Cholatse

The Cholatse expedition in 1993 was my first to the Himalaya. Cholatse is a gorgeous 6440m (21,129') peak in Nepal, which has had very few ascents. I was very, very keen on going to the Himalaya and was lucky enough to meet John Climaco in the Canadian Rockies during the winter of '92-93. While ice climbing together he told me about his planned trip to Cholatse in Nepal. I was immediately desperate to go on his trip. I wrote him a letter and begged to join the expedition. Fortunately for me, John agreed. I will always be in his debt for allowing me to come. A bigger eye opening than what I experienced there I doubt is possible. Pure magic...Thank you John!

In the autumn of '93, John Climaco, Chris Breemer, Rob Cassady, Nick, Tommy Heinrich, Glenn Dunmire, Ed Webster and I traveled through the Khumbu region of Nepal and established a base camp below the West Face of Cholatse. From there some of us hoped to establish a new route on this face, but it soon became apparent why this had not yet been done. The serac danger was not just in the imagination there. Our advanced camp was flattened one morning by an absolutely colossal serac collapse, scaring the living hell out of everyone. We shifted our attention to the South-West Ridge and West Rib routes. Chris, John, Rob, Tommy and I climbed the SW Ridge, while Ed and Glenn climbed the West Rib. The route required the negotiation of a tricky ice-fall, the climbing of a 600' fluted headwall, and the completion of 15-20 pitches of knife-edge ridge before reaching the summit plateau. Summit day involved tricky route-finding through a maze of seracs and a subsequent airy, airy ridge to the tiny top. Along this section a clear 6000' view down the North Face caused some distraction within the peripheral vision. The final 20 metres is the steepest snow climbing I have ever done. I was amazed the structure would even support our weight. With the summit between my legs I photographed Pumori, Lobuje, Everest, Makalu and Menlungtse, a peak I would go to six years later. We were all thrilled beyond description. These were without doubt some of the best days of my life.