Nepal – Scientific Expedition- Pictures

In the event of global warming also the glaciers of the Himalayans have been retreating drastically. A team of motivated scientists of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany took a trip into the region of the highest peaks of the world in order to gather information about global glacier retreat which stands in close relation to our drinking water supply and has a strong effect on the future of our planet!
Style of Gravity has accompanied this special expedition with their cameras. The movie is being edited by the German production company Sichtzeit. A trailer will soon be uploaded.
Links:
http://www.sichtzeit.de
http://web.tu-dresden.de/kartographie

(click images to view galleries!)

Part 1. The journey, preps and Kathmandu
After having gone through a basic endurance training it was time to pack our equipment and jump onto the plane from Graz, Austria, to Kathmandu, Nepal. At the time of our arrival Chinese Maoists were suppressing the local Nepalese people but still things seemed calm in the country’s capital and we made good progress with our prep-work.
The city itself – apart from the heavy traffic and smog – appeared to be charming and mystical.

Part 2. Trekking into the mountains
In order to reach the area of Mount Everest, you need to choose between two different ways to get there. The first one is the trail over Jiri, which at that time was a dangerous place since Maoist bandits were hiding along the track. Also, this version is more time-consuming and therefore we decided to take the plane from Kathmandu to Lukla. It hadn’t snown there since the last monsoon and so the trek to the famous village of Namche Bazar and further to Tengboche and eventually Chukkung was an easy task.

Part 3. Research in the mountains and the Imja Tse, 6187 m
The valley in which the small village of Chukkung is located offers just anything to a glaciologist and even cameraman. Five huge glaciers come down from the impressive peaks Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam in order to merge only a few kilometres from the village. Still we were shocked to find out that a vast part of the ice masses had already melted. But the weather decided to help the glaciers and just as the team arrived at the Imja Tse Basecampa snowstorm covered everything including their tents in a white carpet.
The camera team ahd only one day left to path their way through the deep snow up onto the summit of Imja Tse, 6187m and get the desired shots of the famous glacier lake Imja Kola.