aaj 2009 excerpt: india reports

others. We are now trying toreduce some of the other restric-tions, such as use of GPS andsatellite phones, and availability ofdetailed maps.

MANDIP SINGH SOIN,Ibex Expeditions, India

EAST KARAKORAMChong Kumdan II (7,004m). Theisolated Chong Kumdan Groupwas explored in 1991 by an Indo-British expedition that climbed 10peaks, including the first ascent ofthe highest, Chong Kumdan I(7,071m). This team approachedalong the Shyok River and thenwest up the long Chong KumdanGlacier. During the expeditionjoint leader Harish Kapadia inves-tigated an approach to the Nup La(ca 6,250m), the col at the head ofthe glacier immediately south ofChong Kumdan II. Huge crevassefields barred his way, making anapproach to CK II both difficultand long. A later foray to the northside of this peak showed no easyroute, and it was the only majorsummit in the group not attempted.

In 2007 an Indo-Americanteam visited the Chong KumdanGlacier, with CK II as its maingoal. Again huge crevasses and towering seracs barred access to this unclimbed peak and theteam turned to CK I, where they made the second ascent, by a new route (AAJ 2008).

That same year I led a commercially organized expedition to Mamostong Kangri(7,516m), a peak south of the Chong Kumdan Group, making a successful ascent from thesouth. I realized that from Mamostong base camp there was a long but feasible glacial routenorth, crossing several high cols, which would lead to the Nup La and south ridge of CK II. In2008 I decided to put this idea to the test.

At the beginning of August our team left the 4,900m Mamostong base camp and with thehelp of high-altitude Ladakhi porters moved slowly but continuously toward our goal. Afternine days we had crossed one unnamed col to the South Terong Glacier, traversed north, andcrossed a second pass to gain the upper reaches of the Chong Kumdan Glacier. From near thesecond col we climbed a previously virgin summit of more than 6,000m, naming it HMI Peak.

IndiaOverview. First ascents, high peaks, explo-ration, and challenging climbs by Indianmountaineers: all were part of 2008 in theIndian Himalaya, a year that will be remem-bered for energetic climbs and generally set-tled weather.

Sixty-five foreign expeditions visitedthe mountains. Since the IMF opened a liai-son office at Leh to collect fees, Stok Kangrihas become its most profitable peak, with 21official foreign ascents. Add to this ascentsby Indian teams and unauthorized climbers,and this peak will go into the books as themost climbed mountain above 6,000m. Thearea of Kishtwar, once a paradise of challenging mountains, has been closed for many years dueto terrorism in Kashmir. A British-Canadian-American team tried to approach Kishtwar Shiv-ling from the north, crossing the Umasi La, but a small incident en route scared their porters,who then refused to carry loads over the pass. According to the porters, terrorists were watch-ing. Kishtwar will have to wait till things improve.

There were 57 Indian expeditions during the year, and some completed excellent climbs.A small team from Bengal reaching the summit of Thalay Sagar, till now the preserve of strongforeign teams. Tirsuli West was climbed for the second time by an Indian expedition. This highpeak had defeated several strong teams. Maiktoli via the south face, Srikanta, and Manirangwere other high peaks climbed by Indians. This is a welcome sign, and we hope that a new breedof young Indian mountaineer will continue to climb without fixed ropes and Sherpa support.

There were also expeditions climbing in new areas and opening new valleys. Irish teamsexplored Gramang Bar in Kinnaur and climbed in the Debsa valley of Spiti. Two Indian teamstook on the unclimbed Nya Kangri and Plateau Peak. Both are challenging summits in the EastKarakoram and will need strong teams to achieve success. A British team took a historic trail,exploring an approach to the Zemu Gap (Sikkim) from the south, intending to traverse thepass. Their route over the high Guicha La to the Talung Valley was not without difficulties. Butthe icefall beyond and approaching bad weather stopped further movement. This is a worthyproject, and hopefully a team will return to reach the Zemu Gap for the first time sinceH. W. Tilman.

HARISH KAPADIA, Honorary Editor, The Himalayan Journal

Fast track permits. 113 Himalayan peaks were pre-cleared for 2009, meaning that obtaining per-mits should only take two–three weeks. You still need to fill out an application and other for-malities, but now you can arrive on a tourist visa, so the hassle is quite reduced. These 113 peaksinclude some of the plums like Shivling, Meru, Bhagirathi, Satopanth, Thaley Sagar, Nanda DeviEast, Trisul 1, Nanda Kot, Nilkantha, and Chaukhambha in Uttarakhand; Nun, Kun, Pinnacle,White Needle, Z1, Z3, and Z8 in Zanskar. In Himachal Pradesh most of the peaks from CB 9 to35, White Sail, Papsura, Deo Tibba, Menthosa, and Phabrang are included, among many

CLIMBS AND EXPEDITIONS : INDIA 287THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL, 2009286

Looking west from Chong Kumdan I. (A) Chong Kumdan Mont Blanc.(B) Chong Kumdan III (6,670m: unclimbed but attempted to within70m of the summit by the ridge connecting with Kichik Kumdan). (C)Chong Kumdan II (7,004m): the French team made the first ascent bythe left skyline. (D) Kichik Kumdan (ca 6,640m). Lindsay Griffin

Map of the Chong Kumdan region. Lindsay Griffin

CLIMBS AND EXPEDITIONS : INDIA 289

from a rocky ridge to the west, and also from avalanches discharging down the southeast face. On June 26 we fixed four ropes in the gully, reaching a height of 5,800m. Our chosen

route looked good and appeared safe from objective hazards for most of its distance. We hopedto establish Camp 1 on the 28th, but the weather broke at our high point. We left gear andretreated in strong winds and heavy snow.

The weather gods were not kind. For two days it snowed heavily, plastering the entireregion. We now had little time in which to climb the mountain and keep to our return sched-ule. On July 2 we made a final attempt to establish Camp 1, digging out our ropes and reach-ing 5,900m. From there we had to cross a narrow snow chute, before reaching the base of a200m snow slope leading to our proposed site. Deep, unconsolidated snow over hard ice androck made this too dangerous, and we reluctantly descended, removing all our gear.

June is considered the best period for climbing in the East Karakoram, but for us the con-ditions were more like those during the monsoon in Mumbai. But when we got home to Mum-bai we found out it had not rained there at all during peak monsoon season.

DIVYESH MUNI, Himalayan Club, India

Plateau Peak, attempt. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) organized an 11-memberexpedition, led by Wing Commander N. K. Dahiya, to attempt the virgin 7,287m Plateau Peaksouthwest of Saser Kangri I. The team approached from Panamik in the Nubra Valley and on July26 established base camp on the Phukpoche Glacier at 3,950m. Members had to ferry loadsbetween the roadhead and advanced base camp at 4,875m, as few porters were available. Afterclimbing the southwest slopes to the west ridge of Plateau Peak, the team set Camp 1 on the crestat 5,650m. They continued up the ridge, fixing rope, to place Camp 2 at 6,400m. From there, theyplanned to make a summit attempt but first fixed their remaining 1,100m of rope on the crestabove. This proved insufficient, so they added another seven climbing ropes. They reached a highpoint of 6,900m on August 3, but bad weather and unconsolidated snow forced retreat.


HIMALAYA

ZANSKARGolden Sentinel, north ridge, east face; The Chessboard. In August 2007 the Curbatt Group fromthe Menaggio section of the Italian Alpine Club celebrated its 25th anniversary by an expedi-tion to the Suru Valley, where we hoped to climb a virgin summit above 5,000m. Members ofthe group had climbed nearby Kun in 1995, 4,600m Gulmatonga Tower in 2002, and in2003 5,500m Kova Peak by a magnificent 1,000m route on compact granite with 29pitches to 6a+.

Leader Maurizio Orsi, Andrea Bordoli, Daniele Curti, Alessandro Giudici, Daniela Travel-la, Cristian Trovesi, and I arrived in the Suru during early August, hoping to attempt ShafatFortress. To our surprise we discovered Jonny Copp and Micah Dash already acclimatized, andready to go. So we turned to the second major tower on the ridge north of the Fortress, a ca5,200m rock peak that we dubbed Golden Sentinel. [The first is Peak Giorgio, climbed byanother Italian expedition in 2005 and repeated by Copp and Dash in 2007—Ed.]

We climbed the Golden Sentinel by two routes: an eight-pitch route, UIAA VI, on the airynorth ridge and a line up the east face named Viaggio nell’Ignoto, a seven-pitch route, also

THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL, 2009288

(The Indian members of our expedition came from Darjeeling’s Himalayan Mountain Institute.)At this point most Indian mountaineers and the porters returned, leaving four French

and two Indians to continue toward CK II. Eleven days after leaving base camp, we placedCamp 8 (6,550m) above the Nup La on the south ridge of CK II. On the following day all theteam (Indians Samgyal Sherpa and Konchok Thinless and French Sebastiano Audisio, BernardMeurin, Dominique Ravot, and I) reached the southernmost of the ridge’s four summits, whichwe named Chong Kumdan Mont Blanc. The following morning, day 13 from leaving base, Aud-isio, Ravot, and I crossed another summit (Cima Daniela) to reach CK II’s main summit.

Descent was rapid, and in two-and-a-half days we all reunited at Mamostong Base Camp.Although the technical difficulties were modest (AD for the final section, with the steepest partbeing below the Nup La), it was a committing journey through complex, often delicate terrain.Our practice of a slow but steady ascent from base camp, where relatively small daily heightgains allow good acclimatization, seems to be paying off.

