Kangchenjunga North and South Base Camps Nepal - Part I by Ashesh Ambasta

6/11/24: On the slopes of  Drohmo Ri  at 5,281m):  It was thrilling to track the route taken by Pete Boardman, Joe Tasker, and Doug Scott who had made a successful bid in 1979. Here, I've traced the West Wall going up to the North Col (the site of Camp 3), the North Ridge leading to the “Croissant” and further up, to the “Pinnacles”, and the final push to the Summit.

Ashesh Ambasta is a seasoned trekker and photographer who has done a number of treks with South Col Expeditions.  In late October and November 2024, Praveen Gupta, Deepak Chandnani, Daniel Bayer and Ashesh trekked to both the north and south base camps of Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, from the Nepal side. In this evocative account with wonderful images Ashesh shares  their experience of this outstanding trek still relatively unspoilt. The first part of  their journey to the north base camp Pangpema  is documented here.

 For more photos of this trek do visit     https://photos.ap .goo.gl/QPHbCH7XxFn9Q29d8

28^th October – 14^th November 2024

For those accustomed to the relative comforts of the Everest and Annapurna circuits, be warned.  The lodges are rudimentary at best and, in places, downright crummy. The food is largely basic and passable.  And, if you plan to cover both the North and South base camps, as we did, it’s a long grind of about 18 days through steep ascents and descents at high altitudes.  But, if you love the peace and tranquillity of the mountains and detest hordes of trekkers jostling you on the trail, all this pales into insignificance.  The sheer grandeur of the peaks that tower over you at the two base camps and the breath-taking panorama on the approach marches are incomparable.  I have done countless treks in Nepal, but this easily stands out as among the best for the beauty, magnificence, and diversity of the terrain. 

Everest and the Khumbu Region | Updates October - November 2023

Everest, the Lhotse wall and Ama Dablam from the high route between Phortse and Pangboche 

I was in the Khumbu for around three weeks in October – November 2023. Here are some updates which would be useful for trekkers in the coming year.

Trek Card

There is a trek card now which is issued at Lukla. You can apply online for the trek card uploading your passport soft copy and your photo at https://trekcard.app/registration  When you reach Lukla you can get the trek card by paying Rs 2000 at the Lukla checkpost.  The Sagarmatha Park fees continue to be paid at the Monjo checkpost. 

Kangchenjunga North Base Camp Trek Pangpema | Route and Timings Part II

Jannu and Sobidonge at sunset from above Kangbachen

A South Col team trekked to Kangchenjunga North Base Camp Pangpema in November 2019.
For details of the first part of our journey do visit  https://sujoyrdas.blogspot.com/2019/12/kangchenjung-north-base-camp-pangpema.html
This is the second and final part.

November 16 2019 Ghunsa to Kangbachen 11.5 km
We left Ghunsa at 7.30 am on a cold morning with the temperatures well below zero Celsius. Ghunsa must be one of the coldest places in the Himalaya with an altitude of only 3415 metres primarily due to the limited sunshine hours just five and a half hours in November. The trail travelled north past the hospital and in around 45 minutes reached a log bench with prayer flags.  For most of the way the trail meandered through rhododendron forests which would be a riot of flowers in the spring season April - May. It then dropped to a landslide section in 15 minutes and then skirted the river. Looking up due east in about an hour and a half we could see the peak of Khabur above us. The trail then crossed a second landslide section in about 2 hours with a log bridge across a stream.

Three Passes of Everest Trek

The top of the Rhenjo La pass - one of the three passes crossed on this trek 

The trek across the three passes in the Everest region the Kongma la, Cho la and Rhenjo la has become quite popular of late owing to the better infrastructure in terms of lodges and facilities below the passes. Having said that it can be quite an ardous trek as all the passes are well over 5000 metres in altitude and good acclimatisation is a key to this trek.

