Climbing Kalapatar

"Why does your email address say "kalapatar"?"  So I'm asked, by new acquaintances who don't properly know my back story.  Here is the entry from my travel journal for October 28, 1995, written in Namche Bazaar, Nepal.  I was hiking together with my 18-year-old nephew Denny.  We had returned from our climb up to a point near the Everest Base Camp, and were now "living it up" in Namche, a couple of days from reaching Lukla and our helicopter ride back to Kathmandu.  I began writing, summarizing the past few days  --

October 28 -- Saturday
Namche Bazaar 

A long gap in this journal.  By now, Kalapatar has been conquered.  I am sitting back in the Trekker's Inn with Denny, waiting to order a beer.  We both just had our first hot showers in ten days, and we feel great.  And now -- two giant bottles of Tuborg have arrived.  Denny is about to order French fries for us as hors d'oeuvres, preparatory for the soon-to-be-ordered deluxe yak steak dinner. 

We arrived at Lobuche, about 16,400 feet, and the tents were set up beside the "Main Street," which led to the only two lodges in town.  We sat in one of the "dining rooms" -- a dark mysterious room whose walls were lined by persons speaking all languages -- and had our afternoon tea.  Met several interesting people including the Swedish guy who came up on the copter to Lukla with us.  He and a friend were also planning to climb Kalapatar the following day, but then planned to return to Lobuche and continue up to the Cho La pass (on the way to the Gokyo valley) -- all in the same day.  Sounded preposterous.  [Learned later they returned only as far as Lobuche, as did we.]  

Also met a young guy from Arkansas, just graduated from Swarthmore, who has a round-the-world-plane ticket.  Started at Bali.  After the Everest area, he may go to Annapurna, then overland to Bombay, and then fly to Nairobi to visit family friends.  Am I envious?  May go to medical school when he gets back to the USA, but he wasn't particularly excited about talking about events so far in the future.  Very articulate and enjoyable to talk to.

Everyone was fairly apprehensive about the climb.   Jim [along with Cory, one of the two other members of our party] woke up the next morning convinced that he couldn't make it, and announcing that he wouldn't try.  He finally agreed to try to get as far as Gorak Shep.  Ang Temba [our Sherpa guide] announced -- in the form of asking us for permission -- that we would return to Lobuche immediately after the climb, rather than spend one or two nights at Gorak Shep.  This meant that two full days were being knocked off the schedule -- one of those days made up for the extra day we spent at Namche while Cory shopped for replacements.  [We learned three months after the trip that Cory had died of cancer, undiagnosed at the time of the trek.  We felt bad for having resented what we'd assumed was her "lack of conditioning," which was holding us back.]

As an example of the effect she was having, Ang Temba was obviously eager to get back to Pheriche [where Cory had become obviously ill] to see how Jim [our REI Adventures guide] and Cory were doing.  So instead of a leisurely trip to Gorak Shep with a late afternoon climb of Kalapatar and a sunset view of Everest, we arose early and got about an 8:30 start.  I could tell by the hike to Gorak Shep that the return to Lobuche would not be a downhill breeze as I had anticipated.  Endless ups and downs across moraine debris, dipping into one creek bed after another.  Finally arrived at Gorak Shep for lunch.  Small tea house -- no cokes or Fanta -- where we had lunch.  Strange striped fowl -- fat and unafraid -- which are alleged to be poisonous to eat (hence their self-confidence) -- wandered all over.

Kalapatar looks like a very easy climb from Gorak Shep -- two trails up a small round hill.  But the altitude is a killer.  Denny kept moving farther and farther ahead.  I went into my power breathing mode fairly early in the climb.  Ang Temba walked beside me for a moment or two, looked ahead at Denny admiringly, and said, "Denny is very strong!"  "And young,"  I replied gasping.  (I wanted me to be the fearless leader, whose exploits made others gasp!)  Ang has later suggested on several occasions that Denny return for future treks, and said he would be happy to guide him to the top of Island Peak, a snow climb slightly over 20,000 feet.

At one point on the trail up Kalapatar, [Jim] dragged himself up to where Denny and I were taking our rest break, fell flat onto the ground, and began sobbing.  We figured that was the end of the climb for him, but he was helped to his feet by Ang Temba, who held him by the shoulder as they continued upward.  He made it to the top before I did, and I have to give him credit for his endurance and persistence.

Just ordered the deluxe yak steak dinner -- all is well with the world.

I struggled to the top, the final part a climb over and around boulders or talus, and achieved the rather precarious summit, which dropped off on both sides to a somewhat dizzying chasm.  We had Jim take pictures of Denny and me, shaking hands, hugging, and otherwise expressing our exultation.  I took publicity photos of Denny with Nuptse and Everest in the background, Denny wearing his "Rob's Rib Shack" T-shirt.

The view in all directions was phenomenal.  I felt much better (once I stopped climbing) than I had on the summit of Kilimanjaro.  I could fully appreciate what I was seeing.  We stayed at the top for about a half hour, and then hustled back down the trail to Gorak Shep where we had a short rest.  At that point, I was feeling pretty good, but the hike back to Lobuche took a lot out of me.  The final "easy" flat stretch leading up to Lobuche seemed to go on forever.  We arrived back at 3 p.m.  I collapsed onto my sleeping bag.  At 6 pm., I took out my contacts, and Denny and I both declined dinner.

Slept until 6:30 the next morning -- a long, noisy night with French groups singing before dawn.  Much more crowded that it'd been the night before.

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I've excised a few lines expressing irritation at our two fellow hikers, which reflect badly on my usual sunny disposition!

From Lobuche, we returned to Namche, spending nights on the way down at Shomare and at the monastery at Thangboche.  Some of our more interesting experiences were on the walk down to Namche and then on to Lukla -- which was definitely easier than climbing up -- but I'll have to save that for another time.  Lobuche, where we spent nights before and after climbing Kalapatar, is 16,210 feet in elevation.  Gorak Shep, at the base of Kalapatar is 16,942 feet, and Kalapatar itself is 18,519 feet.  Kalapatar is an outcropping on the side of Pumori (23,424 feet), with excellent views of Everest.