Expedition history around the Lhonak stove

Evenings at Lhonak are cold and early, and the lodge stove is the place to be. Our guides use the time to tell the mountain's story, and to talk about the porters and climbers from these valleys who have worked on its expeditions. Many families in Taplejung have someone who has carried loads to Pang Pema or worked in a base camp kitchen, and those stories are as much part of the mountain's history as the famous names.

We start with the early explorers, including Freshfield and Sella in 1899, then the first ascent in 1955, when Joe Brown and George Band stopped short of the summit to keep a promise that the top would be left untouched. Then the North Ridge in 1979, climbed without bottled oxygen by Doug Scott, Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker, on the face you will see tomorrow.

It is an informal talk, with questions welcome, and it makes the next morning at Pang Pema mean more. Some guides carry a printed photograph or two of the early expeditions; others draw the routes in the dust or on a napkin. Then it is dinner, usually dal bhat or noodle soup, a last hot drink, and an early night in a warm sleeping bag before the dawn start.