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| The traditional Tibetan village of Kargyak, settled amongst the orange, purple, and ochre peaks and passes of wild Zanskar. |
2013
Upper Zanskar Traverse
This past July, having just escaped disaster in the Garwhal,
I set my sites on the next Indian Himalaya project with bleary eyes and still
in a bit of shock from our recent experience. I fortunately had a week to rest and recover
in Manali,
before heading into Zanskar. Our
objective for this year’s trip to the area carried a hint of peak climbing
focus, with Polish mountaineer Agnieszka Pilarczyk joining us for this years
journey, and her arrival lauding, “let’s climb something if it appeals.” With rules from the Indian
Mountaineering Foundation, we could climb peaks less than 6000 meters, but
those above that magic number would require a permit. With this knowledge in mind, we returned to the region and
accomplished our goal: having fun while exploring peaks and passes in the Himalaya. After all, that’s what we do.
En route to Manali, I’d met and befriended French canyoning
pioneer Jean Luc Jubert. Jubert
invited me to stay at his house in a village above Manali, and I was treated to
warm hospitality from his host family, with huge meals each night in their warm
social room, and time to learn from locals about their ways and customs. The friendly local owners, Shyam and
Namula, brought us fresh milk each morning for our espresso coffee, and also
provided rather comfortable beds, and nice hot showers. We were content, and enjoying the peace
and quiet of village life, timely for arriving and unwinding from the long
travel days to get here to Manali.
India airlines now offers flights to Manali, and as the
drama continues to unfold over when they will shut down this operation annually
for the summer monsoon months, we will continue to operate our Indian Himalaya
treks in the region in June and September, well within the safety window of
when they will stop flights.
Meeting with the crew, we did a final double check of
personal and group equipment, and then loaded the jeep and headed for the
mid-point stop in Keylong (3110m), where we would have a spirited walk
through the Lahauli capital, locals walking through town in their finery, a daily
custom. The friendly owners at the
Tashi Delek guest house put us up for the night, Kunsang’s sister (manager)
giving us the nicest rooms in the hotel.
After a fine meal, we called it a night with clear skies and excitement
for the morning drive into the Himalaya.
A last minute stop for lungta(k) prayer flags for our pass
crossings brought us to the local monastery, where we were had our prayer flags
blessed, “charging them up” for setting them to fly above and between the slate
gray stones of the Shingo and Phirtse La.
It was an excellent visit, and we knew we were now prepared to move into the range.
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| Our secret camp near Zanskar Sumdo, with wild mountain views and Gaddi shepherds to visit with. |
The afternoon brought us to Zanskar Sumdo, the horses
waiting for us at the junction. In
Tibetan, “Sum” means three, and “do” means place. So, “sumdo” means, “place of three” or more explicative,
junction. There are junctions all
over the Himalaya, and this particular junction (sumdo), is the launching point
for accessing the upper Zanskar region. From here, a keyhole route leads
through the vast Great Himalaya range, via the 5000m Shingo La, the only
weakness in this steep and difficult section of the range.
Most often, trekkers coming to start a Zanskar trip will
camp for the night here. For the
past couple years, we’ve located a camp about an hour up river from Zanskar
sumdo that allows for a more “wild” feel, with fresh water flowing through, a
pond to relax next to, and a grassy meadow that the horses really enjoy rolling
in after completing their days work, along with a little grazing. This isn’t to
mention the phenomenal beginner rock climbing right out in front of your
tent. We went for a small
introductory multi-pitch rock climb in the evening twilight before soup and dinner, a nice
way to complete the day and allow ourselves to acclimatize.
Starry skies hinted that the coming day would bring clear
weather, and we prepared our equipment and clothing to go for a reconnaissance
in the valley of Gangsthang, a sharp and spectacular 6000 meter peak in a
wild side valley. Rising early, we made
our way through the granite stones and boulders, waving hello to the local
Gaddi shepherds as they readied their goats, sheep, and yaks for the grazing
day. Without a trail, we made our
way through interspersed grassy meadows and up the side of the Gangsthang river
for a lunch and time to snooze on a monolithic slate boulder next to the icy
river with views of Gangsthang. From what we could see, it appeared that the
northeast ridge could allow for an alpine style assault, making a camp at 5800
meters beneath the ridge.
