CHRIS'S BLOG

I’ve just got back from a great little climbing trip to the Kinnaur Himalaya in India with my old friend Charlie Clarke.

We flew into Delhi on 1 July.  Our trip was superbly organised by Rimo Expeditions and Motup Chewang(next to me), the owner of the company came to see us at breakfast of our first morning.  Charlie is centre right and on the right is Harish Kapadia with whom I have had many successful expeditions and treks in the past.   He pointed us to the Sorang Valley and provided us with an invaluable set of maps.

I was able to include in our visit my duties as Chancellor of Lancaster University, visiting Goenka International Institute, who have adopted the Lancaster University degree course.  I was extremely impressed both by the quality of their facilities and that of their staff and students.

And then off to our mountain by road.  First a ten hour drive to Shimla, the old summer capital of the British Raj.

And the next day an eight hour drive along spectacular roads following the Sutlej River valley and up a winding unsurfaced road to the road head at Bara Kamba.

Our first night under canvas was next door to a government rest house at a height of 2089 metres.

And this is the Sorang Valley up which we were going to walk and at its head we could see an unclimbed peak called Skamdal (5180m). It was going to be a short but very tough approach walk

At times it was more like an obstacle course

Our Sirdar, Raj Kumar, A Ria from Sola in Nepal, with whom I have done many treks and climbs, crossing one of the many tributaries.

The path frequently vanished

But the forest was magnificent

Higher up the valley, its bottom was still covered by last winter’s avalanche snow, providing bridges back and forth over the glacier torrent.

On our second night we came across some shepherds with their flocks of sheep and goats

They were guarded by this magnificent and very friendly mastiff. His neck was protected by a spiky tin collar for he could face wolves, bear and mountain lion. They told us there were also some tigers in the forest.

On up the valley using the snow as an easy path.

Into the Rhododendron belt

We reached base camp at 3835m on 7 June.  Throughout the weather was unsettled with rain or snow showers most afternoons but nothing serious.

We spent several days acclimatising and exploring the various side valleys

As we gained height the view opened out and we could see how many superb peaks there were.

We made our first attempt on a 5100m peak but the clouds rolled in to give a fiery dawn and it was just as well we retreated as it turned into a violent little thunder storm that burnt itself out by about ten in the morning.

Finding our camp on the glacier in thick cloud was not easy particularly as I’d forgotten my GPS.

We finally decided to go for the pointed peak to the right of the picture.  My brand new Berghaus tent was ideal.

For the first time on the trip it was a perfect starlit night and we set out at 3.30 am.

The breaking dawn when we were well underway

And a lovely dawn glow on our peak.

It was great being out in front and it’s not far to go.

Looking back down our summit ridge

The final few feet

Looking down the Sorang Valley to peaks in Kulu…

…and to the north is Zangchu, 5700m, the highest peak in the range and one that would be great Alpine style objective.  I just wished I’d been fifteen years younger but it would be a brilliant objective as would the other 5600m peaks.  The range has a real Alpine feel to it and though not high by Himalayan standards would give great and quite committing Alpinism.

Our little team- from l to r, Konchok, myself, Charlie, Raj Kumar and Samgyal on top of our till then virgin summit of 5084m.  It was a lovely little summit with fantastic views, we named our peak “Ram Chukor Basera”, “The Perch of the Ram Chukor”.

We are holding up the flag of the Cordon Rouge Club – a society of adventurers, of which Leo Houlding and Doug Scott are also members.

A Ukrainian friend warned me just after we had completed a climb in the Caucasus “Be careful – the adventure is not yet over”

Charlie and I would have done well to have heeded that warning.  We were on our way down from our climb heading for base camp.  The route took us down the wide snow gully above the climber in the foreground.  We know a glacier river was raging down beneath the compacted snow but we assumed it was totally safe.

It wasn’t.  Charlie was in front.  We weren’t roped up and suddenly he vanished as the snow beneath him collapsed.  You never take pictures in these kind of crises, but Charlie drew these sketches when we got back to base.  He had fallen into the glacier torrent and if had been dragged down under the snow into the passage tunnelled by the torrent he would have had no chance of survival.  Then I saw his hands grasp the lower rim of the hole – at least I could do something to try to save him.

I raced down to just below the hole, lay out in the snow to reduce the risk of it breaking away below me and reached out my ski pole so that Charlie could grab it and pull himself out with its help.  Very fortunately he was able to do so.  We were both very shaken by the experience.  The other three arrived at the top of the gully just after Charlie managed to get out.

It had been a great trip.  We’d bagged a modest peak and decided it was time to go home.  It took three days hard walking to get back to Bara Kamba.

On our last night Raj Kumar baked a superb cake…

…and the next morning, our jeep arrived and we said goodbye to our superb team who had become good friends. Standing in the back row are our Kuamon porters who carried huge loads, did double stages and helped in so many ways throughout the trip.

In the front row is Dhan Kumar our cook, on the left, then Samghyal, a quiet, modest but immensely competent Sherpa from the Makalu valley, then Konchok from Ladakh, an excellent climber, first class photographer  and a really delightful guy and finally my old friend Raj Kumar who has helped me on so many trips.