For those who love Nepal, its landscape and people, here is a little-known trekking peak leading to a wonderful viewpoint facing the Annapurna Great Barrier. The complex Chulu Massif rises north of the Marsyangdi Khola in the Manang region and forms part of the Manang Himal, which is quite rightly included in the larger Damodar Himal. This remote upland area lies to the north of and in the rain-shadow formed by the main Annapurna Himal. Huge glacial moraines abound, deeply etched by wind erosion into fantastic pillars.
The ascent of Chulu Far East is not difficult, as we will settle on a high camp near the col. From that col we follow the long South-West ridge on snow and ice. Although the approach up the Marsyangdi is relatively quick and involves no great altitude gain, the trek takes you through a wonderful variety of landscape and culture. We climb from the subtropical lower reaches of the valley, with its terraced fields where Gurung people dominate, to the ethnically as well as socially interesting Manangba-peopled region of the upper valleys, passing through rhododendron and pine forests in between. After the ascent, our route crosses the Thorong La, a 5416m pass, before dropping to Jomsom downstream in the Kali Gandaki river valley.
