greater himalaya

in association with
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Broad Peak seen from the southwest. (A) Broad Peak North (7,490m: first climbed by Jerzy Kukuczka and Voytek Kurtyka in 1984, see below), (B) Col 7,278m,
(C) Broad Peak Central (8,016m: first climbed in 1975 by Kazimierz Glazek and Janusz Kulis via the now Normal Route to the col, then the South East Ridge), (D)
Broad Peak Foresummit (8,028m), (E) Broad Peak Main (8,047m: first climbed in 1957, see below), (F) Broad Peak South West (7,721m), (G) Falchan la (6,571m),
(H) South Falchan Glacier and (I) Pt 6,230m). (1) North West Ridge Integral to Broad Peak Main (Jerzy Kukuczka/Voytek Kurtyka, 1984). (2) West Flank - Normal
Route (Marcus Schmuck/Fritz Wintersteller, followed by Hermann Buhl/Kurt Diemberger, 1957: today's Camps 2 and 3 are marked with the highest at c7,000m).
(3) West Face-Mexican Route (Carlos Carsolio, solo, in two stages: 28th June-1st July, 1994 to the 7,000m Camp 3 on the Normal Route; 8th-9th July, 1994 from
7,000m to the Main Summit). (4) South West Face (Sergey Samoilov/Denis Urubko, 2005). (5) 1997 Spanish and Anglo-Australian attempts and high point
(c7,200m) on the unclimbed South West Spur to South East Ridge. MARKO PREZELJ
GREATER
HIMALAYA
PAKISTAN 2005
PART TWO
The 8,000m Peaks
Two of the finest accomplishments during
the season occurred on 8,000m peaks. Both
were bold efforts by some of the world’s
most accomplished climbers and show that
Alpine style new routeing on 8,000m
summits is still very much alive. As both
ascents were highly acclaimed and very
well-documented, only a brief summary is
presented below.
074
Broad Peak
At 11.30am on the 25th July, Sergey
Samoilov and Denis Urubko from
Kazakhstan stepped on to the 8,047m
summit of Broad Peak after making an
outstanding six-day Alpine style ascent of
the previously unclimbed South West Face.
This is only the fourth route to be climbed to
the main summit, the other three being the
Normal Route up the West Flank (1957), the
North West Ridge over Broad Peak North
and Central (1984) and the more direct
Carsolio Route on the West Face (climbed in
two parts; 1994). Interesting, all were
completed in either Alpine style or using
lightweight tactics. In addition, there had
been no previous serious attempt on the
2,500m South West Face.
Samoilov and Urubko were part of an
Italian team, which quickly decided the face
was too dangerous and switched to the
Normal Route. The two Kazakhs were
unhappy about this (Urubko had already
climbed it on a previous occasion) and after
acclimatizing on the West Flank to 7,200m,
decided to go for it. On the lower part of the
face they had to overcome two steep rock
bands, the first at c6,300m and the second
above 6,550m. These gave maximum
difficulties reported as F6b and A2, with an
M5 finish. It appears that most of this was
climbed in crampons, Urubko having trained
really hard on his rock-climbing during the
early part of the year. The pair avoided
freshly laden snow slopes higher up by
climbing rock ribs, which involved a section
of M6+ at over 7,400m. Reaching the crest of
the unclimbed South East Ridge at 7,950m
also involved tricky mixed terrain (M4+), by
which time the two men had run out of both
food and gas. The pair then had to battle
strong winds before traversing the summit
and descending the Normal Route to 7,200m,
where they found some gas and were able to
melt snow. They reached Base Camp the
following day. There were more than 60
climbers on the mountain last season but it
is not clear whether anyone other than
Samoilov and Urubko, who received a Piolet
d’Or nomination for their ascent, actually
reached the true summit.
Of interest was a return to the Greater
Ranges for Artur Hajzer, a prolific Polish
high altitude mountaineer of the 1980s and
one of the last climbing partners of the
legendary, Jerzy Kukuczka. Hajzer had an
accident near the foresummit of Broad Peak,
in which it was thought his leg might be
broken. In a great spirit of co-operation,
which sadly is often lacking on the big
mountains these days, many climbers
rallied round and managed to evacuate
Hajzer safely. Hospital inspection later
showed no fracture. This was something of a
reversal of fortunes for Hajzer: in spring
1989 the most significant Polish catastrophe
in the Greater Ranges left five famous
mountaineers dead after an avalanche near
the Lho La on Everest's West Ridge. It was
Hajzer, on his way home from a Lhotse
South Face expedition, who effectively
organized a rescue. After the Polish
Government gained special permission from
the Chinese to travel from Kathmandu to
Tibet (it was far too dangerous to reach the
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7
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The 4,500m Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat (8,125m). (1) Upper South West Ridge (the 1976 Schell Route lies on
the far side of the crest). (2) South South East Spur - Messner Route (summit reached by Gunther and Reinhold
Messner, then Felix Kuen and Peter Scholz, 1970). (3) Direct South East Face - American attempt (Steve
House/Bruce Miller to the point marked X at c7,550m, 2004). (4) Direct South East Face - Central Pillar (Vince
Anderson/Steve House, 2005: 5.9, M5 X and WI 4). (5) Approximate line of the Tomaz Humar attempt in 2005
with his high point H estimated to be over 6,300m. Humar retreated from this point in bad weather and was
then trapped for six days at c5,900m before being dramatically rescued by helicopter. (6) South East Pillar (Ueli
Buhler to South Summit, 1982; Carlos Carsolio/Zygmunt Heinrich/Jerzy Kukuczka/Slavomir Lobodzinski, 1985
to Main Summit). (7) Upper North Ridge - Original Route (Herman Buhl, solo, 1953). ARNE HODALIC
pitched. On the second night they
bivouacked a little above the crux section;
the right-hand of two steep ice/mixed
runnels through the second rock barrier.
With the weather set fair, the two chose to
leave the 2004 line and head straight for the
more elegant Central Pillar left of the huge
hanging glacier in the middle of the face. At
the top of this, with retreat now very difficult
if not impossible, they were relieved to find a
hidden ice flow cutting through the
headwall. At the end of their fifth day they
reached a snow arête at c7,400m and cut
out a good tent platform, knowing that from
this point they could traverse left to the
Messner Route.
The alarm sounded at half past midnight,
forcing them out of bed for the summit day.
Leaving the tent, they climbed to the end of
the rock, where they cached the rope and
most of the climbing gear. At first the snow
was deep and potentially avalanche prone.
The pair gained only 60m in two and a half
hours. Fortunately, things improved. Near
the top and after having joined the final
section of the Messner Route, the sun was
so hot that House was able to strip down to
just a shirt, remove his damp socks, tie
them to his rucksack and put bare feet back
into boots. At the foresummit Anderson took
a little nap while House replaced his dry
socks and the two exhausted men reached
the Main Summit around an hour before
dark on the 6th September. They were back
at the tent 24 hours after leaving.
