Mt. Shishapangma Expedition (8,013m) - 38 days

Introduction to Mt. Shishapangma Expedition

Mt. Shishapangma (8,013m), the 14th highest peak of the world, straight forward climbs and less technically demanding, an excellent mountain for climbers wanting to scale their first 8,000m peak without taking much risk. 

Mt. Shishapangma, 8013m, "the range above the grassy plain" was first climbed by a Chinese expedition team in 1964 consisting of 10 expedition members, led by XǔJìng. It is located in the central Himalaya and lies totally inside Tibet. To the east lies Mt.Molamenchen, the west – Mt.Xifeng and Mt.Nandengri and to the northwest Mt.Kangbochen.

There are three distinct climbing routes on the Southwest face with several other logical possibilities on the West Ridge and East face. 

Climbing Shishapangma is a great opportunity to escape the crowds of the busier mountains like Mt. Everest and Cho-Oyu while challenging one's self on an 8000m peak. This is a beautiful climb that sees only a fraction of the traffic of Cho-Oyu just to the South-east. It is the only 8000m peak completely within China and towers above the Tibetan plateau. Although Shishapangma lies in a remote area, it's within 10 hours by jeep from Kathmandu via the FriendshipBridge, making it one of the most accessible 8000m mountains 

High Camp & Climbing Routes 

We climb the Mt.Shishapangma using the North face route, which is normal route of the mountain and on request for a private team, we can run via the South face route as well. The route on Shishapangma starts with a jeep ride from Nyalam town to the spectacular Base Camp (5,000m). From BC we have yak support to ABC (5,400m). We establish three higher camps above ABC. The climb to Camp-1 (6,200m) and to Camp-2 (6,700m) is straightforward glacier travel. From C2 the route steepens as it climbs a rocky gulley leading to Camp- 3 (7,400m). From C3 the summit ridge gets steeper, up to 60 degrees, but it is direct and leads right to the Central Summit (8007m). The route between the Central Summit and the Main Summit (8,013m) is quite difficult and requires traversing a sharp ridge crest. If the conditions are acceptable, we will try to go to the Main Summit. Our strong & professional high altitude climbing Sherpas will fix ropes as required. Depending on our fitness, we'll be moving up and down the mountain several times, acclimatizing and stocking the higher camps. This expedition is fully supported by all the base camp & high camp services. 

Journey Outline

After final preparations in Kathmandu,  we will fly to Lhasa then, we spend about 2 nights in Lhasa doing some sight seen tours and acclimatization. From Lhasa, we will take a drive by land cruiser or by bus for Base Camp, spending about 3 nights along the way with some acclimatization trip and this will give us additional opportunity to explore the land of Tibet and visiting ancient cities of Tibet i.e. Gyantse (3990m), Shigatse (3,860m) and Shegar (4050m) etc. On our return trip to Kathmandu, we drive base camp to Kyerong in a long day drive and stay in a guest house, and next day we cross the China/Nepal border and drive for KTM. 
 

TRIP HIGHTLIGHTS

• Expedition will be finished after summiting the Mt.Shishapangma
• Expert & experienced cook and crews
• Excellent logistics at base camp
• Medical back up with Oxygen and Gamow bag at base camp
• Full board Expedition services including Oxygen cylinders and Mask set for climbing purpose
• 1:2 ratios of support climbing Sherpa for summit push
• Explore the ancient and traditionally rich cities of Tibet
• Our Sherpa climbers are multiple times Mt. Everest Summiteers
• Climb the world’s youngest 8000m peak, Mt.Shishapangma (8,012m) in Tibet with professional and already summitted Sherpa Guides

Fitness Requirements for the Expedition

Climbing at and above 8,000 meters is inherently dangerous and is not the place to be learning mountaineering and climbing skills. Any expedition that goes to 8,000m requires a very high level of aerobic fitness. Being fit will certainly improve your chances of reaching your chosen summit. Your resting heart rate should be below 60 but preferably below 50. You should be able to run 50km on flat ground in approximately6 hours. Endurance and the ability to carry a heavy pack of up to 25kg is more important than sprint ability. In order to get ready for this challenge, you need to be trained at least for about 8 to 12 months to prepare yourself as a strong candidate. You can go to the fitness center every morning for about 2 hours, do hiking every weekend with increasing weights on your pack (i.e. 10kg, 15kg, 20 kg, and up to 25kg), manage some time for cycling for a couple of hours up to 3 or 4 times a week. On the summit push, extra effort is required walking on ice and climbing up to 12 – 16 hours. 

Previous Experiences and Criterions 

Dream Himalaya Adventures strongly suggest that you must climb a number of 6,000m peaks in order to gain mountaineering proficiency and also undertake a trip to one of the 7,000m peak or one of the technically tricky 6000m peaks i.e. Mt. Amadablam, or similar, where you experience expedition camping, higher altitude, and dealing with the cold. Now to get more familiar with 8,000m altitude and extreme cold temperature, we highly recommend our clients  to climb one of our expedition to 8000m mountains, i.e. Mt. Cho Oyu (8201m), Mt. Manaslu (8,163m) or any other over 8,000m mountain, where working with Sherpas, the use of fixed ropes and oxygen equipment are pretty much associated with. With this experience on your side, you will be ready to attempt the Mt. Everest. If you do so, our experience shows that those who have done the expedition with us have significantly increased the success rates. If you are fit and motivated but lacked technical climbing skills or suitable experience, we have options to keep you safe and get you high. This might be a personal Sherpa or a pre-trip training course.

You must have well knowledge about the usage of mountaineering gears, good with rock climbing and ice climbing, will increase the chances of reaching the summit and also the previous mountaineering experiences is mandatory but doesn’t really require any high level of technical experience.