For the complete photo essay  please do visit http://old.outlooktraveller.com/printarticle.aspx?285825



THE INFORMATION

GETTING THERE

There are a number of flights every morning from Kathmandu to the mountain airstrip of Lukla, the start of the trek. Tara Airways (www.yetiairways.com), Summit Air and Sita Air  all run the maximum number of flights to Lukla. The fare is presently USD 360 for foreigners and USD 270 return for Indian citizens.  In bad weather, Lukla flights get disrupted and the only option then is to take a seat on a helicopter (www.simrikair.com.np) back to Kathmandu (USD 450-500 one way). 
Update - Due to the Kathmandu airport being closed from April 1 2019 from 10 pm to 8 am daily Lukla flights are going from Manthali airport Ramechap. It takes 4-5 hours to drive from Kathmandu to Manthali. There are basic hotels in Manthali where you can spend a night. 

PREPARATIONS

The best season for the trek is April to Mid May and again from Mid October to early December. Though the passes are crossed later in the season as well, there is always the possibility of heavy snowfall closing down the route. If there is heavy snow during the trek, the passes are best avoided and the route can be done by following the valleys instead. We trekked in late April and were rewarded with a riot of mountain flowers including the rhododendron in the valleys capped by the soaring peaks. Bottled mineral water is available but very expensive, so please carry iodine/chlorine water purification tablets. You need to carry enough water with you at least one litre at a time and this can be refilled at the lodges. Trekking poles are a must as there are three passes to cross with slippery trails and scree.  The tea houses (lodges) will provide beds and quilts but a warm three season plus sleeping bag is essential. The trek crosses 5400 metres so do not underestimate the effects of the altitude or the walk. This is a difficult trek and you need to be fit and properly acclimatized to succeed.

Yeti | The Myth is dismissed

Edmund Hillary, one of the first two people to scale Mount Everest, and Khunjo Chumbi, a Nepali village elder, hold what was then thought to be the scalp of yeti, in Calcutta, India, on December 9, 1960. AP Photo

Study dismisses myth of the yeti with bear facts

Purported samples from wild man of the Himalayas are found to be from local bear population

Samanth Subramanian

December 7, 2017

Updated: December 7, 2017 10:15 PM

Nearly every time Sujoy Das leads a trekking group in the Himalayas, he gets the question, asked half in jest, half in hope. Has he ever spotted signs of the yeti?

Mr Das guides treks on some of the mightiest Himalayan peaks — Everest, Annapurna, Gangapurna — and through the Nepali valleys that lie in between. This is the terrain where the myth of the yeti — or the Abominable Snowman — first arose, and where it still persists. A hirsute, apelike creature, taller than most human beings, the yeti and its legend grew out of old local tales about wild men living in the mountains.

European explorers seized upon the mystery and expanded it, reporting glimpses of the creature or finding outsize footprints in the snow. Every Everest expedition seemed to keep half an eye cocked for the yeti or its tracks; one British mountaineer took photos of footprints twice the size of the average adult human's foot.

The fascination has not died down. “In Nepal and in the Everest region, this question always comes up. Has anyone see a yeti?” Mr Das said, who lives in Kolkata and runs South Col Expeditions. "The local people say they have, but we don’t know if it is actually one. I always say: ‘No, I haven't seen one.’”

A new genetic study of nine purported yeti samples, however, may put the legend into deep freeze forever. The results, published last week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggested that eight of the samples were from a different sort of shaggy, wild creature: a bear. (The one remaining sample came from an even less elusive creature: a dog.)

Charlotte Lindqvist, an associate professor in the department of biological sciences at the University of Buffalo, New York, who led the study, called it “the most rigorous analysis to date” of relics of the so-called yeti.

Ms Lindqvist first became involved in the yeti myth in 2014, when other researchers contacted her to compare the genes in two purported yeti hair samples with those in a 120,000-year-old polar bear fossil she was working on.

“But the data was very limited, and it made me suspicious about the speculation that the yeti legend represented some strange, hybrid bear roaming the Himalaya mountains,” Ms Lindqvist said. “So I agreed to follow up on this study with a more rigorous approach based on more genetic data from more purported yeti samples.”

The samples came from everywhere: hair found in Tibet in the 1930s; a fragment of leg bone, coloured a toasted brown, recovered from a mountain cave; a tooth and a lump of petrified faeces, which had been carefully stored in an Italian museum devoted to the alpinist Reinhold Messner.

Mountaineers and explorers have hunted for the definitive yeti sample throughout the 20th century. In 1961, Edmund Hillary, one of the first two men to climb Everest, led an expedition to Nepal purely in quest of the yeti.

