Cho Oyu Expedition. 8201 meters - 46 days

Cho Oyu 8201 meters is the sixth highest mountain peak in the world. Cho Oyu lies in the Himalayas and is 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between China and Nepal. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. Cho Oyu was first attempted in 1952 by an expedition organized and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee of Great Britain as preparation for an attempt on Mount Everest the following year. The expedition was led by Eric Shipton and included Tom Bourdillon, but technical difficulties at an ice cliff above 6650m (21820ft) proved beyond their abilities. (Today, these ice cliffs are normally ascended using fixed ropes.)

The mountain was first climbed on October 19, 1954 via the north-west ridge by Herbert Tichy, Joseph Jchler and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama of an Austrian expedition. Cho Oyu was the fifth 8000 meter peak to be climbed, after Annapurna in June 1950, Mount Everest in May 1953, Nanga Parbat in July 1953 and K2 in July 1954. The Indian and German team also climbed this peak in 1958 and 1964 respectively. Till to date many expedition teams have successfully reached on its summit. The year 2004 was regarded as the Golden jubilee of this Cho Oyu Mountain in the field of expedition. The golden jubilee ceremony was organized by Nepal Mountaineering Association with grand fanfare and jubilantly. There were about 400 climbers from different region of the World during this golden jubilee ceremony and most of them made the summit.

Just a few kilometers west of Cho Oyu is the Nangpa La (5716 meters/18753 feet), a glaciated pass that serves as the main trading route between the Tibetans and the Khumbu's Sherpas. Due to its proximity to this pass and the generally moderate slopes of the standard northwest ridge route, some climbers consider Cho Oyu to be the easiest 8000 meter peak to climb, and it is a popular objective for professionally guided parties. Most of the Cho Oyu expedition teams climb from Tibet side due the easy technique-climbing route from there. Expedition to Cho Oyu from Nepal side is being popular after successfully summit on it after more than 2 decades. Nepal government is thinking to either minimize or free the royalty from Nepal side on the occasion of Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

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>>>ABC is in the heart of the Himalayas at 5700 meters; surrounded by celestial peaks. There is also the high pass called Nangpa La nearby Cho Oyu Summitwhich, an old but still used yak track trading route between Nepal and Tibet exists.

>>From ABC, we can see the superb scene of Cho Oyu . This is the main base camp and we plan to stay there for the longer duration also to look the favorable situation for the expedition. Every person gets his or her own tent. Our Service will be full board up to ABC and after that the climbers should manage all services by themselves.

>>From ABC it is several hours of tough walking on a vague path over moraine-covered glacier to the start of the mountaineering properly.

>>Camp 1 is either situated more or less on the ridge at 6400 meters and the real mountaineering starts from here. The ridge is now soft and easy enough for climbing, then it broadens out and you should climb successive huge steps, several of which probably require fixing a rope up there. You should fix a new rope in co-operation with other members on the mountain. Normally one rope is used for ascent and another for descent. Although the route is crevassed but normally these creates no problems

>>Cho Oyu Panorama from SummitCamp 2 is on the edge of a large plateau at 7125 meters although you can carefully assess where to put the rope. Depending on conditions and fitness you may attempt the summit from here, or you may establish a light Camp 3 across the plateau and up on a minor ridge at 7550 meters. Above Camp 3, there are two rocky steps where you fix another set of ropes prior to our summit ascent.

>>Finally, you will start early in the morning from camp 3 for summit. Above the rock bands, the slopes are still steep and you may take a line to fix there, depending on conditions, however once on the crest of this ridge the terrain is straightforward although it is a long haul to the summit plateau.