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March 31- April 2, 2007
Thengboche, 12,900 feet; Dingboche, 14,250 feet
We are at last back on internet connection with lots of catching up to do. We
find ourselves now in the village of Dingboche, above tree line in a wide open
area of the Imja Khola river valley. We left Namche Bazar on the 31st and
traversed along the west hillside of the Dudh Khosi river. The trail dropped
back down to the river’s level at a funky little town called Phunky Tenga.
Here we enjoyed a divine meal while defending ourselves against attack ponies,
also intrigued by the delicious fare. The afternoon’s hike took us through a
lush, shady coniferous forest and back up along the hillside, with the
sentinel of Ama Dablam on our right shoulders. Ama Dablam is a most beautiful
mountain, distinguished by a huge hanging serac just below its summit bloc.
From each side of the serac extends a long rocky ridge, like two arms opening
toward the valley. It is said that these are the arms of the mother, and the
serac is the jewel box on her neck, from whence the name “Ama,” meaning
mother, and “Dablam,” meaning jewel box. Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in the
distance give us sufficient reason to take lots of nice rests, often to our
unbelieving eyes.
Gaining in elevation throughout the afternoon, we arrived at Thengboche in
time to enjoy the moving clouds and the sounding gongs, indicating the start
of the evening’s puja ceremony. Thengboche is home to the region’s largest
monastery, a destination for monks of all ages throughout the country to
practice and study Buddhism. The public is invited to witness their puja
ceremonies, where they chant prayers and perform rituals inside the ornately
decorated gompas. The trekkers made camp for the evening on the ridge at
Thengboche. The climbing group camped just down the hill in Deboche, deep in a
forest of rhododendron, and into the Imja Khola river valley, a tributary to
the Dudh Khosi.
We started off April 1 with fairly easy walking through the Imja Khola valley,
passing stupas of various sizes, always on our right side as is the custom for
good merit. A stupa is a shrine structure built of stone, usually mound shaped
with four sets of Buddha eyes at the top, facing four directions. These are
found at either edge of each village, guarding against the entry of evil
spirits. We entered the town of Pangboche mid-morning, and were treated to
another chance to enter a monastery. Removal of shoes is required before
entering a monastery, and Mark Earnest thought it a good opportunity for his
first April fool’s joke, stealing one of Teddy’s shoes from the porch. Whether
he knew it or not, an aged resident monk trumped this joke by locking Jaime in
the monastery and retiring upstairs with the key. Jaime’s quiet knocking from
inside brought the monk back down with the key, who then laughed much harder
than the rest of us to discover his captive. From there the April fool’s jokes
were just stock material: fake spiders, rocks in backpacks, and the like.
April 1 also marked Bjorn’s 40th birthday! Did we party hard? Not exactly; so
we’ll try to ensnare him into something festive tonight.
The village of Pangboche is terraced with farming plots- mostly potatoes,
buckwheat, barley and various vegetables. Much of that continues on to
Dingboche, above all other vegetation save the ubiquitous juniper shrub. We
camped here for the night and are staying over today. Much of the group is
following Laxman’s lead of diligent pacing, others following Brian’s program
of endless exploring. So a day like today has something for everyone, a long
hike outside of town along a ridgetop and beyond, for some; or ambling about
town with a good book, for others. Whatever the choice, all of it is
experienced below looming Himalayan giants, keeping us humble and beckoning us
higher.
Background
Mountain Madness will return to Everest in Spring 2007 with
a commercial expedition led by Willie Benegas, The final commercial team will
be announced soon... But they have several clients. They will again attempt from the South (Nepal) side of
the mountain. Christine Boskoff, owner of Mountain Madness sadly passed away
in 2006.
The Climber: Willie Benegas
| Born and
raised in the wild heart of Patagonia, Willie Benegas, along with his
twin brother Damien, have pursued a long apprenticeship in the
mountains. As one of the "young bucks" of the world-class North Face
team, Willie has pushed his craft on the big-walls of Yosemite, the airy
summits of South America, and the loftiest peaks of the Himalaya.
The boundless duo, now
hailing from Berkeley California, completed their first major new ascent
with a route up Patagonia's West Face of Pilquitron (VI, 5.9, A3) which
is still unrepeated. |
©
David Keaton |
At 20, they climbed Fitz
Roy's impressive Supercouloir as well as routes on Guillaumet and Poincenot.