“He went to Khumjung, a monastery above Namche Bazaar [in Nepal], where a yeti scalp was preserved by the headman of the village,” Mr Das told The National. “Hillary got the headman’s permission to take the scalp, to get it tested.”

One of the villagers accompanied Hillary on his trip. “They thought: ‘Hillary is a foreigner. He doesn’t know what this is, or what the value of it is to them,’” he said. “So they did this world tour with the scalp, meeting anthropologists and so on. The net result: the experts said it was the scalp of a Tibetan blue bear.”

Others have also advanced the theory that the various bits of the yeti — footprints, hair, bone samples — came from a species of bear. In his new book yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery, the conservationist Daniel C Taylor, who has searched for signs of the yeti ever since he was a child growing up in India, concludes that the footprints most probably belong to an Asiatic black bear.

Ms Lindqvist and her team compared their nine samples with 15 others that were known to be from local bear populations. Previous research had hinted at an unknown type of bear, but eight of the nine yeti samples proved to belong conclusively to well-known types of black and brown bears.

An inkling of this ursine identity has existed all along. In 1921, the British explorer Charles Howard-Bury, having found footprints in the snow, was told by his Sherpa guides that they belonged to the “metoh-kangmi”, a wild creature living in the snows.

Later writers misinterpreted “metoh” as “filthy” and replaced it with the more elegant “Abominable”. But a knowledge of the Tibetan language would have provided the clue, for the words “metoh kangmi” translate to “man-bear of the snows”.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/study-dismisses-myth-of-the-yeti-with-bear-facts-1.682529

Sikkim Flora | Yumthang and Yume Samdong Valley in June

At the start of the monsoon in early June and after the crowds have gone the valley between Yumthang and Yume Samdong  in North Sikkim presents a floral spectacle which is not seen by many. Here are some photographs of the flora of the valley.

Markha Valley Trek | Photographs in Black and White

Storm clouds over the ramparts of Markha monastery

The Markha Valley is one of the most popular treks in Ladakh. It is relatively short, located close to Leh, the walking is mostly below 4000 metres with  night stops around 3500 metres and has the best of Ladakh thrown in: Sculpted canyons and fantastic rock formations, medieval villages,  Buddhist gompas and snow-peaks. When approached from Chilling there is only one pass to cross the Kongamaru La which comes on Day 8 of the trek by which time most trekkers are properly acclimatised. This is one of  South Col's favourite Ladakh treks. Here are some photographs from Leh and the Markha valley from our visit in the summer of 2016.

Leh palace and monastery

Entrance of Hemis monastery

Prayer flags on the trail in a village

A South Col trekker in the Markha valley

Part of the trail submerged in unseasonal rain

Night Markha campsite

Kangyatse peak at sunrise from Nimaling

For some of our other stories on the Markha do visit
http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2014/02/the-markha-valley-trek-part-i.html

http://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/destinations/up-above-the-world-so-high/

Markha Valley Trek | Ladakh July 2016 - Route and Timings

Campsite at Markha below the monastery

South Col Expeditions trekked the Markha Valley from Chilling to Shang Sumdo in July 2016. The day wise route and timings along with altitude  is given below.

July 17th 2016 Leh to Chilling to Skiu
We left Leh around 8 am. The previous day it had been drizzling the whole day and this had helped in bringing down the temperatures. Leh had been very warm  for the last few days and the rain was most welcome. We followed the Leh Kargil highway to Nimu   which is the confluence of the Indus and the Zanskar.  After some photographs at the site we went down on the road to Chilling which is 28km away. The road contours along the Zanskar river and we reached Chilling by 9 45 am. The bridge across the Zanskar is broken so we had to cross once again by trolley. By the time we had all our equipment and team across it was 11 am. We started walking east and in about 45 minutes crested a small pass which was visible from the river. There is a new jeepable road between Chilling and Skui and we followed this for most of the way excepting using some short cuts which avoided the long bends of the road. In about an hour from the first pass we reached the entrance of the village of Kaya and walked further up through the village until we reached the river where we stopped for lunch around 1 30 pm. The sun was hot but clouds were gathering towards the west. We left our lunch spot around 2 pm and in another 45 minutes reached the campsites of Skui. Skui also has a number of home stays so it is now possible to do the Markha valley trek in season time without camping support. The camp was the same location as last time pitched near the river. As it was both sunny and warm I decided to go down to river and have a wash in the delicious cold water which was incredibly refreshing. The next day we have a long walk to Markha around 22 km.
Chilling to 1st pass 45 min; 1st pass to Kaya village 1 hour; Kaya village to Skiu campsites 1 hour
Leh 3500 metres 34 10 11 N 77 34 40E; Chilling 3183 metres 34 0 31 N 77 12 24E;
Skiu 3348 metres 33 58 44 N 77 16 18E
Chilling to Skiu 9.8 km  approx.