PAULO GROBEL, France

Nya Kangri, south ridge, attempt. In June and July the Himalayan Club sponsored Vineeta Muni,Rajesh Gadgil, Rajan Rikame, and me in an attempt on the beautiful unclimbed snow and icepyramid Nya Kangri (6,480 m), at the entrance to the Arganglas Valley. Since 2001, when I firstvisited the valley, Nya Kangri has been high on my list. As we flew in to Leh clouds hung omi-nously over the region. We stayed a night at Tegur before starting our approach march on June19. For three days 11 horses carried our food and equipment to base camp at Phonglas(4,600m) on the true right bank of the river. Light rain accompanied us on the walk in, whileit snowed higher on the mountains. With the south ridge as our objective, we reconnoitered aroute to advanced base, which we placed at the snout (5,400m) of a small glacier originatingfrom the south face. A 700m gully on the southeast face led to the crest of the south ridge. Itproved a challenge to find a route up this gully that was safe from constant rockfall coming

Reaching the summit of HMI Peak (6,000m+) on the first ascent. Behind and to the east are Mamostong Kangri(7,516m, left) and Mamostong Kangri II (7,023m). Paulo Grobel


tranquil. Our Liaison Officer joined us at this stage. A seasoned mountaineer, Amresh was alsoa mango-eating champion (2.4kg in three minutes) and former Guinness World Record holderfor standing on one leg (71 hours 40 minutes).

Our team assembled, we journeyed past the Nun-Kun massif to the Pensi La (4,400m),where Z3 (6,270m), our primary objective, could be seen towering above the glacier. Despiteinitial optimism from our climbing Sherpas (Narbu and Dorjee), closer inspection from a basecamp on a moraine at 4,620m revealed that the mountain had suffered since ascents in the1980s. A couple of avalanches confirmed our fears, and we felt compelled to look for anothertarget, away from black ice and loose rock.

While exploring the upper glacier, we surveyed another mountain that looked safe andachievable. To reach it, we passed beneath the previously climbed Rahamo and through aspectacular glacial ice canyon that cleaved a passage through the main icefall. Above this weestablished advanced base camp at 5,025m.

The following day, August 2, we woke to clear skies and good snow. Although our goalwas still some distance away, we soon reached the Savoia Pass immediately north of our pro-posed peak and began the ascent. The northwest flank proved to be similar in many ways to theVoie Normale on the Weissmies (Swiss Alps). Steep, crevassed glacial terrain eventually gave wayto a balcony nestled beneath rocks at 6,000m. The summit seemed a long way off, and with badweather approaching and fatigue creeping in, we decided on one last push. To our surprise thesummit was far closer that we expected, with a short, steep section leading to a perfect snowypinnacle, on which we recorded two GPS readings of 6,026m and 6,032m and an altimeterreading of 6,035m. We decided to take the average of GPS readings, which so far had provedmore reliable, hence 6,029m. We enjoyed excellent views of the whole range before the longclimb down.

Having consulted the journals and found no recorded ascents of the mountain, we chris-tened it Mt. Aiseo, and awarded a grade of PD, chiefly for crevasse problems. As a whole, the areaoffers considerable scope for challenging and adventurous climbing.

EDWARD COOPER, Alpine Club

Shinkun East. A seven-member Indian team, led by Subrata Chakraborty and organized by theHimalayan Club, made the first ascent of Shinkun East (6,081m), which rises to the west of theShinkun (formerly Shingo) La. Shinkun East is a relatively insignificant eastern outlier of pre-viously climbed Shinkun. They established base camp at Chuminakpo (4,650m), and a highercamp at 5,190m. On September 9 the team reached the top of an unnamed 5,912m point,where they set their final camp. On the 10th Chakraborty, Jayanta Chattopadhay, Debraj Dutta,Rudra Prasad Halder, Goutam Saha, and porter Harsh Thakur negotiated a cornice and two70m rock bands, then traversed another rock barrier to an ice slope that gave a straightforwardascent to the summit.


LADAKHKula, west ridge, second ascent/possible variant. On June 29 Gaurav, JS Gulia, and Amardeep,with two HAPs, Fateh Chand and Pyare Lal, reached the 6,546m summit of Kula in the Rupshuregion. Kula is the name assigned this peak on the most recent Survey of India map, though theIMF refers to it by its former name of Chalung. The team from Sainik School Kunjpura, led by


UIAA VI. We used only nuts, Friendsand a few pegs. Both routes beganfrom an advanced camp placed belowthe summit pyramid, ca 900m of rel-atively easy terrain above base camp.We then turned to a subsidiary but-tress rising 700m above our 4,000mbase camp. Here, we established a1,200m-long route of great character,weaving an intricate line up dihedralsand slabs at UIAA V+. We named theroute the Chessboard. We completedall routes in a day. Most of usapproached the area via a flight fromDelhi to Leh, but Giudici and Travellacycled the 1,000km in 15 days.

FABRIZIO MAZZA, Italian Alpine Club

Mt. Aiseo, northwest face. Having never climbed in the Greater Ranges before and with a full-time job to start in September, I found the prospect of a first trip to the Himalaya hard to resist.Adriano Ferrero, Simon Lorenz, Aimone Ripa di Meana, Oliver Ullrich, and I would make upa team of varying experience and fitness. Following in the footsteps of Mummery and Abruzzi,we would head to Zanskar’s Durung-Drung Glacier. After a couple of months trying to get fiton the treadmills of London, we flew to Srinagar. The atmosphere was tense, with a heavy trooppresence, but from our houseboats on Dal Lake the scene could hardly have been more

The 700m-high granite buttress next to the 2007 Italian basecamp in the Suru River Valley, showing the 1,200m-long route,Chessboard. Fabrizio Mazza

A foreshortened view of the east face of Golden Sentinel (ca 5,200m). (1) Italian descent. (2) Viaggio nell’Ignoto (UIAAVI, seven pitches, CAI Curbatt Group, 2007). (3) North ridge (UIAA VI, eight pitches, CAI Curbatt Group, 2007). Thissummit lies immediately north of Peak Giorgio, climbed in 2005 by another Italian expedition. Fabrizio Mazza


(the formerly unnamed glacier flowing into the Miyar above its snout), Dali (formerly Thun-der or Spaghetti, which flows into the Miyar just below the snout), Chhudong (formerly Tawa),and Takdung (formerly unnamed).

LINDSAY GRIFFIN, Mountain INFO

Trento Peak; Om Shanti; Col 5,630m; Bruno Detassis Peak; Fiamme Gialle Peak. In September Iled an expedition that included a doctor and eight mountaineers employed in the ItalianGuardia di Finanza Mountain Rescue. We explored little-known areas between the Miyar Gla-cier and the Zanskar Range, making five first ascents in alpine style. We reached the standardMiyar base camp at Dali Got (3,960m, N 33°01'57.08", E 76°48'36.44") on September 3, andbegan moving equipment up the Jangpar, Chhudong, and Takdung glaciers.

On the 9th Giampaolo Corona, Christian Gobbi, and Mirko Groff made a one-day firstascent of a previously unnamed peak close to the head of the Takdung Glacier, east of thefamous Neverseen Tower. After a complex approach through crevasses and seracs, they climbedthe prominent southeast couloir,which was 800m long and featureddeep snow up to 55°. At the topthey emerged onto the knife-edgewest (northwest) ridge at 5,800mand continued up it until theycould move onto the steep northface of the summit spire. Here, theyencountered mixed terrain up to80° and slabby rock plastered withice (UIAA V). Just below the topGobbi was caught in a windslabavalanche, but with no serious con-sequences. The three reached thetop at 3:30 p.m. and descended thesame route. The 1,000m TD+climb took 16 hours roundtripfrom the glacier. They named thiselegant summit Trento Peak(6,046m, N 33°04'15.29", E 76°54'42.95"; nearly all measurementsin this report were by both GPSand Thuraya).

On the 11th, Corona andGroff climbed another previouslyvirgin peak that they named OmShanti (5,770m, N 33°04'42.45", E76°54'21.66") meaning “mountainof peace” in Hindi. This lies a littlewest of Trento Peak (but is separatedfrom it by a fine, unclimbed rocky


Gulia, approached via the village of Sumdo and the Ribil Phu Valley. They established basecamp at 5,200m and a higher camp at 5,900m. From there they followed the west ridge to thetop to make the second ascent of the peak.

Kula was first climbed in 1997 by Tsuneo Suzuki’s Japanese team, which also approachedvia the Ribil Phu to the small glacier north of the mountain. The Japanese first climbed the gla-cier toward the summit, but as it seemed avalanche prone, they headed for the west ridge. Theyreached the crest and followed brittle rock (fixing a short amount of rope) to reach a final iceslope, which eased in angle to the summit. It took six hours from Camp 2 at 5,800m to thetop. The Indians may have followed this route or made a minor variant by climbing the ridgemore directly.


