Hidden Valley Expedition 2008
Visit the official blog site of the Medex Hidden Valley Expedition.
Photos
Hidden Valley Expedition Slideshow
Outline
Medex Hidden Valley Expedition in West Central Nepal took place during October and November 2008.
From Kathmandu we flew to Pokhara. Some preliminary research was undertaken at the Hotel Barahi before the groups went by bus to Beni. The trek then followed a tortuous route to the west of Dhualagiri before crossing the 5,350m French Pass into the ,very remote, Hidden Valley. There we established our scientific Base Camp before and worked for a week in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees. We then climbed over the 5,300m Damphus Pass and descended to Marpha. Half of the team then flew home from Jomsom via Pokhara and Kathmandu. The remaining 26 members trekked north into Mustang towards the arid Tibetan border. The exotic city of Lo Mangthang provided a two day rest before retreating back to Jomsom and onto Kathmandu.
Preliminary results from the many scientific projects were presented at the Medical Expeditions Altitude Medicine Symposium at Worcester College, Oxford in December 2008. Further presentations will be made at the Hypoxia Symposium in Canada during March 2009.
The Google Earth picture below shows the route taken.