July 18 2016 Skiu to Markha
We left Skiu at around 7 25 am. We initially followed the jeepable road and in about 90 minutes reached the tea stop of Pendse. From here in about half an hour we found that the river had overrun the entire road and crossing was difficult without  getting into the water. Another French trekker who had crossed with difficulty helped our group by bringing big boulders and throwing them into the water to make a path. This crossing delayed us for around half an hour and we started off again around 10 am. By around 11 30 am we reached a tea tent which was Humarge and then set out for Sera village which was the lunch stop. Around noon a  rain shower with high winds hit us and descending to Sera we got totally soaked. Around 12 40 pm we entered the first tea tent of Sera and had our lunch along with some hot tea made by the owner. We left Sera around 1 10 pm and headed up the valley. The trail climbed in parts and around 2 30 pm passed a very pretty village with mustard fields in  bloom. From the village a climb of around 30 minutes brought us to some chortens on a ridge. The path then went down to the river bed and again climbed up to another small pass around 4 pm with chortens in three colours. At the end of this valley lay the camping grounds of Markha which we finally reached around 5 pm after wading through the fast flowing Markha river which had knee deep water.  It had been a long and tiring day and the most which we would walk during this trek.
Skiu to Pendse Tea Shop 1 hr 45 min to 2 hours; Pendse to Sera village 2 to 2.5 hours;  Sera village to chortens above Markha 2 to 2.5 hours; Chortens above Markha to camp ground 45 min to 1 hr
Markha 3760 metres 33 53 14 N 77 25 18E
Skiu to Markha 22.5 km.

July 19 2016 Markha to Hanker
We left Markha around 8 am and headed up for the monastery. The monastery has a beautiful view of the Markha valley. All the fields below were yellow and green with mustard flowers in full bloom. We descended to the valley and started walking due east following the river. In about 45 minutes we had to cross the river once again by wading across the water. The July rains for the past few days had caused the rivers to swell and walking across was no more a possibility. It had become very hot in the valley and in about an hour from our river crossing we reached  the  tea tents of Umlung. From Umlung the trail initially followed the river valley and then contoured around some mani walls and chortens from where finally Hanker could be seen. The final walk to the village took around an hour as there were sections which had to be carefully navigated near the river where the path was nonexistent and a slight lapse of concentration would send you into the water.
Markha to the river crossing 45 min to 1 hour; River Crossing to Umlung tea tents 45 min to 1 hour; Umlung to Mani wall above Hanker 1 hour; Mani wall above Hanker to Hanker Village 1 hour.
Hanker 3945 metres 33 50 13 N 77 30 6 E
Markha to Hanker 11 km

July 20 2016 Hanker to Lake Camp below Kangyatse
We left Hanker around 7 40 am and climbed out of the valley to immediately reach a line of chortens. The trail then contoured through cultivated fields of barley and mustard following the river. In about an hour it left the river and climbed up to a trail which crossed over a bridge and reached the tea tents of Taughutse in around two hours. From Taughutse the trail climbed out of the valley and continued upwards for around  two hours until it reached a small pass at around 4650 metres. It then passed a couple of mani walls to reach a small lake below Kangyatse peak. In July when we arrived there was a second lake below the first lake on the trail to Nimaling - this would probably dry out by September once the water in the Markha river goes down.
Hanker to Taughutse tea tents 2 hours; Taughutse to Lake Camp 2.5 to 3 hrs
Lake Camp  4660 metres 33 48 19 N 77 33 32 E
Hanker to Lake Camp 12 km