Over the next two days the climbers made
their way down the Messner Route,
bivouacking at around 4,600m. Right to the
end the mountain taxed them almost to the
limit and as House stepped onto the glacier
at midday on the 8th, he looked up to see a
huge rockfall narrowly miss Anderson only
c30m above. The Central Pillar was graded
US VII 5.9 M5 X WI 4.
The other notable ascent on the mountain
was made by Koreans, Kim Chang-ho and
Lee Hyun-jo, who made a successful south
to north traverse after completing the long
awaited second ascent of the South South
East Spur (a.k.a. Messner Route) on the Rupal
Face. Their ascent took place 25 years after
the first, when the summit was reached by
Gunther and Reinhold Messner, then later
by Felix Kuen and Peter Scholz. The 12member Korean expedition reached Base
Camp on the 12th April and made a very
prolonged siege of the mountain. It wasn't
until the 14th June, 43 days after the team
began climbing, that they first sited Camp 3
at 6,850m. By this time seven tents had been
destroyed, with no more than three left at
Camp 1 and all at Camp 2 completely buried
under fresh snow. Toward the end of June
the team was set for a summit bid. Four
members started their attempt on the 26th,
but at 7,550m, while climbing the Merkl
Couloir, Kim Mi-gon was hit on the leg by a
rock. The injury was bad enough to prevent
further climbing and the next four days were
spent evacuating him to Base Camp.
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075
Nanga Parbat
Two important ascents, though carried out in
wildly different styles, took place on the
south side of the mountain. As reported in
December 2005 Climb (which was followed
by an article in September 2006), Vince
Anderson and Steve House's Alpine style
first ascent of the Central Pillar on the huge
Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat has been lauded
by many as one of the greatest climbs in the
history of Himalayan mountaineering and
won the two Americans the Piolet d’Or. If
one discounts the South South West Ridge
(a.k.a. Schell Route), which marks the left
edge of this vast wall and joins the upper
South West Ridge, the vast c4,100m-high
face, arguably the highest single sweep of
steep rock and ice in the world, had only
been climbed three times prior to 2005, with
only two of these ascents reaching the
8,125m Main Summit (the 1970 Messner
Route on the South South East Spur and the
1985 Mexican-Polish Route on the South
East Pillar: this pillar had already been
climbed to the 8,042m South Summit in 1982
by Ueli Buhler).
House’s association with Nanga Parbat
began in 1990 when he was only 19 and part
of a 19-member Slovenian expedition that
successfully climbed the Schell Route
(which at the time was the first ascent for
six years and one of the last before the
Kinshofer was adopted as the Normal
Route). Two climbers reached the summit,
one of these, Marija Frantar, becoming the
first female to climb the route. House did not
perform well on this trip and only reached
c6,400m. As reported in Climb 7 INFO, he
returned in 2004, and with Bruce Miller
made a bold Alpine style attempt on the
Direct South East Face between the two
existing routes (but left of the Central Pillar).
The pair reached c7,550m before House's
altitude sickness forced a retreat.
In 2005, Anderson and House reached
Base Camp at the end of July and during the
following month made progressive forays up
the Schell Route to a maximum height of
around 7,000m. On the 1st September, after
having received an extremely promising
weather forecast from America, the pair set
off, following the line of the 2004 attempt.
They carried only food for seven days, a
small tent and one sleeping bag. The warm,
wet summer had left the rock verglassed
and sections that House and Miller had
climbed unroped in 2004 now had to be
X
in association with
Lho La from Nepal and at that time the
Tibetan side of Everest was closed), Hajzer
and a number of volunteers (which included
the late Garry Ball and Rob Hall), reached
the area of the Lho La from the north and
evacuated the remaining injured survivor,
Piotr Marciniak. With the death of Kukuczka
later the same year, this incident marked
the end of the great Polish domination of the
Himalaya that had occurred over the
previous 10-15 years.
in association with
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Part of the upper section of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat showing (1) the South South East Spur or
Messner Route with (M) the Merkl Couloir (first ascent in 1970; repeated in 2005 by Koreans). (2) The
Direct South East Face or Central Pillar climbed by Americans in 2005. (3) The top section of the South
East Pillar, climbed to the South Summit (8,042m: what appears to be the highest point in this
photograph) by one Swiss in 1982 and completed to the Main Summit in 1985 by a Mexican-Polish team.
LEE YOUNG-JUN COLLECTION
076
Kim Chang-ho and Lee Hyun-jo made a
second attempt on the 13th July. They left
Camp 4 (7,125m) at 10.30pm and climbed to
the base of the objectively hazardous ice
gully above the Merkl Icefield, using ropes
previously fixed to 7,550m. Taking only a
50m, 6mm diameter rope, they continued
the ascent. At 9am on the 14th they narrowly
missed being hit by a big fall of rock and ice
but by 5pm had reached the summit
snowfield at 7,850m. Although they had
originally planned to bivouac before reaching
the summit, they decided to continue into
the night.
At 9pm they reached the ridge connecting
the South and Central Summits and a little
under two hours later had reached the
highest point. They had then been climbing
for 24 hours. Because it was dark the two
were unable to take any convincing summit
photographs and were a little concerned that
their success might subsequently be
doubted (an unlikely scenario considering
their decision to descend the far side of the
mountain). They decided to leave the rope
and sponsor's flag but while doing so
discovered a small container holding a note
left by Reinhold Messner after his
successful solo ascent of the Diamir Face in
1978. They decided to take this container as
proof of their climb.
At 11.10pm, Kim Chang-ho and Lee Hyunjo began descending the Diamir Face
unroped, following the standard Kinshofer
Route. Somewhere in the middle section
they set off a windslab avalanche. Lee was
buried and Kim was swept 50m downhill,
losing his headtorch. Extracting themselves,
the two continued down, reaching the tents
of another expedition at 7,100m. Although
they were strongly tempted to stop, they
were now so exhausted they believed that if
they went to sleep, they might never get up.
Hallucinating that another climber was
ahead of them, they continued on down and
68 hours after starting out from Camp IV on
the Rupal Face, walked into Diamir Base
Camp. Climbers there at the time report
they were impressed by the Koreans' speed
of descent and that Lee Hyun-jo, who arrived
first, looked remarkably fresh after his
ordeal. The two radioed fellow team
members on the other side of the mountain
and eventually met up with them nine days
later. All together, the expedition lasted 109
days. Messner was able to confirm that the
container was his and was later invited to
Korea to have it formally returned to him. It
is now safely housed in his Alpine museum
in the Tyrol.