Reconnaissance accomplished, we lazily made our way down
valley as the half moon rose in the late afternoon sky. We were now tolerably acclimatized to
the elevation and ready to go for our first traverse, the Shingo la. We would rise early the following
morning, and move up into the Zanskar chu (Zanskar creek), which ultimately
leads up and over to Zanskar proper.
Enroute, I kept my binoculars, as always, along so peaks and wild life could be scoped
along the way. After about three
hours, we came in view of Ramjak, a 6200m peak with a very menacing yet
appealing southeast face.
One look, and Agnieszka wanted to know. She’d climbed several other peaks with
us in the past few Himalayan seasons, and was really looking for a steeper,
more aesthetic challenge. Ramjak
was it. Without a permit, we
wouldn’t be legally allowed to climb the peak, so we opted to go for a climb on
the face, and leave the summit slopes alone. Our plan was hatched.
We quickly made camp in the grassy meadow below, a prominent
and popular site aptly called Ramjak, and set to sorting the gear we would need
for the climb, and what food and bivouac gear we would bring along for safety
measures. Wanting to decide on a
rock or steep snow line when we got up into the cirque, we decided to bring a
light rock rack, and a couple ice screws in case we could scrape out some ice
from the gullies in the higher slopes.
It was a perfect moonlit night, and we ate early to get to
resting for an early start at 0100.
Morning camp quickly, and we did the groggy half awake zombie walk to
the kitchen tent for strong Italian espresso coffee and some omelettes and
bread. Fueled, we shouldered our
sizable packs, loaded with two Beal twin ice lines, rock and ice gear, cans of
tuna and packages of cookies, and some warm gear in case we were benighted
while out on the climb.
The approach, wow, what an approach. Moving through several
torrential river crossings (the melt water from the hanging glacier above was
peaking in flow, as most do in the midnight hour), with Agnieszka soaking her
soft shells and us finding ourselves into the cirque, quiet, no rock or
ice fall. Silence, only the sounds
of our boots gaining purchase in the thin sediments beneath the shale. More
than once I wondered if anyone had ever gone into this area.
As humans, we seek familiarity and similarity in places that
are foreign to us. I started to
think how the climb reminded me of climbs I’ve done in the Rockies, or the Alps
even, but we weren’t even at the base of the route and were above the height of
the highest mountain in both ranges.
Feeling the thin air, we set into an approach rhythm, slowly ticking off
the vertical to gain frozen snow, crampons on, and climbing as the first light
of day hinted on the horizon.
Helmets on and resting for a quick Jetboil brew, we peeked
from underneath our shale overhang perch to view the 1000 meters of vertical
reeling above us. This was not the
splitter granite that defines the beautiful Miyar valley 14 kilometers away
as the crow flies, this was shale, and rock that had appeared fairly solid
through binoculars below revealed on closer inspection steep snow ramps
interspersed with rock that would take a cam or a wire, but that simply held
too many potentially loose objective hazards. A descent in afternoon temperatures would not score high on
the fun factor scale.
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| Climbing on Ramjak. |
A pebble zoomed by, bounding the icy predawn slopes. We opted for the snow route, keeping us
well out of the way of the hanging summit icecap (which held a few toothy
seracs), any potential falling rock, and it truly being the most aesthetic line
on the face, albeit not direct.
Decision made, we began switch backing up the hardened avalanche cone
of the face. We were happy we had
gotten a 1300 start, as this would quickly become mush in the afternoon temps,
nice for descending in a plunge step, but not desirable for upward struggle.
Making our way across the avalanche cone, we roped up and
began climbing, traversing actually with interesting ramps and rock gullies
linking us closer and closer to our couloir of choice. We gained 100 meters, 200, 300, and
then rested. It had been a
good solid 2 hours, and we were happy with our upward progress, having moved
through some challenging real estate, distance, and also gaining a fair amount
of altitude considered we were acclimatized to 5000 meters, were climbing on
unknown terrain with route finding, and weren’t ascending directly up the face.
