Climbing Kyajo Ri in the Khumbu Region of Nepal

This blog post comes from Connie Garrett of Bozeman, Montana. You may remember Connie from a previous post about the clothing drive she has put together to benefit the Khumbu Climbing School. Connie is a Backcountry.com customer who we've teamed up with to help support as she heads to Nepal this October.

Nestled along the line of magnificent peaks of the Khumbu Himal region, Kyajo Ri rises 20,290 feet from the Thame valley to the west and the Gokyo valley to the east. Just 26 days and 10,990 feet of climbing will bring our team to the sharp defined summit just about on Halloween!

Reaching base camp is most of the adventure. Beginning in Lukla, Nepal, our team will nearly circumnavigate Kyajo Ri before beginning essentially a 4-day climb. Beginning by trekking into the hills of Namche Bazar where a rest day hike brings us to Khumjung, 12,600 ft, for a view of Mt. Everest and Ama Dablam. From here our team climbs passes and sweeps into valleys as we make our way from Machhermo around to Mende and a faint yak trail that leads the way to base camp. Only one additional camp will be established on the mountain at 17,500 before our ascent to the summit. On summit day we cross the Kyajo glacier to a talus and easy rock section leading to the southwest ridge at 18,700 feet. Here we climb 10 pitches of steep snow and ice to the sharp narrow wedge of snow at the summit. Our decent follows the ascent by way of rappel, down climbing, and lowering.

After a few photos it'll be all downhill from there. Once I return to the U.S. I'll be writing a trip report about the climb and will also report on the clothing drive. Thanks to everyone for your donations and well wishes.

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If you're interested in donating some clothing be sure to get in touch with Connie this week. Her information can be found on the Clothing Drive Post

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Cookies for Randy...and 20% off at Backcountry.com for You

This blog post comes from Connie Garrett of Bozeman, Montana. Connie is a Backcountry.com customer who we've teamed up with to help support as she heads to Nepal this October. But it's not her climbing that we're most stoked about. Read on...
One birthday particularly stands out in my memory when my grandma and I made cookies for Randy, the disabled son of one of her friend’s. It is odd to make a Christmas present for someone else on your birthday, but shortly after Christmas I received my birthday gift – a “thank you” card in Randy’s handwriting, which I still have displayed on a shelf in my office over 25 years later.

Flash forward to this coming October when I depart on an adventure of a lifetime. Half way around the world is our climbing objective – Kyajo Ri (pictured here to the right). Nestled along the line of magnificent peaks of the Khumbu Himal region, Kyajo Ri rises to 20,290 feet from the Thame valley to the west and the Gokyo valley to the east. Just 26 days and 10,990 feet of climbing will bring our team to the sharp defined summit just about on Halloween!

So what does this have to do with cookies? Giving back.

Through climbing I’ve overcome some of life’s biggest obstacles and healed life’s biggest pains. For the expedition to Nepal, Vertical Realty (my company) has teamed with Backcountry.com to collect at least 200 pounds of clothing for delivery to Nepali porters and high altitude workers. All clothing collected will benefit the Khumbu Climbing School, part of the Alex Lowe Foundation.

Clothing items need to be non-cotton and can include hats, scarfs, fleece jackets, fleece pullovers, waterproof jacketes and pants, and sweaters. For each person that donates 5 pieces of clothing or outerwear, you'll receive a 20% off coupon code from Connie that is valid through Feb 1, 2008 at Backcountry.com.

Please e-mail Connie - connie@bozemanmontanaproperties.com - to coordinate mailing your donation if you don't live in the Bozeman, Montana area.

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If we receive more donations that are needed for the Khumbu Climbing School, additional donations will be delivered to the International Mountain Explorers Connection (IMEC). IMEC promotes responsible and sustainable connections between travelers and the people of developing mountain regions through education, assistance, and cross-cultural experiences.

About the Khumbu Climbing School

The climbing school is an annual vocational training and instructional program designed to teach technical climbing skills, English, wilderness first aide, and basic rescue scenarios to those working in the these high regions. We need your donations to help make this program an on going success.

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Journey to the Top

After an eventful flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, including a "go-around" on the foggiest day the guides have ever seen planes fly, the Adventure Consultants Team arrived in the Khumbu. The Adventure Consultants Team made it to Namche on Monday where Baxter was able to do some shopping for a few last minute items, like a Tibetan rug for the tent floor (every tent has GOT to have a nice rug!!) and some prayer flags to leave at the top of the world. The team also got their first crystal clear view of Everest from Khumjung! Boy, did it look slightly windy at the top.

They spent a couple rest days in Namche, where they were able to acclimitize to the higher altitude as well as get to know each other. The team includes a variety of people from all walks of life and places around the world, so its interesting just to hear all the individual stories that brought each person to this place in the world at the same time.

From Namche, they will continue the trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC) which will include several days of 6 hour hikes until they arrive at 17,600 ft. They have quite a bit on their mind with the climbing still ahead and its great that they have each other as they continue to build on their skills and acclimitazation.

We will get more updates as the team moves up so be sure to check back!

Next stop Everest Base Camp!!!

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