Press Releases
First expedition on its way
20 Apr 2009
The first of seven groups awarded Hillary Expedition grants sets off this month to tackle an unclimbed peak in the remote Sichuan province of western China.
The climbers making up the New Zealand Nyambo Konka expedition will be meeting up in Chengdu in China on April 22.
Their objective is the unclimbed 6114m Nyambo Konka peak. The expedition team hopes to successfully climb the mountain, and do so with as little environmental impact as possible, taking all their waste with them off the route. In fact, the expedition team members hope to leave the area they explore in a better state than before by endeavouring to remove any waste left by other expeditions.
The attempt on the peak will be made ``alpine style’’ where the climbers carry their food and equipment as they go rather than set up a line of stocked camps.
The expedition team includes talented climbers Penny Goddard and Lydia Bradey.
Penny Goddard has spent 11 years mountaineering in New Zealand (including five different routes on Mt Cook/Aoraki) and around the world. She was the third New Zealand woman to summit Mt Everest and the first New Zealand woman to go up the North Ridge. She organises and instructs women’s climbing groups, is an avalanche safety lecturer and in 2008 had published a book about avalanche awareness in New Zealand.
Lydia Bradey made history as the first woman in the world to summit Mt Everest without bottled oxygen when she went to the top alone via the south-west ridge. Her climbing resume also includes numerous first ascents in New Zealand at a young age and she has been on expeditions to Alaska, India, Mongolia, South America, Pakistan and Bhutan. In the Himalaya her climbing also includes reaching the summit of Gasherbrum II (8035m).
In China, expedition team members will be sending occasional texts and emails updating their progress. SPARC will publish the information here on its website.
The team’s itinerary:
April 22: Meet in Chengdu and carry out final equipment checks.
April 23: Shopping in Chengdu for base camp food and fuel.
April 24: An early start, departing by vehicle for the village of T'sau Ku where fresh food can be bought.
April 25: Another early start taking horses to 3000m where the climbers will establish their base camp.
April 26: Begin acclimatisation climbs and reconnaissance trips. (The timetable for this will vary depending on weather and how the climbers are acclimatising)
By April 30: Establish the location of Camp One and the route beyond there. Acclimatise to 4000m.
By May 8: Establish the site location of Camp Two. Acclimatise to 5000m.
May 8 - May 18: Further gradual acclimatisation, and summit attempts (the timetable for these will depend on the weather and how the climbers are going with their acclimitisation).
May 19: Dismantle Base Camp. Travel with the horses to the road end at T'sau Ku.
May 20: Travel by jeep to Chengdu.
May 21: Depart Chengdu.
Created | 20 Apr 2009.
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