INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
Reaching New Summits
While Climbing Island Peak
By Cristina Podocea
I couldn’t sleep at all. It often
happened before a big ascent. I was
too excited.
Only about a year earlier I was
summiting my first 4000-metre peak,
and learned that the only limits are the
ones we set for ourselves. I decided
to push them further every time. I
had fallen in love with mountains.
They are like a drug, one that you
become addicted to easily, causing
you to want more and more. There is
no apparent use in putting one’s life
in danger, nor in putting one’s body
through the pain of going up, high
above the clouds, on the icy slopes.
But here I was, in the Himalayas,
the playground of mountaineers
and alpinists of all sorts, sleeping at
the foot of a peak higher than 6000
metres, Island Peak, which I was
hoping to successfully summit in the
following hours.
Summiting a 6000-metre-plus peak
in the Nepali Himalayas is relatively
easy for those with a good level of
fitness and previous high-altitude
trekking experience. You’re not
allowed up the mountain without a
proper permit. It’s possible to apply
for an independent trekker permit if
you are an experienced mountaineer,
but most people are required to
get a guided permit. This means
you cannot climb it without being
accompanied by a guide. While this
makes it more expensive, it is safer. A
guide will help you along the way, will
arrange everything at the mountain’s
base camp and shows you how to use
the equipment.
Navigating the Island Peak Glacier, a technical part of the climb. Photo: Cristina Podocea.
“I could barely breathe as I was pulling myself up the fixed ropes. The
air felt empty and I was constantly struggling for oxygen. However,
this was why I had chosen to climb this peak.”
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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