Lobuche East Summit 2023

One of the Rope4 Outdoor Education members summited Mount Lobuche East (20,075f/6,119m), in the Kumbhu Region of Nepal as part of Lobuche East Summit 2023. It is rated as one of the more technical climbs within this group of neighboring peaks compared to Lobuche East Summit! 

Congratulations to Ahoshanuzzaman Toukir!

Lobuche East is a “trekking peak” in the Himalayas, Nepal. It is classed as Grade PD+ (Peu Difficile+) on the Alpine Grading system. Certainly, it is more technical than its more commonly climbed neighbors, Island Peak, Pokalde, and Mera Peak. There are two summits to Lobuche East, a “true” and a “false” with an expedition peak Lobuche West adjoining.

Toukir reached Lobuche High Camp on 20 October 2023 and started for the peak at 2.20 AM on the 21st October 2023. Summit time – 8.21 AM, 21 October 2023, and the “true” summit time is 8:49 a.m. on the same day.

From the Base Camp, at approximately 15,740 ft it’s a 2-hour slog following a well outlined trail up to the first option of a high camp alongside a hidden lake at approximately 16, 500ft. In my 2005 climb, we went a little further up a narrow gully above the lake and onto a slabby rock plateau area at 17,200ft.

Toukir’s mountaineering journey started with participating in a competition titled Mission Himalaya. Then, after completing a rigorous boot camp challenge, and finally becoming one of the winners, his dream journey gets petronized…

Mountaineering is an alternative youth development process as it requires being physically and mentally skilled, as well as having the intelligence and the ability to make the right decisions quickly, which can make the next generation skilled citizens and which can contribute to the development of the country as a whole.

Since every expedition to the mountain is very expensive, these expeditions face obstacles without sponsor support. Efforts were made to get sponsors for this expedition, however, no sponsorship support was secured. As a result, for the first time, Rope4 has been involved in providing client services for Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Base Camp, and Island Peak expedition to bear the expedition cost of Toukir from the profit.  

In addition, financial support from some well-wishers and the profit from Rope4 T-shirt sales are also added to manage the cost of the expedition. Toukir has broader mountaineering dreams to be fulfilled in the coming years which requires support from potential sponsors. Toukir is hopeful!