July 21 2016 Lake  Camp to Nimaling via the top route
The Lake Camp where South Col Expeditions makes a night stop on the Markha trek is not a regular stop for other groups. The reason is that it is hardly two hours from Nimaling, the base for crossing the Kongmaru La  around 5150 metres. However the location of the lake just below the peak of Kang Yatse makes this a superb campsite possibly the best on the entire trek. On this visit rather than do the conventional two hour walk along the valley to Nimaling I decided to climb another 300 metres or so to the grazing pastures below Kangyatse and then descend to Nimaling bypassing the valley route. We started late around 8 45 am and followed the trail from the lake due south towards Kangyatse. The trail then veered to the east and some cairns could be seen on top of a hill. We climbed to the top in around an hour. The meadows were simply  splendid  - yaks grazed on the lush green vegetation,  the ladakh pika or mouse hate scurried in and out of its burrow searching for food, overhead two lammergeiers soared with the thermals while a multitude of finches, redstarts and thrushes skimmed through the lush vegetation. On would imagine Ladakh to be arid and dry but not these meadows in summer above Nimaling. We came to a stream which ran below Kangyatse  and followed it gently upstream. Our altitude showed 4940 metres, almost 300 metres higher than Lake Camp. Across the valley we could see quite clearly the trail to the Kongmaru La. It was a sparkling July day with the temperatures around a comfortable 20 Celsius. A light wind blowing across the meadows helped to cool things down. We then walked in a north easterly direction towards Nimaling and started to descend from the pastures. In about half an hour we could see the tea tents of Nimaling below us and in another half hour we reached our camp site. For those of you who have some time and are on a camping trek, the Lake camp and the high route to Nimaling is greatly recommended.
Lake Camp to Nimaling via the high route 3 to 4 hours. However, there are no well trodden trails you need to follow the yak trails and navigate using the compass.
Nimaling 4731 metres 33 47 25 N  77 37 2 E
The distance we walked was around 7 km and we reached upto 4940 metres.

July 22nd 2016 Nimaling to Kongmaru la and down to Chukirmo
We left Nimaling around 6.45am. It was a cloudy morning and Kangyatse was floating above the clouds. We climbed steadily and in about an hour reached a meadow where a large number of Ladakh pika were scurrying in and out of their burrows. From here we could see the steep climb upto the top of the pass. In the meadows at an altitude of around 5000 metres there were some beautiful blue flowers flowering in the rocks. We reached the top of Kongmaru la around 9 30 am after numerous stops. The view to the north which is normally very expansive was under clouds and as we stood there a few flakes of snow started to fall. The descent from Kongmaru la was steep and for the first hour zigzagged around the hillside losing around 300 metres. It then entered the gorge of the river valley where the trail had been damaged due to floods. There were numerous ups and downs - climbing out of the river bed and onto the trail above the rocks and then down to the river bed again to avoid the landslide sections. This continued for about three  hours before the trail suddenly narrowed and we could see the tea tents of Chukirmo.
Nimaling to Kongmaru La  3 km  Kongmaru La to Chukirmo  8 km
Nimaling to Kongmaru La  2 to 3 hours
Kongmaru La to Chukirmo  4 to 5 hours
Kongmaru La  5250 metres 33 47 25 N 77 37 2 E
Chukirmo 4100 metres 33 49 29 N 77 39 7 E

July 23rd 2016 Chukirmo to Shang Sumdo to Leh
We left Chukirmo around 7.30 am and leaving the camp site had to come down to the river and follow the river bed once again. In half an hour we reached the village of Chogdo which had some nice homestays and some green camp grounds above the river which would be much nicer than Chukirmo. Stanzin mentioned that there could be a problem with water if we had used these camp spots.  The trail then continued down the valley for around two hours and we entered Shang Sumdo around 9.45 am. Our transport had come and we trundled back to Leh after paying the Hemis National Park fees. We were back in Leh by lunchtime looking forward to a hot bath and clean clothes.
Chukirmo to Chogdo 30 min to 45 min
Chogdo to Shang Sumdo  2 hours to 2.5 hours
Chukirmo to Shang Sumdo distance  13 km
Shang Sumdo 3550 metres 33 85 71 N  77 70 44E 

