By james art Danica Gilbert from USA and Pasang Kidar Sherpa from Nepal have climbed an aesthetic new route at 6125m Beding Go in Rolwaling.
Pasang Kidar, an IFMGA guide and managing director of Kathmandu-based Khangri Trek, was climbing near Dolma Kang last year with Gilbert when they saw the unclimbed northwest ridge of Beding Go (also spelled Bedding Go). The peak, part of the Gaurishankar massif, has only had one previous ascent, which was made by an international team on the south face in 2015.
“The good thing is that the climb starts practically from the door of Pasang’s home,” Gilbert told ExplorersWeb.
From the village of Beding, the climbers made their way to the foot of the mountain, assisted by a porter who carried their gear to the 4,900-meter base camp. From there, they began a single push, peaking on October 13.
Share the permission
View from the high camp. Photo: Danica Gilbert
The two minimized the cost of a climbing permit, which would have been quite expensive for Gilbert, by sharing it with a Japanese team. The Japanese group consisted of clients and a few strong Sherpas who had secured ropes to a high camp at 5100m. Pasang Kidar and Gilbert did not need the ropes but used the broken trail up to 5100m. From there they began their final push ahead of the Japanese.
The two follow a route through glacial terrain to a ridge separating Tibet from Nepal.
“After 400m on this ridge and over several false summits we reached the last 130m traverse of the ridge,” the climbers reported. “[There was] wild exposure on both sides: 1350m down to the Rongshar Valley to the north and 700m back down to the Gaurishankar Khola Valley to the west.’
On the sharp summit ridge of Beding Go. Photo: Pasang Kidar
“We left at 3:55 in the morning and reached the top at 12:07 in the afternoon. It was a lot longer and more fleshed out than we expected,” Gilbert admitted.
Pasang did most of the difficult trail breaking. Then on the long sharp summit ridge they faced several false summits and faceted snow. This led them to choose their route carefully to minimize the high risk of avalanches.
“There was no room to secure the route,” Gilbert said. “We advanced, bound with ropes and ready to jump to opposite sides of the ridge if the snow gave way under our feet.”
The ridge. Photo: Danica Gilbert
At the highest point, they found a rope from the first climbers. On the way back they mostly returned. They named the line Friendship Ridge and rated it Grade V, AI 3+, TD.
Possible with customers
Back at the high camp they described the ridge to the Sherpas from the Japanese team.
“We told them it was very exposed, with no way to fix the ropes properly, so we suggested they go with two Sherpa guides per client,” the climbers said.
The Japanese team tried the next day, but soon withdrew due to unstable snow conditions. Still, Pasang and Gilbert believe the route can be done with customers. Just not every customer.
“In fact, that was one of the purposes of the climb: to see if it would be feasible [commercial] route,” they said. “We think it’s possible with a 1:1 driver-to-customer ratio, that’s enough [client] is a strong, experienced climber as there will be no fixed ropes from the high camp.’
Climbers on the ridge viewed from base camp. Photo: Mingma Cherry
This is a promising trend for the future of climbing in Nepal. Beyond the fixed ropes of the eight thousanders, experienced guides and qualified clients have endless options on the technical routes on the country’s 6,000m peaks.
“It’s a cleaner, more sustainable way of climbing in the Himalayas, and for me as a guide it’s a lot more fun,” Gilbert said.
Pasang agreed. As described, the route is slightly more difficult than Ama Dablam — and definitely more lonely. They compare it to the north face of Huandoy in Peru.
A joint project
Like Mingma G, Pasang Kidar Sherpa belongs to that generation of Rolwaling climbers who pursue personal climbing goals in addition to guiding. In 2017, he was part of the local team led by Nima Tenji Sherpa who made the first ascent of Langdung (6326m).
Danica Gilbert is also a mountain guide based in Ridgeway, Colorado, although she spends long periods in Nepal. The two met climbing, but joined forces to bring Afghan women and blind mountaineers to Nepal to expose them to trekking and climbing.
The goodwill project started in 2017 when they took a group of Afghan girls on a trek to Langtang. When the Taliban took over, most of these girls fled Afghanistan and now live as refugees around the world.
“We are making huge efforts to bring them from their host countries as they have serious difficulties in obtaining travel visas,” the climbers explained. “Fortunately, the Nepalese government helped us and a few weeks ago we were able to bring a group of them who are currently living in Germany.”
The girls climbed Yalung Ri and another nearby peak with Pasand, Gilbert, Mingma Cherry Sherpa and an American group.
A photo from the summit earlier this fall. Photo: Mingma Cherri Sherpa
“So far, Nepal feels like home to them, and climbing mountains crosses borders and nationalities,” explained Gilbert. “It’s a place where they can be completely happy and hide from their horrible reality. They feel exiled in a foreign land and can never return to their home countries. In Nepal they turn out to be just mountaineers. And they have found great role models in female Sherpa climbers like Pasang Lamu Akita, Dawa Yangzum and Maya Sherpa.”