Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2020

Zumthul Phuk Glacier-Explorations and First ascents- 2016

View from our ABC in 2016. Unnamed and unclimbed 5000m peaks in the background.  Background In October-November 2014 [i] , led by Alan Tees, the past President of Mountaineering Ireland, our party was the first team to complete the traverse of the Zumthul Phuk Chu gorge as envisioned by John Claude White in 1891. In the end, the 2014 expedition came back home with first ascents of Brother Tees Col (5250m) and One Hand Peak (5100m). The real discovery of the 2014 expedition was however, the massive potential of climbing hitherto unclimbed peaks and passes in a virtually unknown territory hidden in close quarters of the mighty Kangchenjunga. A brief report of the 2014 expedition can be found here:  Zumthul Phuk Expedition 2014   Expedition Summary 2016 In October-November 2016, led by Jack Bergin, a team of eight climbers and two support members entered Zumthul Phuk glacier once again. They established their Base Camp in the same place as in 2014 and for next thre

Lampak North 6181m- Full Service Climbing Expedition- Places Open

LAMPAK NORTH 6181M - Inviting Climbers    Garhwal Himalaya, India  Period: June-July 2020 Duration: 15 days ex Joshimath Reporting at: Joshimath, tentative reporting date June 20, 2020*   Grade: Moderate.   Basic snow and ice climb involving multiple camps and glacier travel . Route: Joshimath- Juma-Ruing-Garpak-Kalla Bamak-BC- ABC-C1- East Ridge Expedition type: Full service guided climb, summit support  A few words about the region The region is not much frequented and the records show only five or six visits since 1950. The first foray was by the Scottish team lead by W.H. Murray in the 1950's. There is no record of any ascents during this trip. After a gap of four decades a small team from Mumbai visited this glacier in 1990 but could not climb any peaks. They were followed, more than a decade later, by the large Punjab Police team lead by Dr. P. M. Das in 2003. They claim to have climbed two peaks marked as Lampak I (South) and Lampak II