Before I write about the four trips to the Pembrokeshire Coast Path that I’ve neglected to do, I thought I’d pen a little note about an up and coming trip in October/November.
It’s been seven years since I last went to the Himalaya. February 2015 to be exact, the year of the earthquake that devastated so much of Nepal and many of its World Heritage Sites. I left Nepal a month before the earthquake struck, a friend of mine was there climbing the mountain I’d just climbed, Mera Peak, during the earthquake. ‘Chaos’ is how he described the situation, but really you’d expect nothing less.
Why haven’t I returned since 2015? Mainly because I’ve concentrated on climbing and walking in other parts of the world. But I do love the Himalaya and the friendly Nepalese people so I’ve decided it’s time to return. There was a choice of two mountains, Cho Oyu, which I failed to summit in 2013, the 6th highest mountain in the world or Barunste of no great fame to anyone outside the climbing world, but one that was on the itinerary in 2015, but the heavy snow on our walk to Mera Peak put us nine days behind, so we had to drop the plan to climb Barunste as well. 8,200 metres or 7162 metres, a seven week trip or a five week trip, one would require supplementary oxygen and one wouldn’t, a hard decision? Seriously it was. I’ve dreamt many times of cracking that 8,000 metre barrier, but dreams and reality don’t always converge. Perceived risk, against actual risk? Risk is very much a personal awareness of what surrounds you and my definition of risk can be very different to the next man’s. Seven weeks is a long time to be away from home as is five, but by our understanding of time it’s still 14 days less and probably very difficult to argue against that particular fact. That was a major factor in my decision, as was my perception of the risk of climbing Cho Oyu against the risk of climbing Baruntsa. But what really swung it was that I’ve never been to Baruntsa and the thought of somewhere new to explore appealed more than attempting Cho Oyu again.
So in October this year I’ll travel back to Kathmandu and on into those mountains that have captivated and fascinated me for so much of my life, to attempt to climb Baruntsa with Tshering a Sherpa I’ve known and climbed with for many years.
LET THE TRAINING BEGIN