Cholatse Expedition 1993

The Cholatse expedition in 1993 was my first Himalayan trip. Cholatse is a gorgeous 6440m (21,129') peak in Nepal, with 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 expedtion. 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!

The Summit of Cholatse

In the autumn of '93 myself and seven other climbers travelled 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. Serac danger was not just in the imagination there. Our advanced camp was flattened one morning by an absolutely collossal serac collapse, scaring the living hell out of everyone. We shifted our attention to the South-West Ridge and West Rib routes. Once established on the route as a foursome, I climbed on a rope with Chris Breemer, while John and Rob Cassady climbed on another. The four of us topped out on Cholatse on October 21. 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 suport 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. Two days after ourselves, Ed Webster and Glenn Dunmire completed the West Rib. We were all thrilled beyond description. No doubt some of the best days of my life.

John on a false summit, approximately 50 metres below the true summit

Rob Cassady stands in another world - so strange it caused me to confuse the horizon!