Heading for Nepal: high-altitude adventure by Damien Arnaud
picture above : Mathurin Vauthier
pictures below : Zian Perrot-Couttet
After two wonderful expeditions in South America and India, it became unthinkable for me to put down my crampons anywhere but Nepal. For me, this country is the next step, and the Holy Grail for every mountaineer, a land of legends where the stories of the greatest climbers and skiers meet.
For two years now, I've been dreaming of the Himlung Himal region. It's home to three peaks over 7,000 metres, two of which are of particular interest to me. On the one hand, Himlung Himal (7,126 m), reputed to be not very technical, and on the other, Nemjung (7,146 m), a summit that is almost never climbed because of a nightmarish glacier riddled with crevasses. Of course, Nemjung, which has never been skied, particularly appeals to me.
The trek: from Kathmandu to base camp
Our mountain ‘ethic’ is simple: one porter each to the base camp, and then we do everything ourselves, without Sherpa or fixed ropes.
In Koto, we meet our porters. As we explore the area, we come across an old deaf man laboriously carrying wood. Using improvised sign language, we help him carry his load and spend the afternoon with him. In France, there are quite a few people with whom I share the same language, but despite that we don't understand each other. With him, it's the opposite.
The base camp: luxury, calm and... minimalism.
When we reached the base camp, we were in for a shock: a veritable small town with sleeping tents, cooks and every conceivable comfort. All that was missing were the masseurs! With our little assault tent in the middle of it all, we were quickly dubbed ‘Sunday campers’, which isn't entirely untrue, but I prefer to say we're minimalists, it sounds more serious.