There were other successes on Nanga
Parbat via the Kinshofer Route. These
included Edurne Pasaban from Spain, who
for one day only became the undisputed
leading female high altitude collector with
eight 8,000m peaks to her credit, before that
number was equalled by Austrian, Gerlinde
Kaltenbrunner, with her ascent of
The Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat. In the Merkl Couloir of the Messner Route during the first summit
attempt in June 2005 by the Korean expedition. This is around 7,500m and near the point where
Kim Min-gon was injured by rockfall and had to be evacuated. LEE YOUNG-JUN COLLECTION
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BALTORO MUSTAGH
Muztagh Tower
A multi-national team made a rare attempt
on the 7,284m Muztagh Tower, a mountain
of spectacular appearance when seen from
the upper Baltoro Glacier and described by
Martin Conway, who in August 1892 first saw
and then named the peak, as '… second only
to the unsurpassable Matterhorn for majesty
of form'.
The team comprised Nicolas Bernard
(France), Steve Brown (USA), Bruce
Normand (the expedition leader and a Scot
working in Switzerland) and Philippe
Oberson (Switzerland), with high mountain
trekkers, Patrycja Paruch (Poland), Markus
Schneider (Germany) and Markus Stratmann
(Germany). Their original objective was the
unclimbed and seldom seen North East Face
above the Biange Glacier and by the 9th
June, only 12 days after arrival in Pakistan,
the team had established Base Camp at the
confluence of this and the Younghusband
Glacier, close to the foot of the tower's
South East Ridge. While Bernard and Brown
almost climbed the first pinnacle on the long
South East Ridge, wisely electing not to
complete the last 15m, which fell off a week
later, Normand and Oberson found a route
up the Younghusband icefall and discovered
E
B
The Muztagh Tower (7,284m) showing perhaps its most spectacular aspect; the southeast. The unclimbed
North East Face is seen in profile on the right. The route climbed by the French in 1956 to make the second
ascent of the mountain is marked. The French gained the crest of the South East Ridge via slopes that are
largely hidden in this picture but lie behind (B) the Black Tooth (6,719m). Contamine, Keller, Magnone and
Paragot reached the summit less than a week after Brown and McNaught-Davis had first reached the West
Summit (W) and Hartog and Patey had continued to the slightly higher East Summit (E), via the North West
Ridge. While the British route has now been repeated twice, the French awaits a second ascent.
BRUCE NORMAND
a good location for Advanced Base Camp
c2km short of the Moni Pass.
Once the team was established at this
camp, a week of fine weather prevailed,
allowing Brown, Oberson, Paruch,
Schneider, and Stratmann to climb a
foresummit of Pt 5,850m, directly above
camp and then Normand, Schneider and
Stratmann to reach the top of Pt 6,001m
(Tsetse on the Swiss map) by its South Ridge.
This ascent, completed on the 18th July,
involved snow climbing at 45°, followed by a
descent to the west. From the summit they
saw that seracs threatened the true North
Face and North Ridge (which rises from the
c6,000m Moni Pass) and that monstrous
cornices adorned the South East Ridge. This
left two lines from the northeast that
seemed viable: on the far left where a
snow/ice line with two rock steps led to the
col on the South East Ridge between the
Black Tooth (6,719m) and Muztagh Tower;
the poorly defined North East Spur, with a
steep rock barrier between 6,600m and
6,900m, falling directly from the summit.
Both would need time to dry.
The South East Ridge of the 7,284m Muztagh Tower, seen here to be a lot less ferocious than it appears
in the accompanying photograph. The French climbed on to the crest in front of the 6,719m Black Tooth
(just off picture to the right) and continued to the east and highest summit. The West Summit is the more
rounded top on the left. In 1976 a Japanese expedition reached 7,000m on the impressive South West
Face to the left, below the West Summit. BRUCE NORMAND
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077
K2, Gasherbrum I and II
Difficult snow conditions thwarted many
expeditions to these peaks. No one got up
K2, the best effort coming from a group of
Kazaks, who reached c8,500m late in the
season. Sadly, when they left for a final
attempt on the 24th August they found all
their equipment cached near the base of the
Abruzzi Ridge had been stolen. A similar
incident is reported to have taken place on
Broad Peak, prompting the Alpine Club of
Pakistan to undertake an investigation. All
ascents of Gasherbrums I and II were by the
Normal Routes. Of some interest were the
ascents of Gasherbrum II by Scandinavians
and Turks: the former skied down the
mountain on the 22nd July, while the
successful summit party of the latter
contained two women, the first Turkish
females to summit any 8,000m peak.
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in association with
Gasherbrum II. Pasaban was one of 21
climbers to reach the summit that day.
Nanga Parbat has now received 263 ascents
by 261 individuals (Quadrat Ali and Messner
are the two to have climbed it twice). Sixteen
of those have been women and there have
been 62 deaths on the mountain (till the end
of 2005), nearly half of which occurred
during famous attempts before the Second
World War. Climbers from 33 different
countries have now reached the summit,
with Spain leading the field. In the same
massif there is also an unconfirmed report
of a new route on one of the Mazeno Peaks
climbed solo by an unauthorized Spanish
Alpinist in just 24 hours. There is no further
information at the time of writing.
in association with
078
Normand, Schneider and Stratmann
continued with their acclimatization on the
21st July by making an attempt on Pt
6,345m, which is situated on the watershed
ridge separating the Biange and GodwinAusten glaciers. Stratmann was forced to
turn back before the top due to inadequate
crampons but the other two continued to the
summit and a splendid vantage point.
Meanwhile Bernard, Brown, and Oberson
penetrated the Biange icefall above Base
Camp in an attempt to make the second
ascent of the South East Ridge of Muztagh
Tower. Convoluted terrain led to a high point
of 5,500m, below the Black Tooth.
More unstable weather arrived, during
which the four climbers made two further
attempts on the South East Ridge, reaching
the snow face below the Black Tooth. A final
attempt on the 4th August saw just
Normand and Oberson climbing the icefall
by night, then continuing over snow and ice
faces to a shoulder at 6,000m on the South
West Ridge of the Black Tooth. The pair
persevered through a snowstorm and up a
broad snow slope to the right of the giant
serac barrier on the South Face. At c6,300m,
on the sloping snow terrace above the edge
of the serac, avalanche conditions forced a
retreat. During the descent, after downclimbing a long snow slope directly to the
upper Biange, Oberson slipped on lowangled ice and pulled Normand with him.
The two slid around 100m leaving Oberson
unscathed but Normand with impressive
facial scratches and a back injury, which
was later diagnosed as two compressed
vertebrae. He managed to descend to Base
Camp with the help of the remaining
climbers and a couple of high-altitude
porters.
In the summer of 1956 two ‘rival’ teams
made the first ever attempts on the Tower.
