Cho Oyu Expedition- Cho Oyu Expedition 2010, 2011, 2012

Duration: 40 Days
Climbing Period: 18 days
Grade: Strenuous (Mountaineering expedition)
Starts place: Kathmandu
Ends place: Kathmandu
Accommodation: Hotel and Camping
Transportation: 4WD Land cruiser for Tibet and A/C Toyota Hiace for Nepal
Maximum Elevation: 8201m
First Climbed: In 1954 by Austrian under the leadership of Herbert Tichy.

Mt. Cho Oyu, the "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan is the second most popular mountain to climb in the Himalaya. It rises 8201m above sea level and is situated in the middle part of the Nepal's Himalaya lying north of Tingri. It is about 30 km west from Everest at the head of the Gokyo valley. Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world and it is considered as the best among 8000ers to climb before climbing Mt. Everest. Peak Promotion has organized several expeditions to Cho Oyu. One of the Cho Oyu expedition that we organized was for Ed Viesturs, Viekka Gustafsson and Jimmy Chin in the spring of 2005. This was their aclimatizing expedition before Annapurna. Ed and Viekka Climbed Annapurna right after climbing Cho Oyu and Ed became the first American to climb fourteen 8000 m.

1952: First reconnaissance of Cho Oyu's Northwest face by Edmund Hillary and his party.
1954: Austrian expedition, under the leadership of Herbert Tichy, make a spectacular first ascent without oxygen on the Northwest face. This new style of climbing big mountains with alpine techniques rewrote mountaineering history.
1958: Second ascent by an Indian expedition. Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama, who was part of the first ascent, reached the peak for the second time. First death on Cho Oyu.
1959: Four member of an expedition are killed in an avalanche during a failed international women's expedition.
1964: Controversial third ascent by a German expedition. No proof of reaching the summit. Two mountaineers die in Camp 4 of exhaustion at 7600 m (25,000 foot) height.
1978: The Austrian alpinists, Koblmuller and Furtner, succeeds in a spectacular ascent of the extremely difficult and dangerous southeast face.
1983: Reinhold Messner succeeds on his fourth attempt.
1985: First winter ascent of the South buttress by a Polish expedition. The South Buttress is the most difficult route on Cho Oyu to be completed successfully.

Cho Oyu is taken as excellent acclimatization trip for a summit attempt to Mt. Everest. It provides the preparation of high altitude climb skill for the climbers to starts for 8000ers peaks. Climbers should have taken mountaineering training that must have excellent knowledge for using crampons, rappelling with a back pack and use ascenders on a fixed line rope. We also recommend to the climber to get training from the respected alpine training club. Cho Oyu expedition gives lesson of using bottle oxygen system with regulator masks and helps one to be healthy at the elevation of 8000meters. Physical and Psychological condition is equally important for the climber to attempt Cho Oyu. One should be able to walk in high with carrying a load of

around 30lbs or more and should be able to face obstacle by both physical and mental preparation. Pre climbing skills experience helps the climbers to keep fit and strong. We also would like to recommend to climb at least 6000ers Mountains before climbing Cho Oyu.

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