EXPEDITION SUMMARY
| Expedition: | Mera Peak Amphu |
| Code: | |
| Region: | South Asia |
| Country: | Nepal |
| Activity: | |
| Duration: | |
| Cost: | *$ |
| *Per Person Twin Share | |
Mera Peak via Amphu Labtsa > Expedition Overview
Highlights- Trek through the Sherpa Villages of the Everest area
- Summiting Nepal’s highest Trekking Peak
- Mera Glacier
- Spectacular views Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse.
- Magnificent wilderness and wonderful people of the Hinku valley.
Overview
Mera Peak (6,654m) is ideal for those looking to achieve their first Himalayan ascent. Thought technically an easy climb it is, however, a real challenge to reach the summit of Nepal’s highest Trekking Peak. Mera Peak stands to the south of Everest and dominates the watershed between the heavily wooded valleys of the Hinku and Hongu Drangkas. J.O.M. Roberts and Sen Tenzing made the first successful ascent of Mera Peak on 20 May 1953. The route they used is still the standard route.
The summit of Mera Peak provides one of the finest viewpoints in Nepal, offering a panoramic view of Chamlang, Kangchenjunga, Makalu, and Baruntse in the east and the peaks of Cho-Oyu, Ama Dablam and Kantega to the west. Everest can be viewed to the north over the massive south face of Lhotse and the Nuptse/Lhotse ridge. Under favourable conditions, it is possible to climb the peak and descend back to Base Camp on the same day.
Climbing Route:
North Face Glacier from the Mera La.
The base camp can be set up at 5,300m near Mera La on the Hongu side in the moraine below the ice. From here a high camp is set at 5,800m near a rocky outcrop on the Mera Glacier. The high camp proves to be one to the most glorious viewpoints in Nepal offering the panoramic views of Kanchanjunga, Chamlang, Makalu and Baruntse sweeping around from the east and Amadablam, Cho Oyu and Kangtega to the west. The giant faces of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse appear in the north. There are three main summits which are climbable without much difficulty. The south summit (6,065m) is the most accessible with the Northern Summit (6,476m), the highest, which can be reached by skirting the Central Summit (6,461m) to the north and following a snow ridge to its top. Climbing the middle summit requires ascent up on steep snow and is more technical. Mera North is straight-forward to climb.
The Mera Peak Controversy
There is some speculation about where the "Real" Mera Peak is. A couple of internet web sites are claiming that climbers are being duped into thinking they are climbing Mera Peak when in fact they are climbing what they refer to as the "False" Mera Peak.
Let us be quite plain and simple here. There is no such thing as a "False" Mera Peak. It does not exist and these claims are simply trying to spoil everyone's achievement and an attempt to weasel through a NMA loophole concerning Mera Peak. Let us explain.
- The original trekking peak list made up in 1977-78 did not have locations, but the height of Mera Peak matched that of what is said to be "False" Mera.
- There was also a map made by the NMA that went with the original list (very few people have seen this). "False" Mera was "The Peak". This means the said "False" Mera is the original Mera trekking peak after all.
- The new height 6654 meters appeared on the list in early eighties, we do not yet know when the locations were added, but the list with locations we have was printed in 1993. This version of the list makes "Real" Mera aka Peak 41 the trekking peak. Peak 41 is 6654m.
- The peak was inadvertently changed when the list was "improved", but nobody noticed!
The most likely scenario is this: "False" Mera is the peak that was originally called Mera and should therefore not be referred to as "False" Mera . Jimmy Roberts, the "father of trekking"l, who made the first ascent of Mera in 1953 with Sen Tenzing, was involved with drawing up the trekking peak list. This means there can not be a mistake in identifying Mera Peak (False Mera) as the real, original trekking peak.
To make the list more precise new height figures and (later?) locations were added.
Unfortunately for this purpose the NMA used data from Classification of the Himalaya drawn up (Nepal peaks) by Nepalese scholars Dr. Harka Gurung and Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha and later published in 1985 in American Alpine Journal Vol. 27, issue 59, pg. 109-141 as a compilation by H. Adams Carter. On this list there is no (False) Mera, it is totally missing, and "Mera" is given as an alternate name for Peak 41. The reason for this mistake on that list is not known yet.
Nobody noticed at that time that the peak had changed as False Mera was already firmly established as a trekking peak. Only the new, obviously incorrect height making Mera the highest trekking peak was questioned, but nobody had the mind to check the lat-long figures that also appeared on the TP-list.
This same mistake in naming Mera was carried on to the new topographic map. This is natural, why would cartographers question an official and undisputed Classification of the Himalaya?
