff, etc) out of Nepal. But teams must cross the border into Tibet before trekking to BC.
The times of the pirates
There was a time when climbers actually started from Nepal…illegally. In fact, no other 8000er has ever registered such a huge number of ‘ghost summits’.
From 1959 until the 1990’s, Cho Oyu was closed to climbers from Tibet. Therefore, many bold climbers chose to sneak into the country from Nepal by crossing the Nangpa La, a natural mountain pass used by Tibetan traders on their way to the Namche Bazaar, in Nepal’s Khumbu valley.
The ‘pirate’ climbers would walk from Gokyo and set up a small camp below the Nangpa La, which they passed during the night, traversing straight to Camp One on the ‘normal’ route of Cho Oyu. Therefore, they were not climbing the Nepali side of the mountain, but the Tibetan one. Also, the climbers got out of paying a permit to either country.
Eventually, Chinese troops to got wise to the ‘pirating’ of their mountain. The troops set up permanent surveillance patrols in Cho Oyu Chinese BC, located just in front of the Nangpa La. Climbers in violation were arrested and taken to Lhasa.
Since Cho Oyu´s Tibetan side was reopened, expeditions chose to avoid trouble with the authorities and paid their climbing permits to the Chinese.
Sales on Cho Oyu’s rough side
The only way to take advantage of the super-low price to climb Cho Oyu is by attempting the Nepali side of the mountain, facing South. The problem is that there’s no easy or safe way to the summit from that side. Climbers everywhere are in agreement about how dangerous an attempt from the Nepal side is.
The SE face is a huge rock and ice wall, extremely difficult to climb. It was climbed in 1978 by Austrians A. Furtner and E.Koblmüller (without permit, by the way). Messner attempted a new route in winter, 1992, but failed.
For some hard-core climbers, the South side seemed not difficult enough, so they decided to open a route… in winter. It was, of course, a Polish team. Kukuczka Berbeka, Pawlikowski and Heinrich, followed a route started by a Yugoslavian team one year earlier through the SE Pillar. They summited in February of 1985.
In 1990, the South-West Face, extremely vertical and exposed, was first climbed Alpine style by the Swiss/Polish: Erhard Loretan, Jean Troillet and Wojciech Kurtyka. Their line was repeated, also in Alpine style, in the autumn of 1994 by two Japanese women: Yuka Endo and Taeko Nagao. At the same time Nagao’s future husband, Yasushi Yamanoi, soloed a new line up the face on the left.
Now, who’s next?
So, there you have it: A great challenge to silence those claiming that Cho Oyu is the easiest of the 8000ers, and at half the price! You also have until November of 2009 to train and prepare. But remember that, after summiting, climbers will have to climb down the same face. If they descend by the normal route, they would end up at the other side of the frontier, and should expect bitter discussions at customs on their way back.
Cho Oyu, at 8188 m. is the sixth highest mountain in the world and was first climbed in October of 1954 by the Austrians Sepp Jöchler, Herbert Tichy and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama, without oxygen - an amazing feat in that time.
Cho Oyu means “The Turquoise Goddess” in the Tibetan language. Because of the relatively non-technical climb on the normal route, the mountain is used by many climbers to get their first experience with 8000+ peaks.
Its southern side is extremely difficult and dangerous, while access to the north side was forbidden for many years due to the closing of Tibet by the Chinese.
Image of Cho Oyu south side from Gokyo Lakes, courtesy of Mountains and Beyond
|
|
Feature Stories |
|
Latest News |
more news |
 |
Everest Supercouloir: "What is a summit compared to a friend's lif
Full Story
|
 |
Mystery Chopper's Utopia summit - VIDEO
Full Story
|
 |
Annapurna South: "It was such a great climb"
Full Story
|
 |
ExWeb Special report: The Ropes and Summit Push on Everest...
Full Story
|
 |
Real men
Full Story
|
 |
Christian Kuntner - a mountaineering legend is gone
Full Story
|
 |
14 x 8000: Ed Viesturs joins the world's most exclusive...
Full Story
|
 |
ExWeb Special: Ed Viesturs "I still have peaks that I want...
Full Story
|
|
|
| Andrew Lock on Annapurna tragedy: "I wanted to keep on climbing" Jun 6, 2005 | | Gabriel Filippi and Sean Egan's soul, together on the summit of Everest Jun 6, 2005 | | "Supermom" Monica Kalozdi update: Everest Summit and hard descent Jun 5, 2005 | | Robert Milne dies during summit push Everest South Jun 5, 2005 | | Grania Willis summits Everest this morning Jun 5, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week-In-Review Jun 5, 2005 | | Himex summit - Update from climber Jun 4, 2005 | | No Mountain top too high, my Love Jun 4, 2005 | | Jagged Globe team summits again! Jun 4, 2005 | | More summits for DCXP/Project Himalaya this morning Jun 4, 2005 |
| | End of season... Jun 4, 2005 | | Ranulph Fiennes turns back on Everest Jun 3, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
2004
BEST of EXPLORERSWEB
|
|
|
|