For  our earlier posts on the Markha do visit 
http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2014/02/the-markha-valley-trek-part-i.html
http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2014/03/the-markha-valley-trek-part-ii.html
http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2014/03/the-markha-valley-trek-part-iii.html

Around Manaslu with South Col May 9th to 24th 2015

The circuit of  Manaslu, the eighth highest peak in the world, is what the Annapurna circuit was thirty years ago! Few trekkers, traditional villages, outstanding views, mountain culture, a high pass to cross and a final finish along the old Annapurna circuit approach! Do the trek now before it becomes too crowded and commercialized. Please email sujoyrdas@gmail.com for a full pdf and cost details. Trekkers need to reach Kathmandu on May 7th as May 8th is needed to process the Manaslu permit with original passport and visa. The trek starts on May 9th as per schedule below.

  

Kathmandu Bookshops

One of the reasons why I enjoy going to Kathmandu is to visit the bookshops. The city has some fine stores with an excellent collection of Himalayan literature, maps and guide books. Here are three of my favourite bookshops.

Pilgrims Book House
The original Pilgrims which was a Kathmandu institution was burned down  in 2013 and this is a  new bookshop not far from the old one, opposite to the famous Helenas Restaurant. The bookshop has possibly the best collection of books on the Himalayas including some old and rare titles. Tel: +977 1 4221546;  +977 9803926019; pilgrims1985@gmail.com

Tibet Book Store

As the name suggests, this bookshop is for  all books on Tibet and Buddhism! Located on Tridevi Marg next to the high end trekking stores like North Face and Mountain Hardwear, it is also covers other regions of the Himalaya. Tel: 977 1 4415788; tibetbookstorektm@gmail.com.

Himalayan Map House 
An expert on maps and guide books in the Himalaya, the Himalayan Map House is located across the road from the Hot Breads bakery in Thamel. The collection is vast and includes the laminated Great Himalayan Trail maps as well.  Tel: 977 14231220; 977 1 4244965; maphouse@wlink.com.np; www.himalayan-maphouse.com

Happy browsing!

The Everest Base Camp Trek

South Col Expeditions treks to the Everest region every year. Here is a photo essay on the Everest trek:

The airport at  Lukla  2800 metres -the start of the trek

Prayer flags on the last bridge below Namche Bazar 

School children walk back from Khumjung down to Phunki Tenga every day as mist envelopes the trail

The sherpa capital - Namche Bazar

Monks at Thyanboche monastery

The trail between Dingboche and Dugla

Nuptse reflection at Lobuche

A porter carries his load upto Everest Base camp

The Scott Fischer memorial above Dugla

Pumori and the hill top of Kala Pattar

Everest from just below Kala Pattar

For more photographs from the Everest region please do visit http://www.sujoydas.com/Nepal-Himalaya

To join South Col on a trek in the Himalayas please do visit  http://www.southcol.com

Ten Great Treks of the Indian Himalaya

This is a list of my personal ten great treks in the Indian Himalaya not in any specific order!

Green Lakes - the base camp of Kangchendzonga in North Sikkim  

Off limit to trekkers for many years and rigidly controlled by a permit system, few have made it to the north east base camp of Kangchendzonga. In the summer of 1987, supported by an Assam Rifles team who were climbing the peak, I reached the Green Lakes Base Camp in the Zemu Valley. The trek is around 8/9 days from Lachen (up and down) and has some stupendous views, rhododendrons and blue poppies, bharal grazing on the Green Lake plain and Siniolchu, that perfect mountain, visible from the Zemu glacier. The trek needs full support with tents, porters and food to be carried. It is on my agenda to take a South Col team to Green Lakes soon!

  

Dzongri and the Goeche La - the approach to Kangchendzonga from the south 
Much more accessible than the northern approach, Dzongri is an alpine meadow around 4000 metres near the glaciers of Kabru and Ratong commanding some superb views of the Sikkim Himalaya. The trek from Yuksam to the alp of Dzongri takes two days though some do it in three to aid acclimatisation. From Dzongri you can go both to the Goecha La pass following the Prek Chu river or make a rewarding detour to the HMI base camp at Chauringkhang below the peaks of Kabru and Ratong. The view of Kangchendzonga from the plain of Onglakthang before Samiti lake is stupendous especially if seen on a moonlit night!

