Trip Report
Chhopa Bamare

by johnkelley
Monday January 1, 2018 11:41pm
Made the FA of Chhopa Bamare East by the East Ridge but failed to get to the main summit. Lots of mid 5th class snow coved rock on the upper East Ridge. It was just to time consuming to self belay it and too hard for me to 3rd class it so I bailed a few hundred meters below the main summit.

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Credit: johnkelley
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Credit: johnkelley
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top left corner top right corner
Credit: johnkelley
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top left corner top right corner
Credit: johnkelley
bottom left corner bottom right corner

top left corner top right corner
Credit: johnkelley
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  Trip Report Views: 4,444
johnkelley 		About the Author
johnkelley is a climber from Anchorage Alaska.

Comments
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
  Jan 1, 2018 - 11:46pm PT
the pic/prose ratio is good here.

sorta like the pack/porter ratio in your pic of your load.

TFPU!
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
  Jan 1, 2018 - 11:47pm PT
Good stuff! Important to have self control and not push it to the ultimate end, takes good control to do that. Summoning one peak is not too shabby! Congrats! Best in 2018 man!
Bruce Morris

Trad climber
Soulsbyville, California
  Jan 1, 2018 - 11:48pm PT
A bit of false modesty is okay. What an accomplishment! Bravo! The great pictures tell it all.
skywalker1

Trad climber
co
  Jan 1, 2018 - 11:57pm PT
Looks like a beautiful and challenging playground. Keep on trucking dude you post some great photos!

S....
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Jan 2, 2018 - 03:21am PT
Nice job John!
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Jan 2, 2018 - 03:31am PT
Good stuff!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
  Jan 2, 2018 - 04:14am PT
Nice! Getting up is optional, getting back down is obligatory.
norm larson

climber
wilson, wyoming
  Jan 2, 2018 - 04:47am PT
Probably a good decision John. That way we can see more of your Tr's in the future.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
  Jan 2, 2018 - 08:29am PT
Thanks for the report, John. Very cool what you are doing!

Am wondering what the nearby snowy peak is in photo 4?
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Jan 2, 2018 - 08:36am PT
The snowy one is Chhopa Bamare East from further up the East Ridge. Notice my orange tent sitting a 100m or so below the summit?
norm larson

climber
wilson, wyoming
  Jan 2, 2018 - 01:50pm PT
Time for a yak steak and some Chang.
nah000

climber
now/here
  Jan 2, 2018 - 08:02pm PT
you’ll have to tell me the libation of your choice, so i can send you a bottle/flat/two-sixer of it... the deal being you have to drink as much of it as you can in one sitting and then start telling us a few of the better stories, that I have to assume you’d have, after a trip like that. hahaha...

seriously: thanks for the report... however brief. looks like a sweet place...
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
  Jan 2, 2018 - 08:26pm PT
Your tent is just visible now that you mention it. What a location!

Was initially thinking the snowy peak looks like a great steep ski down into Tibet, but after checking it out on Google Earth, that is some very serious terrain.

Would love to read a longer report in the AAJ or here on ST.
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Jan 2, 2018 - 09:59pm PT
Your trip reports are always great to see. And what you achieve is always super impressive. Congratulations!
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Jan 2, 2018 - 11:13pm PT
It sure would be nice to have a climbing partner over here if anyone is interested in coming over??? I’m planning on staying another 2 months
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Jan 3, 2018 - 11:43pm PT
Climbing partner??? Anyone???
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Sep 26, 2018 - 04:17pm PT
You better get after it. I see some guide service is offering it as a guided FA.
Would love to see them pipped at the post with a pithy summit note to the effect:

Guide THIS suckas!
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Sep 26, 2018 - 04:55pm PT
There’ve been several “guide services” that have advertised trips there. On my 1st attempt I walked into basecamp and found a huge guided party there. A half a dozen clients from Singapore and around 30 locals. They had cooks, climbing guides, around 20 porters... They didn’t make it very far.
blu

Mountain climber
London
  Oct 1, 2018 - 04:50am PT
I am a young aspiring Himalayan climber and i was just wondering what range of temperatures you had on your trip? thanks
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2018 - 12:43pm PT
It’s pretty warm there during the winter. The low temps. at night were around, usually just below, freezing. Maybe between 15 or 20 Fahrenheit at the bivi around 6,000m. Warm during the day. If you’re in the sun you can climb bare handed, no gloves, for extended periods.
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
  Oct 20, 2018 - 12:39pm PT
Very nice JK!

Is that last image your entire kit?

No army of porters?

Keep on Truckin' man.
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2018 - 02:51pm PT
I had two porters on the way in. One spoke pretty good English and Nepalese. The other spoke a tiny bit of English, Nepalese, and some form of Tibetan. The locals didn’t speak any Nepalese. They set me up with locals where I could get food on the way back and a guy to get me a bus ticket from Lamabagar to Kathmandu so I could make it back on my own.

So yeah that’s everything after I was out of food and fuel. About 80-85 lbs. for a pretty delux set up. 3 man basecamp tent, plenty of foam pads, plenty of insulation, bivi tent, basecamp sleeping bag, light bag for the route, solar panel, batteries. Basically a delux backing setup plus an alpine climbing setup.

The photo below with the Magical Nepal banner in front of the hotel/bar/restraunt shows everything I took. Food, fuel, all of my stuff, and the stuff the two porters took with them. The guy on the left is a porter and the guy on the right owns the bar/hotel in Lamabagar.
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2018 - 01:14pm PT







A few more of the way in and out.
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2018 - 01:41pm PT
A few more of the route



This one is coming down to the col between Choppa Bamare East and the main summit. The snowy ridge in the photos at the beginning of the TR. The boarder of Nepal and Tibet is inches in front of my tools. Kinda cool...
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2018 - 01:46pm PT
Some kind of dried meat. They won’t kill anything but if something dies they’ll eat it. Like a yak or chicken. They’ll also eat stuff they find. Like dead deer or whatever. If they see eagles circling they go check it out. I’ll usually eat it. The worst stuff is the fish. I’d advise staying away from it.
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2018 - 02:15pm PT


blu

Mountain climber
London
  Oct 23, 2018 - 03:51am PT
Awesome thank you. Do you have any more photos of the routes / photos from base camp? Looks like a fantastic area
Jan

Mountain climber
Colorado & Nepal
  Oct 23, 2018 - 09:44am PT
Thanks. I always enjoy your trip reports. I'm wondering where themetal bridge above the cliffs is located? Is it above the Bhote Kosi?
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 23, 2018 - 10:10am PT
It’s just north of Lamabagar. Maybe 20 minutes out of town at the huge hydro electric project that’s happening. It’s at the end of the road past the trail into the Rolwaling. Northwest of the Rolwaling area.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Oct 23, 2018 - 11:26am PT
That last shot is Da Bomb! 😁
johnkelley

climber
Anchorage Alaska
Author's Reply  Oct 31, 2018 - 06:50pm PT
Looking for partners again for this winter???
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
  Oct 31, 2018 - 08:22pm PT
Looks pretty fun and pretty serious. Good luck on the partner hook-up.
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
  Nov 9, 2018 - 10:29am PT
Wow what a cool trip. Great photos cool to see some of the non climbing stuff.
blu

Mountain climber
London
  Nov 12, 2018 - 06:26am PT
do you have any maps / sources of topography of this area?
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