Richard leaves for final training expedition

28th August 2010

Richard Parks leaves for the Himlayas today to embark on his final training expedition before his 737 Challenge starts in December.

Parks’ challenge to climb the 7 Summits, which are the highest mountain on each of the world's continents and venture to the South Pole and the last degree to the geographic North Pole, all against a 7 month clock has seen him make the amazing journey from professional rugby player to mountaineer in the space of 13 months.

After training in France, Ecuador, Italy, Scotland, Greenland, Wales and successfully climbing Denali, the highest mountain in North America and one of the 7 summits, Richard will now spend 7 weeks in the Himalayas and climb Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world.

He will be joined on the trip to Tibet by former Olympic rower and gold medallist Steve Williams, who will be joining Richard on the 737 Challenge to climb Mount Everest and travel to the geographic North Pole.

For Richard the trip is crucial to tie together many of the skills he has been honing over the past year, he stated; “Cho Oyu really is the culmination of my year long training for the 737 challenge. It will be my longest expedition to date and my first time at 8000 metres”. He added; “It’s important on many levels; the first is that it will provide the psychological confidence that I have performed at 8000 metres before Steve and I head to Everest, secondly as my longest expedition, it is perfect to simulate legs of my challenge, from everything from performance to logistics, to fulfilling press duties and communicating whilst I am away, as well as filming and lots more”.

At 8,201m/26,906ft, Cho Oyu will see Richard perform for the first time in the ‘Death Zone’, around 7,900m, the point at which there isn’t enough oxygen in the air to support human life. He will be using supplementary O2 and the expedition will test his kit, oxygen and ability to acclimatise above 8,200m and perform at altitude. He added; “I am really looking forward to it and all the challenges it will bring and I am also looking forward to training with Steve again”.

Steve Williams, who like Richard also summated Denali in Alaska this summer knows that the expedition is crucial and very much an Everest “Mock Exam” for them both. He stated; “I am really excited about testing myself on our first 8000m peak. It will be our first serious mountain together and a chance to work as part of a team, share a tent and work out what each other’s bad habits are!”

Before Steve had climbed 6194m Denali, his mountain experience was at 2000 metres, he added; “Every step in Denali was new ground for me so I am fascinated to see what another 2000 metres is going to be like. We’ll be testing using oxygen and our rope skills. This will certainly be the last exam before the big one. Obviously there will be more work and climbing we can do back home, but in terms of testing all our skills needed at Everest altitude, it’s perfect”.

Richard will be keeping the 737 Challenge team up to date throughout his and Steve’s 7 week expedition in the Himalayas via satellite phone, you can also follow their progress on Facebook and Twitter.

CHO OYU NOTES

Cho Oyu or Qowowuyag in Nepal is the sixth highest mountain in the world at 8201 metres above sea level. Cho Oyu lies in the Himalayas and is 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between Tibet and Nepal. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan.

The peak itself straddles the Nepal Tibet border, and the peak can be approached on its south side from the Thame valley of the Khumbu region of Nepal leading up to the Lungsampa Glacier. From the north, the peak is approached from the Tingri Plain, to the Palung Glacier that lies below the peak's north face, and the Gyabrag Glacier that surrounds the Northwest face. Cho Oyu has three main ridges: the Northwest, the Northeast, and the Southwest.

Cho Oyu's impressive Southwest face, that rises up three kilometres high from the Lungsampa Glacier, drew the attention of the first expedition to the Everest Himal organized by the British in 1921. Three decades would pass before it was first attempted, in 1952, by an expedition led by Eric Shipton. They were turned back at 6650m (22,500ft) by the ice cliff on the Northwest ridge that proved to be beyond their technical limits. Cho Oyu was successfully climbed two years later in the post-monsoon season of 1954 via the Northwest ridge by Austrians Herbert Tichy, Sepp Johler and Sherpa Passang Dawa Lama, who led the ice cliff that Shipton had described as obviously impassible.

Like all 8,000m peaks, the climb is a serious undertaking and demands fitness, mountaineering skill and self-sufficiency.

Richard, Steve and their team from Jagged Globe will fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa and spend a few days exploring the ancient Tibetan capital, taking time to let their bodies acclimatise, before driving across the Tibetan Plateau to Chinese Base Camp. From there, Richard and Steve will load up Yaks and trek to Cho Oyu base camp, below the north west face. Richard and his team will use three camps on the mountain. High camp is at 7,500m to maximize the chance of success and is the launch pad for the summit, which is reached in 5 to 8 hours under normal conditions. From Cho Oyu’s summit it is possible to get an incredible view of Everest.

Join Richard's Facebook group
Follow Richard Parks' 737 Challenge on Twitter