On the 7th of April, the first detail from 151 regiment and paired unit 10 Regiment departed from the UK to take on the Three High Passes challenge in Nepal’s beautiful Himalayas. The second detail would arrive a day later to complete the 12 personnel from the paired units accompanied by two instructors. Service personal from Major to Pte soldier and one Officer Cadet took part in the expedition.
The total time for the expedition from launching in the UK to returning was 21 days. This trip was a few years in the making as unfortunately Covid had halted the first few attempts. The second attempt being pulled together within two months, only medically being signed off the day before deployment. In this time personnel would train on an altitude machine but also getting their documents together. Everything came together and the team was united in Kathmandu on the 8th of April ready to take on the challenge.
After two attempts, the team made it to Lukla. Due to bad weather our initial flight took off from Kathmandu but was unable to land in Lukla. To keep the expedition on track the team pulled together funds to get helicopters the next morning. After three helicopter rides, the full team had landed and by the afternoon we were on track to meet the first checkpoint Pakhding, where we would stay the first night. The next day we pushed on to Namche Bazar to spend one day acclimatising before hitting one last settlement which was the staging area for the first pass.
On the eighth day of the expedition the team had cleared the first pass; Renjo La. This was a real test for the team as there was very few that didn’t experience light symptoms of acute Mountain sickness. This was the first time breaking the 5000m mark, higher than Mt Blanc. Fortunately, Gokyo was roughly 1000m downhill and we were able to recover there before pushing on to Dragnag the next day.
After our experience, our 11th day clearing Cho La pass was comparatively easy. On this journey we met a few teams trekking the opposite direction to which we concluded that approaching the three passes geographically clockwise resulted in steep routes uphill and gradual declines creating an arguably more difficult route. Regardless, the views were breath-taking throughout the journey and our team was able to rise to the challenges presented to us.
After a rest in Dzonglha, the team have made up the time from previous setbacks Which enabled us to use our 13th day to trek up to the Everest base camp. After having lunch at LaBouche, we tracked up to Gorak Shep to rest the night before heading up to base camp then back down to LaBouche.
Base camp was an amazing experience enabling us to have tea in one of the expeditionary tents.
This gave us insight into the teams that would go on to summit Everest while also enjoying the immense scenery from the comfort of a warm tent.
Morale was high heading into Khongma La pass. The final hurdle being the highest at 5550m, a fantastic challenge to round off a once in a lifetime experience that none of us will forget. Sitting above the hight of base camp, the views produced some of the best scenery.
The most arduous part of our journey had now concluded, the next few days spent coming down the mountains re-visiting some of the old tea houses before flying back to Kathmandu. We enjoyed one last night in the town of Thamel before our 18 hours of flights home.
The Ulysses Trust was a major contributor to our trip and our success and personal growth wouldn’t have happened without their support. The team and I are very grateful for their assistance.
Expedition Leader: Major Paul Herlihy
Written by: OCDT James Newton
