Exploration Climbing November 2009

In autumn,2008, a four-member team from the Alpine Club became the first climbers to explore the head of the little-known Obra Valley, an area of sub-6,000m peaks west of the Bandarpunch-Swargarohini Group in India's far Western Garhwal.

After driving to the road head at Jakhol via Mussoorie, Derek Buckle, Toto Gronlund, Martin Scott and Bill Thurston made a three-day trek to a scenic grassy base camp at 4,055m, arriving in early October.

The middle reaches of the Obra are dominated by the splendid icy Ranglana (5,554m), which had previously been the main objective of the only other climbing team to visit this valley: the British pair Gerry and Louise Wilson, with Indian Himalaya guru Harish Kapadia and seven friends.

Conditions were poor during a 2006 visit and only a lower summit, Dhodu Ka Gunchha (5,130m), was climbed. Ranglana was not attempted, and neither were the highest peaks, Pts 5,849m and 5,760m, which lie at the head of the valley above the Devkir Glacier. The 2008 expedition climbed Peak 5165m (Alpine PD).

Ranglana and all the other peaks remain unclimbed...still.

You can read the whole report in the following link : http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=2878

In November 2009, We are organizing an expedition to the Obra Gad valley with aims to climb several peaks including Ranglana (5554m) and Peak 5760m in Upper Devkir Glacier. The duration of this expedition will be 3 weeks ex Delhi. The image with this post is the peak 5760m.( courtesy The BMC website)

Interested? write me an email for more details.

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