Return from Nepal for 20 Basque and Béarnese trekkers
One of the two groups at the summit of Gokyo at an altitude of 5,385 m.
They walked for fifteen days, without rest, on the steep paths of the highest valley in the world, the Khumbu. An extraordinary human adventure.
The group of Béarnais and Basque people who went trekking in the Solo Khumbu in Nepal have returned from their three-week journey in the Himalayas. Divided into two groups, each supervised by Eric Corno and Françoise Stuttgé, guides in Osseen-Aspe and high-altitude specialists, the 20 participants walked for fifteen days, without rest, on the steep paths of the highest valley in the world, the Khumbu.
They walked a total of 140 km, climbing 8,000 meters of positive elevation gain and walking for more than 80 hours. They spent a week at around 5,000 m of altitude, with a maximum of 5,200 m at Gorak Shep. They also climbed two peaks, Gokyo Ri (5,365 m) and Kala Pattar (5,640 m), crossed four glaciers, and crossed a difficult pass at 5,420 m, Cho La.
Near the 18,000m peaks
Leaving Lukla airport, one of the most dangerous in the world with its short 524 m long sloping runway, they climbed in two days to Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Sherpa country, before going back up the valley in three days to Gokyo, passing the Cho La pass and reaching the Everest region and its base camp.
The return was made by passing at the foot of Ama Dablan. They were able to observe the highest peaks on Earth up close, including four over 8,000 m: Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu. However, one of the participants had to be evacuated urgently by helicopter for health reasons on the sixth day, from Gokyo (4,800 m) to Kathmandu, where he spent five days in hospital. The Prêt à Partir agency in Oloron provided valuable assistance in this situation.
Down to -30 °C at the top of Kala Pattar
Another was unable to cross the pass due to acclimatization problems and took another route to reach Pheriche in four days. For the others, at high altitude, the cold (up to -30 °C at the top of Kala Pattar, -6 °C in some lodges), the daily efforts, and the fatigue did not prevent them from enjoying the extraordinary landscapes and living an extraordinary human adventure.
The Nepalese supervision of the Yatritrekking.com agency (guides, assistants, porters) allowed them to benefit from flawless support and organization. On returning to Kathmandu, a few days of tourism in the valley allowed the bodies to rest before the return flight via Doha and Madrid.