First on the scene was the small British
party of Joe Brown, John Hartog, Ian
McNaught-Davis and Tom Patey. These four
approached the peak from the west up the
previously unexplored Chagaran Glacier,
then made four camps on the North West
Ridge before Brown and McNaught-Davis
made a push for the top. By 6pm they
arrived at the slightly lower West Summit
(c7,280m), separated from the three-metre
higher East Summit by an almost horizontal
300m knife edge. They elected to forego the
continuation (they were unsure which was
the higher top but felt it was probably the
east) and only managed to descend c100m
before forced to make an open bivouac with
no stove. On the following day Hartog and
Patey continued to the higher summit but
again failed to get back to camp and
sustained an arduous bivouac in which
Hartog’s feet became seriously frostbitten.
He later underwent significant amputations.
Five days later the main summit was
reached again, this time via the South East
Ridge, by the French quartet of Andre
Contamine, Paul Keller, Guido Magnone and
Pt 5,500m on the south side of the Chuberger Dakusa Vestien Glacier, showing the line of Fast and
Furious (Barmasse/Marlier/Salini, 2005: 700m: V/4 and A1, though free climbed by the second at M6).
LUCA MASPES COLLECTION
Robert Paragot. Both routes were extremely
challenging and probably two of the hardest
climbed in the Himalaya-Karakoram at that
time. The French were on hand to assist in
the evacuation of Hartog, who later wrote in
The Alpine Journal, 'The kindness of the
French remains for me one of the noblest
deeds in the history of mountaineering - the
conversion of rivalry to a great friendship
and affection'.
In 1976, Japanese reached a high point of
around 7,000m on the impressive South
West Face, while Americans made little
progress on the East Face in 1983. However,
the following year Britons, Sandy Allan, Tony
Brindle, Mal Duff and Jon Tinker made the
second ascent of the West Summit via the
Original Route, climbing in Alpine style from
the point where they reached the crest of the
ridge. The Original Route was climbed again
in 1990 (with 1,200m of fixed rope) by
Swedes, Rafael Hensen and Goran Kropp,
who established a lower variant up the north
west side of the Chagaran Glacier, which
was less threatened by avalanche. An
American attempt (again using fixed rope)
on the Original Route in 1996 was foiled at
6,400m by bad weather.
MASHERBRUM RANGE
Chogolisa Glacier
Hervé Barmasse, Ezio Marlier, Luca Maspes
and Giovanni Pagnoncelli returned to the
Chogolisa Glacier, north of the Charakusa,
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in association with
The South Face of the Capucin (c5,500m) showing the line of the 2005 Bellin/Ongaro route Duro e Puri
(400m: 12 pitches: 6b and new wave A2). The rock pyramid behind and to the right is the southeast summit
Italian F8c+ sport climber and former World Cup
of Sheep Peak. LUCA MASPES COLLECTION
event winner, Cristian Brenna, took his
considerable talents in both rock-climbing and
eating vast quantities of watermelon to the
Karakoram in 2005 for his first visit to the
Greater Ranges. LUCA MASPES COLLECTION
where they had already completed four new
routes during the summer of 2004 (see
Climb 7). This time they were accompanied
by Gianluca Bellin, Cristian Brenna,
Francesca Chenal, Giovanni Ongaro and
Fabio Salini. As in 2004 the climbers
originally planned to visit the Kondus and
Saltoro valleys further east but just two
weeks before departure the Pakistan
Government once again denied them
a permit.
After setting up Base Camp below Raven’s
Peak on the north side of the entrance to the
Chuberger Dakusa Vestien Glacier (a.k.a.
Beusten Glacier from an old Japanese
sketch map to the region), Barmasse,
Marlier and Salini climbed the North Face of
an unnamed and virgin 5,500m peak via a
line they named Fast and Furious. This
summit lies a short distance east along the
ridge from Pointed and Crested peaks on the
south side of the CDV Glacier and the 700m
mixed route was climbed in a day - the 18th
June. The difficult upper section was rated
V/4 and while one short section required the
Cristian Brenna belayed by Giovanni Ongaro tackles one of the early pitches of Up and Down on the South Face of Raven's Pyramid during the first free ascent
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079
(800m of climbing: 16 pitches: 7c). LUCA MASPES COLLECTION
in association with
Francesca Chenal and Luca Maspes during the first ascent of Up and Down (800m of climbing: 6c/6c+
and A1) on the South Face of Raven's Pyramid (5,300m) in the Chogolisa Glacier region.
LUCA MASPES COLLECTION
080
leader to use aid (A1), the second freed it at
M6. The trio reached the summit ridge but
didn't continue to the highest point, a little
spire 10m above. They rappelled the route.
Four days later Marlier and Salini put up
a new line on the left side of the South Face
of Raven’s Pyramid (c5,300m). Green Tea is
eight pitches long and F6b, with a short
section of A1 (one bolt). Raven’s Pyramid
was first climbed and named in 1987 by
Mick Hardwick and Pat Littlejohn, who
climbed a c1,000m line towards the right
side of the face at E4 6a. This was repeated
in 2004 with some major variations by
Barmasse, Maspes and Giovanni Pagnoncelli
to create Luna Caprese (22 pitches: 6c+).
From the 16th-26th June Barmasse,
Brenna, Chenal and Maspes climbed a new
line up the left and steepest part of the
South Face of Raven’s Pyramid. Hoping that
it might be subsequently possible to make
an all-free, one-day ascent, they fixed ropes
on the first 250 difficult metres and placed
bolts on the initial pillar. After six days and
800m of climbing they completed the 16pitch Up and Down at F6c/6c+ and A1. The
route finishes on the crest of the South West
Ridge some distance below the summit.
Returning on the 10th July, Brenna, belayed
by Ongaro, climbed the route free in one day.
He felt the crux, a roof on the sixth pitch,
was worthy of F7c but he also climbed many
pitches of F7a and F7b. The Italians feel this
could be one of the best and most difficult
free climbs to date in the Karakoram.
Brenna, who has climbed many routes of
F8c+ and won both World Cup and Masters
events in the late 1990s, also established a
Font 7c/7c+ boulder problem at Base Camp.
Four days were needed before he managed
a successful ascent – no mean feat for
the altitude.
Above and right of Raven’s Peak stands a
fine granite buttress on the south flank of
Sheep Peak. The 1987 British party referred
to it as ‘the Dru’ but the Italians have
christened it Capucin (5,500m) and from the
24th-26th June a route was established on
the South Face by Bellin and Ongaro. The
pair climbed in classic ‘big wall’ style,
spending two nights at portaledge camps
before completing the relatively short but
difficult Duro e Puri (400m: 12 pitches: F6b
and new wave A2). The route terminated
on the South East Ridge, and it appears
the climbers did not continue to the illdefined top.
On the 28th June, Barmasse and
Pagnoncelli climbed the North West Face of
what was thought to be a previously virgin
c6,000m peak on the long west ridge of
Farol. The peak in question lies on the ridge
east of Pt 5,500m, mentioned above and
appears to be in a similar location to a
summit marked Fiona Peak on Jerzy Wala's
2005 1:100,000 sketch map of the K6 and
Chogolisa groups. It also appears on an old
Japanese sketch map as Karupa Peak
(c6,000m). The 1,000m route had ice up to
60° and a little mixed terrain close to the
summit. Only Barmasse reached the highest
point and then descended mainly on ski.
