The Cho Oyu expedition itinerary

The Challenge8000 team will fly into Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. From here, the team will drive north towards the Tibet (China) border town of Zhangmu and onwards to Nyalam, 35km away.

Next stop is Tingri, the base town for expeditions heading towards the north side of Everest and Cho Oyu. From here we will drive to Chinese Base Camp, a grassy plateau along the foot of the Gyabrag glacier and the end of the road for motorised transportation. From here, Cho Oyu advanced base camp (ABC) is 2 days away and at 5,600metres, is as high as Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe.

By the time we arrive at ABC, the team should be sufficiently acclimatised to climb as far as Camp 1 (C1, 6,400m) with the minimum of delay. C1 will be located on a broad snow field at the foot of the ridge leading up to a serac barrier (ice column). Depending on the circumstances we will make our summit bid from Camp 2 (C2, 7,000m) or Camp 3 (C3, 7,400m). C2 is normally sited on a snow plateau cut by huge crevasses (fractures in the glaciers underneath) and C3 is setup high above and used for the summit push only. As is always the case in the mountains, the length of the expedition will depend on weather and mountain conditions and the planned itinerary described should give us plenty of time to compensate for bad weather days.

Outline Itinerary and altitude in metres

Day 1 - Arrive at Kathmandu (1200m)
Day 2 - Kathmandu - obtain Chinese visa and a gear check
Day 3 - Kathmandu - last minute purchases
Day 4 - Drive to Zhangmu (2000m)
Day 5 - Drive to Nyalam (3700m)
Day 6 - Acclimatising in Nyalam

Day 7 - Drive to Tingri (4400m)
Day 8 - Acclimatising around Tingri (5000m)
Day 9 - Drive to Chinese Base Camp (5000m)
Day 10 - Acclimatising around CBC (5300m)
Day 11 - Acclimatising around CBC (5500m)
Day 12 - Trek to Interim Camp (5300m)
Day 13 - Trek to Advanced Base Camp (5600m)

Day 14-37 - Climbing Cho Oyu (8200m)
Day 38 - Return to Advanced Base Camp (5600m)
Day 39 - Return to Chinese Base Camp (5000m)
Day 40 - Drive to Nyalam (3700m)
Day 41 - Drive to Kathmandu (1200m)
Day 42 - Depart from Kathmandu