A first-person travel video (Day 10) of Nate Buchanan and companion Kara hiking the Cho La Pass during an Everest Base Camp trek. The chunk documents an early start (alarms 4:30am, on the road ~5:45), ascent from ~4,900 m up to the Cho La Pass (~5,600 m), difficult snowy conditions and cloud engulfment near the summit, and descent to the village of Tashi (~4,700 m) where they rest and recover. The narration records physical effects (shortness of breath, nausea), logistics (three hours up, four hours down estimated), and highlights (views, snow, celebratory Snickers).
Questions this video answers
4:30am
5:45am
Around 4,900 meters
About 5,600 meters
About 4,700 meters
Chapters
A little slippery this morning.
It is day 10 of our Trekk in the Himalayas. We've already made it to Everest Base Camp. Now we're adding a little bit of extracurricular activities. Today we're hiking the Chola Pass. Last night we stayed at around 4900 meters. The Chola Pass goes up to 5600 and then back down to 49. Tonight should be one of our biggest hikes yet at three hours up and four hours down. But the views are absolutely amazing today. Hello. How you feeling? Very good. And you? Good.
Nate forgot to mention that our alarms went off at 4:30am this morning. We're on the road by 5:45. It's gonna be another long day.
But a good one. Gotta be on top of the pass by 10. Otherwise the weather could get bad. We'd be in trouble.
We learned that a pass just means you go up a mountain and down the other side. That's what we're doing today.
Lots of elevation changes. We just came out of a village that is now covered by a cloud.
Probably one of the coolest sights of the entire trip. In the rock, they have one small valley and we have to follow all the way up. And then after we get over there, do we keep going up? Yeah, keep going gradually up. Okay. So this is. This is the hard part. Okay. I think we can do it.
We've climbed about 200 meters from down there and we are a third of the way to the top.
How you feeling?
Feel okay?
Yeah. Yeah.
I get out of breath pretty quickly. But then once we stop, I'm good. I'm really cold right now because we stopped moving.
Once we start moving we can get a head start. I'm sure everybody will catch us. Yeah. Probably.
Spotted some potential snow leopard prints in the snow. Yeah. At least that's what we're telling ourselves. Yeah. All right. Tsunam says snow upper prints confirmed. Yep. Confirmed. Up next heading straight up this ledge. If you squint really hard, you can see a tiny person right there. That's where we'll be.
Up the mountain we go.
Super man came back down the mountain to take care of his day pack so she can make it up to pass. Thank you, Sumit.
We made it to the top of the ravine. But we still have 20 meters until we get to the top of the pass. Left off of 0.200meters.
Now we walk on this sketchy tiny snow ledge.
The clouds are coming up to pass.
We still have to get over that glacier before the weather gets bad. The cloud is literally Overtaking the blue sky as we speak.
Kara, what happened to the weather?
We've been completely engulfed in a cloud. Starting to flurry a little bit, but we can see the top of the pass. Almost there, Cara, you're almost there.
Help me some eat.
Oh, thank you.
I don't know how you did that with one hand, mate.
You made it to the top of the pass.
Kara, are we right at the top this time?
Yes, right on top. Can't see very much because the clouds have set in. We just came straight up this glacier and straight up this hill. We made it to the top of the pass. From here, it's all downhill for the next few days until we get back to Kathmandu. So I thought it deserved a celebratory Snickers.
Once again, best Snickers ever.
Yeah. This is the highest I've been when I've beaten this Snicker.
Once again, the snow set in pretty good. Apparently we're going down a steep descent, so in order to not ruin the camera with water or by me falling and breaking it, putting it up probably till we get to the bottom. Couldn't help it. Had to get a few shots going down.
This hike is just getting crazier. We are sliding down this mountain in the snow.
It's like the most epic part of the hike. Just descending into the foggy abyss.
If you look closely, you can see some people way down there. Not only is Sumit taking both of our bags down, he's also helping Kara.
The pass right here in between these mountains is what we just got through. Coming down, went over this hill. Now we're going up this hill and we're told it's downhill the rest of the way. Yes.
I can't go any faster.
Still snowing. Karen and I are both feeling kind of nauseous. Gonna put the camera up till we get there. With that said. Absolutely beautiful. So happy I'm here. Snow's getting even harder. Kara's feeling super nauseous. She's being a trooper. We're heading somewhere in that direction, but we can't see anything because of the snow. For the past hour, we've been walking straight down this valley. And the town that we're going to eat lunch in and possibly stay the night in tonight is just right down here.
Just arriving in the town of Tashi, we've come down from 5,400 meters to 4,700 meters, which means there should be more oxygen in the air, which means we should start feeling better. Kara, which one was harder, yesterday or today?
Yesterday.
Was still probably harder. But today I really don't feel well. I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
This is not to be negative. This is just to show the true feelings of hiking in the Himalayas. Are you gonna be glad that you did the pass today?
Yeah, probably.
We started our trek a little before 6am this morning, and we just made it to our tea house in Tashi. So. Time for lunch.
This is how we spent the afternoon after the hike. How you feeling? So much better. I'm so glad. And now we'll probably play some cards, eat some dinner, and go to sleep. Do it again tomorrow.