It was time for a feed, 10 hours of climbing and we needed
to refuel. The climb above looked
feasible, a diagonal snow ramp leading into a 300 meter dogleg couloir. We questioned all possibilities, trying
to prove ourselves wrong in our decision and desire to climb further. We had the necessary gear to wait out
the afternoon heat, and begin climbing in the dark, but what did we want in the
coming days. Agnieszka mentioned
her birthday coming up in two days and how she would like to go for another
climb then. We knew if we waited
out the afternoon heat, and climbed on through the night and back to camp the
next morning, that it would wipe us and we wouldn’t be staged for the next
climb.
We bailed. A
quick decision after some food and drink, we had gotten a nice climb under our
belts, and knew the added effort would pay off in coming days as we focused on
exploring new areas. Descent was
clean and smooth, if not tiring, we were glad to get back to camp for some
excellent pizza. A rest under
clear skies brought our moving to the Shingo la base camp, where we’d stage a
climb on Agnieszka’s birthday the following day. This time, it would be peak
6130m, a horseshoe-shaped cirque peak with two protruding “arms” that could
potentially hold some nice routes.
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| The horse team crossing a small pass in remote Zanskar. |
The night came and went, and we rose again for an alpine
start, this time the weather didn’t allow, and we went back to our bags
“chomping at the bit”. We would
have to wait. Planning for
specific summit days on a three-week traverse trip isn’t the best idea due to
variables. It’s best to have
several objectives planned, and go with the one that best fits each particular
experience. Weather, climber
health, and other unmentionables can change, even wreck, the most methodically
constructed expedition plan, it’s best to go with the flow and build your focus
on a peak when the time is right.
This especially applies to exploratory expedition climbing; be it in the
Alaska range, Himalaya, or Karakoram.
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| Trekking in beautiful Zanskar. |
Rising late, Agnieszka was served crepes for her birthday
breakfast with fresh fruit. A
treat, we made sure to also have espresso coffee and start the day right. We truly make each trip special for
every climber or trekker. Starting
off, we made quick time across the 5000 meter Shingo la, descending into
Zanskar proper by mid-morning, the Zanskar characteristic orange, purple, and
red hues of the valley stone showing in the sharp yet cloudy calm. We were in,
having safely crossed the Himalaya and now in a wild valley with all of Zanskar
at our fingertips, excited to be moving in country that I loved.
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| Crossing the Surichun La, with numerous 6000 meter peaks in the distance. |
We’d decided to talk to locals in Kargyak this year, getting
beta on crossing into the locally famous Lingti valley via a new pass for us,
the Surichan La, at 5760m
(18,900ft), it was no small pass, and the horses would be feeling it as we
crested it and made our way to our second objective, exploring the Khamerap Chu
valley in search of new alpine objectives. Locals reporting easy passing, we made our way the following
morning, a little slow from enjoying some chang with our local friend Singge
the evening before aside the babbling Kargyak Chu. Kunsang and Mamoo took their time getting camp finished up
as we made our way up the switchbacks to a short pass that would leave our morning’s
crossing, after a night next to a clear and clean snow melt pond, base camp for
the Surichun La. A clear night
bode for an even sharper morning, as the day started with some stream jumping
and rock hopping to get us in sight of the pass, snow patched and rocky.
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| The Khamerap river valley. |
A view to the wild peaks of the Gyambal Chu valley, and Stok
Kangri and the distant Aksai Chin followed the crossing of the pass, and we
made our way into the green yak pasture lands of the Lingti, excited to see the
locals at their yak hair tent summer pastoral grounds. All quiet, we scanned
around that afternoon in search of wolf, or sign that gave reason to the
absence of the usual flocks. Walking
on, we decided to get into Khamerap, excited to see what we could find in a
glaciated valley full of new route potential.
Morning brought questionable weather, with the forecast not
calling for any precipitation, we stuck to our plan and made the ford of the
Khamerap river, but not before freezing ourselves and doing some serious leg
rubbing to get the feeling back, an icy river so close to its glacial
source. Boots on, we tramped into
our objective, an unclimbed 6000 meter peak with a nice glacial cake right on
its summit. We made a nice reccy
of the area the following day, with some overnight snow, and then made our way
down the Lingti valley and back to Manali, full circle in the Zanskar Himalaya.
We can’t wait to get back. Our next trip is in June 2014: http://himalaya-alpine.com/treks/india-treks/spiti-tsomoriri-peaks-exploratory/.
