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Report by Captain V. S.
Lingwall: Location: Report on ascent of pk 6312 by Lt. Cdr. Satyabrata Dam, Capt. V. S. Lingwall and Dawa Sherpa. The weather had been bad on 10th September at Camp-1 (5870 m). That night we slept late talking about next day's weather. Next morning I was woken up by a loud shout calling me outside. I felt it was too cruel to venture out of the comforts of the warm sleeping bag into the sub-zero temperatures outside. Anyway, it was 0630 hrs and I went out. It was Satya who had called me. I saw clear blue sky and golden streaks of morning sun. "Wow, Gods must be happy" I exclaimed. "yess" replied Satya exhuberantly. Truly the weather had mIraculously turned good. At 0730, 11th September 2001, we set off from camp 1. Our sherpa Dawa was walking in front, Satya and me following him. We walked slow, not really awake to the fullest. After half an hour, time had come to become cautious. We could see few crevasses and avalanche prone slopes in front. We got roped up with me in front, Dawa and Satya following in the same order. We checked everything was OK, namely carabiner, jumar, pulley, ropes, pitons. A thumbs up from Satya was sign for me to move. Surface was soggy. Initial one hour was a decent climb, gradient varying between 30 to 40 degrees. We had to deviate at times to avoid suspected crevasses. Next about two and half hours was about more than 50 degrees of gradient. We were stopping after every 15 minutes to catch up with our breath and also take few snaps. Last half hour was on all fours. It was walking, rather crawling on top of the rocky outcrops jutting out through the snow. There was no way one could risk deviating a feet left or right for that would have meant a fall of several hundred feet in case one slipped. Finally, we reached the summit at 1205 hrs. What a commanding view!!! We could see Saser Kangri peaks far off in the North. Whole of the view of the Karakoram peaks which we could hardly recognise looked grand and beautiful. We spent some time there, wishing to spend much more, we started return journey at 1230. Suddenly, Satya stopped in front, turned back and said "Hey lingo!! you were right, suddenly Gods seem to be happy". And truly so it remained sunny through that day. 2nd Report
by Divyesh Muni: Location: Ascent of Abale (6360 M) on 9th September 2001 by Cyrus Shroff, Divyesh Muni and Samgyal Sherpa. Cyrus and I decided to explore the "Nono" Glacier and attempt peaks on the glacier during the initial phase of the expedition. This would also help us acclamatise before we attempt the higher main peak - Argan Kangri (6789 m) on the later half of the expedition. Accordingly we established ABC1 at the junction of the "Nono" Glacier and the Arganglas Glacier at a height of 5300 m. The campsite was next to a dry glacial lake with grassy patches that provided ideal camping ground. We occupied the ABC1 on 5th September with essential supplies. On the following day, we did a reccee for camp 1 and carried a load of some gear and rations. Camp 1 was located on the moraine patch on the true right of the Central Nono Glacier at a height of 5870 m. Having waited out a day of bad weather, we occupied the Camp and the weather broke again. We had a couple of hours of snow which left us wondering what was in store for us ahead. As yet, we had only a good look at peak 6360 m. (Abale) which was opposite the camp. The other peaks remained elusive. Under the circumstances, we felt that it would be best to attempt the peak Abale first. We would also get a good view of the area around and the approach to the other peaks. On 9th September, it dawned a clear morning. Three of us, Cyrus Shroff, Samgyal Sherpa and I, set off for the peak at 7.15 a.m. We approached the peak from its West Rib. A thin layer of snow covered the hard ice underneath, and we crunched up on our crampons. The weather remained clear through the initial two hours of the climb. The climbing was simple and we made steady progress. The altitude was telling on us. It was our first foray at this altitude at an early stage on this expedition. As we approached the peak, the clouds swirled in and visibility was reduced. The final summit ridge was corniced. We were at the top by 10.45 a.m. and spent a half hour at the top. We got a few glances at the peaks around in between the swirling clouds. As we made our way down, it started snowing and visibility was reduced to 50 ft. We found our way back by 1 p.m. using the route we had taken up. A happy first ascent, though we wished we had better weather at the top.
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