Commando News Issue 13 2018

allowed two days at our High Camp but such is the
challenge of combining climbing and trekking into a
tight schedule. In hindsight and given the snow con -
ditions we probably could have started in daylight after
the wind had dropped. Maybe we should have
checked the weather forecast ourselves.
The WA Family expedition at our High Camp at
5800 metres with jet stream wind blowing off the
summits of Everest and Lhotse (4 th highest).
Makalu (5 th highest) and Cho Oyu (6 th highest) also in view.
It all began a year before when Lisa (D3) asked me
to go to the Himalayas. So one in, all in, and the once
in a lifetime family expedition began to take shape.
Months of physical preparation commenced, although
our local Reabold Hill fell well short of what was to
come. With only one month to go I experienced an ’ah
fuck moment’ at a body pump session in the gym when
I re-ripped my hiatus hernia and my nagging jumpers
left knee was not getting any better. My kingdom for
some pain free knees! Woe was me, so I stocked up on
pain killers for an SAS candy fuelled ascent if necessary,
but it was not to be. Success in the Himalayas is hard
won. My first Himalayan expedition 37 years ago to
Ganesh IV in Nepal had ended in tragedy when our
high camp including me was swept away by an ava -
lanche and I did not summit. On my second Himalayan
expedition to Broad Peak in Pakistan, 33 years ago, I
turned back just short of 8,000 metres due to intense
cold and I did not summit. On my third Himalayan
expedition 31 years ago to Everest I reached the South
Col at 8,000 metres but a subsequent window of
opportunity was negated by jet stream winds. From our
high point on Mera Peak we could see the summit of
Everest and the same strong jet stream winds blowing
into China. On my fourth Himalayan expedition 25
years ago I was lucky to claim the first Australian ascent
of Nanda Devi East in India.
I had not heard of Mera Peak before but its
excellent views of six of the fourteen 8,000 metre
mountains and straight forward climbing made it an
obvious choice. My four children are not diehard
climbers like myself and the instructions from my wife
Colette were “not to kill the children.” Walking the
Kokoda Track the year before was tough but there
needed to be some perception of danger as well. We
needed a tiger for breakfast. It had been 30 years since
I had been to the Himalayas and boy was I out of date
with the abundance of lodges on the walk in. There is
no requirement for Tilman ‘memorable bathes’ any -
more as most lodges have hot showers! Tillman and
Shipton would both roll in their graves as the Internet
of Everything has replaced planning on the back of a
postcard. Indeed Tilman’s programmed no-speaking
days on expeditions have been replaced by social
media surfing at lodges. There are now a plethora of
people climbing and trekking in the Himalayas with 28
lodges and 500 guest beds in Lukla alone! We were
told that there is a veritable Conga line (highway of
zonkey, donkey, cow, yak and human shit) on the track
between Lukla and Everest base camp. There is a
commercial proposition to limit the number of visitors
in each valley and for the government to set higher
rates by a multitude of trekking companies.
After the mandatory steaks at Yak-Donalds and a
visit to funeral pyres and temples in Kathmandu, we
flew to Lukla, the mountain airstrip and entry point to
Sherpa country. We were reminded that it was nak
butter and not yak butter! The walk in to Mera Peak
makes the trek to Everest base camp and parts of the
Baltoro Glacier in Pakistan look like a doddle. We
celebrated a Puja (religious ceremony) with a Lama in a
rock cave on the way in to bless the journey and paid
his fees for enlightenment. At least he has not been
replaced by social media. Climate change has had its
impact over the last 30 years that our Sirdar has been
working in the Inkhu Khola Valley and there are massive
ice-free, rock walls awaiting rock climbers and probably
lots of bolts.
In the end all of our faces were hurting from the
wind and our various bodies were suffering from snoticles,
farting and the risk of follow through, vomiting,
blood in snot, rapid onset of headaches, tight chests,
vertigo, exertion, cracked lips, restless sleep, weird
dreams etc etc. These signs and symptoms were
diffused and offset by vista, vista and more vista, Dal
Bhat, bamboo forests, cheery Sherpani’s (good karma),
Sherpa tea, Sherpa stew, masala tea, bonhomie,
noodles with egg, the crunch-crunch of crampons, the
poke-poke of climbing sticks, Tibetan bread, wifi
equipped mountain huts (called lodges), and by
meeting half of Europe on the track etc etc.
We were ably supported by Cho La Adventures. My
lasting image is of the Cho La cook from High Camp
running down a snow slope with a thermos of hot tea
for us plodders! It is not in our Australian culture for
people to eat separately but we came to accept their
ways. Mingmar our Sirdar was physically strong and he
and his son Phuri had much good humour to put up
with us. They would say “good work”, “enjoy”, “ready
now”, “almost there“, “maybe/maybe not”, “20
minutes”, “close now, “why not” “Nepali flat”, don’t
worry; chicken curry” and “Dal Bhat power, trek for 24
26 COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 13 I 2018