Lhakpa Ri: “The Easiest 7000 m Peak in the World”

By: Dale Wagner, PhD

After having been on several 6000 m peaks in the Andes, I had the urge to try something higher. The normal climbing season for the Himalaya and most climbs in the 7000-8000 m range is either the spring or the fall. Unfortunately for me as a university professor, this is also the same time that school is in session making it impossible to do an extended international trip at that time of the year.

However, I decided to take a year off from teaching in 2004, and realizing that this was my opportunity (and maybe only chance) to get to the Himalaya, I started making plans for a 7000 m ascent.

My initial plan was to try two 7000 m peaks. I wanted to spend one month in Nepal and try Pumori (7161 m) and then follow that up with a month in Tibet on Lhakpa Ri (7045 m). This would give me the opportunity to see both sides of the Himalaya (Nepal and Tibet) and have two cracks at 7000 m, a hard one (Pumori) and an easier one (Lhakpa Ri). It seemed like a great plan.

However, in the midst of doing my planning for these climbs, I learned that I was selected for an interview for a position that I had applied for months earlier. To make a long story short, I had to decide between the interview and Pumori. I decided to go to the interview, didn’t get the job, and missed an opportunity to try and climb Pumori (aaaaaaugh!). Pumori is a beautiful mountain, and one that would probably have taken me to my limit both technically and physically. Well, just like a fish story, there is always “the one that got away”.

Spring was slipping away, but it was still possible to climb Lhakpa Ri in May. Not wanting to miss another chance (and maybe my last chance) to be on a 7000 m peak, I booked a flight. It is a long way to Kathmandu: 14 hours from LA to Hong Kong, another 2.5 hours from Hong Kong to Bangkok then 3 more hours from Bangkok to Kathmandu. To make matters worse, I caught a cold before leaving LA which was turning into a sinus infection by the time that I reached Kathmandu.

Kathmandu is everything that you have probably imagined and more. In May, the weather ranged between a comfortable 80° and a down-right hot and humid 90°+. There were people, cars, and motor bikes going in every direction, and a snake charmer (with cobras!) doing his thing on the sidewalk. I spent 3 days in Kathmandu. This was the necessary “waiting period” to get a visa to Tibet. Usually, I prefer to go
unguided on expeditions and do my own thing. However, due to the red tape of traveling to communist China, not knowing the area, etc., I decided to hire a local agency, Explore Himalaya, for this expedition to Lhakpa Ri. Their organization proved valuable for everything from getting in and out of China and avoiding Maoist strikes to
language translation in a Chinese hospital (more on that later) to knowing how many yaks would be needed for the trek to the high camp.

While in Kathmandu, I visited the famous “monkey temple”, the largest stupa (Buddhist prayer shrine) in Nepal, and a Hindu temple (all designated as world heritage sites). I
also witnessed a Hindu cremation, not something that I will soon forget.
With my visa approved, it was off to Lhasa, Tibet. We went to the Kathmandu airport early because of a workers strike that was being planned for later in the day (it is nice that they announce their work stoppages so that you can plan accordingly, haha).
Fortunately, the weather was clear, and the view of the Himalaya from the plane was fantastic! Visible were Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu on the left side of the plane and Kangchenjunga on the right. We spent the next 3 days in Lhasa acclimatizing
to the 12,000’ elevation. The “we” included Tom from Denmark and the two Mikes (junior and senior) from New Jersey who would be doing the trek to advanced base
camp (ABC) on the north side of Everest while I and Sheilah, a 49- year old from Colorado with a lot of international climbing experience, would be continuing on to try for the summit of Lhakpa Ri.

The sites to see in Lhasa include the Drepung Monastery (the
largest monastery in Tibet), the Jokhang Temple, and of course the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dahli Lama and featured in the movie, “Seven Years in Tibet”. It was interesting to see many of the local Tibetans wearing “North Face” jackets. Unlike the “North Fake” wear that was abundant in Nepal, this looked like the real thing, and it was available at unbelievably low prices (then again, it is “made in China”, right?). Also, it was in Lhasa that I fell in love with “momos”. A momo is a fried dumpling stuffed with yak meat or yak cheese. Mmmmmm, if these were available in the U.S., I think that they would be more popular than chicken wings.

From Lhasa it was a long 8- hour drive on a dirt road to Gyantse. A duct was being
built on the side of the road that went on for miles and miles. The stone work was
amazing and it was all being done by hand (picks and shovels!). We traveled around a huge lake (Yamdrok-tso) that had to be as big as Lake Titicaca in Bolivia/Peru and at
an elevation of over 4000 m. We also went over two high passes with the second pass reaching 5000 m near the base of Noijin-Kangsang (7191 m). In Gyantse there is a fort
that dates back to the 14th century. Aside from the acclimatization opportunity offered by the fort’s many steep steps, it provides a great view of the entire area. From Gyantse it was another day’s drive to Shigatse.

