Chhkhung Tse
Prior to my trip to Nepal, I did a bunch of research on certain peaks and passes I could try and run. Chkhhung Tse was one that stuck out to me from the very beginning. It stands nearly 6000m, and has no glacier and relatively easy route finding, connecting a long ridge from its sub peak ( Chhkhung Ri ) to the summit. After trekking for over three weeks, and have already run a few smaller peaks and passes, my body felt like it was well acclimated for the run. On April 6th, 2017, I Left the town of Chhkhung and began the run north towards the first peak, Chhkhung Ri. The trail was steep with little switch backs, but as I gained altitude, the ground became similar to alpine running in the rockies, with fun scree and manageable switch backs to peak. Once I gained Chhkhung Ri, I could see the ridge connecting the far off Chhkhunng Tse. The ridge looked much longer than I expected, but still decided to completer the run. My breathe began to steady as I ran a more level pitch along the ridge. With some knife edge places, the ridge became quite exciting at times. As I neared the summit, the route got quite steep, with 5th class scrambling up loose rock to the summit. Once on top of the crux, I ran over to the highest rock, sat down, and enjoyed the absolute stillness. Not a single gust of wind on top, I looked around and had the most incredible view of Ama Dablam, and right beside me was the Lhotse face of Mt. Everest standing about a kilometre high.
This was an extremely rememberable run, and I am super happy with how my body did at that altitude. In the spring of 2020, I will be returning to Nepal for another 2 months and am stoked to run this beautiful peak again.
