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Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Mera Peak Nepal April 2014


Postby stevepk42 » Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:03 pm

Hi,
Just wondered if anyone cold help with info on the trip I have booked and planned for April next year.
I went to Mount Everest Base camp this April and was lucky to spend 2 days with a summit team whilst there.
Was wondering if anybody had done this peak and could share any piccies and info on the route in ect.
Have booked with a company called Jagged Globe and have heard they are good.

Cheers in advance

Steve Perkins. :D :D
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby madasa mongoose » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:10 am

Hi Steve, I climbed Mera Peak in 2000 (on the summit to see the sunrise on the new millennium :D). Fantastic trip. Love Nepal and have been back several times since. I did the Mera Peak trip with KE Adventure Travel who I'd highly recommend although Jagged Globe are good too - did a climbing trip to Peru with them a while back. Good thing about climbing in Nepal is the acclimatisation is slow as you typically need to trek into base camp. People are wonderful too! As it was some time ago when I did the Mera Peak trip, I only have scanned photos but here's a few to whet your appetite. Drop me a PM if you want any further details. Otherwise, enjoy! You'll love it :D

Lukla airport as was.jpg
Lukla airport as was - tis tarmacked now :)


Lukla airport now.jpg
Lukla airport now - still a scary drop off!


aclimatisation climb.jpg
acclimatisation climb


Mera peak_high camp.jpg
Mera Peak high camp


Mera_summit.jpg
Mera Peak summit looking towards Everest :)


trail back to Lukla.jpg
Trail back to Lukla
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby chrisandbex » Wed Aug 28, 2013 2:59 pm

Hi Steve

I am booked to Climb Mera with Jagged Globe in october. Will hopefully be able to post some pics and anwer some questions after then! Can't wait for the trek. :D Finding the kit list very scary though - I grossly underestimated the amount of clobber we need for it and JG's kit list seems a lot more extreme and expensive than any other company. Think they might have sent me the 8000m peaks list LOL :shock:

Bex
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby stevepk42 » Wed Aug 28, 2013 5:49 pm

Hi madasa, Chris and Bex,
thanks for the replies, luckla is a lot different now, I was there in April, you wouldn't believe the changes.
Thanks for the piccies, have been browsing and looking at the various websites and getting a feel for it,
Chris Bex, I to have seen the kit list that's a lot of kit eh, what im going to do is get a lot of it in Kathmandu, when I was there in April the Thamel district is just choca with kit shops some really good kit at a fraction of the price.
be great to see your piccies and here of your adventures when you get back.

Steve
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby chrisandbex » Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:47 pm

Steve

Yeah I heard you could get a lot of stuff over there but I was worried the JG itinerary doesn't give us much time for shopping as we only spend one night at the Summit hotel before heading to Lukla. I didn't want to risk it so we have got most of our stuff now. We are hiring boots and sleeping bags from JG, we pretty much have everything else except ascenders.

Will keep you posted.

Bex
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby madasa mongoose » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:01 pm

Not sure what it says on JG kit list but I didn't take a huge amount of kit aside from ice axe, crampons, helmet, harness, a decent down sleeping bag, thermarest and my trusty Sportiva Nepal Extremes. Oh and toasty gloves! We climbed in late December/early January so temperature at high camp was a tad chilly to say the least but even with that I was fine. Though I’d definitely recommend taking a down jacket for sitting round in camp and em, with all the water you need to drink, something to save you having to leave the tent in the middle of the night to pee! :)
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby chrisandbex » Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:53 pm

Thanks MM

See this is what is confusing me about the JG kit list - its states double mountaineering/plastics boots eg scarpa vega which weigh a tonne and are majorly uncomfortable but toasty warm and serious down jackets - i have bought a mountain equipment cho oyu jacket which i think might be overkill but too be honest i would rather be too warm than perishing cold. I have a feeling the company will not let us do the climb unless we have the right gear and will just make us hire it our there is we do not have. I am very petite with small feet so really can't risk hiring out there as the chances are no gear/boots will fit me.
Thanks for the tips, please keep them coming :)
Bex
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby madasa mongoose » Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:02 pm

Hi Bex

I've done a fair bit of high altitude trekking/climbing, including 6000m peaks, and have never worn plastic boots. Not a fan of them though they are certainly warmer and essential if you go much higher. I did progress to using yeti gaiters at one point which provide extra insulation though they're a pain to fit and have a tendency to ping off the toes after a while. I resorted to using glue in the end and now can't get them off!

