The route to the original Annapurna Base Camp was discovered by the 1950 French Himalayan Expedition to Annapurna led by Maurice Herzog. The French first tried to Climb Dhaulagiri, a huge massif rising to 26,811 feet (8,171 meters) on the west side of the Kali- Gandaki, a long rift between the two immense mountain groups and the Annapurna massif on the east rising to 26,595 feet(8,091 Meters) They found the taller Dhaulagiri beyond their capabilities, and instead tried to find a way to base of Annapurna.
On the last week of April 1950, three members of the expedition, Dr Oudot, Jean Couzy and Marcel Schatz, and Sherpas, Ang Tharkay and Sarki and set out on a reconnaissance hike to find a way to Annapurna. They had great difficulty in getting there, as the trail led to a incredible switchback along forest and scrub- covered grassy slopes, around rocky bluffs, along a series of tenuously interconnecting ledges, that weave their way between the dizzy snow clad summits of the Nilgiri peaks and the dark gorge of the Miristi Khola, 1500 meters below. The View that greeted them caused a strong reaction and bewilderment.
The party pushed on from the Notch, traversing the endless south west shoulder of Nilgiris, until at last a narrow broken ledge offered the only passage, and the exposure- that dizzy drop to the river was frightening, but they managed to find a way down to the miristi Khola and push on to the gigantic North west Face of Annapurna.
The exploits of this legendary French expedition was a great inspiration, and it subsequently was a great factor in influencing a very special attraction to the Mountain Ranges of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. It was partly the chance to at least reconnect to some extent, with history that captivated me, to tread the same ground these great climbers had.
The party pushed on from the Notch, traversing the endless south west shoulder of Nilgiris, until at last a narrow broken ledge offered the only passage, and the exposure- that dizzy drop to the river was frightening, but they managed to find a way down to the miristi Khola and push on to the gigantic North west Face of Annapurna.
The exploits of this legendary French expedition was a great inspiration, and it subsequently was a great factor in influencing a very special attraction to the Mountain Ranges of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. It was partly the chance to at least reconnect to some extent, with history that captivated me, to tread the same ground these great climbers had.
The route to North Annapurna still has a bad reputation. It is seldom used except by shepherds and mountaineering expeditions attempting the North face. This challenging aspect of the trek had long been in my thoughts and spurred me on.
To quote The Great American Alpinist Ed Viesturs:
"The hike in to base camp on the north side of Annapurna is nothing like the stroll up the Khumbu Valley to Everest base camp. It’s a serious journey in its own right—not the kind of hike a tour company would sanely market to its trekker clients. You need to traverse grassy slopes so steep that if you slipped and fell, you’d be a goner. At places on these slopes, we had to fix ropes for our porters.
As if those traverses weren't grueling enough, as you ascend the Miristi Khola, you go up 4,000 feet to a pass, down 3,000 on the other side, then up another 3,000, then down 2,000. It’s exhausting and harrowing, especially for the heavily laden porters. The trek to base camp, which took eight days, gave all four of us an added respect for the French in 1950; they had accomplished that passage in only four days, having to hector their terrified porters across a couple of shaky improvised bridges over the roaring stream".
The plans began in earnest after my return from Mesokanto la and Dhampus Pass/Hidden Valley in 2012. I excitedly sounded my regular mates about this prospect, but most of them were hardly interested about participating this time. Only my old friend from Nasik, Mr Kishore Shukla was showing the commitment.
Our guide had no choice but to quote an inflated budget for the trek( since there was only two of us), and I had to find other alternatives. In this, i was greatly assisted by my friend , Mr Dhaniram, who runs an adventure outlet at Pokhara. He was in touch with various agencies there, but most of them were not willing to commit and cited the difficulty of the route to reject our proposal.
But Dhaniram was relentlessly persistent in trying and finally managed to convince one of his friend , who ran a trekking agency and they finally agreed to take us there. They also demanded higher wages for porters and guides due to the rough approach march and after consulting my friend i agreed. It was decided to do this hike in 2013, in the month of october.
To quote The Great American Alpinist Ed Viesturs:
"The hike in to base camp on the north side of Annapurna is nothing like the stroll up the Khumbu Valley to Everest base camp. It’s a serious journey in its own right—not the kind of hike a tour company would sanely market to its trekker clients. You need to traverse grassy slopes so steep that if you slipped and fell, you’d be a goner. At places on these slopes, we had to fix ropes for our porters.
As if those traverses weren't grueling enough, as you ascend the Miristi Khola, you go up 4,000 feet to a pass, down 3,000 on the other side, then up another 3,000, then down 2,000. It’s exhausting and harrowing, especially for the heavily laden porters. The trek to base camp, which took eight days, gave all four of us an added respect for the French in 1950; they had accomplished that passage in only four days, having to hector their terrified porters across a couple of shaky improvised bridges over the roaring stream".
The plans began in earnest after my return from Mesokanto la and Dhampus Pass/Hidden Valley in 2012. I excitedly sounded my regular mates about this prospect, but most of them were hardly interested about participating this time. Only my old friend from Nasik, Mr Kishore Shukla was showing the commitment.
Our guide had no choice but to quote an inflated budget for the trek( since there was only two of us), and I had to find other alternatives. In this, i was greatly assisted by my friend , Mr Dhaniram, who runs an adventure outlet at Pokhara. He was in touch with various agencies there, but most of them were not willing to commit and cited the difficulty of the route to reject our proposal.
But Dhaniram was relentlessly persistent in trying and finally managed to convince one of his friend , who ran a trekking agency and they finally agreed to take us there. They also demanded higher wages for porters and guides due to the rough approach march and after consulting my friend i agreed. It was decided to do this hike in 2013, in the month of october.
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