Finally, during the last week of the
expedition, Barmasse, Brenna and Maspes
moved to the Charakusa Glacier to climb
some established routes and attempt a new
line on Iqbal’s Wall, a formation Maspes had
climbed in 1998 with Natale Villa and Galen
Rowell. On the 19th July, the three Italians
climbed six pitches up to F6b/6b+ using
traditional protection but were stopped by
bad rock 100m below the top.
Charakusa Glacier
A number of parties visited the now popular
Charakusa Glacier, mainly climbing on the
established ‘classics’ such as Nayser Brakk
etc. Apart from the major ascents and
attempts of new lines mentioned below,
British climbers, James Raitt and Andrew
Wilkinson, tried Drifika from the East Drifika
Cwm. Finding the mountain out of condition
due to too much snow, they turned to a small
peak on the ridge between Drifika (6,447m)
and Poro (6,187m). This 5,800m summit,
which may have been climbed before, was
ascended at AD and named Terrifica.
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C
D
E
C1
Hervé Barmasse skis the North West Face of Pt c6,000m after a probable first ascent. Behind is the
unvisited upper cirque of the Chuberger Dakusa Vestien Glacier (a.k.a. Beusten Glacier), showing (A) Sheep
Peak (c6,000m: the top of the Capucin is just visible on the far left edge of the picture), (B) Chubu I (6,700m),
(C) Chubu II (6,700m), (D) Chubu III (6,600m) and (E) Chogolisa (7,668m). (C1), (C2) and (C3) designate Cwm
1, 2 and 3 as marked on the 2005 Jerzy Wala sketch map to the Charakusa-Chogolisa Region.
GIOVANNI PAGNONCELLI/LUCA MASPES COLLECTION
B
C
D
A
E
1
2
Farol Peak from the southwest. (A) The 7,668m South West Summit of Chogolisa is just visible. (B) Farol
West (Main Summit: 6,370m), (C) Farol Central (6,350m), (D) Farol East (6,350m) and (E) Farol Far East
(c6,200m). (1) The South Ridge of Farol Central climbed in 2005 by Cedric Haehlen and Hans Mitterer
(1,300m from the head of the South Farol Glacier: UIAA VI and A1, M6/M7). (2) The line on the South Face
of Farol Far West attempted in 2005 by Raphael Slawinski and Steve Swenson. HANS MITTERER
in association with
C3
C2
Farol
Cedric Haehlen and Hans Mitterer from
Germany made the probable first ascent of
Farol Central (c6,350m) via the elegant
South Ridge. Farol Peak is a four-summited
mountain at the head of the South Farol
Glacier, north of K7 Base Camp. There are
three main peaks; West (6,370m), Central
(c6,350m) and East (c6,350m). On the ridge
running southeast from the East Peak
stands a fine rock pyramid; Farol Far East
(c6,200m). Before 2005 none of these
summits had recorded ascents. The German
pair first acclimatized with an ascent of
5,950m Sulo Peak then after setting up
camp on the glacier at 5,000m, close to the
foot of the pillar, started the ascent at
midnight on the 26th July. They avoided the
initial steep rock pyramid on the left and
gained the crest of the ridge via a big snow
ramp, which led to the start of the main
rocky section at 5,650m.
The two reached this point at dawn and
were immediately faced with a demanding
pitch of near-featureless vertical granite.
Above, several difficult and sometimes loose
pitches were followed by steep ice and
mixed climbing on wonderfully sound
granite. The ridge presented a number of
gendarmes, each one proving unavoidable.
Between these towers the climbers often
had to wade up to their waists through deep
snow. Several vertical snow walls consumed
much time and energy. They finally reached
the end of the rock ridge at 8pm and
bivouacked under a cornice, immediately
below the summit snow field.
Next morning there was more waist-deep
snow to the summit tower, which started
with a fine mixed pitch but ended with
several demanding rope lengths over thinly
snow-covered smooth slabs. On the 1,300m
of ascent from the glacier there were two
pitches of M6 or M7 on the initial part of
the ridge, several pure rock pitches between
V and VI, a few metres of A1 on the last
big gendarme, and a pitch of M6 on the
summit tower.
Haehlen and Mitterer immediately began
their descent of the snow slopes west of the
ridge, between the glacier and rock. This
was threatened by some horrific seracs and
proved an exciting though rapid descent.
They were back in Base Camp by late
afternoon. The weather was fairly unsettled
for the next three weeks and a few isolated
fine days only allowed repeat ascents of
some of the established routes in the valley,
eg Nayser Brakk (5,200m), Beatrice
(c5,800m) and Iqbal's Wall (c5,400m).
Also in the valley were Raphael Slawinski
(Canada) and Steve Swenson (USA). After
their attempt on Hassin Peak reported
below, these two tried a one-day ascent of a
Cedric Haehlen negotiating one of the many
gendarmes in the middle section of the South Ridge
of Farol Central (6,350m) during the first ascent.
HANS MITTERER
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081
A
in association with
friends who attempted the same route a few
days previously. It is not been possible to
confirm the French lines; they may well have
attempted the South Spur of the West
Summit.
Looking steeply up the South Face of the Farol Massif from the head of the South Farol Glacier. The four
summits are from left-to-right: Farol West (6,370m); Farol Central (6,350m); Farol East (6,350m), and
Farol Far East (c6,200m; the pointed rock tower). The South Ridge of Farol Central climbed in 2005 by
Cedric Haehlen and Hans Mitterer lies in the centre of the picture (they avoided the first big rock section
on the left). The line marked on Farol Far East shows the attempt in 2005 by Raphael Slawinski and
Steve Swenson. RAPHAEL SLAWINSKI
difficult line up the South Face of Farol Far
East (c6,200m). This face is a huge, steep,
rocky wall with a narrow goulotte just right
of the summit fall-line. Before dawn on the
22nd August the two had already crossed
vast areas of ice avalanche debris and were
cramponing up the lower section of the
couloir. They roped below an impressive
curtain of chandeliers reminiscent of a
Canadian Rockies icefall. Some steep
pitches led to the crux, which proved hard
and time-consuming. By the time they were
both at the top, it was clear they would not
summit before dark. Another pitch of steep
decaying ice was climbed to a snowfield, at
the top of which they could see a blank,
overhanging, granite headwall blocking the
couloir. They rappelled, at least having the
satisfaction that they had climbed until they
were stopped.
In 2004, a guided expedition of primarily
young French climbers representing the
CAF High Performance Team spent 55 days
in the valley. During this time they
attempted a summit they refer to as the
Fourth Point of Farol (6,200m) via a line of
icefalls leading to big wall climbing (ED).