We feel this explanation is quite plausible and explains why the mistake was not discovered earlier.
The peak mentioned on the internet (wrongly referred to as the Real Mera Peak) is actually Peak 41. This peak has not yet been climbed, as it is not a trekkable peak, it is a technical climb. It is not the height of the mountain that determines its name, it is the lat and long that determine it and therefore you will be climbing the Real Mera peak 6476m. Peak 41 is for professional climbers and is not a trekkable peak. The 6654m referred to in our and nearly everyone else's itinerary is the height specified on the permit you will get when you climb Mera and until the NMA rules on it, the height of the mountain you will be climbing is 6654m.
None of this should take anything away from what you are undertaking. Mera Peak is a serious mountain. While not in the same league, I am sure that Hillary wasn't any less proud of his achievement on Everest even though some speculated that Mallory reached the summit decades earlier.
Itinerary
Day 01: Transfer to hotel.
Day 02: Free time around Kathmandu, buy last minute things etc. Pre-expedition briefing in evening.
Day 03: Fly to Lukla (2800m). Trek Chuthanga (3800m)
Day 04: Rest day for acclimatisation.
Day 05: Trek to Thuli Kharka (4500m)
Day 06: Trek to Thasing Dingma (4350m)
Day 07: Trek to Thagnak (4356m)
Day 08: Trek to Dig Kharka (4850m)
Day 09: Rest day for acclimatisation and exploration of area
Day 10: Trek to Mera La (5414m)
Day 11: Trek High Camp (5850m)
Day 12: Summit attempt (6,654m). Return to Mera La (5414m).
Day 13: Contingency day in case of bad weather.
Day 14: Mera La to Hongu Valley. We depart Mera La and trek down into the Hongu valley. An easier day decending down to around 4900m and trekking through the relatively flat Hongu Valley.
Day 15: Trek further up Hongu Valley. Rising early to the views of snow capped mountains on either side of the Hongu Valley we trek further up into this isolated area of Nepal towards the Amphu Labtsa High Pass.
Day 16: Hongu Valley to Panch Pokhari. Trekking up to the end of the Hongu valley where we make a short ascent to Panch Pokhari. Our camp site is just below the Amphu Labtsa glacier with amazing views down the Hongu Valley from where we have come from.
Day 17: Cross the Amphu Labtsa pass to Chukhung. Starting off with the 100m climb to the top of the pass through the layered ice of the Amphu Labtsa glacier we then abseil down the north side of the pass lowering all our equipment down the same line. After a steep decent from the pass we trek along a relatively level track to Chukhung. Tonight will be our last night in tents. The climb over the high pass is one of the technical components of this expedition and is conducted under the supervision of the climbing Sherpa.
Day 18: Chukhung to Dingboche. We set off for an easy walk to Dingboche from Chukhung. Dingboche will be our set off point for Kala Pathar and Everest Base camp.
Day 19: Rest day in Dingboche. From the lodge in Dingboche we will say goodbye to the majority of the porters and one of the sherpas, they will be returning to their homes, taking all our camping and cooking equipment with them as we will no longer need it.
Day 20: Dingboche to Lobuche. Setting off from the Lodge in Dingboche up a short climb and onto the next Lodge at Lobuche.
Day 21: Lobuche to Gorakshep and Everest Base camp. Trekking to Gorakshep and then onto explore Everest Base camp.
Day 22: Gorakshep to Pheriche via Kala Pathar. Trek up to Kala Pathar for amazing views of Everest, Lhotse, Khumbu Glacier and Lhotse shar.
Day 23: Trek to Thyangboche Monastery (3860m). We spend another night in a lodge eating and reminiscing.
Day 24: Trek to Namche Bazaar (3440m). Namche feels like a big city with an assortment of food and beverages forgotten about weeks earlier.
Day 25: Morning free in Namche. Afternoon trek to Monjo (2835m). Lodge.
Day 26: Trek to Lukla (2800m). Lodge.
Day 27: Fly Lukla to Kathmandu.
Day 28: End expedition and onto your next destination.
Notes:
All treks start and end in Kathmandu, Nepal. Please plan your departure from Nepal 2 days after the expedition ends in case of delay of flights out of Lukla at the end of the trek.
Price
Mera Peak via Amphu Labtsa 28 Days
11-12 people AUD$4150 ex Kathmandu
8-10 people AUD$4350 ex Kathmandu
4-7 people AUD$4600 ex Kathmandu
2-3 people AUD$5000 ex Kathmandu