HIMACHAL PRADESH

LAHAULPangi Valley, Shib Shankar. A five-member Japanese expedition, led by Shoji Sakamoto, appliedto the IMF for a permit to climb Shib Shankar (a.k.a. Sersank), a 6,000m peak immediatelysouth of 5,239m Sersank Pass at the head of the Lugai Nala (valley). This pass links the DarlangNala in Kishtwar to the Pangi valley but has become difficult to cross due to a complex icefallon the east side. Shib Shankar, which lies north of 6,142m Shivu, the main peak in the Pangiregion, was attempted in 2007 via the northwest ridge by a British party (AAJ 2008). However,the IMF told the Japanese, “There’s no mountain called Shib Shankar on our map.” A permitwas issued for an unnamed peak of 5,525m, but the IMF added, “If you find this Shib Shankar,you’re free to climb it.” On July 11, the expedition established base camp at 4,160m below thewest flank of the mountain. Two days later members established an advanced base at 4,360mon the right bank of the glacier, and then on the 18th, Camp 1 at 5,050m on a rock ridge on thewest face. On the following day Hidetaka Iizuka, Kazuo Kozu, and Reiko Maruyama, with threehigh altitude porters—Gisidhas (Ganu), Kamlesh Kumar (Lagu), and Vilendes Singh (Bill)—continued above the rock ridge to the crest of the southwest ridge, which they followed to thesummit. They didn’t reach the highest point but stopped 40m below the final rock outcrop inrespect for the religious concerns of the local people. They recorded a height of 6,011m (GPS)and estimate that the true summit is ca 6,050m

TSUNEMICHI IKEDA, for the Japanese Alpine News

MIYAR VALLEYOverview, history, and naming. The Miyar, north of the Chenab River at Udaipur, has evolvedinto one of the most popular Himalayan destinations for alpine rock climbers. Serious explo-ration first started here 40 years ago, and three main high peaks, Menthosa (6,444m), Phabrang(6,172m) and Gangstang (6,162m), have received sporadic attention. However, it wasn’t untilthe early 1990s that a group of Italian rock climbers, encouraged by reports from previoustrekkers, began to develop the excellent alpine climbing, particularly fine granite rock routes onsub-6,000m towers in the valleys that flow west into the Miyar just below the glacier snout. Ital-ian pioneers named a few of these valleys, and these were used in older reports. Several yearsago a British expedition discovered local names, which are used below. To avoid confusion, thefour main valleys on the east side of the Miyar are now named, from north to south, Jangpar

Trento Peak (6,046m GPS) above the upper Takdung Glacier, show-ing the line of the ascent: southeast face to northwest ridge to (hid-den) north face. Bruno Moretti collection

Om Shanti Peak (5,770m GPS) above the upper Takdung Glacier,showing the line of the first ascent via the south couloir to southeastface. Bruno Moretti collection


year. The three reached the top via a route dubbed Fiamme Gialle on the southwest pillar,which rose above their advanced base on the Chhudong and gave 850m (14 pitches) of cracksand slabs on excellent granite. They climbed the line on-sight over two days, using removableprotection except at belays, which they bolted. Maximum difficulties were 6c+.

On the 14th, after an odyssey, the last of our teams, Cristian Brenna and Massimo DaPozzo, summited the previously unnamed Fiamme Gialle Peak (5,577m, N 33°05'30.30", E76°50'24.05") in the remote Jangpar area. On the 5th, in a 12-hour round trip from base camp,they reached the Jangpar Glacier and left their haul bags under a conspicuous boulder in themiddle of an oceanic moraine. When they returned a few days later, hoping to collect the bagsand move to the upper Jangpar, they found that an enormous rockslide had buried their gear.After a cold night without equipment on the Jangpar moraine, they returned to base camp,picked up replacement gear and with a 35kg haul bag each, returned to camp close to the ser-acs of the eastern branch of the Jangpur, 7km of bouldery terrain up from its junction with theMiyar. Then in one day, starting at 4 a.m., they climbed Fiamme Gialle via its south-southeastface, which sits opposite the impressive north face of Three Peaks Mountain/Mahindra. Theyreached the summit after 14 roped pitches and 950m of climbing up to UIAA VI. A few boltswere placed at belays. They descended through the night, sitting out a snowstorm, and wereback in the tent by 7 a.m. on the 15th. After the 16th bad weather prevented further climbing;during one night 40cm of snow fell at base camp and wrecked the tents at a high camp in theChhudong. We eventually gave up and returned to Manali.

This activity might not have been possible without the help of our clever liaison officerMr. Kaushal Desai and his Manali agency Above14000ft.com.

BRUNO MORETTI, Italy

Three Peaks Mountain (Mahindra), southeast summit, The Taming of the Shrew. Our four-manRussian team, Eugene Korol, Alex Soshnikov, Dmitrii Vlaznev, and I, intended to climb a virginmountain via a route of the highest grade of difficulty (6B in the Russian system). We choseThree Peaks Mountain because base camp can be reached easily in just two days with horses,and the southwest face is the biggest rock wall (700m) on one of the highest peaks (6,000+m)in the valley. Sharratt and Wilkinson climbed to the central summit in 2007, but the southeastsummit remained unclimbed. We reached the valley on August 22, set up base camp, and beganmoving equipment up the Dali Glacier. The approach was hard: almost 1.5 km gain in altitudeand 10km in distance. Halfway up we climbed a 400m rock wall, not so steep but still requiringus to fix two ropes. The right side of the southwest face features a long vertical crack attempt-ed in 2003 by Slovaks Kopold and Stefansky. However, we thought we would climb it too fast,and as we wanted to prolong the pleasure, opted for the central and most difficult part of theface, directly below the southeast summit. This had the advantage of three big ledges splittingthe wall into four almost equal parts. The ledges were large and had enough snow to allow usto avoid hauling a portaledge and water.

Then the weather got bad. We waited through more than a week of rain and snow beforerealizing that another long spell of fine weather might not materialize. We either had to opt fora route climbable in one or two days or attempt the wall in poor weather. We chose the latter.

We started the face on the first sunny day, September 3, reaching the first ledge after 14hours of hard free and aid (up to A4). Over the next few days we managed no more than twopitches a day. The aid was often hard, and we had to make extensive use of the drill and skyhooks.


summit of perhaps 5,900m). Theascent was made by the southcouloir to southeast face. The 50°couloir was snow and ice, but theface proved more demanding, withicy couloirs alternating with slabbygranite (80°, UIAA V). They grad-ed the 750m route TD+.

We believe this area to bepreviously unvisited, and that wewere likely the first people to seethe eastern faces of the better-known peaks of the Chhudong,such as Neverseen Tower, Geruda,and Lotos.

The middle section of thetrue left (southeastern) bank of theTakdung holds four great snow andice peaks of 5,900m–6,000m. Theywere photographed from the MiyarValley in 2002 by the Slovakianexpedition and given namesaccording to their similarity withfamous peaks: Ogre III, Ogre II,Ogre I, and Mont Blanc. Ogre II, inparticular, is a fine double-summit-ed mountain with an imposingnorthwest face. On the 16th Coro-na, Gobbi, and Groff made the firstascent of the northwest couloir ofthe 5,630m col (N 33°02'29.06", E76°54'18.90") between the northand south summits.

The route, named Ice on the Rocks, is more than 1,200m long and in the lower part con-sists of two 85°icefalls and some technical 70°gullies. It continues with a dangerous hangingsnowfield followed by mixed terrain (85°, UIAA V+). After reaching the col at 5:30 p.m. thethree climbers started up the northwest ridge of Ogre II’s south peak but gave up due to the latehour and the threat caused by windslab and unstable snow. They reversed the ascent route andwere back in camp at 11 p.m. after a grueling 18-hour day. Daniele De Candido, Attilio Munari,and Riccardo Scarian operated in the upper Chhudong. On September 12 they reached the pre-viously virgin southwest summit of Triple Crown, a three-summited mountain, the highestpoint of which had been climbed the day previously by Australians Natasha Sebire and GemmaWoldendorp [see below]. Looking from the upper Chhudong, Triple Crown is the fourth peakto the left (north) of Neverseen Tower. We named our new summit Bruno Detassis Peak(5,760m, N 33°05'12.95", E 76°53'08.10") after the Italian mountaineer who died earlier in the

The southwest pillar of “Bruno Detassis Peak” (5,760m GPS)—thesouthwest summit of Triple Crown—above the Chhudong Glacier.Marked is the Fiamme Gialle Route. Bruno Moretti collection

The northwest face of Ogre II (north summit on left; south summit tothe right), showing the line of Ice on the Rocks to Col 5,630m, andthen part way up the north ridge of Ogre II south summit. BrunoMoretti collection


The weather was harsh; it snowed every day and little avalanches hit us while we climbed. It wasnot what we’d expected; we only brought summer clothing to India (the locals told us that theweather during 2008 was the worst for 30 years in Lahaul and Spiti). Particularly unpleasantwas our poor supply of gloves, and as we couldn’t climb in rock shoes, the maximum freeclimbing difficulty was limited to F5c. The aid proved to be the hardest of our lives, much hard-er than our 2007 route on Shipton Spire. When we reached the third ledge, the weather beganto improve. However, Dmitrii caught a cold and had to remain in the tent. With time a consid-eration, we decided to avoid a direct line up the last section, instead moving left into a gullybetween the southeast and central summits. The terrain was much easier and we reached thecol between the summits in little more than a day. From there we climbed a straightforward100+m snow ridge to the southwest summit, arriving on the 12th. The top is a large snowplateau, where we stayed in perfect weather for half a day, taking photos and having fun. Dur-ing the descent we experienced the disadvantages of good weather. The sun loosened rock onthe ledges and one shot through the tent hitting Vlaznev on the head. By the time we got off thewall there were seven holes in the tent. His injuries, though, were not bad and once on the gla-cier the party was helped by a team of Koreans who had just arrived to attempt the wall, and,in base camp, by the doctor from the large Italian expedition. Our new route, the Taming ofthe Shrew, gave over 800m of climbing (22 pitches) and was graded Russian 6B. While we doubtit is free-climbable, it could be completed alpine style in good weather.

Finally, we want to speculate about the altitude of the summit. Using a barometric altime-ter we measured the height of the southeast summit as 6,080m, making the central summit a lit-tle lower but still above 6,000m, and the northwest summit, still unclimbed, over 6,100m. Thesefigures seem to be confirmed by photos taken from other high peaks in the area, and we feel theforesummit reached in 2003 by Kopold and Stefansky is higher than their quoted 5,845m.

ANDREY MURYSHEV, Russia

Editor’s Note: The formation was originally named Three Peaks Mountain by one of the first explor-ers of this region, Massimo Marcheggiani. The southwest face received several attempts before 2003when Slovaks Dodo Kopold and Ivan Stefansky climbed an ice/mixed corner system on the left side ofthe wall and continued up the ridge toward the northwest summit, reaching a foresummit at 5,845mbefore descending. They named this foresummit Mt. Mahindra. Subsequently, most visitors to the val-ley have now taken to calling the whole peak Mahindra. The name Three Goats Peak is also occa-sionally used, and the Russians discovered the local name Jungpada—jungmeaning a high place withno grass, pada being a word for mountain. Jungpada could be translated “Lifeless Mountain.”

