EX BLUE LOBUCHE saw twelve Oxford UOTC OCdts deploy to Nepal 31 Mar-24 Apr 2025, five of whom summited Lobuche East (6119m) via an alpine climbing route.
31 Mar – 4 Apr 2025: Following a 60hr delay for fixed-wing flights into Lukla, and with no prospect of immediate improvement, the expedition used all the contingency budget just to get into the start of the trek by purchasing rotary-wing lift. This generated uncertainty about what might now be possible in a much-reduced timeframe, a continued theme throughout the expedition.
5 Apr – 12 Apr 2025: Once established on the trek, the team spent a week gradually gaining altitude up to Gokyo (4750m). On our second attempt, 10 OCdts summited Gokyo Ri (5357m) in the best weather window of the trip so far. However, progressing over the Cho La Pass as planned was too ambitious for the group as a whole, so the team reversed the route back down the valley.
13-16 Apr 2025: The expedition exploited the Everest Base Camp trail to move rapidly around to Lobuche East. After days of patient negotiation with the Mountain Guides to work on different dates, the full team ascended to the colourful tents of High Camp (5300m). On arrival, the team received some training on fixed lines, working on snowed-up rock above the Camp. After some Dal Bhat, 0100 was agreed as the step off time.
17 Apr 2025. High-altitude mountaineering is undeniably hard. Five out of twelve OCdts achieved the expedition aim of summiting Lobuche East. On the summit day, four expedition members were unable to start, and three turned around within the first few hours, including the unit PTI, an athlete who thrives on events like Cambrian Patrol. A female duo, who made it to the summit, were on task for 12 hours at altitudes above 5,300m. For a cohort of 18–23-year-olds, at the start of their military career, this top-end challenge is the perfect environment to enhance resilience – to try, to fail, to succeed but by the narrowest of margins – then the opportunity on the trek home to use the experience as a basis for guided reflection and personal development. The impact of BLUE LOBUCHE on the participants cannot be underestimated.
18-24 Apr 2025: Back on the trekking route, the expedition hurried towards Lukla and their flights home. Now well-acclimatised, the team were able to move quicker in descent and, in tourist mode, the team were able to take in more of the cultural sights e.g. Tengboche Monastery, as well being more ambitious with the local cuisine. The travel home was suitably uneventful, with only a little turbulence out of Lukla.
The expedition would like to thank the following for their generous financial contributions, without which the expedition couldn’t have taken place: Ulysses Trust, Army Adventurous Training Group, Army Sports Lottery, Worshipful Company of Fletchers, 4 Div Trust, South East Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association, Army Mountaineering Association, and the Sandhurst Trust.
