Gurkarpo Ri | 2007 W Ridge

A France expedition to Gurkarpo Ri in 2007 via W Ridge, led by Paulo Grobel. Summit reached on 1st November 2007. 7 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 5888
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID GURK07301
Peak ID GURK
Year 2007
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality France
Leaders Paulo Grobel
Sponsor French Langtang Ri Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 1st
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach See route details
Basecamp Date 2007-10-20
Summit Date 2007-11-01
Summit Time 1430
Summit Days 12
Total Days 14
Termination Date 2007-11-03
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6889
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 7
Summit Members 4
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 3
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Intended Langtang Ri
Campsites BC(20/10,4650m),C1(22/10,4800m),C2(24/10),C3(27/10,5800m),C4(30/10,6200m),Smt(01/11)
Route Notes Approach: Bus to Syabrubesi->Langtang Khola->Kyanjin Kharka->Langtang Tsang Glacier. French Langtang Ri Expedition (actually climbed Gurkarpo Ri) - 9 Nov 2007 Team had permission to climb Langtang Ri, and they sat out on their approach march to do so. From their bus to Syabrubesi, they trekked east along the Langtang Khola to Langtang village, Kyanjin Kharka, Langshisa Kharka and Pembthang to Langtang Tsang Glacier. But the glacier was extremely uneven black ice strewn with rocks covered by a thin coating of snow. It was too difficult for porters who were not experienced trekkers or climbers; the team's leader Paulo Grobel decided on 20 October they had to abandon plans to climb Langtang Ri. They went back to Pembthang that day, and it became their BC at 4650m for an alternative mountain, Gurkarpo Ri. From Pemthang they crossed to the east side of the Langtang Tsang Glacier and entered the unnamed glacier leading eastward to northwest face to Gurkarpo Ri. They made C1 on the glacier at 4800m on 22 October and C2 on the 24th on the wide upper part of the glacier. On the 25th Grobel and Chhotemba Sherpa climbed to 5886m at the top of the first step of the West Ridge and back to C2 in five hours. Next day, Dupuy, Kia, Males and Revest made the same trip (they dubbed it the "arete des repiettes" or arete of the lizards, because it is a flat top where one can bask in the sun lika a lizard). On the 27th, the team carried loads to the site for C3 at 5800m on the northwest slope of the West Ridge not far below the ridge and on the following day they occupied the camp. From C3 Martine Trichot and Daniel Trichot left the expedition and returned to Kyanjin Kharka. They had tired themselves out running about. On the 30th the team pitched C4 at 6200m on the side of the ridge. Grobel's policy is to move slowly up a mountain and make a number of camps not very far apart. On 1 November five members went for the summit from C4 at 8:00 am. They were Dupuy, Kia, Grobel, Males and Revest. Revest went to 6500m, then turned back to C4 because of a bad cough; the other continued to the summit, which they reached at 2:30 pm. They got onto the West Ridge at 6700m and climbed it to the top. They returned to C4 at 5:00 pm. The whole route was mixed snow and ice. It was not very difficult, but one difficult steep section from C4 to the ridge needed 400m of fixed rope. They had fixed another 400m at the first step between C3 and C4. (When they shifted their goal to Gurkarpo Ri, Grobel used his satellite phone to arrange for a helicopter from Kathmandu to drop 800m of rope on C1 on 26 October. This was expensive for Grobel, but it was his duty to do what was necessary to enable his clients to succeed). On 2 November they descended from C4 to C1, and on the 3rd they went down to Kyanjin Kharka, Their camp at Pembthang had been removed on 22 October by their sirdar and BC staff (cook, etc.) to take it to Kathmandu. When the team's sirdar headed back to Kathmandu with much of the gear, he was stopped at the Nepal Mountaineering Association's post at Kyanjin Kharka by the NMA's representative there, Thiley Lama, owner of Yeti Guest House, who demanded payment of Rs 63,000 (equivalent of $1000) as royalty for Gurkarpo Ri, although the NMA has no authority to collect royalties for peaks managed by the tourism ministry; Grobel paid, and Thiley gave a receipt (not on NMA stationery). Grobel had intended when they switched to Gurkarpo Ri to settle with the tourism ministry on his return to Kathmandu. Sherpa: Chhotemba Sherpa, 26 years old, Makalu vdc, no 8000ers
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Adventure 6000
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2456773
Year 2007
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w ridge

Members

7 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Pierre-Olivier Dupuy M 1981 France Climber Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France Student Details Other expeditions
Marc Kia M 1977 France Climber Ecublens, Vaud, Switzerland Engineer Details Other expeditions
Paul Marc (Paulo) Grobel M 1957 France Leader La Grave, Hautes-Alpes, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Jean Francois Males M 1950 France Climber Tulle, Correze, France Physiotherapist Details Other expeditions
Christian Revest M 1959 France Climber Toulan, Var, France Consultant in economics Details Other expeditions
Martine Trichot F 1956 France Climber Reaumont, Isere, France Nurse Details Other expeditions
Daniel Trichot M 1949 France Climber Reaumont, Isere, France Engineer Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
GURK07301 AAJ Grobel, Paulo - - 82:394-396 (2008) -
GURK07301 - - http://www.paulo-grobel.com/05_expes/Fiches_PDF/FT_cr_langtang_ri_story.htm - - -
GURK07301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200839400/Asia-Nepal-Upper-Dolpo-Jugal-Himal-Gurkarpo-Ri-First-Known-Ascent - - -