They estimate their line to be 1,200m and
rappelled 1,100m during their retreat from
the high point. They also report attempting
Farol Central by the 1,400m South Spur
(TD+). Haehlen and Mitterer found no trace
of previous passage on their ridge, and
neither did Jan Mersch and some German
Unclimbed peaks at the head of the Charakusa Glacier. (D) is Hassin Peak (c6,300m) with the line on the
North West Face, attempted by Mitterer, Slawinski and Swenson to around 6,000m, marked. (B), (C) and (E)
are unnamed with (B) c6,300m and the other two a little lower. (A) Is part of the large rock wall at the end of
the long South West Ridge coming down from the North West Summit of Link Sar, while (F) is the entrance
Hassin Peak
Erroneously referred to as ‘Cassin Peak’ in
previous publications, this fine c6,300m
summit on the eastern rim of the Charakusa
Glacier north of K6 was attempted by Hans
Mitterer, Raphael Slawinski and Steve
Swenson. Hassin is the local name for this
unclimbed mountain and means ‘beautiful
peak’. On the 13th August the three climbed
60° ice fields, finishing with a couple of
pitches of near-vertical ice to reach the crest
of the West Buttress. The steep, mixed rock
wall above was climbed via a series of snow
couloirs, dry chimneys, slushy corners and
runnels of perfect styrofoam ice. The three
exited onto the middle snowfield just as the
sun was leaving the mountain, and a few
pitches higher cut a platform for the bivouac
tent. This point was estimated to be 800m
below the summit and on the following
morning the trio decided to leave their gear
and make a lightweight dash for the top.
Moderate snow and ice were climbed to
the final mixed ground at c6,000m but in the
full heat of the sun the steep summit snow
slopes turned to slush. Heat and altitude
took their toll and the three realised they
could not reach the summit before dark.
Finding safe rappel anchors by headtorch
would not be easy, so the team sadly elected
to start drilling the first of many Abalakovs.
They regained their tent at sunset.
The following morning they continued
down in perfect weather, reaching the
glacier after a total of 30 rappels, each of
70m. Slawinski and Swenson made a second
attempt on the route but were stymied by
bad weather before even reaching the
rimaye. There was no time for a third
attempt, so the two turned their attentions
to Farol Peak, as reported above.
to the East Charakusa Cwm. The awesome North Face of K6 (7,281m) lies just off picture to the right.
RAPHAEL SLAWINSKI
D
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A
082
F
E
K7
Permission for both K6 and K7 was denied
to parties in 2005 but members of Jan
Mersch’s young German Alpinists Expedition
attempted the West Face of the big rock
pillar that lies immediately left of the broad
ice couloir on the South West Face of K7
climbed by Steve House in 2004. This pillar
is almost 900m high and marks the left edge
of the broad ice couloir, with the West Face
overlooking the lower North Couloir (leading
from the Charakusa to the gap between K7
and the unclimbed Pt 6,852m immediately
west). Bjorn Lellmann, Franz Mitterer and
Dorte Pietron spent five days on the wall in
capsule style, climbing 12 pitches up to
A3/A3+ with a 5.10+ offwidth, and
outflanking a big roof on the right, before
retreating from around half-height on the
face. Other members of the team repeated
the North Ridge of Drifika (6,447m), reached
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In the background are peaks on the eastern rim of the Nangma Glacier. JAN KUCZERA
about 6,000m on the South Ridge of Farol
Central as reported above, and climbed a
probable new route (seven pitches: 6a/b) on
Iqbal’s Wall immediately east of Base Camp.
Nangma Valley
Surprisingly, information provided on this
popular rock destination south of the
Charakusa includes only one new route
during 2005
Barasa Peak
On the 17th September, Polish climbers, Jan
Kuczera and Tomasz Polok, climbed the last
(lowest) tower on the South West Ridge of
Changi Tower's East Summit, naming the
c5,000m formation Barasa or Changi Peak.
The pair first established Base Camp at
4,100m on the south side of the Nangma
Valley at the foot of Roungkangchan III and
then attempted the 600m North Face of this
peak in a rather heavyweight style. They
soon found the granite to be rotten and the
cracks choked with earth, making the whole
climb much less attractive than it had
appeared from a distance. After their second
attempt, a local guide, Alika from Khande,
mentioned that a French party had climbed
this wall via a similar line (Frédéric Hasbani
and Marco Vanpé climbed the face in 2004 at
F6b+ and A3 via a line they named Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: see
October 2005 INFO). The Poles quickly lost
interest and turned to the opposite side of
the valley and the truncated ridges and
buttresses on the southern flanks of the
better-known Changi Tower (a.k.a. Changui
Tower, c5,820m on Jerzy Wala's 2004 1:50
000 sketch map).
The pair climbed the South West Pillar of
Barasa in 11 hours. The route is slabby and
although only c550m high, gave almost
900m of climbing up to VII. The first 200m,
where the pair climbed unbelayed, was
straightforward IV. Thereafter 14 harder
pitches led to the summit. The difficulties
augmented with height and while the 13th
pitch seemed the hardest, grade VI
smearing with no protection, the last
provided the technical crux. Most of climbing
was very delicate and rather run-out, with
questionable protection in less than sound
granite. One bolt was placed at the last
belay, as they found no other possible
anchor. On the fourth and fifth pitches they
came across rappel slings, which possibly
came from a previous attempt earlier the
same year. The route was named Moonlight
Pillar and the climbers descended by
rappelling 300m northwest into a gully and
then descended this southwest. Alika, who
holds information on mountaineering in the
valley, had no record of previous climbing on
this small peak.
INFO: Xavier Eguskitza/Grzegorz Glazek/Steve
House/Peter Jensen-Choi/Klettern/Lee Youngjun/Bruce Normand/Luca Maspes/Hans
Mitterer/Raphael Slawinski/Denis Urubko and
the reference sources of the AAJ and Alpinist
INDIA 2005
PART ONE
THE MIYAR VALLEY
The rock and ice towers that give the
increasingly popular Miyar Valley in the
Himachal Pradesh its splendid Alpine nature
were visited by no less than five parties
during the autumn of 2005. The result was
many fine new routes, from big wall to hard
ice and mixed. In 2004 a British expedition
proposed ethnic names for the various side
glaciers based on local research. These have
been used in the report below, although for
clarity previously accepted monikers are
often given in parenthesis.
Paolo’s Peak
An expedition from the Young Alpinists’
Group of the Spanish Mountaineering
Federation (Oriol Baro, Oscar Cacho, Matias
The West Face of Paolo’s Peak (5,460m) above the
upper Chhudong (Tawa) Glacier showing the line
followed on the first ascent: Pallaresa
(Baro/Cacho, 2005: 680m: TD: 6a+, M5 and 80°).