By this point my “cold” had gotten much worse and I could hardly swallow. LaDup, our friendly Tibetan tour guide, took me to a Chinese hospital. Eventually, he was able to explain my symptoms, and I was given some “authentic” Chinese medicine. Two days later in the remote town of Xegar, I was really in a bad way with a raging fever and feeling very weak. I thought that my expedition hopes of climbing a 7000 m peak were finished before even reaching base camp. That morning, I was prepared to put an end to my expedition and get transportation back to Nepal, but my fever broke and I started to feel a bit better. I decided to travel on with the group at least to the next pass for the views. The panoramic view from the Pang La (5200 m) was incredible. Off in the distance were four of the world’s highest peaks: Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyo. We continued on and later that afternoon reached our base camp just past the Rongbuk Monastery with dramatic views of the north face of Everest. Well, at least I had made it this far, Everest base camp, Tibet (5200 m).

We spent the next couple days acclimatizing in Everest base camp. During that time, LaDup took me to the Indian Navy expedition’s base camp tent to see their physician.
Yup, I still had an infection, but my lungs were clear; ok, to proceed with caution, but I would be climbing on antibiotics (an added challenge). There was a lot of radio commotion and buzz going on around the Indian Navy’s base camp tent. Apparently, they had a group of climbers making their Everest summit bid that day. (I later found out that they were successful putting two climbers on the summit that day and three others the previous day.)

The Lhakpa Ri climb follows the same route as Everest from Everest BC to ABC. At ABC, Everest climbers continue right up to the North Col while Lhakpa Ri is off to the left
across the Rongbuk glacier. From Everest BC to ABC is a trek with no technical difficulties, albeit a long (13 miles) and very high trek with ABC at about 6300 m. We would be breaking the trek up into multiple camps in order to acclimatize. But this was late May, and occasionally climbers who still had hopes of making a final Everest summit bid (who had been there since early March and were well acclimatized) would fly by at what seemed like warp speed in an effort to make ABC from BC in a single push.
Our multi-camp acclimatization approach was snail-like in comparison, but given my bad health, I was happy for the rest. We set up camp 1 at 5460 m, an interim camp at 5760 m with a rest day, camp 2 at 5970 m, and camp 3 at about 6300 m (ABC of Everest).
For the most part, our weather was great, but there was a period of about 4 days (a couple at base camp through to interim camp) that Everest was socked in and not even
visible. During this time, there were many reports of climbers being “lost” high on Everest. It was later confirmed that 5 people died on the north side of Everest during this time period (the deadliest year in history for the north side). The appeal and allure of Everest is real. It is strangely beautiful and mystifying yet deadly.

The “serac highway” started at about interim camp and continued up past camp 2.
These huge ice pinnacles rise like shark fins from the dark dirt. There are seracs, some of them several hundred feet high, on both sides of the trail. It is a bizarre sight. On our rest day, I would have liked to have gone ice climbing on one of these giant ice pinnacles with a couple of the Sherpas, but the infection, altitude, and antibiotics were taking their toll, and I used the rest day to“rest”. In addition to the seracs, the views of Everest from interim camp onward were fantastic. The entire Northeast Ridge from the Rongbuk glacier to the summit (a gain of probably 8,000 or 9,000’) was visible.
Finally, we reached Everest ABC (6300 m). The long Northeast Ridge of Everest was in front of me, the North Col and Changtse were to my right and behind me, and to my
left the Rongbuk glacier was separating me from Lhakpa Ri. My trekking partners would descend, and after a rest day, Sheilah and I would try for the summit of Lhakpa Ri with the Sherpas. Up to this point, it was just trekking, and the summit was just one day of “real” climbing and about 800 m (2500’) above me.

In addition to the porters, yak herders, and a cook, there were three Nepali climbing Sherpas that had been accompanying us since Everest base camp. This is a lot of
climbing Sherpas for only two climbers, but they had been guiding larger groups of people previous to our arrival. Since they had been working together all climbing season, they all stayed for one more climb.

Everything seems to take longer at high altitude, and I can remember struggling with my boots for what seemed like a long time. Finally, I was out of the tent and making my way across the Rongbuk glacier with Karma Sherpa at about 4:00 AM. We made fast progress across the glacier. The crevasses were about 2 feet wide, big enough to make you pay attention but small enough to be difficult to see in the dark under a light snow cover. At one point, I think that I could feel my boot slide forward a bit as if I were right at the edge of a crevasse. I quickly hopped forward.

After the glacier, the grade steepened. Karma and I put quite a bit of distance on Sheilah who was struggling with the cold and the other Sherpas (Dendi and the sirdar
Dakipa) who stayed back to attend to her. Nevertheless, Karma could have gone even faster. He was a 27-year old Sherpa who had been up this peak several times this
season. I think that he could probably go faster at 6000 m than I could go at 5000 m, and I slowed him down more than once to catch my breath. About this time, the sun was coming up. The Rongbuk glacier stretched out below me to my left and off to the right I could see Makalu with a beautiful alpine glow.