Three Peaks Mountain, southwest face, attempt. Six young Koreans led by Lee Jae-yong attempteda new route on Three Peaks Mountain/Mahindra. By September 10 they had established Camp2 on the upper Dali Glacier below the peak, hoping to make a completely free ascent of thesouthwest face of the central summit. Accompanying them was filmmaker Lim Il-jin, who wasawarded a special prize at the 2008 Trento Film Festival. The proposed line was a directapproach to the upper section of the 2007 Sharratt-Wilkinson route, Ashoka Pillar, followingthe prominent black streaks on the smooth wall well right of Ashoka Pillar’s lower section.However, the weather was so bad that Cho Kyung-ah could only climb two pitches, through thearch (5.10a and 5.11b).

CHRISTINE PAE, Director Korean Alpine Federation


The view west from Om Shanti Peak (5,770m GPS) over the upper Takdung Glacier. Little’s sketch refers to a sketchmap made by Graham Little, who visited the Jangpar in 2004. Bruno Moretti collection

The southwest face of Three Peaks Mountain (a.k.a. Mahindra). (A) Northwest summit (above 6,100m). (B) Smallforesummit reached by Slovaks in 2003, named Mahindra, and quoted as 5,845m but seemingly more like6,000m. (C) Central summit (above 6,000m). (D) Southeast summit (6,080m GPS). (1) Last Minute Journey (ED1,c900m of climbing, Kopold-Stefansky, 2003). (2) Ashoka's Pillar (5.11 R, 700m, Sharratt-Wilkinson, 2007). (3)The Taming of the Shrew (Russian 6B, F5c A4, 800m, Korol-Muryshev-Soshnikov, 2008). Andrey Muryshev


valley up onto the Chhudong Glacier, where we spied a prominent peak with three sweepingsummits, north of Paola’s Peak (ca 5,460m) on the eastern side of the glacier. We called thispeak Triple Crown. Several days of snowfall plastered the peaks and rock walls, but on Septem-ber 11 we started up a 350m couloir on the west side of Triple Crown. Mixed ground at the toptook us onto the northwest ridge of the southwest summit, which we climbed for 300m on most-ly soft snow over ice, to gain the summit ridge just below the southwest summit. From this pointwe climbed northeast over the central summit to the northeast summit—the highest point of themountain (ca 5,800m). We graded our 1,000m route AD (70°).

We also attempted Veneto,which is two summits to the southof Three Peaks Mountain and hasone previous ascent [850m, 6b+and 85°, Gianluca Bellin andDiego Stefani, 1999]. Days ofsnowfall had resulted in less thanideal conditions, so we ascended agully to its south and skirtedaround a vertical orange walllooking for a feasible route. Final-ly, a snow gully led into a basin atca 5,470m, rimmed with jaggedpeaks. Due to cold and lack oftime and bivouac equipment, wedescended, noting that the sur-rounding peaks would provideexcellent objectives, some consist-ing of a solid orange rock, andlikely all unclimbed.

GEMMA WOLDENDORP, Australia.

Toro Peak, south face, Direttissma;Tamadonog, Long Life Ridge. OnAugust 27 Anna Pfaff and Iarrived at the usual Miyar Valleybase camp after blue skies duringour three-day trek, and then hadto wait out a three-day storm. Wescoped a direct line up the southface of Toro Peak and when theweather turned good set up campnear its base. We started climbingat 8 a.m. The first three pitchesfollowed a 5.8 chimney system,which ended with a 5.9 roof (thecrux of the route) and a hand


Point JAMES, east face; NazomiPeak, southeast face; Triple Crown,southwest ridge from the west.Natasha Sebire and I spent fiveweeks in the Miyar during Augustand September. From the stan-dard base camp below CastlePeak, we concentrated our effortson the side valley of theChhudong. We established acamp in the lower Chhudong andon August 26 made an ascent ofPoint JAMES. After ascending anobvious gully from the valleyfloor, we climbed the east face byan easy route (5.6, 110m). Thispeak had been climbed previous-ly in 2002 by a Slovakian team,who estimated the height to be ca5,500m. However, we recorded4,965m on the summit usingboth GPS and an altimeter. [Edi-tor’s note: Although JAMES lookslike a personal name, it actuallyrefers to the Slovak Mountaineer-ing Federation and is alwaysspelled in upper case.]

On the 28th we climbed apeak with no record of previousascent, immediately northeast ofJAMES. The rock was good qual-ity gneiss. We started at the lowestpoint of the southeast face oneasy ground for 500m, some of itunroped. At the headwall five fullpitches followed cracks, slabs,flakes, and corners to the narrowsummit ridge. By the time wereached the pointed summitblock after a final short pitchalong the crest, it was snowing.Our 800m route had difficultiesup to 5.9; we named our summitNazomi Peak (ca 5,300m). Wethen moved camp from the lower

Nazomi Peak (ca 5,300m) on the north side of the lower ChhudongValley, showing the line of the 800m-long Australian route. GemmaWoldendorp

A foreshortened view of the west side of Triple Crown (ca 5,800m),showing the line of the first ascent up the west face, northwest ridge ofthe southwest top, and finally the southwest ridge. The Italian route onthe southwest pillar of the ca 5,760m southwest top (dubbed BrunoDetassis Peak, though it is more of a shoulder than a distinct summit)is in profile to the right. Gemma Woldendorp

Gemma Woldendorp leading the crux pitch on the top headwall of thesoutheast face of Nazomi Peak (ca 5,150m). Across the Chhudong Gla-cier is the northeast face of Castle Peak (ca 5,470m). NatashaSebire/Gemma Woldendorp collection

Tamadonog (height uncertain) at the entrance to the Takdung Valley.The highest summit was originally referred to as the “Walker Spur.”Marked on the north-northwest face, in shadow to the left, are theapproximate lines of (1) Doomed to Miyar (1,000m of climbing, UIAAVIII-, Krol-Wojcik, 2006), (2) Tocati di Bola (400m, 6b A2, Cacho-Sans, 2005, not to summit), (3) Ocell a Vent (400m, 6b A2, Cacho-Sans-Larranaga-Rodriguez, 2005, not to summit,). On the northwestridge lie (4) Shakti (1,300m of climbing, UIAA V+ A1, Urtasun-Vis-carrets, 2004), and (5) Long Life Ridge (1,400m of climbing, 5.9,Lopez-Pfaff, 2008). Camilio Lopez


We fixed the first 400m ofLost on a Dream Track and leftropes for an attempt on the highestsummit of Castle Peak. Returningon the 11th, we jugged the ropesand continued up right to bivouacat 4,900m. The next day we climbedto the high point, arriving at 2 p.m.and recording an altimeter readingof 5,470m. We would like to namethis highest point Tivoli Peak(Tivoli being the section of the Ital-ian Alpine Club of which Giuliani isa member). The route, Miguel’sRace, has 2,200m of climbing,1,200m of which we simul-climbed(UIAA III and IV) and the rest ofwhich we belayed (UIAA VI andVI+, with a pitch of VII and anotherof VII+). Some of the hard pitchesinvolved wide cracks, which weredifficult to protect. Due to the com-plexity of the descent, we didn’t getoff the mountain until the 13th.

We then added two shorterroutes to the southwest face, on theslabby terrain below Iris Peak andDavid 62’s Nose, ending on thelarge grassy terraces. On the 16thwe put up Placebo Effect (450m ofclimbing; UIAA VIII-) and on thefollowing day Clandestine Route (450m; UIAA VI+). We tried a fifth route, but snowfall pinnedus down for several days, and an avalanche destroyed our advanced base. The loss of equipmentforced us to forego further climbing.

ROBERTO IANNILLI, Italy

Toro Peak, southeast face; Castle Peak, south ridge. It wasn’t until the second half of Septemberthat Elena Dmitrenko, George Kozlov, and I arrived in India, too late in the year. We came withno set plans. At first we didn’t even know where to go, but on reaching Manali, a beautiful vil-lage from which many expeditions start, we consulted a local guide and decided to go to theMiyar. We were looking for peaks below 6,000m with good rock, preferably unclimbed. At basecamp we found several teams still in residence. However, the weather was poor, and half a meterof snow at base camp prevented us from climbing.

When the weather improved, George injured his leg. I couldn’t sit in base camp, so Iclimbed Pt. JAMES, following the route first climbed by Australian women and repeated by


crack to a ledge. From the ledge we traversed 210m across a 5.8 face, then climbed another 5.8face pitch to the headwall. Of many options we chose the most direct line, climbing 280m of5.8-5.9 face, with small cracks offering protection. We summited at 4 p.m., after climbing 800m.Although overall rock quality and placements were good, the climbing was often runout. Ourdescent took us down the west ridge, 3rd to 4th class, and we were back in base camp beforesunset, naming our route Direttissima.

Since the weather was holding, we headed for Tamadonog, a beautiful peak at theentrance to the Takdung Valley. As we were well-acclimatized, we went light and fast without ahigh camp. Setting off from base camp at 4 a.m., we started up the toe of the northwest ridgeat 6:30. We simul-climbed 500m of 5th class, with some 5.7 to 5.8 pitches. We then encountereda vertical wall and belayed two crux pitches of 5.9 face climbing. We unroped for the last 400mof 5.6–5.7 to the fore-summit, then traversed loose talus to the main summit, with occasional5th class blocks. We reached the highest point at 5 p.m., having climbed 1,400m.

