Skip to main content

Trek Goechala and Climb Jopuno Peak- March April 2011

Climb/Trek
28 Mar - 16 Apr 2011

Trek Only
28 Mar - 11 Apr 2011

Other dates for the Goecha La will be up soon. If you have at least 2 people, just send a message/email.

Prices:
Climb/Trek: £1690 pp
Trek only: £1065
Based on twin share

No of Days:
Climb/Trek 18 days
Trek only 13 days

Min Group Size: 4


The Goecha La trekking route and Mt Jopuno are both located in Sikkim. This route is one of the very few open in the Kangchenjunga National Park. The Pass itself (Goecha La, 4940m) is just 15km from the 3rd highest mountain in the world (Kanchenjunga, 8598m).

Sikkim is steeped in political history, which gives it a wonderful mix of Nepali, Indian and Tibetan culture . It is a real journey just to get there!

Join us in March 2011 for this challenging and rare opportunity to summit Jopuno (5952m). No previous climbing experience is necessary.

The Goecha La trek can be done on its own, or you can choose to add on the climb to Jopuno. The latter will only take place once or twice a year. The journey and mechanics of the trip are the same; the trekking peak trip clearly takes longer.

For both trips....on arrival in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), you will be met and taken into the city where you can relax and acclimatise into your surroundings. The next day, you will be transferred to the domestic airport for your short flight to Bagdogra and subsequent drive up to the capital of the tea plantations - Darjeeling.

Accommodated in good standard hotels, you have the evening to explore this historic place, which has strong links with Britain and the Gurhkas.

The following day, you then drive into Sikkim and up to Yuksum to be in position for the start of the trek in the morning.

The Climb/Trek and Trek only options use the same acclimatisation plan up to what is the Base Camp for Jopuno (Thangsing). From here, the Trek continues up to the Pass. There are few (if any) better views of the Kangchenjunga Massif, the 3rd highest mountain on the planet behind Everest and K2.

The Climb/Trek uses the Base Camp to cement their acclimatisation before moving up to High Camp and the summit attempt itself. Summit day is long and demanding and there is a real sense of climbing as you ascend up the hard packed snow using crampons on a fixed rope. Waiting at the top is a fantastic 360 degree vista of the Himalaya stretching as far as the eye can see. There are spare days in case a second attempt is required.

During your trek, you will come to see just how beautiful this remote area is. The wooded hills are abundant with oak, spruce, chestnut, fir, pines and magnolia not to mention the vibrant rhododendrons when in bloom (May). Accompanying them are brown bears, black bears, barking deer, marble cats, blue sheep, wild goats, Himalayan antelope, red pandas and much more.

Once you have returned to Yoksum, you will spend 1 night there prior to your drive to Kalimpong for a day off without a rucksack!

It will take just a further day to get back to Kolkata via Bagdogra.

An overnight stay in Kolkata brings you to the end of your trip, although you are welcome to extend your stay in this city (which can be arranged for you) if you wish. You will be transferred to the international airport for your flight home.

Includes: Domestic return flights Kolkata to Bagdogra, return domestic airport transfers, all group hotel accommodation in Kolkata, Darjeeling, Yuksom and Kalimpong (B&B basis), tented accommodation on trek, all food on trek, all group road transport, services of an english speaking guide, porterage.

In addition, where applicable: all IMF climbing royalties, Sikkim entry permits, services of Liaison Officers and all group climbing equipment (ie fixed ropes).

Excludes: International flights, personal travel insurance, gratuities (Guides and Porters), Tourist Entry Visa, International and internal air Departure Taxes (if applicable), personal spending, some meals (shown on the full itinerary)- send us email for the detailed itinerary.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sundardhunga Khal – The Goddess Keeps her Secret

Sundardhunga Khal – The Goddess Keeps her Secret George W Rodway and Anindya Mukherjee The Sundardhunga Khal and our route of attempt in 2015 The History Locating a practicable route into the Nanda Devi Sanctuary occupied a very respectable amount of exploration time and effort in the latter half of the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century. By the time W.W. Graham made spring and autumn journeys to Sikkim and spent the summer in the Kumaun region around Nanda Devi in 1883, a shift had just started towards looking to the Himalaya as a venue for sporting adventure. Graham and the Swiss guides that accompanied him this year planned an ambitious itinerary for their time in Kumaun. They attempted to penetrate, for the first time in recorded history, the Rishiganga gorge with an eye to ascending Nanda Devi. Not surprisingly the difficulty of the gorge, not infiltrated to its source (after many attempts) until 1934, forced them to reconsider the wis...

Zemu Gap from south: the first documented ascent

view of Kangchenjunga south summit and Talung peaks from Tongshyong glacier. Pic. Anindya Mukherjee Text & Photographs: Anindya Mukherjee Introduction The history of exploration around Kangchenjunga [1] , especially around its south, south east and east flanks; has always fascinated me. The classic journeys and adventures of pioneers [2] like W.W. Graham, John Claude White, Douglas Freshfield, Dr. A.M. Kellas, Harold Raeburn, N.A.Tombazi, Lord John Hunt and Paul Bauer ignited my imagination. The height of inspiration of course came from reading my hero Mr. H.W. Tilman’s account in the Himalayan Journal (vol. IX) on his attempt on Zemu Gap from south in 1936. The primary challenge of climbing Zemu Gap from south has always been its remote & complicated approach. Many failed just to reach the foot of this col. To add to that its apparently impregnable defenses took Zemu Gap to a next level of exploratory climbing. In 1925, Greek photographer N.A.Tombazi is sai...

A Happy Ascent of Satopanth in 2016- A report

A Happy Ascent of Satopanth 7075m Summary: In September 2016, a small group of climbers from India and Germany climbed Satopanth (7075m) and an unnamed 6008m peak by the traditional routes in semi alpine style and without using any fixed rope on its famous north-east ridge-north face route.  Text and Photos: Anindya Mukherjee Satopanth from Sundar Bamak, photo: Anindya Mukherjee ~~~~~~~~ The happy climber, like the aged Ulysses, is one who has “drunk delight of battle with his peers”, and this delight is only attainable by assaulting cliffs which tax to their utmost limits of the powers of the mountaineers engaged. This struggle involves the same risk, whether early climbers attacked what we now call easy rock, or whether we moderns attack formidable rock, or whether the ideal climber of the future assaults cliffs which we now regard as hopelessly inaccessible. -A.F.Mummery [1] ~~~~~~~~ Snow coated the mountain range and one mountain in particular. All of...