Jacek Piwowarczyk Photography - Trekking around Dhaulagiri

French Pass, Mayangdi Valley, Nepal, Jacek Piwowarczyk, 1996

Dhaulagiri Base Camp, Mayangdi Valley, Nepal, Jacek Piwowarczyk, 1996

Clearing the way in such conditions meant very hard work and the glacier seemed to be never-ending. We were persistently negotiating subsequent moraines and ice hills and after few hours in a bathing heat we finally reached Dhaulagiri Base Camp (4750 m). The Base Camp usually bursting with expedition life was completely covered with deep snow and looked completely deserted. The only occupants were members of Russian expeditions for few weeks trying ineffectively climbing the White Mountain. That night however, they were spending somewhere high on the mountain. As we found out later they did not managed to reach the summit.

Mayangdi Valley, Nepal, Jacek Piwowarczyk, 1996

That night, under the cloudless sky night the temperature fell to almost 20 degrees Celsius below zero and almost sleepless night seemed never-ending. It was bitterly cold and getting up from the warmth of the sleeping bag was a nightmare. We just managed to drink one cup of tea and began a ascent. There was no trail and breaking a path through the fresh snow on the elevation over 5000 metres was not very demanding.

French Pass (5360 m)


For hours from the Base Camp we reached the saddle of French pass at 5360 m. A view from the pass is beautiful and is dominated by the majestic White Mountain. In the other side of the pass there was a large plane of snow-filled Hidden Valley named by the same French team where we pitched another camp.

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