Overview

Annapurna is a series of peaks 55 km long with the highest point, Annapurna I, which stands 8091m in altitude, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world, located in a spectacular setup, east of a great gorge cutting through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River, which separates it from the Dhaulagiri massif lies only 34 km west. Annapurna I was the first 8,000m peak climbed by a French Expedition led by Maurice Herzog, who reached the summit on 3 June 1950. It took 20 years for another team to succeed on the same mountain summit. The 1970 ascent of the South Face of Annapurna by Chris Bonington’s team was a landmark in the history of mountaineering. This is a mountain that is among the most familiar of mountains, yet one that is very rarely climbed.

Annapurna in Sanskrit literally means “full of food” but is normally translated as ‘Goddess of the Harvests’. For Hindu Annapurna is “the universal and timeless kitchen-goddess, the mother who feeds and prevents starvation, a universal fear, which makes Annapurna a universal goddess, associated with the giving of food (wealth). This led her in time to be transformed into Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth with the most popular shrine located in Kashi, on the banks of river Ganga.

The entire massif and surrounding area are protected within the 7,629sq km as Annapurna Conservation Area led by Project (ACAP), the first and largest conservation area in Nepal, established in 1986. The Annapurna Conservation Area is home to several world-class treks, including the Annapurna Circuit, so the Annapurna Expedition has additional benefits of occurring in an extremely spectacular setting, however Annapurna peaks are also the world’s most dangerous mountains to climb. There are four Annapurna’s in the massif as well and Ganga Purna and Annapurna South. The South Face of Annapurna is one of the largest and steepest faces in the world. The face is awesome in size and difficulty. The South Face is 3000 feet higher than the southwest face of Mt. Everest. The South Face of Annapurna is relatively free of the terrible avalanche hazards that plague the standard routes on the North Face of the mountain, despite the great difficulty; the South Face is a logical route to the summit of Mt. Annapurna.

Annapurna Expedition Base Camp Services

• We provide very professional, supportive and friendly mountaineering logistic services from Kathmandu to the ABC as well as during the climb. Our objective is to ensure a good quality, supportive, safe, friendly, stress free and comprehensive service to maximize summit opportunity.
• We provide a comprehensive service organizing all necessary permits, and climbing documentation, travelling logistics including airfares, ground transportation, porters, and other individual services required by mountaineers. On the track to the ABC, we organize all required accommodation and food.
• In the Base camp our cook and helpers will prepare and serve three times delicious freshly cooked and plentiful meals a day and will ensure that hot and cold drinks are available 24hrs a day.
• In the Base Camp we provide spacious expedition quality personal tents for all our clients both with full board and base-camp service only.
• In the base camp we also provide dining tent, kitchen tent, toilet facilities and portable shower facilities and tent accommodation for our staff.
• In the Base Camp we provide access to communication including satellite telephone and internet access, and solar panels to charge your batteries.

Annapurna Expedition Full Board Services

• For full board services we provide personal tent and food, which will be prepared by their climbing Sherpa. We provide UHF/VHF handheld radios on the mountain to maintain communications between ABC and high camps.
• We provide a personal climbing Sherpa guide to help the clients to reach the summit. Personal climbing Sherpa will set up camp 1 and camp 2 and high camps/bevies including food provisions, fuel and oxygen and will guide and assist the client on the summit day.
• Annapurna climb is a serious adventure and one of the most difficult and dangerous 8000m peak. The climbing skills of the client required to attempt the climb are high for the chance to succeed as well as for safety reason. Unlike other summits like Cho Oyu, Shisha Pangma or Everest, the client attempting Annapurna must be an experienced and independent climber, who doesn’t rely on the leader to take them to the summit and bring them back. Our role is to assist, advice and support and we take it with full responsibility and seriousness of it.
• The climb requires cooperation between teams in setting up fixed ropes. Our camp manager and guides will work with other teams on the route setting.

Approaches to ABC

• As most of climbers hate the approach, the approach to Annapurna Base Camp is a spectacular bonus trek through world class trekking area; Poon Hill with spectacular sunrise views on number of significant and elegant peaks including Dhaulagiri (8167m), Tukuche Peak (6920m), Nilgiri (6940m), Varaha Shikhar (7847m), Annapurna I (8091m), Annapurna South (7219m), Annapurna III (7855m), Machapuchhre (6993m), Annapurna IV (7525m), Annapurna II (7937m) and Lamjung Himal (6931m) are the highlights of it. The trail follows then the deepest valley in the world the Kali Gandaki valley between two 8000m giants Annapurna I and Dhaulagiri. The trek passes through Tatopani, Ghasa, Thulo Bogin, Thulo Bogin pass and Mristi Khola to the Annapurna ABC. The approach trek can be shortening by 2 days driving to Tatopani.
• The Advanced Base Camp (4190m) is located at the North Annapurna Glacier, and it can be reached within 7-9 days trek or there is also option of flying into ABC by MI-17 helicopter from Pokhara.

Climbing Routes

• Annapurna standard route is via West face and Northwest Ridge, which is a very challenging route with Annapurna being statistically one of most dangerous 8000m peaks. The most dangerous and difficult is a section between camp 1 and 2 with a very unstable and broken glacier with dangling seracs ready to crash any time, being major cause of death, and eminent avalanche danger.
• The climb is done with 3 camps. It takes 2 hrs to get from the ABC to the bottom of the climb; facing 70deg steep 500m climb with fixed ropes and danger of falling services.
• From camp 1 to Camp 2 the climbing is slightly less steep also difficult with still high objective avalanche danger. This section requires also a set of about 1000m of fixed ropes.
• The route from Camp 2 to Camp 3 requires switchbacks navigation on the snow field between seracs of the broken glacier. There is still 1000m of fixed ropes required.
• Summit attempt is on exposed ridge but it doesn’t require fixed ropes, it is done as free ascent.