THE FINEST
FIRST EXPEDITION
PEAK GOING.
RARELY CLIMBED,
AS TECHNICAL
AS YOU WANT
TO MAKE IT
FROM THE SATELLITE IMAGES IT DIDN’T LOOK LIKE A BIG DEAL, BUT AS WE CAME UP THE VALLEY THEN TURNED ONTO THE GLACIER AND CAME OVER THE RISE THIS PEAK THAT LOOKED LIKE A SCALED-DOWN K2 WAS IN FRONT OF US. THEY SHOULD CALL IT LITTLE K2 NOT LITTLE GONGGA
REMY L
AT A GLANCE
- DATES TRIPS RUN OCTOBER 15 – JANUARY 15
- TRIP LENGTH 15 DAYS
- PRICES FROM USD6000
- TEAM SIZE 1 – 5
- STYLE SELF SUPPORTED, HORSE PORTERAGE
- INCLUDES 3 STAR HOTELS, EFFICIENT LOGISTICS, ALL PERMITS, WESTERN TRIP LEADER, LOCAL LIAISON
- MOUNTAIN:TRANSIT DAY RATIO 3:1
- CLIMBING DEMANDS EASY APPROACHE, GRADE III – IV CLIMBING, STEEP, EXPOSED BUT SAFE
- IDEAL FOR FIRST REAL EXPEDITION, TRAINING & TESTING, ALTERNATIVE TO THE POPULAR 6000m TRIPS ELSEWHERE
.
TCHIBURONGI OR ‘LITTLE GONGGA’ ISN’T REALLY SO LITTLE. AT ALMOST EXACTLY 6000m THIS IS THE COOLEST 6000m PEAK AROUND AND A GOOD OBJECTIVE EITHER ON IT’S OWN OR AS PART OF THE K2 PIPELINE. A STRAIGHTFORWARD APPROACH, SURROUNDED BY BIG WALLS & GLACIERS, STEEP BUT RELATIVELY SAFE, TCHIBURONGI IS A FAR MORE INTERESTING OBJECTIVE THAN THE CROWDED ‘SAFARI PEAKS’ LIKE ISLAND & MERA. AND YET ALMOST NO ONE’S HEARD OF IT.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
TCHIBURONGI REQUIRES TWO – THREE WEEKS, AND DESPITE BEING CLOSE TO ROADS STILL NEEDS ADEQUATE ACCLIMATION.
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER IS THE IDEAL SEASON, WITH LONG WINDOWS OF GOOD WEATHER BETWEEN THE LAST OF THE MONSOON PATTERN AND THE FIRST REAL SNOWS. IT IS THOUGH COLD, SITTING ON A MAJOR VALLEY FEEDING WINDS OFF THE HIGH TIBETAN PLATEAU.
TCHIBURONGI PRICES WELL WITH GOOD ACCESS & DECENT PEAK FEES, THIS ABOUT THE BEST DEAL IN TIBET, ESPECIALLY WITH THE WAY FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS RUNS IT.
THIS IS PROPER TIBET-STYLE CLIMBING, BEING STEEP AND EXPOSED BUT ON GOOD RIDGES AND FACES TOO EXPOSED FOR MUCH SNOW TO ACCUMULATE ON. WITH GOOD CAMP SITES AND SOLID GRANITE ASCENTS ARE SEMI-TECHNICAL AND FAR FROM THE FIXED LINE YARD-FESTS IT WOULD BE IF THIS PEAK EXISTED ELSEWHERE.
A HANDFUL OF PREVIOUS ASCENTS MEANS THERE’S STILL LOTS OF POTENTIAL FOR NEW ROUTES IN DIFFERENT STYLES, AND THE CLOSE PROXIMITY OF DOZENS OF OTHER 5000 – 6000m PEAKS – POTENTIALLY EVEN FROM THE SAME BASECAMP – MAKES MULTI-PEAK TRIPS DOABLE. A RELATIVELY SHORT APPROACH MAKES RESUPPLY EASY, EVEN SHORT TRIPS SHORT TRIPS BACK TO CIVILIZATION.
WHO SHOULD DO THIS?
TCHIBURONGI FILLS THE GAP BETWEEN REAL EXPEDITION CLIMBING AND OLD STYLE 6000m OPTIONS IN NEPAL & THE ANDES.NOW THE TECHNICAL TRANSITION FROM ALASKA/ALPS-STYLE ASCENTS TO +7000m PEAKS CAN BE SEAMLESS WITH EARLY TRIPS TO 6000m HAVING THE EXPEDITION QUALITIES THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN 2 OR 3 TRIPS A DECADE AGO.
IF YOU’RE STUCK AT THE ‘ISLAND PEAK’ STAGE OR WANT TO SKIP IT ENTIRELY AND PROGRESS DIRECTLY TO ACTUAL EXPEDITION CLIMBING TCHIBURONGI TICKS ALL THE BOXES FOR REMOTENESS, STRATEGY, EXPOSED TERRAIN, APPROACHES & TECHNICAL CLIMBING.
