Dunglung Khangri FA for Bass, Figg and Yearsley

25th September, 2012

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Simon Yearsley, Malcolm Bass and Paul Figg have made the first ascent of an unclimbed and unamed peak at the head of North Terong glacier, Kashmir.

Battling 'Scottish conditions' the trio bagged the 6365m peak after abandoning their initial objective of Rimo III (7,233 m) due to poor conditions.

Dunglung Khangri SW Face. Summit in a whiteout. Climbers L-R Simon Yearsley, Malcolm Bass, Paul Figg. Photo Simon Yearsley © Malcolm Bass — Dunglung Khangri SW Face. Summit in a whiteout. Climbers L-R Simon Yearsley, Malcolm Bass, Paul Figg. Photo Simon Yearsley

Interestingly, the expedition had an in house artist, Rachel Antill, and we look forward to seeing some mountain art in the near future.

Malcolm Bass filled us in on the details of the climb:

"Bad weather scuppered our attempt on the south west face of Rimo III, but we were delighted to be able to make the first ascent of an attractive, unnamed 6365m peak in exciting conditions!

The original aim of our Indo-British Expedition led by Satyabrata Dam was the South West Face of Rimo III. Of the 26 days we were at basecamp it snowed on 15 days. We made an attempt on the face reaching 6400m before being stopped by snow fall and warm temperatures. Continued poor weather meant that the face didn't clear and we didn't think that another attempt would be safe.

Luckily for us the head of North Terong glacier has only been visited on a handful of occasions and isn't short of compelling unclimbed objectives. We chose an attractive prominent 6365m peak which was unclimbed and unnamed and on which we could trace a safer looking line.

We climbed the 1200m route with one bivvy in deteriorating weather. Initially the climbing was on a series of spurs separated by snow/ice couloirs, then a fine gendarmed ridge, and finally a steeper summit pyramid. By the time we reached the base of the summit pyramid the wind was howling and the snowfall was constant. Part way up the summit pyramid the issue hung in the balance, but we gritted our teeth and pressed on in by now "full Scottish" conditions. We reached the summit in a white out. A long cold night time descent followed as we searched for our elusive bivouac site.

After discussion with our Ladhaki expedition members (Tashi Phunchok and Konchok Thinless) we suggest the name Dunglung Khangri. In Ladhaki this means sharp windy mountain."

Dunglung Khangri SW Face. Loose mixed ground between icefields. Climbers Paul Figg & Simon Yearsley. Photo Malcolm Bass © Malcolm Bass — Dunglung Khangri SW Face. Loose mixed ground between icefields. Climbers Paul Figg & Simon Yearsley. Photo Malcolm Bass

The expedition would not have been possible without the generous support of the Mount Everest Foundation, BMC, Alpine Club, Montane, Polartec, Swaledale Outdoors, Needlesports, Lyon Equipment, High 5.