We descended the west face by one of several gullies. This turned out to be the actual cruxof the day; with loose blocks it took way longer than anticipated. Rappelling and down-climb-ing into the dark, we reached the valley floor and hiked back to our base camp, arriving at 1a.m. We named the route Long Life Ridge.

CAMILO LOPEZ, U.S.

Editor’s Note: The northwest ridge, perhaps better described as the left edge of the large, broken westface, was climbed in 2004 by Spanish Alberto Urtasun and Patricia Viscarrets. They reached thecrest by a corner system on the left flank. Their route, Shakti, covered 1,300m of climbing at V+ andA1; presumably they continued to the highest point of the mountain (reached by Poles Krol andWojcik in 2006, who saw no trace of previous ascent). Long Life Ridge constitutes a variant start,involving several hundred meters of new climbing. Lopez and Pfaff also saw no evidence of previ-ous passage and built a cairn on the summit.

Castle Peak, various first ascents. During September Stefano Cacioppo, Cesare Giuliani, and I,members the Italian Alpine Club, put up four new routes on Castle Peak. Standing at the endof the long ridge forming the southern rim of the Chhudong Glacier, Castle Peak has four sum-mits. In ascending order and from north to south these are David 62’s Nose, Iris Peak, anunnamed summit, and the main summit. While a number of routes have been established onthe southwest face, some ending at large terraces, I believed that until 2008 only David 62’s Nose(ca 4,850m) and Iris Peak (ca 5,200m) had been reached—both by me in 2004.

On September 9, after bad weather stopped an attempt on the 5th, we climbed to theunnamed summit via a route we named Lost on a Dream Track. It had 1,600m of climbing,though only 650m were pitched (UIAA VI and VI+); we moved together on the rest (UIAA IV).Once on the summit we discovered someone had been there before. [Editor’s note: this is like-ly Spanish climbers Ferran Rodriguez and Victor Sans, who in 2005 climbed Tinc Por on thenorth face. The route ends on this broad summit, 100m higher than and separate from IrisPeak. It is also possible that the Spanish Patricia Viscarret and Alberto Urtasun, who climbed“Iris Peak” in 2005 via the route Ananda, may have reached this summit instead.] Our idea wasto name this summit after Stefano Zavka, a fellow Italian who disappeared in 2007 whiledescending K2. We still hope this is possible, even if we were not the first to climb it, as no pre-vious party has openly assigned a name.

Castle Peak from the west with (A) David 62’s Nose (ca 4,850m), (B)Iris Peak (ca 5,200m), (C) Stefano Zvaka Peak (ca 5,300m) and (D)Tivoli Peak (ca 5,470m: the highest point of Castle Peak). There arenow 11 routes on this face, but only the 2007 and 2008 routes aremarked: (1) Lufoo Lam (350m, UIAA VII+, Grmovsek-Grmovsek,2007). (2) Clandestine Route (450m of climbing, UIAA VI+, Caciop-po-Giuliani-Iannilli, 2008). (3) Placebo Effect (450m of climbing,UIAA VIII-, Cacioppo-Giuliani-Iannilli, 2008). (4) Lost on a DreamTrack (1,600m of climbing, UIAA VI+, Cacioppo-Giuliani-Iannilli,2008). (5) Miguel's Race (2,200m of climbing, UIAA VII+, Caciop-po-Giuliani-Iannilli, 2008). (6) South Ridge–Who Fart? (1,100m,5.10b, Kozlov-Savelyev, 2008). Roberto Iannilli


northeast ridge from the col at itsbase. The climbing, both up anddown, was straightforward, andno rappels were needed.]

Brandon Lampley, U.S.

KULLUManikarin Spires, Peak 5,394m.Most international climbing tripsstart with a picture that inspires adream. Janet Bergman, Ben Ditto,Freddie Wilkinson, and I madeplans to explore the ManikaranSpires, which flank the wondrousParvati Valley, because the previ-ous year Freddie and I saw a post-card tacked to the wall of a touristshop in Manali. All we could learn

from the shopkeeper was the name Manikaran Spires and that the photo was probably takennear the holy village of Manikaran. Research back in the U.S. revealed that the area had appar-ently not been visited since the 1980s, and no technical rock climbs had been reported from thesouthern side. This signified to us that an alpine playground, laden with jagged summits andformidable granite walls, was virgin. We gathered supplies in Manali and hired a jeep to driveus the six hours to Kasol, which locals told us was a bigger, more comfortable place to stay thanManikaran and only a few miles distant. Here, we encountered local farmers from Manikaranwho knew the terrain well and confirmed that no climbers had ventured into those mountainsfrom the south side.

To call the approach steep would be an understatement. Our new friends guided us up themighty hillside east of the Brahmganga River, through a small community and big marijuanafields. The latter should be reason enough for would-be adventurers to seek local guides; touristshave disappeared in this area. We were stopped by heavy rain a day’s walk from base camp (wewere told it would take three or four) and hiked back to Kasol to ponder and drink beer.

After a few days the weather forecast was in our favor and we ventured back up the slopeswithout our guides. We made base camp in two days and promptly scoped the glory line up themiddle of a large rock wall on what we believed to be Peak 5,394m. Leaving camp at 1:30 a.m.on September 29, we made it to the base of the wall in three hours and discovered the gloryline was much too wet from seepage. Settling for the line of weakness, we were forced to grov-el up the left portion of the face via snow and ice-covered cracks and ridges for a few thousandfeet. We bivouacked on a nice shoulder 1,000' below the summit. The next day we waddledthrough more waist-deep slush around the southeast side of the summit tower, then up nicedry rock pitches, followed by an exciting unprotected boulder problem to the summit. Wereversed mostly the line of ascent and made it back to camp by 9:00 p.m. on the 30th. Webelieve our route, Indian Beauty Queen (V+, 5.10 A0 with sections of 50-60° slush slopes) tobe the first to reach the summit of Peak 5,394m.

PAT GOODMAN, AAC


Americans [see below]. I didn’t use a rope, and the 250m of climbing with a crux of 5.8 tookonly a few hours.

George’s leg improved, but we had no time left to try something special. On September30 we climbed a new line on the southeast face of Toro. The 350m route, which lies toward theright side of the face, had difficulties up to 5.9 and took four hours. It finishes on the easy uppersection of the east ridge.

On October 2 we climbed the long south ridge of Castle Peak, taking 20 hours to make avertical ascent of 1,100m (5.10b). This is a logical line on good rock; we climbed many pitchesunroped. We found a club flag and shiny new bolt on the summit belonging to the Italians [seeabove]. This was the second ascent of Tivoli Peak and we named the route Who Fart?

DENIS SAVELYEV, Russia

Toro Peak, south face; Point JAMES, Australian route, second ascent. Elizabeth Fredell and Iclimbed two routes in the Miyar. On Toro we repeated the first few pitches of the 2008 López-Pfaff Direttissima, as far as the diagonal trough, rating the crux section 5.8+. We then movedslightly right and climbed directly up the slabs above and through a prominent roof that is vis-ible from the valley. In the main this new ground was fun 5.5, but there was a fine, thin-handscrack through the roof at 5.9. We then climbed Pt. JAMES, more or less following the same lineon the slabs below the northeast ridge climbed earlier by Australians Natasha Sebire andGemma Woldendorp [see above]. The obvious way, up a couloir/depression, was snow-covered,so we climbed 200m of broken slabs to the right, at around 5.6, except for a section of 5.8 60mbelow the summit. The summit block has to be down-climbed. About 15m below the block wediscovered an old rappel anchor and started a series of rappels down the route. [Editor’s note:on the first ascent, in 2002, Vlado Linek and Igor Koller scrambled just below the crest of the

Seen from the south, Toro Peak and, to the right, JAMES Peak in the lower Chhudong Valley. Both are a little under5,000m, with JAMES slightly higher than Toro. (1) Direttissima (ca 300m but 840m of climbing, 5.9, Lopez-Pfaf,2008). (2) American route (ca 300m, 5.9, Fredell-Lampley, 2008). (3) Southeast face–Russian Route (300m, 5.9,Kozlov-Savelyev, 2008). (4) East ridge (300m, UIAA V+, Grmovsek-Grmovsek, 2007). There is a straightforwardwalk-off/scramble down the left skyline (west flank). Andrej Grmovsek

Ben Ditto points a finger at The Indian Beauty, the first route to reachthe summit of Pt. 5,394m, Manikarin Spires. Pat Goodman


Debsa Valley, Peak 6,135m (Ramabang). Paulie Mitchell, Darach O’Murchu, Craig Scarlett, andI, all from Ireland, traveled to India on our first Himalayan expedition to attempt the first ascentof the attractive Peak 6,135m (N 31°57'30", E77°53'10") in the East Upper Debsa Valley, nearthe Tibetan border. Although it is known to local shepherds, few others have explored or evenknow about the several tributaries of the Debsa. We arrived at our 4,250m base camp at ThwakDebsa, the confluence of two of these tributaries, after a three-day march from Sagnam villagein Western Spiti. We first spent several days exploring the heads of both the West and EastUpper Debsa, but poor weather repelled our attempt to cross a col linking the valleys. On June18 we began ferrying loads and establishing an advanced base at 4,800m, at the top of a water-fall falling into the East Upper Debsa. Weather and mountain conditions were promising.

On the 21st we started up the peak via rust-red scree on the south flank of the southwestridge. Each of us carried 18-20kgs, and it was tough going in the heat and loose terrain. Over-all the rock quality in Spiti is poor—a mix of shattered slate and crumbing shale. We oftenpined for the familiar firm granite of our native Wicklow mountains. At 5,600m we reached thecrux, a 100m tower, and camped on a saddle below it. Craig decided to wait at this camp, butat 3 a.m. the next day we others moved together with running belays across an intricate line tothe right of the tower: crumbling ledges, snowy sections, and a chimney. After 140m we hadpassed the tower and regained the ridge, which we followed to the final hurdle, the 300m-high,45–50° summit snowfield. The snow was reasonably firm, and at noon I set foot on the summitridge and looked down the sweeping chasm of the northeast face.