My biggest tip is to go slow and drink lots (of water!). Mera's technically easy but the altitude makes it a tough climb and going slow in the early stages will reap benefits. I ended up walking with another client who was finding it tough at the start to give her some moral support which slowed me down and helped I think with acclimatisation. Not sure whether JG provide snacks and stuff but worth bringing your favourite sugary treats and sauces to add variety to the meals which were great in the circumstances (we had pizza of sorts on Christmas day!) as your appetite tends to go at altitude. I lived on squeezy cheese and crackers which was about as much as I could stomach at the higher camps. High altitude climbing is the best weight loss boot camp ever!
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby stevepk42 » Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:07 pm

Hi Guys,
Really appreciate all the info that's going around,
Im going to fly out to Kathmandu a day earlier than the group flight next April, managed to get flights from Edinburgh and the extra night in Kathmandu for the same price so well happy with that.
Bex,
would really appreciate seeing what your taking re kit list, I to am wondering if all the stuff on Jg list is really necessary, plus when I flew to Luckla in Aril this year the baggage allowance was a strict 12kgs, apparently the flight that crashed October last year was seriously over weight so they really do enforce the 12kgs, I left loads of stuff/ snacks back in the hotel in Kathmandu.

Steve
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby chrisandbex » Sat Aug 31, 2013 6:13 pm

Hi
Thanks MM, ive been to altitue as well before and am not looking forward to the headaches nausea and loss of apetite, sadly being female I didnt seem to lose any weight despite the extreme dieting, typically hubby came back pounds lighter, grr :? I just remember living off soup lol.

Steve well done on the edinburgh flight, wish I had known that before booking as now worried about connecting flights from aberdeen to london as JG cant confirm our flight times yet.
Only 8 weeks to go , very excited. Just need to get my knee injury sorted in time...

Bex
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby stevepk42 » Sat Aug 31, 2013 6:39 pm

Hi Bex,

Maybe you could fly from Edinburgh, I flew at 15/1600 to heathrow with Ba, checked bags right through to Kathmandu, had about 3/4 hours wait in heathrow, no problems at all. it might be worth ringing JG to see what they can do, When I rang them they said they use Jet Airways via Delhi To Kathmandu, same flight as I was on.

Lol as an aside I lost just over 1 stone when I went to Everest base camp. put it all back on mind.

steve
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby chrisandbex » Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:39 pm

Hi Guys

Just back from a very successful Mera Peak trip. Made it to the summit. Quite a toughie I must say esp as I got D+V day before summit day. Still made it though. I'll try and do a full walk report but still sorting through tons of pics first. Jagged Globe were awesome and we were really lucky as the group who departed the week before us got crap weather, only 2/12 made the summit and 2 got heliocoptered out with HAPE and HACE (allegedly) :shock: It was very cold, very windy and a lot more snow than anticipated so the itinerary had to be changed somewhat. I got sick in Khare (lots of snow and poo everywhere) so stayed an extra night there while the group ascended to the Mera La, they had an awful night but I made enough of a recovery (thank god for ciprofloxacin) the next day and did a bit of a mammoth ascent from Khare straight up to High camp missing out the Mera La. We had a rough and windy few hours kip at High camp before the summit. There were really strong gusts at the summit so we literally only had a few seconds there. It was a great trip though and jagged Globe were superb.

About the gear - this is difficult. The weight limit at Lukla is now 15KG in TOTAL i.e. main bag and hand luggage, this is impossible to meet with all of the kit advised by JG. We nearly ended up with our bags on a different flight as they said we were overweight despite only 10 people on the plane. A good bribe sorted that out. Its so stupid - they weigh the bags but not people so just wear every bit of gear you can including your plastic boots!!! :crazy: I was really happy with all the gear I took. I probably wouldn't change much. I didn't need 2 down jackets - that was seriously overkill and I only wore my big Mountain Equiptment Cho Oyu jacket on summit night - it came off after less than half an hour as i was too hot despite the -25degrees! The only thing i didn't use was the helmet which was annoying as it took up loads of space in the bag - it really isn't needed apart from maybe the walk up the Hinku with rock falls on either side but we just ran passed :lol:

if you have any spare gear its great to be able to leave stuff for the porters at the end of the trip, they were truly delighted with it all. I'm very happy to provide a run down of everything i tool if it helps with packing.

Have a great trip Steve you will have a ball

Bex
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Re: Mera Peak Nepal April 2014

Postby stevepk42 » Sun Nov 24, 2013 8:31 pm

Hi Bex,

It sounded like you had a great trip, well done on summiting. I must admit I cant wait for the trip, It would be great to know your kit list. The flight to luckla and the weight is the same as when I was there in April, we did the same as you, wore everything we could lol, cant wait to see your pictures I bet they are awesome.

Hope to hear back soon re trip and equipment.

Good effort again, especially as you got D+ V. Not nice at all. I was lucky with that side of things when I went to base camp last April, only suffered when I got back to Arbroath, My Wife had to keep stopping the car on the way back from Edinburgh Airport , good job it was night lol.





Steve
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