13/11/2008Robbery and Soloing in the Himalaya

On the 3rd September Andy Houseman and Nick Bullock landed at Lukla with the intention of attempting a new line leading to the unclimbed south summit of Peak 41 (6575m). A four-day walk, crossing the Zatwra La into the Hinku Valley led to base camp in a small hidden (not well enough it transpires) valley, 45 mins away from the Khare Camp (5000m), base for the very popular and highest of the Himalayan trekking peaks, Mera Peak (6476m).

Nick described Khare as: "a small squalid village with a 'frontier' feel to it, full of Wild West characters mingling with lots of adventure company trekking groups."

After acclimatising by spending a night at Mera Peak High Camp (5800m) with awesome views of Everest and Makalu, Nick and Andy descended for a rest at the pretty village of Tagnag (4350m). Returning to their base Camp a day-and-a-half later to start their climb, they were shocked to find thieves had cleaned the place out. Everything had gone: prototype tents from Mountain Equipment, food, clothes, gas, cooking stuff and climbing gear - estimated to be worth around £10.000.

Nick said: "All we had left was the stuff we'd taken down to Tagnag, which was basically the clothes we wore and a sleeping bag. Devastated, we walked out, needing no porters! We reached Lukla in one-and-a-half days where we filed a Police report."

Back in Kathmandu, to make matters worse, Nick's agent had gone on a trek leaving Nick's wallet, laptop etc locked away. Andy had to return home due to other commitments, leaving Nick to wander disconsolately from bakery to bakery while he hatched a cunning plan. Nick's frustration showed through in his comment: "If one more street-seller had offered me hash, tiger balm, a wooden flute, rickshaw ride, homemade violin, Everest trek or bungee jump I'd have stuffed it up their arse."

After a lot of emailing, a second chance presented itself in the shape of Dave Noddings (a.k.a Noddy), together with some great support from Nick's sponsors. Although Noddy, DMM's Sales Rep, didn't have any alpine or himalayan climbing experience he was due a big chunk of leave and keen to try some 'big stuff'. Arriving in Nepal on the 24th October, weighed down with lots of new kit, 60kgs of it, he quickly found himself at Mera High Camp (5800m) on an accelerated acclimatisation outing.

With two day's rest, Nick and Noddy set off from Tagnag to the bottom of the face on Peak 41. But the large rucksac and extreme boulder hopping proved too much for Noddy's fitness, so they decided to stash the kit and return back to Tagnag.

Following a day's recovery, they set-off again but Noddy still felt done-in. Nick, straining at the leash, decided to go it alone and waved an emotional farewell to Noddy. The next day Nick reached the base of the route after a technical approach and decided on a line well over to the left from the original intended couloir, which held too many unknowns for a solo. This is Nick's account of what followed:

"The approach was something like Bristly Ridge in North Wales, until I made an irreversible abseil onto the glacier. The ropes loosened a rock which hit my leg, causing quite a bit of pain, swelling and concern. I limped across the glacier and bivvied at the base of the face dosed up on 'brufen bombs."

"Setting-off at 1 am, I crossed the glacier and climbed some nice steep water ice, trying to ignore the worrying seracs above, until I was under the face to the left of the intended couloir. Runnels of fluted snow followed until 6 am where the cold got to me, as I wasn't wearing my usual clothes (they'd been stolen), so I cut a step and got into my bag for an hour to warm up. Continuing, the ground got steeper and more insecure, sugar-snow gave me hardly any support. I could now look across to the couloir splitting the rock face and the exposure was quite exceptional. Crossing from one runnel to another was difficult as the deeper snow would hardly support my weight and it had me flapping a bit as I expected everything to give way."

"The mixed ground was worrying, loose steep rock, rippy ice and soft snow made it very insecure. At one point I had to abseil into a runnel to my left as I hit an impasse with loose overhanging rock. Then, about 5 metres from an obvious snow ledge I had to leave my sack and back-rope a section of snow climbing so insecure I thought I was definitely going to fall onto a loop I had secured to a single nut. Fortunately I didn’t, but then had to abseil to get my sack and re-climb with the safety of a top rope. Here was a perfect bivvy but it was only 1.25 pm. I looked around the corner but as more difficult climbing continued and being knackered I settled in for a long rest."

"Day two brought more of the same. Having to back-rope a worrying mixed section wasn't what I wanted before breakfast. This section was harrowing and I think it would have turned me back but I was so driven to get this climb done, after the theft, returning to Kathmandu, the rock on the knee etc. It had all hardened my resolve. Loose boulders stuck-out from the ice, and as I sat on one, traversing into a runnel of sugar with thousands of feet below, I expected the whole thing to rip. The insecure and loose rock continued, leading into a runnel of unsupporting snow which I climbed to the foot of a large rock buttress approximately 2-300 metres from the summit. There was no obvious weakness and as I had left my second rope and bivvy kit at the bivvy-site, hoping to reach the summit, it looked impassable. I cut a snow bollard into the sugar and began the descent...."
 
"The descent was scary...I abseiled leaving gear in the loose rock, then on the snow I made ice threads. Reaching the less steep ground was not ideal in the full afternoon sun and I gingerly continued avoiding crevasses until back beneath the tottering seracs. Here I made two abseils, all the while regularly looking up, until I was on the initial glacier above my starting bivvy at the base of the face, which I reached at 6 pm; relieved. The following day (8th Nov) I found a way off the glacier, followed by a seven hour walk to Tagnag to meet up with a patiently waiting Noddy. On reflection the climbing was some of the hardest I have done in the Himalayas, with or without a partner and definitely the most insecure I've ever soloed."

Photos:

from top to bottom - all © Nick Bullock

Peak 41 (6575m) with Noddy silhouetted on the approach. The original couloir objective is obvious on the right-side of the face.

Returning to find everything gone at base camp.

Peak 41 with Nick's line and high-point marked.

Nick Bullock at the bivvy on the route with Everest behind.

Note:
Nick would like to say a huge thankyou to the MEF and the BMC for their support and to his sponsors: DMM, Mammut and Vasque. Thanks also goes to Mountain Equipment, Crux, Travel Lunch and Biman Air for their baggage limits; not forgetting Freddie Wilkinson, MOG Man (a.k.a Kev Mhonie) and Ben Gilmore for the whisky, two cylinders of gas, food and a tent to sleep-in when I was distraught. Gratitude is due to Ian Wall (portersprogress.org) for lending me cash in Kathmandu for the second set of Lukla flights and to my friend and agent Loben (lobenexpeditions.com). Last but most importantly, many thanks to Noddy, for making it possible for me to swing an axe.