A quick shimmy up a 7m rock stack ensured we were at its zenith. And what magnificentviews: to the north the icy slopes of Kangla Tarbo (6,315m), first climbed in 2000 by PaddyO’Leary’s Irish Mountaineering Club team, and the leviathan form of Shigri Parbat (6,536m),first ascended in 1961 by Joss Lynam. And there were spectacular technical peaks to the southand west, most still awaiting a first ascent. We descended our route, spending another night atour camp below the tower. The difficulty of the route was Alpine AD.

We propose the name Ramabang for our mountain, the name meaning “place of Rama.”I have not been able to find any other mountain in the Indian Himalaya dedicated to Rama, oneof the great characters of Hinduism and the hero of the sacred text The Ramayana. In the daysafter our ascent we three summiteers had more success explorating an adjoining valley, the


SPITIPare Chu region, Thongsal. OnAugust 9, after a flight fromDelhi to Leh several days earlier,Irena Artuñedo and I made asix-hour jeep ride to Korzok(4,500m) and began a three-daytrek south to advanced base at4,735m. [Editor’s note: TsuneoSuzuki described this area wellin AAJ 2006. The Spanishadvance base lies a little way upthe first main valley flowingnorth into the Pare Chu imme-diately west of 6,643m UmdungKangri]. On the 14th we climbed west out of the valley with Lhakpa Sherpa and Darja BahadurTamang, making Camp 1 at 5,250m before returning to the valley to sleep. Next day, wereturned to Camp 1 and spent the night there. On the 16th we climbed loose, broken terrain toa col at 5,592m, which gave access to the glacier north of unclimbed Peak 6,367m. There werea few short steps of UIAA II+ at 5,500m. After crossing the col we descended a short distanceon the far side and established Camp 2 at 5,550m.

Leaving at 5:45 a.m. on the 17th, Irena, Lhakpa Sherpa, and I climbed southwest up gla-cier slopes, which steepened to 45°. Near the top we negotiated a 15m, 65° serac barrier. Final-ly we reached a broad col above 5,900m, on the spur running east from Peak 6,367m. We turnedleft and walked up to our summit (snow on the north flank and scree on the south), where at10:20 a.m. we recorded an altitude of 6,011m and coordinates of N 78°15'085", E 32°33'196"(GPS). The final 450m from Camp 2 rated AD. We have proposed the name Thongsal for thispreviously virgin summit, Thongsal being a Tibetan word for a point with splendid views. AGPS track from base camp to summit can be viewed at http://en.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=194258.

DAVID OLIVERAS, Spain

The final ascent from Camp 2 at 5,550m to the summit of Thongsal(6,011m GPS) in the Pare Chu region of Spiti. David Oliveras

Nearing the summit on the southwest ridge during the first ascent of Ramabang (6,135m). Gerry Galligan

Looking west from the broad ca 5,900m col below Thongsal (6,011m GPS) in the Pare Chu region of Spiti, show-ing (A) Gyadung (6,160m), (B) Pt. 6,364m, and (C) Pt. 6,367m. Gyadung was climbed in 1987 by a smallIndian team; other peaks in the picture remain unclimbed. David Oliveras


October. The middle reaches of theObra are dominated by the splen-did icy Ranglana (5,554m), whichhad previously been the mainobjective of the only other climb-ing team to visit this valley: theBritish pair Gerry and Louise Wil-son, with guru Harish Kapadia andseven friends. Conditions werepoor during this 2006 visit andonly a lower summit, Dhodu KaGunchha (5,130m), was climbed.They did not attempt Ranglana northe highest peaks, Pts. 5,849m and5,760m, at the head of the valleyabove the Devkir Glacier.

In 2008 access to the upperDevkir proved lengthy and com-plex, consuming much time inreconnaissance and failed attempts,as did the daily weather pattern ofafternoon snowfall. When we final-ly reached the 5,325m DevkyariCol, separating the two high peaksat the head of the glacier, we dis-covered the rocky southeast ridge

of 5,849m to be steep, loose, and uninviting. Fortunately, the fine, corniced, snow arête form-ing the northwest ridge of lower 5,760m looked eminently climbable. Caching some gear, wedescended to a lower camp, aiming to get established on the col the following day.

With the help of two Sherpas, we set up camp just below the pass early on October 14,but by afternoon snowfall was heavy. Next morning was no better, and after plowing throughdeep avalanche-prone snow for less than 100m above the col, we realized it wasn't going to hap-pen. Zero visibility pinned us at camp until the morning of the 16th, when we were able toescape to base camp.

Two days later Buckle and Gronlund snatched a consolation prize, ascending the firstvalley north of base camp to a small col, then up the southwest ridge of Pt. 5,165m at PD. Theysuggest the name Lammergeyer Peak for this previously virgin summit, which provided a splen-did viewpoint.

This area offers great potential for alpine climbing and further exploration. For instance,during 2006 Kapadia photographed impressive granite walls and towers northwest of themiddle valley (but not visible from the valley floor), which he named the Jairai Rocks. And thereis the attractive Ranglana, but it will not be an easy catch. Thanks to the Mount Everest Foun-dation for sponsorship and to Harish Kapadia for information on the Obra valley from the2006 expedition.

MARTIN SCOTT, Alpine Club


Bauli Khad. We made the firstcrossing (on July 3) of a 5,600m colto the Dibibokri Valley. Proceedingwest we finally reached the ParvatiValley, thus creating a new routelinking the Debsa and Parvati.

GERRY GALLIGAN, Ireland

KINNAURRangrik Rang, west ridge. In Octo-ber three French aspirant guides,Sylvain Audibert, Odilon Ferran,and Jeremy Rumebe, made the sec-ond ascent of Rangrik Rang(6,553m) by a new route up thewest ridge. On the only previousattempt, in June 1994, Chris Bon-ington, Muslim Contractor, JimFotheringham, Graham Little, Jim Lowther, Divyesh Muni, Paul Nunn, and Pasang Bodhreached the summit by the northeast ridge, after fixing ropes up a steep snow face to the col atthe base of the ridge separating Rangrik Rang from Mangla (5,800m).

The three French drove to Lambar, then following the footsteps of the 1994 team, walkedfor four days to arrive, on September 21, at base camp (4,200m) close to the start of the RachaKhad valley. The following day they established an advanced base on the Racha Khad Glacierat 5,000m, finding one meter of unconsolidated snow. They spent the next week at base camptrying to acclimatize, while hoping conditions would improve. The north face had been a pos-sible objective, but it proved unfeasible, so on October 1 they set off from advanced base for thewest ridge. Following the crest, which at first rises south before turning east, they camped on asmall subsidiary summit, which they mistakenly referred to as 5,800m Mangla. Next day theyabandoned some of their gear, including the tent, by throwing it down the north face. This setoff an avalanche. The three continued up the crest, over a rocky buttress (UIAA III), and on tothe summit, where they arrived at 5 p.m. They stopped here for the night.

On the morning of the 3rd the team made a cautious descent of the original route andreached base camp that day. Realizing that the mountains were too laden with snow for otherascents, they descended to Lambar and put up two rock routes on the surrounding granite cliffs:Taffonies (six pitches, 6c and A1), and a five-pitch route of 7b and A2, which terminated belowthe summit of a fine aiguille.

Adapted from www.kairn.com and notes provided by HARISH KAPADIA, Honorary Editor, TheHimalayan Journal

WESTERN GARHWALObra Valley, Pt. 5,760m attempt; Pt. 5,165m. In the autumn a four-member team from theAlpine Club became the first climbers to explore the head of the little-known Obra Valley, anarea of sub-6,000m peaks west of the Bandarpunch-Swargarohini group in far western Garhw-al. After driving to the roadhead at Jakhol via Mussoorie, Derek Buckle, Toto Gronlund, BillThurston, and I made a three-day trek to a scenic, grassy base camp at 4,055m, arriving in early

The French expedition on the Racha Khad Glacier with (A) Mangla(5,800m), (B) Rangrik Rang (6,553m), and (C) Pt. 5,800m. The newroute up the west ridge over Pt. 5,800m, and the descent of thenortheast ridge via the 1994 Indo-British route (the only previousascent of the mountain) are marked. Jeremy Rumebe

Looking northeast up the Devkir Glacier at the head of the Obra Val-ley. The low point is the 5,325m Devkyari Col. To the left stands Pt.5,849m, and to the right Pt. 5,760m. Both are unclimbed, though Pt.5,760m was attempted from the col in 2008. Derek Buckle

The western flank of unclimbed Ranglana (5,554m), one of the mostattractive objectives in the Obra Valley. Martin Scott


to confirm this, as does Glenn Singleman, who BASE jumped the northeast face from a point alittle higher than the Korean exit but didn’t visit the unclimbed northerly summit, which theKoreans eventually reached, just above him. He noted that the highest summit was 500m fur-ther south and ca 70m higher.] The return to base camp required two days, with an overnightin Camp 2. The weather worsened rapidly after the climbers arrived at this camp, making it pre-carious to remove all rope and gear without putting their lives in jeopardy. However, they man-aged to clean 800m of line. Three pitons, 20 bolts, and 17 rivets were left in the route. Gate tothe Sky took a total of 22 days to open and was graded VII, A5 5.10.

The expedition donated 150 books to the village of Indo Dasuda (five days walk frombase camp at Tapovan) during their return to Delhi, and they have plans to build a library forthis village. The Indian Government and Gangotri National Park plan to prohibit trekkers fromusing the Gangotri-to-Tapovan trail for five years, so the path can be reconstructed. In addi-tion, the Park may prohibit the entry of any group organized by an agency that does not pro-vide a satellite phone.