The peak to the right, Pt 5,700m, was first
climbed in 1996 by Francesco Camilucci, Ubaldo
Denni, Massimo Marcheggiani and Stefano
Spalleta via the West Couloir and South East
Ridge (600m: 70°, then 6c). ORIOL BARO
Pt 5,750m
Also in the valley were Italians, Massimo
Marcheggiani and Massimo Natalini, who
made the second ascent of Pt 5,750m, the
summit immediately left (north) of the
Neverseen Tower. This was Marcheggiani's
third visit to the valley. In 1992 and 1996 he
made the first ascent of four peaks,
including, on his first visit, the famous
Neverseen Tower. In that same year he also
made the first ascent of Pt 5,750m with
Leone Di Vincenzo and Iberto Miele via a
600m line up the South Face and upper
South East Ridge (ice couloir approach then
rock to F5c).
In September 2005, Marcheggiani and
Natalini climbed the same approach couloir
all the way from the Chhudong Glacier to the
col between 5,750m and Neverseen Tower,
then climbed the South East Ridge direct to
join the original route. This gave pleasant
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083
Summit. Marked is Moonlight Pillar (Kuczera-Polok, 2005: c550m but nearly 900m of climbing: UIAA VII).
in association with
Barasa or Changi Peak, a c5,000m rock formation on the South West Ridge of Changi Tower's East
Cuesta, Jonathan Larrañaga, Ferran
Martinez and Victor Sans) visited the Miyar
in August-September and climbed a number
of new routes. Baro and Cacho initially went
up the Chhudong (Tawa) Glacier and made
the first ascent of Paolo's Peak (5,460m).
This is the third peak left (northwest) of the
more famous Neverseen Tower. They
climbed the narrow West Couloir between
the peak and Pt 5,700m to its right (M5 and
80°), but near the top cut left up the granite
slabs and walls of the South West Face (6a+)
to reach the summit. The 680m route was
named Pallaresa and thought to be TD. The
name of the peak is almost certainly
dedicated to Paolo Vitali, who in 1991 with
Sonja Brambati became the first to
investigate the rock-climbing potential of the
Miyar Valley. A little later Cuesta and
Larrañaga made a second ascent of the
peak by continuing up the last section of the
gully to the col at the top and then climbing
the South East Ridge to the summit. They
called their route/variant, No Spice! (680m:
5+, M5 and 80°).
in association with
climbing at F4c over rough granite slabs.
They named the col Tiziano Cantalamessa
and have proposed that the summit now be
called Grandfather Enzo Peak.
The same month Oriol Baro and Oscar
Cacho made a valiant attempt on the West
Face. They climbed a diagonal mixed line
(50° and M4) up left into the base of a huge
left-facing corner but retreated about
halfway up this corner, at a point c700m up
the face. Despite the failure the pair felt this
was by far the best climbing they did during
the whole expedition. Difficulties to the high
point were graded F6b, A1 and M5.
Marcheggiani's main goal of the
expedition had been the unclimbed East
Pillar of Three Peaks Mountain overlooking
the Chhudong Glacier. This is Marcheggiani’s
name for the unclimbed 6,000+m peak at the
head of the locally named Dali (Spaghetti or
Thunder) Glacier. The big west-facing rock
wall overlooking this glacier has been
attempted several times and in 2003 Slovaks
Dodo Kopold and Ivan Stefanski climbed to a
5,845m foresummit that they christened
Mahindra. Unfortunately, the Italians were
not able to make any attempt on the
mountain.
B
C
D
A
7
3
4
5
2
1
6
8
Rock towers on the east flank of the Chhudong (Tawa) Glacier. Altitudes of peaks in this region have never
been properly measured and the various guesstimates by climbers often show inconsistencies. (A)
Grandfather Ezio (quoted as 5,750m but probably lower) with (1) West Face attempt (Baro/Cacho, 2005:
700m: ED1/2: 6b, A1 and M5), (2) Original Route (Di Vincenzo/Marcheggiani/Miele, 1992: 600m: 5c) and (3)
South East Ridge via the Tiziano Cantalamessa Col (Marcheggiani/Natalini, 2005: 600m: 4c). (B)
Neverseen Tower (c5,750m) with (4) Horn Please (Di Vincenzo/Marcheggiani/Miele, 1992: 600m: 6b), (5)
Mai Blau (Callado/Vidal, 2004: c650m: A3+, 6b and 70°;) and (6) attempt on South Ridge
(Casablancas/Llongueras I Orriols/Nadal, 1999: five pitches in couloir then one pitch of 6b and A2;). (C)
084
Lotos Peak
Polish climbers, David Kaszlikowski and
Michal Krol, made the first ascent of the
peak immediately to the right (south) of
Neverseen Tower, naming it Lotos Peak.
According to their altimeter the summit was
5,630m and not that much lower than
Neverseen. They had come prepared for big
wall climbing, with a portaledge and haul
bags, but in the end opted for a lightweight
ascent.
From an Advanced Base on the Chhudong
at 5,000m, they first fixed 200m of rope on
the initial ice slope, then two days later on
the 5th September set off at 3am. It was
decided that Krol would lead any ice
sections, while Kaszlikowski would climb the
rest in light rock shoes. Sometimes the
cracks were choked with ice but on other
occasions they gave perfect free climbing.
Higher, the rock was decidedly wet due to
melt water coming from the summit snow
dome. Above, a final snow ridge with an
unexpected crack pitch led to the summit,
which they reached at 9.45pm. They left a
‘message in a bottle’, then immediately
began a rappel descent, regaining the
glacier at 8am on the 6th. Next day the
weather broke and they made an arduous
retreat with all their equipment to the main
valley. The 750m route up the South West
Face gave difficulties of F6a+, M6 and ice
to 80°.
Over the 31st August-1st September
Massimo Marcheggiani and Massimo
Natalini made the first ascent of a subsidiary
buttress on the West Face of the Unnamed
Peak immediately right (south) of Lotos.
From an advanced camp at 4,950m on the
Chhudong (Tawa) Glacier, their route
Lotos Peak (5,630m) with (7) South West Face (Kaszlikowski/Krol: 750m of climbing: 6a+, M6 and 80°). (D)
'Pt 5,650m' (as quoted by the Italians but inconsistent with neighbouring altitudes) with (8) Million Indian
Stars (Marcheggiani/Natalini, 2005: M6, 5c and A1) - an attempt on the unnamed peak southeast of Lotos.
DAVID KASZLIKOWSKI
followed an obvious Z-shaped feature up a
sinuous couloir and mixed terrain, finishing
via a complex and dangerous rock face. After
a bivouac the two climbed a beautiful crack
system on the left and reached the top of the
buttress. They did not continue to the
summit of the mountain, which lay some
considerable distance above. The route was
named Million Indian Stars and has
difficulties of M6+, A1 and F5c. Francesco
Camilucci, who was also part of this Italian
expedition, first visited the valley with
Marcheggiani in 1996, when he made the
first ascent of Pt 5,700m immediately right
of Paolo's Peak, and the c5,900m Citta di
Frascati, higher up the Chhudong from the
Neverseen Tower but on the opposite side of
the glacier. He notes the Chhudong has
retreated enormously in the intervening nine
years, that stonefall seemed continuous and
climbing was becoming increasingly
dangerous on these beautiful peaks.