In the following years, Willie has ticked off the South Face of Aconcagua, a
new route on the North Face of Pakistan's Nameless Tower (VII), record speed
ascents in Yosemite valley, and attempted major new routes on the legendary
North Faces of Thalay Sagar and Jannu.
But simply overcoming
technical routes or highest summits is not enough for this 30 year old
climber. He gathers equal satisfaction by introducing others to the
wide-world of mountain experience. To help fulfill this goal, Willie and
Damien established Patagonian Brothers Expeditions specializing in South
American guided climbs and treks. They also lead expeditions for Out There
Trekking (UK, OTT) in Africa, South America, and on Himalayan giants such as
Cho Oyu.
Willie has many plans for the
future, but he often gets the same question; why do you climb? When asked
about the draw of high places, he says "a mountain adventure will carry over
into many facets of your life, teaching about yourself, your co-existence with
nature, and respect for other people's cultures."
Willie's Brief Resume below
FILMS:
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2001 OLN "Outlaws of the
Aconcagua Trail"
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1991 "Swimming with
whales" discovery channel
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HIGHLIGHTS:
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Nameless Tower "Book of
Shadows" VII 5.10+ A4 WI4, 1995
|
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Mt Kenya all massif towers
in 16 hrs, 2002 |
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Mt Cuerno 17.600ft South
Face First Ascent 5.7 WI 3 4640ft in 4.36hrs R/ trip solo, 2000 |
|
Fitzroy Super Canaleta VI
5.10b A1 WI 3,1987 |
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Atensoraju 19.328ft. new
route North ridge/face "The Pandora Box of Artensoraju:" 5.9 WI 3, 1998 |
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Oshapalca new route South
face "My Message" 5.7 WI 4/5 2.400ft., 2000 |
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Aconcagua World record
ascent/descent 54miles 13500ft elevation gain, 2000 |
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First Ascent Argentina Andes
"Welcome to a Dream" V 5.11 A4+.,1999 |
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Patagonia Exploration, first
ascent "Swept by the Wind" 5.13a, 1,000ft. |
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Patagonia 62.5miles
endurance run first place 9.35hrs., 1986 |
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The Nose VI 5.11 A1 16
ascents, ten one day ascents. |
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South Seas (VI 5.10 A5) |
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Sea of Dreams (VI 5.10 A5) |
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Regular Route (VI 5.10 A1)
twenty times. Fastest time was 3:30 |
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20/20 Classics Climb's in
twenty days of the 50 Classic's Climbs of North America Book. Ascended
60,080ft, traveled 137 miles on foot, 2hrs in canoe, and climbed 241
pitches. 1993 |
ABOUT WILLIE: Born and raised
in the wild heart of Patagonia, Willie Benegas has pursued a long
apprenticeship in the mountains. Willie has pushed his craft on the big walls
of Yosemite, the airy summits of South America, and the loftiest peaks of the
Himalayas. Willie completed his first major ascent in the winter of 1987 with
a route up Patagonia's West Face of Pitriquitron (VI, 5.9 A3 W2/3), which has
still not been repeated. At age 20, he climbed Aconcagua's impressive South
Face, as well as Fitzroy. In the following years, Willie "ticked off" the
first ascent of the North Face of Pakistan's Nameless Tower "Book of Shadows"
(VII, 5.10+ A4 W14), made record speed ascents in Yosemite Valley, and
attempted major new routes on the legendary North Faces of Thalay Sagar and
Jannu. In 2001, he set the world record speed ascent/descent of the highest
mountain in the Western Hemisphere, Aconcagua (22,831 ft.), summited Everest
for a second time, and ran the legendary Leadville Ultra 100-mile Race. In the
spring of 2002, Willie reached the Top of the World yet a third time. However,
simply overcoming technical routes and conquering summits around the world is
not enough for this 34-year-old climber. He gathers equal satisfaction by
introducing others to the world of mountain experiences and exploration.
Willie has many plans for the future, but he often gets the same question, why
do you climb? To this he simply says, "A mountain adventure will carry over
into the many facets of life, teaching yourself about yourself, your
co-existence with nature, and the respect for people's cultures."
 |
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