UKC

A small team from Bristol recently ventured to the Indian Himalayas to make a first ascent of a 6,000m peak.

Here Jason Bailey gives us the trip report complete with a run-down of their planning and preparation.

If you are thinking of organising an expedition, this is the article for you.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2268

In reply to UKC Articles:

Congratulations Jason. I look forward to hearing about it in a bit more detail. Speak soon.

In reply to UKC Articles: Nice article. However one major item missing appears to have been permission from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation to actually climb in India.I cant imagine that this was glossed over in the article as its a major part of the hassle of climbing in India. Whilst I might not disagree with what they did, (and they will certainly have saved a lot of money and hassle by not having a permit and L/o) It is worth pointing out that you do face the danger of being removed from the area by the army (Ive witnessed this happen to a team climbing in S.Ladakh)and possibly fined and banned from climbing in India

I went to Ladakh in Aug/Sept, mainly for a medical expedition but fitted in a couple of peaks at the end. Did the normal route up the main face on Kang Yatse I (6400m), and there was no evidence of it having been climbed recently - no footprints, prayer flags etc. The IMF fee is a nightmare when looking at it from this country, but I sorted it out in Leh. The guy in the office who sorted out my permit had summitted K2! The permit would have cost 2000Rs, but as a student got it for 1000Rs (£14). This was not a trekking peak, so should have cost 500 US Dollars! Got a faxed offical document from the IMF officer in Leh, so all was good! If you sort it out there, liaison officers are not needed for peaks below 7000m. I would add that there are reasonably good maps for Ladakh available from Editions Olizanes, Padum was on the map, so I suspect that the peak that the team attempted is on it.

In reply to UKC Articles: I did the Zanskar River Trek three years ago and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Very cold, wet, dark and utterly miserable. Never again! Glad these guys had a better experience (though not really comparable)

In reply to Cardi:

Hi Cardi,
I guided a team up the normal route on KY in mid July and I know of 2 other parties just before and after us. So it did get some traffic this year. Congratulations on your ascent. Nice peak isn't it.
Cheers, Paul

In reply to peakpaul: We thought just like most, that no one else had been to the area we visited. And then after writing the article I get an email from a Japanese team. They were in Zanskar this year, just trekking, and drew the most amazing and accurate map. Scary!! KY sounds great.