On December 21, a Nepali team did a double first ascent of two neighboring 6,000m peaks in the Upper Mustang region.
Sherpa guides usually treat winter as a time to rest, travel, and spend time with their families. However, some also enjoy climbing for the fun of it and to hone their skills with alpine-style projects. After all, their country is still full of unclimbed peaks.
Jenjen Lama, Pasang Rinzee Sherpa, and Ashish Gurung summited Chhuama II (6,325m). They then followed the summit ridge to the top of neighboring Chhuama I (6,366m) two hours later. This marked the first ascent of both peaks.
“The expedition followed a clean alpine approach, climbing via the southeast face of Chhuama II, traversing westward to Chhuama I, and descending via the south ridge of Chhuama I,” sponsor Seven Summit Treks reported.
Focus on alpine-style
“The original idea came from a guy who works with Seven Summit Treks [7ST], a member of the Nepal Mountain Academy who identified these peaks as unclimbed,” guide Pasang Rinzee Sherpa told ExplorersWeb. “We formed a team and got support from 7ST.”
They eventually decided to climb alpine-style and to traverse from Chhuama II to Chhuama I in a single push.
Driving to the Korala border pass (4,660m), on the frontier between Nepal’s Mustang region and Tibet, they trekked toward the peak and set up base camp.
The team pitches a high camp on mixed ground. Photo: Pasang Rinzee Sherpa
“On the next day, we started hiking toward 5,300m, where we set a high camp and spent the night… well, half the night, as we set off toward the summit very early,” Pasang Rinzee said.
Rocky sections on the first ascent of Chhuama II and Chhuama I. Photo: Pasang Rinzee Sherpa
Mainly a rock climb
Snow covered the base of the mountain and the first summit, but, unlike most of the peaks the Nepalis work on during the year, the second peak featured mostly bare granite.
Chhuama I from Chhuama II. Photo: Pasang Rinzee
Snowy Chhuama II from Chhuama I. Photo: Pasang Rinzee
“Chhuama II could be suitable as a trekking peak, but Chhuama I is too tricky,” Pasang Rinzee said. “The approach is longer, and it has lots of loose rock.”
The unstable rock was one of the main obstacles the team found on the traverse and the second peak.
“You cannot actually stand on the top because of the unstable rock,” he said.
Summit picture on the crumbly summit of Chhuama I. Photo: Pasang Rinzee
The summit views were also quite different from the sea of snowy peaks viewed from Nepal’s 8,000’ers. Upper Mustang is a dry, desert-like area similar to the Tibetan plains to the north, with lower, drier peaks marking the border.
By supporting this expedition, Seven Summit Treks aims to “develop future strategies for climbing virgin, uncharted mountains,” the expedition company wrote.