Across Zanskar - Lamayuru to Padum and onto Darcha 
This could be the "ultimate trek" in Ladakh crossing seven passes in seven days from Lamayuru to Padum and then again  crossing Shingo-la  from Padum to Darcha. The trek traverses heights upto 5400 metres and drops to the valleys around 3500 metres. Sadly, the trek will soon be no more thanks to a road which is relentlessly being carved out along the banks of the Zanskar River from Nimu to Padum. So while the going is good I would advise to do this trek. Great views, fabulous country, the real "last Shangri-la" . Please visit  www.sujoydas.com/ladakh-zanskar for photographs of this trek.

The Nanda Devi Sanctuary 
This trek had been closed for many years in order to conserve the environment of the inner sanctuary. It is now open against a permit upto Dibrugheta - the inner sanctuary is still closed. The views of Nanda Devi from Dharansi Pass and Saini Kharak are indeed spectacular and Dunagiri dominates most of the trail from Suraithonta to Jhandidhar. Water is a problem on this route and you need a guide who is familiar with the terrain and water sources. The round trip Suraithonta-Dharansi Pass-Lata Kharak-Lata would take around 5-6 days. Full arrangements need to be made for tents, food, cook and porters on this route which can be done by several trekking agencies in Joshimath. 

Rupkund - The Mystery Lake 
The bugyals of the Garhwal are nowhere more beautiful than on the trail to Rupkund. Bedni Bugyal with its dress circle view of the Garhwal peaks is an idyllic campsite with lush meadows in the summer and monsoon. The trek would take around 7-8 days and there are some huts which could be used for shelter. We never had a tent and stayed in the huts and the rock caves of Baguabasa. It is possible to continue on from Rupkund and cross Juiragali and return to the valley via Kanol and Sutol. Porters and food would be a necessity on this route. For details please visit  http://www.roopkund.com/complete-trek-details.html

The Kuari Pass and Curzon's Trail 
It is now possible to reach the Kuari Pass from Joshimath in two/three days via the ski resort of  Auli, but, it is still rewarding to walk the Curzon trail from the village of Ghat across theKauri Pass and then descend to Joshimath. The pass made popular by the early British explorers to the Garhwal like Frank Smythe, Bill Tilman etc. commands an extensive view across the mountains of the Garhwal Himalaya. The full route would take around -5-6 days and post monsoon would be an ideal time to do this trek. The meadows between Kuari and Auli are home to the shepherds who graze their sheep and goats on the lush vegetation during the monsoon months. For details please visit  http://sadanandsafar.blogspot.in/2010/07/twin-treks-to-kuari-pass-and-nanda-devi.html

The Singalila Ridge of Sandakphu and Phalut

Though it is possible to drive a landrover from Darjeeling all the way to Sandakphu in a bone jarring ten hour journey, the walk from Manebhanjan to Sandakphu and then along the ridge to Phalut is highly recommended. The trek can be done without porters or guides as there are lodges to stay and food is available. It is possible to return from Phalut via Gorkhey and Rimbick. The Singalila ridge is one of the few locations where four of the five highest mountains in the world are visible - Everest, Kangchendzonga, Lhotse and Makalu. It is possible to trek this route in winter as the altitude never crosses 3600 metres. 

The Lakes of Ladakh - Tso Kar and Tso Moriri 

The trek from Rumtse to Tso Kar and then onto Tso Moriri  which would take around 8-9 days is one of the great walks in Ladakh.The trek needs to be done with full support-  tent, ponies, cook and food. The trail passes through the high altitude plateau of Rupshu with a lot of wildlife en route - kiang (Tibetan wild ass), marmots, ladakh pika, red wolf, ducks and geese.  We attempted the trek in late September 2008 after heavy snowfall had covered  the Ladakh and Himachal mountains. Unfortunately we managed to reach only Tso Kar after which the snow conditions which were steadily getting worse put paid to our plans. August would be a good month for this trek before the onset of winter. It is necessary to have transport at Tso Moriri arranged as the bus to Leh is only twice a month!  For photographs please do visit http://www.sujoydas.com/Ladakh-and-Zanskar/Ladakh