LEE YOUNG-JOON and CHRISTINE PAE, KOREA (translated by Peter Jensen-Choi)

Gangotri, Meru Central, east pillar attempt. Conrad Anker,Renan Ozturk, and I left Delhi on September 6 hoping tomake the first ascent of the east (or northeast) pillar ofMeru Central (6,310m)—the feature known as the Shark’sFin. After several days’ travel and a two-day trek to Tapovanbase camp, we carried loads to an advanced base at the bot-tom of the route. We began climbing on September 16 witha two-person portaledge and 10 days of food and fuel. Weplanned to climb the route in a single push, so once we leftthe ground, we continued to our high point without com-ing back down, using a hybrid alpine/big wall style.

The initial part of the route consisted of steep snowand ice. After two days we were hit by a storm that pinnedus on the ridge for five days in the portaledge, while ava-lanches tore around us. The storm dumped more than twometers of snow. We eventually resumed climbing, halvingour limited rations. Progress was slowed by cold and theamount of snow and ice covering the rock and fillingcracks. We spent almost 10 days on the face before arrivingat the base of the overhanging prow. It lacked any real crack systems, so we were forced to climbdifficult aid up to A4 with long sections of hooking and thin beak placements. Several leadstook five or six hours, and the average daytime temperature hovered around 0 F. After severaldays of “mind riot” climbing, we ran almost completely out of food and fuel, and by our 18thday on the face had no option but to make a final push for the summit. Running on fumes—for over a week we’d had only three spoonfuls of oatmeal each for breakfast, two energy barsand half a liter of water during the day, and a single bowl of mush for dinner split three ways—we climbed 500m with Conrad leading thin, poorly protected ice and mixed terrain. Here,150m short of the summit, we were stopped by an overhanging gendarme, which we had nei-ther the time nor energy to climb. We’d climbed the Fin to the final ridge but did not summit.


Gangotri, Meru South, northeast face direct. At4:30 p.m. on July 13 the sky finally openedfor three Korean climbers standing at the topof the northeast face of Meru Peak (6,660m).Three instructors from the Extreme RidersAlpine Club, Kim Se-jun (38), Kim Tae-man(35), and Wang Jun-ho (36), probably theoutstanding big wall climbers in the country,had completed a new direct line up the face,the headwall a continuous 90-110°. Theynamed their route Gate to the Sky. Othermembers of the team were Ju Wur-yeong,Kim Hyeong-wook, and Son Jung-ho.

The expedition established advancedbase below the wall at 5,000m, then for 10-days fixed 1,800m of rope over 34 pitches ofmoderate slopes (50-60° rock, snow, and ice)to Camp 2 below the headwall. They thenhauled 120kg of gear and provisions to thissite and retreated to base camp. The weatherremained unsettled, and both time and pro-visions began to run short. Unable to waitmuch longer, they resumed climbing in lessthan favorable weather and on July 3 juggedthe ropes to Camp 2, rested for two days, andminimized their gear for the wall above.

On July 5 Kim Sae-joon led the firstpitch on the headwall in a capsule-style pushto the top. The climbers bivouaced in a two-man portaledge and a hammock but onlyused 200g summer sleeping bags. Rationingfood, the three survived primarily on choco-late, three or four sweets a day, and a meal at night. Nevertheless they eventually ran out and onthe final three days of the ascent ate nothing. In addition, they only saw the sun on two days.The climbing was far more difficult than anticipated. They spent nine days reaching the topfrom Camp 2, climbing 510m (10 pitches) on the headwall. The granite was often fragile androckfall horrific. Twenty hours were required to aid past the 50m A5 technical crux, on the sec-ond pitch above Camp 2, but the greatest obstacle was another 50m section at 6,200m. Theclimbers nicknamed this A4 section “ED,” for Extreme Danger. It took two days to overcomethis section, where they were forced to pry off a large piece of rock in order to make progress.

The three climbers reached the ridge just below and right of the most northerly of thepoints that make up the near-horizontal summit crest of Meru South. [Editor’s Note: their GPSread 6,660m, the same as the official height of Meru South. However, it seems generally accept-ed that the main summit of Meru South is at the southern end of the ridge, reached by Japan-ese in 1980 during the only ascent of the mountain to date. Photographic evidence would seem

The northeast faces of Meru South (6,660m, left) andMeru Central (6,310m). (1) The new Korean route, Gateto the Sky, which reached the most northerly top of MeruSouth. The highest summit is generally accepted to be atthe southern end of the ridge. (C2) The campsite belowthe headwall (the latter seen in profile on p. 364 AAJ2007). (2) The American attempt on the east pillar: theShark’s Fin. Their high point was the best to date on thismost coveted objective. Jimmy Chin

Creative camping on the east pillar ofMeru Central. Jimmy Chin


Panpatia Glacier, various ascents. A nine-member group of Irish climbers and trekkers, most ofwhom had never been on an expedition, made first ascents of four modest peaks above the Pan-patia ice cap. The climbing party comprised Martin Boner, George Carlton, Martin Hasson,Valli Schaffer, Andrew Tees, and I.

C.F.Meade first visited this region in 1912. In 1933 Shipton and Tilman came in searchof a legendary easy passage through the mountains between the holy temples of Badrinath andKedernath, reputedly used by a priest to conduct services in both temples on the same day. Theroute they found over the Satopanth Col and Gondharpongi Valley was desperately difficult, andthey barely survived. In 1984 two Indian mountaineers disappeared during a similar mission.

One possible route linking the temples would be over the Panpatia ice cap. There appearsto have been little exploration of the Panpatia Glacier until Jagdish Nanavati penetrated the val-

ley in 1963 during an exploration ofpossible approaches to Nilkanth. In1989, Duncan Tunstall and friendscrossed the complex icefall at thehead of the valley and reached the icecap, descending back to the valley bya “scree gully” to the north, thusavoiding the icefall completely.

The years 1995 and 1997 sawtwo more unsuccessful attempts toreach the ice cap, by C. Ghosh andHarish Kapadia, respectively. In 1999Anindya Mukherjee, starting fromMadmaheshwar (Madhyamanesh-war), went through the col andreached the ice cap but had to retracehis steps due to the illness of his


Much like the rest of the route, the descent was epic. Suffice to say we were laughing hys-terically when we finally made it to the glacier after two days of rappelling on barely any food, andthen discovered that our advanced base—tent, food, and fuel—had been buried by the storm. Weopen-bivouacked on our final night. We agreed that overall it was one of the most difficult climbsany of us had ever been on, and certainly one of the greatest adventures of our climbing careers.We left with a lot more respect and admiration for each other, and the mountain.

JIMMY CHIN, AAC

Gangotri, Vasuki Parvat, west face, attempt. PaulRamsden and I were turned back high on thisyear’s objective, rarely climbed 6,792m VasukiParvat in the Indian Gangotri. Poor weather andcold foiled our attempt on an aesthetic line up asteep mixed pillar toward the right side of theunclimbed west face.

Our first problem, as usual, was bureaucra-cy. Peaks in the area now need not only permitsfrom the Indian Mountaineering Foundation butalso from the local Utterakhand Government andForestry Commission. The next problem wasweather. While we made a speedy approach tobase camp at 4,900m in the Vasuki Valley, once the tent was set up, a storm raged for 48 hours,after which only a few centimeters of roof remained above the freshly fallen snow.

Apart from making conditions on the mountain a trifle difficult, a major by-product ofall this fresh snow was that it stopped us acclimatizing to any decent height before making ourattempt. It was also impressively cold, the cook remarking that monsoons had increasingly beenleading straight into winter. But when clear skies arrived, it was either go up or pack up. So upwe went.

Starting up the face all slow and sensible, we had climbed to around half-height on daythree and were beginning increasingly technical ground. By day five we were moving too slow-ly and getting more and more wobbly. I could feel my toes suffering cold damage, and Paul’sfeet were cold even in his Everest boots. At one point, using a bare-hand undercut for 30 sec-onds produced a frostbite blister. On the morning of day six, two-thirds of the way up the faceat 6,400m, we concluded that lack of acclimatization was taking its toll. We may have beenabove the most technical part of the face, but things were likely to go horribly wrong if wecontinued. The descent, which involved another bivouac, was made more exciting by a rock rip-ping through the tent fabric and smashing into the hanging stove.

Named after the shape of Vasuki, the famous king of snakes, the 6,792m summit liesimmediately east of the better-known Bhagirathi Group. Despite many references, all likelystemming from a single source, that the Indo-Tibet Border Police first climbed the mountainin 1973 (no route description given, or at best extremely vague), the IMF does not recognizethis ascent. The only ascent described in detail took place in 1980, by Japanese via the east faceand east ridge. However, the IMF fails to recognize this ascent too, presumably because no per-mit was issued and the ascent was therefore unofficial.