Castle Peak
Travelling with the above-mentioned
Spanish team but operating entirely
independently was the well-known female
big wall climber, Silvia Vidal. Establishing
her own Base Camp at 4,400m, below the
Chhudong (Tawa) Glacier but one and a half
hours above the main Spanish Base Camp,
Vidal proceeded to add another primarily aid
route to the lower North West Face of Castle
Peak, on the wall immediately left of the
2002 Slovak Route, Sharp Knife of Tolerance
(Koller/Kopold/Linek/Stefanski: c500m: 13
pitches: F7a+ and A3). The latter takes an
elegant prow on a triangular buttress that
ends at c5,000m and maybe 500m below the
summit of Castle Peak (which is still
believed to be unclimbed).
Vidal fixed the first 70m of the route on
the 17th September, establishing the first
portaledge camp at the top of pitch two.
Next day she began a capsule ascent, spent
12 days (and 11 nights) on the wall, finishing
the route the 29th. She used only two
camps; the second at the top of pitch five.
Moving right to the prow just below the
summit, she joined Sharp Knife for its final
15m. Vidal’s diminutive size means that she
has to employ a more complex pulley system
for hauling sacks. Each of her two haul bags
weighed 50kg: Vidal weighs only 46kg. The
new route, an impressive solitary effort, was
named 7 d'espases (480m: A3+/A4, F5/5+)
and climbed through generally cold, mixed
weather, though even on the good days the
wall only gets one hour of sunshine.
Iris Peak
Iris Peak (c5,350m) is the name given to the
subsidiary summit of Castle Peak lying
immediately to the southwest, and has a
large, complex and slabby face overlooking
the main Miyar Valley. It was named in 2004
by Italians, Roberto Iannilli and Domenco
Perri. On the southwest or south- facing
aspect of the peak two routes were
established. Ferran Rodriguez and Victor
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A
B
in association with
2
C
1
The North West Face of Castle Peak seen from the summit of Pt James across the entrance to the
Looking steeply up the North North West Face of
a subsidiary buttress on Castle Peak,
Chhudong (Tawa) Glacier. (A) The main summit of Castle Peak (c5,550m: named by the 2002 Slovak
expedition. (B) Iris Peak (c5,350m: named by Roberto Iannilli and Domenco Perri after climbing it via the
South West Face in 2004). (C) David62's Nose (c4,850m: named by Iannilli in 2004 after reaching this
overlooking the lower Chhudong Glacier. (1) 7
point via a solo ascent of a 13-pitch rock route on the South West Face). Marked is the line of the Slovak
d'espases (Silvia Vidal, solo, 2005: 480m:
route, Sharp Knife of Tolerance (Koller/Kopold/Linek/Stefansky, 2002: 500m: F7a+ and A3), finishing
A3+/A4, 5/5+). Not so obvious in this picture is
atop a c5,000m subsidiary buttress (the 2005 Spanish route lies just to the left). To the right, the main
the vague arête to the right, taken by (2) Sharp
Miyar Valley descends southeast towards the 6,000m Gangstang Group before turning right and
Knife of Tolerance
eventually dropping to Udaipur on the Chenab River. VLADO LINEK
(Koller/Kopold/Linek/Stefansky, 2002: 500m:
7a+ and A3). The position of the portaledge
camp used by the Slovaks on the first ascent is
marked. SILVIA VIDAL
Sans put up Tic Por on the 18th September.
The route climbed a very steep buttress on
the flanks of the peak and gave 980m of
climbing with difficulties up to F6b. The pair
finished the climb on top the buttress and
did not continue to the summit. Another
Spanish party operating independently in the
region climbed a new line to the right of the
various routes put up by Italians and French
in 2004. Alberto Urtasun and Patricia
Viscarret from Navarra climbed 800m with
pitches up to F6a+ and A2, finishing on
terraces some distance below the summit.
The route was christened Ananda. There are
now around half a dozen routes on the South
West Flank of Iris Peak, though only one
reaches the summit: Mustang Café
(Iannilli/Perri, 2004: 1,500m of climbing/18
pitches: F6c).
Approaching the crux section (M6) of Antiparques
on Pt 5,930m, Miyar Valley. ORIOL BARO
Pt 5,930m
Oriol Baro and Oscar Cacho made the first
ascent of a fine snowy summit rising to
5,930m on the west side of the Miyar Nala,
more or less opposite their Base Camp.
They first had to reach it, and this required a
complex operation setting up a Tyrolean to
cross the main river. The pair then climbed
the North Face in 19 hours to give a 950m
route at TD. This was mainly 60° snow/ice
with a crux mixed barrier high on the face of
M6. The route was christened Antiparques
and descended in 18 rappels. The only peak
previously climbed on this western side of
the Miyar appears to be the 5,400m Lorena
Peak a little to the north, which lies directly
The North Faces of Pt 5,800m (left) and Pt 5,930m on the west
side of the Miyar Valley. Marked are the attempt to climb Pt
5,800m by Matias Cuesta and Ferran Martinez and the new
route Antiparques (950m, TD) on Pt 5,930m by Oriol Baro and
Oscar Cacho. ORIOL BARO
opposite the Dali (Spaghetti or Thunder)
Glacier and was ascended in 1998 by
Italians, Antonella Cicogna, Fabrizio
Defrancesco and Mario Manica.
Later, Matias Cuesta and Ferran Martinez
attempted the North Face of unclimbed Pt
5,800m, immediately left (east) of Pt 5,930m.
They retreated at around three-quarters
height after climbing a broad snow couloir
and, halfway up, a right-slanting mixed
ramp.
INFO: Oriol Baro/Francesco Camilucci/David
Kaszlikowski/Xavi Llongueras/Silva Vidal
Terms and Conditions Apply downloaded from
www.climbmagazine.com
085
Brouillard Pillar
This is a relatively small
northwest-facing wall, topping
out at c5,240m and at the
entrance to the Takdung, the
valley immediately south of the
Chhudong (Tawa). It was first
climbed in 2004 by Alberto
Urtasun and Patricia Viscarret via
the line Shakti (F5+ and A1). In
2005, two more routes were
added on the steep face to the left
by members of the Young
Alpinists’ Group: Tocati di Bola
(Cacho/Sans: 400m: F6b and A2),
then Ocells a Vent
(Cacho/Larrañaga/Rodriguez/Sans: 340m:
F6c and A2). The formation was named in
2002 by the Slovak expedition, which also
called the next summit to the east the
Walker Spur.