Eventually, we reached a fixed rope. Initially, the grade didn’t seem very steep, but it gradually sloped up steeper and steeper like a skateboard ramp. I thought that the ascender would only be on the rope as a safety device, but by the time that I reached the top of the fixed line I found myself pulling on it pretty hard. Now at the top of the slope, a rather large hole was visible. Karma and I waited for instructions from Dakipa. After a 10’ downclimb using a second tool from Dakipa, a short traverse, and an ascent up another fixed line, we were above the obstacle. After waiting for awhile, we were all together – Sheilah, myself, and the three sherpas – roped up and heading for the summit. During the climb, I had been trying to clear my throat of phlegm and mucus from the infection by forcibly coughing.

However, now when I coughed it felt as if I was being kicked in the ribs. There was something definitely wrong. It was so painful that it would cause me to double over. I held in my coughing as much as possible the rest of the climb. It wasn’t until about a month after I got back to the U.S. and had a large bump on my rib that I found out that I had cracked a rib. I had not fallen, so it must have been from the coughing.
The summit was guarded by what was probably about a 200’ high pile of crumbly slate rock. It seemed like each of us struggled with our footing. We were still roped together, but with no protection. I told Dakipa that it was unsafe; if one of us fell, we would all be pulled off. We un-roped, dropped our packs and took off our crampons for better footing. After a few tense moments, the Sherpas were able to climb up and secure a rope around a huge boulder. Sheilah and then I ascended the rope. There it was, just a few feet above the rope a mound of snow with a picket stuck in the top marked the summit.

Looking back in the direction that we had ascended from, nearly the entire Northeast Ridge of Everest was visible with Changtse sloping up to the right
from the North Col. The summit of Everest, clearly visible, looked so close yet so far away. Even though I was at 7045 m, it was still more than a vertical mile above my head.
We took our summit photos and made it down the crumbly slate without incident. Just below the summit where I had my pack and crampons, I checked my oxygen saturation with a pulse oximeter (being an exercise physiologist, I’m into all that physiological assessment stuff). 59% - Holy @#$%! That’s not good (98% is normal at sea-level). If I was at home and had a value like this, I would be rushed to the hospital and put on oxygen, but up here you just say, “Hmmmmm, interesting” and get down as quick as possible.
That’s exactly what I did.

Below the fixed lines, Sheilah was struggling. The afternoon was wearing on, and I wanted to get back to camp before sunset. Dakipa and I went
ahead and picked our way through the Rongbuk while the other two Sherpas assisted Sheilah. After some tea back at ABC, I drifted off to sleep only to be awakened by some
commotion a bit later. Peering out into the darkness, I saw the porters (in their sneakers on the glacier!) with the two Sherpas carrying Sheilah. It seems that she was severely dehydrated from the climb and just couldn’t make it back to camp on her own.
The following day, we packed up camp and made the long 13-mile trek down to Everest base camp. Even though it was downhill it took all day, and I didn’t reach it until shortly before dusk. LaDup, who had taken care of me throughout my travel through Tibet and had been very concerned for my health, greeted me with a big hug and a prayer scarf. I had spent 12 days above 17,000’ and reached an altitude of 23,113’. I’m not much of a soda drinker, but I got a Coke at one of the base camp “hotels” (Sherpa tea house tents), and it was the best Coke that I’ve ever had. It was May 30, and the Everest base camp looked almost deserted; much different from when we had arrived. We were gone the next day, too. After another two days of travel and a nice view of Shishipangma (the 6th 8000 m peak that I saw on this trip if you count seeing Kangchenjunga from the plane) and a long delay crossing the boarder at the friendship bridge, we were back in Kathmandu. Sheila and I went to the Rum Doodle, a bar/restaurant in the Thamel district of Kathmandu famous for its Everest memorabilia.
The walls are covered with signatures of Everest summiteers. For those who climb smaller peaks (like Lhakpa Ri), you can sign your name on one of the many small footprints that are also found throughout the restaurant, so look for mine if you are ever there. If you go to Tibet, be prepared for a lot of travel; it is really remote. Unlike
the Andes where you can reach most base camps in one day of travel and complete most climbs (even the big ones like Huascaran) in a week, you might have to spend almost an entire week traveling on dusty roads just to get to a base camp in Tibet. It is also more costly (flights and permits) and more of a logistical hassle to get to the Himalaya. But, if you want to reach 7000 m and climb in the shadow of Everest, than Lhakpa Ri might be a peak to consider. Lhakpa Ri has been dubbed the world’s easiest 7000 m peak. That may very well be a true assessment given that it is only trekking to about 6300 m and the climb to the summit is not a big technical challenge. However, it is all relative; the word “easy” does not belong in the same sentence as “7000 m peak”. It will still take your breath away.