MICK FOWLER, Alpine Club

The west face of Vasuki (6,782m), showing the lineof the Fowler-Ramsden attempt. Mick Fowler

Shanti (5,687m) above the Panpatia Ice Cap, showing the line of the first ascent on the east face and south ridge.Alan Tees

Thendup Tower on the northern rim of the Panpatia Ice Cap,showing the route of the first ascent via the south couloir and westridge. Alan Tees


EASTERN GARHWALKalanka, northeast face and central spur, Bushido; history. Kazuaki Amano, Fumitaka Ichimura,and Yusuke Sato made the first ascent since 1982 of 6,931m Kalanka. Their new 1,800m route,Bushido, started up the northeast face following a line attempted by Nick Bullock and KentonCool in 2007, before traversing right to the crest of the central spur, reaching the summit onSeptember 22. An account by Yusuke Sato appears in the features section of this Journal. Thecentral spur on the north face had become one of the most sought-after lines in the Garhwal.In 1977 a 14-member Czechoslovakian team led by Frantisek Grunt inspected the line beforeclimbing the right side of the north face. From the top camp, Ladislav Jon and Josef Rakoncajreached the summit via the supper section of the west ridge (1975 Japanese Route), making thesecond ascent of the mountain. Despite the use of fixed ropes, this route remains one of themost underrated achievements in the Himalaya. In 2001 Americans Carlos Buhler and JackRoberts made an unsuccessful attempt on the elegant central (north) spur. Two years lateranother American team, Sue Nott and John Varco, climbed the lower part of the spur, then useda portaledge to fix ropes through the vertical to overhanging central barrier (M6), completingall the technical difficulties and bivouacking at 6,550m before being forced down by storm.Buhler returned in 2004 with Sandy Allan and John Lyall, but the attempt failed at around6,000m. In 2007 Nick Bullock and Kenton Cool tried another tact, climbing the big snow andice slopes of the northeast face left of the spur, only to be defeated on the crest of the east ridgeat over 6,300m.

LINDSAY GRIFFIN, Mountain INFO

SIKKIMWest Sikkim, Jopuno, west ridge.After 12 days of unstable Marchweather in the Thangsing Valley andan unsuccessful attempt on thenorthwest ridge of Tinchenkang(6,010m), Sarah DeMay, Sam Gard-ner, Josh Smith, and I turned to theaesthetic unclimbed west ridge ofJopuno, a 5,936m peak just south ofTichenkang. From our 4,200m basecamp the ridge appeared to startwith a short rocky section to gainthe glaciated lower crest, whichquickly turned into a steep, sharpsnow ridge leading to broken yetgorgeous golden granite. Above, the rock appeared black and loose before reaching the snow-capped summit. As best we could surmise, Jopuno had been climbed only once, in April 2002via the south ridge, by Kunzang Bhutia and Sagar Rai (AAJ 2008, p. 120).

Leaving camp at 3:30 a.m. under a nearly full moon, we four moved quickly up snow-covered grass and talus to the base of the west ridge at 5,100m. We there broke into teams oftwo and began wandering up the lower glacier to the first major obstacle, a 12m WI3 pitch onthe ridge’s north side. This led to the upper glacier, where steep snow, followed by a well-defined


companion. In 2000 a British group with Martin Moran’s Nilkanth expedition climbed twopeaks in the Vishnu Ghar just east of the glacier. They then breached the icefall (PD+), contin-uing over the ice cap and through the Panpatia Col (5,200m) to make the first complete cross-ing from the Panpatia Valley to Madmaheshwar.

In June 2007 a team from Kolkata led by Tapan Pandit reached the ice cap and col by aroute north of the icefall, which they named Parvati Gully. This is possibly the route used in1989 by the British team. The Indians continued across the ice cap and descended safely toMadmaheshwar. Until 2008 no one had attempted any of the Panpatia peaks. I met AnindyaMukherjee in 2006 and we hatched a plan to climb in the Panpatia. Our approach in the springof 2008 was from Badrinath up the Dumkal Kharak Valley and a crossing of 4,500mHoldsworth Pass. We established base camp at Unini Tal, just below the snout of the PanpatiaGlacier. Over two days, expedition members and the four remaining staff carried loads to anadvanced base camp at 4,400m on the glacier. We avoided difficulties on the icefall by a right-ward traverse off the glacier to steep ground and an icy couloir (Parvati Gully?). This led to theice cap, where on May 30 we established a high camp. The following day all six members of theclimbing party, with Anindya Mukherjee and Tindoop Sherpa, summited Pt. 5,687m. Wenamed the mountain Shanti (Tranquility) Peak. We made the ascent from the east to a col onthe south, then up mixed rock and snow on the east face, and along the narrow summit ridge.The route was around Alpine D, but the route of descent, on the west side, is easier (PD or less).The following day was scheduled for rest and acclimatization, but five members climbed thespur above high camp and named it Nasta (Breakfast) Point (5,296m). It provided a superbviewpoint for the entire area.

On day three the party planned to cross the ice cap to climb an attractive, chisel-shapedpeak on the far side, which would also give views down Shipton and Tilman’s “Bamboo Valley.”However, that night it failed to freeze, so the party spent three hours plowing through soft snowbefore climbing the north summit of what we named Panpatia Ridge. This is an unimpressivelooking mountain of three humps. However the ridge is knife-edged, corniced, and provedtime-consuming. Therefore, we reached only the lowest of the three summits, via a couloir onthe east face (D).

The next morning only two of our team, plus a Sherpa and a guide, were keen to tacklethe rock tower (dubbed Thendup Tower) between Shanti and unnamed Pt. 5,841m. Approach-ing from the south they climbed a rocky gully to reach an obvious snowy couloir leading to anotch between the two summits. Exposed mixed climbing along a short ridge, again about D,led to the higher summit. They descended by rappel to the glacier. Three days later we were backat the road.

ALAN TEES, Ireland

CENTRAL GARHWALKamet, southeast face, Samuri Direct. One of the outstanding climbs of the year was the firstascent of Kamet’s previously unattempted but much admired southeast face, by the Japanesecouple Kazuya Hiraide and Kei Taniguchi. They left advance base camp, below the wall at5,900m, on September 28, reached the 7,756m summit on October 5, and descended throughsnowfall on the normal route, reaching base camp on the 8th. Their route, Samuri Direct, fea-tured crux sections of AI 5+ and M5+. An account of this climb by Taniguchi is a feature articlein this Journal.

Jopuno (5,936m) with the ca 900m new route up the west ridgemarked. The only previous known ascent of this peak was made in2002 by the right skyline (south ridge). Jason Halladay


Northeast and West Sikkim, various attempts and ascents. During October and November ClaireHumphris (U.K.), Simon Humphris (U.K.), Monica Kalozdi (U.S.), Tom Midttun (Norway),Jean Pavillard (Switzerland), Fabian Pavillard (Switzerland), Owen Samuel (U.K.), and I visit-ed Sikkim. Our team first traveled to the northeast of the state, where Midttun and Samuelattempted the first ascent of the east ridge/buttress of Brumkhangshe (5,635m), reaching5,050m before being stopped by bad weather and deep fresh snow. The rest of the teamattempted the northwest ridge of the same peak [Editor’s note: This ridge was climbed in 2007by Payne with Julie-Ann Clyma to make the only recorded ascent of the peak], but were stoppedby the same bad weather and associated avalanche conditions. However, on October 30Humphris, Humphris, Midttun, Samuel, and I reached the summit of Brumkhangshe North(ca 5,450m) making perhaps the third or fourth ascent. Next day Humphris, Humphris, and Imade the first ascent of a rocky peak above our glacier camp, calling it Ta (Horse) Peak (ca5,300m, UIAA II). On November 2, while exploring the west branch of the Rula Kang Glacier,Midttun and Samuel made the first ascent of a ca 5,000m rocky summit they called Changma(Bride) Peak (UIAA II). On the 3rd Humphris, Humphris, Midttun, Samuel, and I made thefirst ascent of a ca 5,400m summit we called Marpo (Red) Peak (UIAA II+).

After leaving this area Samuel and I traveled to West Sikkim, where we attempted theexcellent-looking southeast ridge of Rathong (6,679m). We set off on November 12 from a5,100m advanced camp on moraines above the Rathong Glacier, just below the ridge. We madetwo bivouacs, at 5,800m and 6,300m. The terrain was mixed, with difficulties up to UIAA IV/Vrock and II/III snow and ice. In the higher part the climbing was sometimes delicate and inse-cure in an exposed position (i.e., easy but deep, poorly consolidated snow on the crest). Instrong winds we were forced to stop on the 14th at 6,300m, after a bivouac in an exposed posi-tion. Eighteen rappels and down-climbing were needed to descend from the high point. A mapin AAJ 2008 shows the location of some of these peaks.

ROGER PAYNE, Switzerland


icy and exposed ridge, led towardthe band of golden granite. Josh andI roped up for the last 30m—a right-ward traverse on solid water iceabove an exposed face. We reachedthe rock at 5,600m and unroped.

The golden granite was morechallenging than it had appearedfrom below, but the rock was solid.For the most part we stayed belowand to the right (south) of the crest.At 11:30 a.m. we reached the start ofthe rotten, unpleasant black shale at5,800m. The wind had picked up,and it was snowing lightly. Weradioed Sam and Sarah, who informed us they had just reached the golden granite, but becausethe weather was worsening, were opting to sit and wait for us to return.

Josh and I continued cautiously through the black shale, treacherous because of the poorrock quality and lack of previous traffic. It was not uncommon for chunks of rock to slough offunder hands and feet, and progress slowed as we tested and retested each hold before commit-ting full weight to it. In addition, the new snow made the surface slick and forced us to keepcrampons on. With 70 vertical meters to go, we reached solid snow and ice and eventuallygained the summit at 12:45 p.m. in a near whiteout. Seven hours were required to reverse theroute to base camp. The west ridge gives a sustained and direct route to the summit of Jopunoat around AD+. The team wishes to thank Barap Namgyal Bhutia and www.sikkim-holidays.com for help with trip logistics and base camp support.

JASON HALLADAY, AAC

Josh Smith on the first ascent of Jopuno's West Ridge. Jason Halladay

Brumkhangshe (5,635m, left). The peak has only one recordedascent, by the northwest ridge (right skyline). The small summitimmediately right of the col is Brumkhangshe North (ca 5,450m,three or four ascents). The higher peak to the right, with the pre-carious pinnacle, is unclimbed. Roger Payne

The east face of unclimbed Chombu (6,362m). In front and toward the right of the picture is the somewhat dwarfed,red triangle of Marpo Peak (ca 5,400m), first climbed in 2008 by the left-hand ridge. Roger Payne

aaj 2009 excerpt: india reports

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