30 April and 01 May 2008 - Dawa Steven Sherpa

On 30 April, I and Paribesh decided to go to visit the research team led by Prof. Fukuisan from Keio University at Imja Tsho. We left the Everest Base Camp at around 10 am went to Chhunkung via Kongmala pass (5535 meters). We reached Chhukung at 9 pm in the night after losing the trail in the dark, wondering around boulders and luckily finding the trail again. On 1 May, Paribesh and I left for Lake Imja Tsho. After 3 hour of walk, we reached Imja Tsho. Imja to us looked very passive, dormant and frozen. Professor Fukuisan' team had reached here the day before and they were already in their job, putting benchmarks on the peripheries of the lake and replacing the old broken field server. They were however disappointed that since the lake was frozen, they couldn't use the motor boats which they have brought with them to measure the depth of the lake.

We took a picture with the professor, his research team and Rijen Kayastha of the Kathmandu University.

Paribesh and I reach the Kongmala Pass at an altitude of 5535 meters after about 3 hrs of walk uphill from Lobuche (4050 meters) at 5 pm in the evening. At times, it did occur to us, especially Paribesh that this was too ambitious of a plan.



While crossing the Khumbu Glacier on the way to Kongmala Pass, the climbing team witnessed ice covered by moraines and debris. These ice are melting quickly this year resulting in the formation of supra glacial lakes as shown in the picture.



The panaromic view of the Khumbu Glacier seen while crossing the Khumbu Glacier itself on the way to Kongmala pass.