Next year I am joining my son, Joe for a very special commercial trek to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of my first Himalayan expedition when, as a member of the Nepalese, Indian British Combined Services Expedition I made the first ascent of Annapurna II (at 7937 metres only just below the magic height of 8,000 metres and the sixteenth highest mountain in the World) and we were also probably the first Europeans to make the Annapurna circuit. 

We are planning an exciting start to the trek crossing a high pass on the Eastern end of the Annapurna range and I wanted to check it out, so having finished my Everest Base Camp trek with Joe, after a few days rest in Kathmandu, I set out on my next trek.

You can find out more at:
http://www.joebonington.com.au/blog/?p=83Annapurna anniversary trek 2010

In 1960 we tackled Annapurna II from the North.  The 7937 metre summit is the rocky pyramid on the left and the peak on the right, which looks higher because it is nearer to us, is Annapurna IV  ( 7225m) which was climbed in 1955 by a German expedition.  Our route took us up the snow buttress to the right of Annapurna IV, over the shoulder below the peak and along the long linking ridge, all above 7,000 metres, to the final challenging summit pyramid - a long and very committing route.

In 1960 the least expensive way to get out your gear was as accompanied baggage on a liner. Flight Lieutenant Stuart Ward and I went out on the 10,000 ton SS Cilicia which you can see in the background, from Liverpool to Bombay. It was a brilliant voyage.

The rest of the British members of the team had flown out to Indian by RAF transport to meet us at Bombay.  We crammed as much of the expedition gear as we could into the train's luggage van, and packed the rest into our carriage.  There wasn't much room for us for the 20 hour rail journey to Patna near the Nepalese frontier.  Captain Bill Crawshaw of the SAS and my self on top of the baggage.

In 1960 there was only one inter town road in the whole of Nepal - the one from the frontier with India to Kathmandu. There were no tourists in Kathmandu and only two hotels. We started our approach from the British Embassy.

Our route to base camp, and that's only a bit of it since Kathmandu is some hundred miles to the East of the edge of the map.  Having climbed Annapurna II we continued westward around the ~Northern edge of the Annapurna range to reach Pokhara, where there was an airstrip from which we could fly back to Kathmandu.

The village of Manang in 1960. It had taken a month of walking to get there and we hadn't seen a single foreigner on the way. It would be very different today.

We recruited local porters in Manang, most of them women, to carry our gear to the foot of Annapurna II

Base Camp at last, and here's our team. Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Roberts, our leader (3rd standing from right) was very experienced and had climbed extensively in the Himalayas both before and after the Second World War. He had had a distinguished war career and was currently the Military Attache in Kathmandu. On his left is Captain Dick Grant, of the Royal Marines. He had climbed Rakaposhi two years earlier and was the only other member of the team with Himalayan experience.

kneeling in the second row are our Sfherpa cook, Urkein, on left and the six man Sherpa high altitude porters. Dawa, in the middle with the slouched hat, had been on Everest in 1953 and had been Sirdar (head Sherpa) on the successful Kangchenjunga expedition. The front row are our cook boys with on the far right Lieutenant Garul Rana, of the Nepalese army, who was to become a general.

On the shoulder below Annapurna IV with the long ridge, all of it above 7,000 metres, leading to the summit pyramid of Annpaurna II. It looked formidable. We established a top camp half way along and Dick Grant, Corporal Ang Nyima of the Ghurkas and I made the summit bid.

Ang Nyima and I on the summit of Annapurna II . It had been a heard ascent and we got there late in the afternoon only getting back to our top camp as it was getting dark

At the end of the expedition, Jimmy Roberts decided to continue westward crossing the Thorung Pass so I asked him if I could go off with the Sherpa Tachei to cross the Tilicho Pass, which Maurice Herzog, leader of the succesful Annapurna expedition in 1950 had crossed from the other side in his search for a way to the foot of Annapurna. He had had an epic adventure, very nearly losing his life and I was intrigued by the story. I wrote in my auto biography "I Chose to Climb" - "A walk across a Himalayan Pass probably sounds an anticlimax compared to the ascent of a major Himalayan peak and yet the three days I spent crossing the Tilicho Pass, in many ways meant more to me than our ascent of Annapurna II.

Tachei and I carried all our gear and food for the crossing - about 15 kilos each - and at the end of the first day, on a high yak grazing pasture, two young lads sold us some eggs and I cooked the best omelet of my life with the eggs of the Ram Chikaw and fresh creamy yaks milk.

Fast forward to 2009.  My friends and colleagues, Andy Simmister on left and Ean Brown on right confer with Ian Wall who works with Community Action Treks and Community Action Nepal (Doug Scott's trekking company and charity that helps communities in the foot hills), all of whom are going to accompany me on my recce of the route we arte taking on the trek next year.

There seems no point in walking where there are roads, so we are making a different start to the trek which will capture the spirit of our journey in 1960 since it is off the beaten track on little used paths.  We had limited time but we hoped to find a way to the Namun Pass (5550 m), a route used between Pokhara and Manang before roads up the valleys had been built.

The red line marks our journey it can be seen we didn't make it to the Pass in the time we had.

We travelled by mini bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara,

and then changed to two four wheel drives to travel across rough tracks to the road head.  Andy is taking a ride on top.

A traditional suspension foot bridge starts our trek

up a stepped path which reminded me of many of the Lakeland paths built by the National Trust.

Our first night was spent in the village of Ghyamrang (1223m).  The building with the blue roof is the health post built and supported by Community Action Nepal. 

Next day we set out up a steep narrow path through the forest.

It was tough going for our porters

We camped in a little clearing on the crest of the ridge at 2430m. The following day we are following the ridge to the crest and then along the sky line.

Up a steep stepped path leading to the crest

where we had a superb view of  the southern aspect of Annapurna II on right and Annapurna IV on left

That night we stopped by a shepherds hut built by the local women's group.  The shepherd bring up the flocks of goat and sheep at the height of the monsoon.  Every night we played cards - Black Bitch (Hearts), a trick taking game.

Checking out the route.

That day we followed the crest of the ridge with superb views of the Eastern end of the Annapurna Range.

We hit our first snow at about 3700 m.

It was a long day and we only reached a camp site as the sun set.

We had a rest day and then set out over a pass at 4100m

down the other side to the valley bottom at 3630m, round a bluff and up a long  wide valley

and up yet again on a zig zag path

to our camp (4296m) in a lovely cirque.  You can just see the tents centre right of picture.  That afternoon we still had the energy to climb the hill immediately above the camp.

On top of the hill (4438m), trying to reconcile the paths as they were marked on the map with where they were on the ground.  The topography seemed fairly accurate but the path on the map was anything but.

We had run out of time and had just one day left before starting back.  Our path ran over the col immediately behind Andy's head and we reckoned the Namun Pass was on the right hand edge of the picture over the mountain range you can just see .  We decided to climb the hill on the left of the picture (.4728m) the following day to bag a little peak and perhaps get a clearer view.

Climbing .4728.

Andy taking a rest - the summit behind him.

I reached the summit with Pasang Tamang, our sirdar.  He did a really wonderful job running the trek and was a nimble climber.  There was a cairn on top, no doubt built by shepherds but it is always wonderfully exhilarating to reach a summit and the view was superb even though there was a lot of haze.  The mountains behind us, in the 5000 to 6000 metre range are all unclimbed.

That night we had a celebratory bottle of whiskey with the evening card came

and our wonderful kitchen staff led by Sherlee Maga our cook, cooked us a cake.

Back at Kathmandu with most of our support team after a great trek.

If you are interested in next years trek go to: 

http://www.joebonington.com.au/blog/?p=83