The Source of the Ganga - Goumukh and Tapoban 

The trek from Gangotri to the source of the Ganga at Goumukh and then onto the high meadows of Tapoban and Nandanvan is one of the finest walks in the Garhwal. The views of Shivling, Bhagirathi peaks, Kedardome, Meru are outstanding from the Tapoban meadows. On a good day bharal (blue sheep) can be seen at very close distance. It is advisable to camp one night at Tapoban and another at Nandanvan before returning to Gangotri. The trek would take around seven to eight days return. Crossing the Gangotri glacier can be difficult if it has snowed recently so a guide could be useful.

The Pin Parvati Pass

The journey from Kulu valley into Spiti across the Pin Parvati Pass is not for the faint hearted. The pass is often snow bound even as late as June/July and snow flurries and storms in bad weather makes the crossing extremely difficult. Having said this, it is a very rewarding trek for a well equipped group with guide, porters, food, tent and proper equipment. The trek from the Kulu side starting at Pulga  should take around seven/eight days. For a trek diary please do visit http://runturn.blogspot.in/2006/12/pin-parvati-trek.html

For more details of treks in the Himalaya do visit www.southcol.com or www.facebook.com/southcolexpeditions

Everest Sixty Years After - Part II

Noel Odell photographed by John Noel

On June 8th 1924, around 12.50 pm, a British geologist was collecting fossils at around 26,000 feet on the north ridge of Everest. Noel Odell was climbing to Camp VI through the mist when suddenly the entire summit ridge and the final peak of Everest were unveiled.  Odell sighted two climbers on a rock step far above and as he watched their dramatic appearance, the mountain became enveloped in cloud. The climbers were Mallory and Irvine, who were never seen again and to this day there is intense speculation on whether they reached the summit.   

Ever since that fateful day, Everest has fired the imagination of mountaineers, trekkers, historians, photographers and arm-chair enthusiasts. Every year in May, the exploits of the climbers are followed with deep interest and fascination the world over. Though more than three thousand people have climbed Everest, the number of climbers and expeditions swell every year.

May 2013 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the first ascent by Hillary and Tenzing as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the first West Ridge climb by the American team of Unsoeld and Horbein. In an astonishing feat, they reached the summit at 6.15 pm after climbing for eleven hours and then descended at night by the South Col route, thereby completing the first traverse of the mountain.

Everest seen from the top of Kala Pattar 

Everest Sixty Years After - Part I

Everest as seen from near the 5th lake of Gokyo 

On 28^th May 1953 two men set up Camp Nine at 27,900 feet on the south East Ridge of Everest. Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa from Thami near Namche Bazar had attempted Everest six times and failed. Edmund Hillary, a bee keeper from New Zealand, was on the mountain for the second time, having accompanied Eric Shipton on the Everest Reconnaissance in 1951. The British had attempted Everest eight times since 1921. And in the year of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it was imperative that they succeed. The morning dawned clear and still as Tenzing pointed out the tiny dot of Thyanboche Monastery, 16,000 feet below, where the Rimpoche had prayed for the safe return of the team. The climbers started out at 6.30 am and at 11.30 am on 29th May 1953 history was made as the two men stood on the summit of Everest.

Tenzing & Hillary after their successful 1953 climb

The first ascent of Everest was followed by three decades of successful high altitude mountaineering in the Himalayas. The major peaks fell one by one and climbers turned their attention on new routes and unclimbed walls. On Everest itself, in 1963, an American team led by Willi Unsoeld and Tom Horbein summitted the peak by the west ridge. In an astounding feat, they completed the first traverse of the mountain through the night by descending the south East Ridge down to the South Col.  In 1975 a British team led by Chris Bonington laid siege to the south west face of Everest and completed the first ascent of this huge wall. In 1978 Messner and Habeler accomplished the first ascent without oxygen and again in 1980 Messner set a new benchmark by making a solo ascent of the mountain completely unsupported from the north side. In 1983 an American team climbed the avalanche ravaged the Kangshung face, one of the last great challenges of Everest. And by the early nineties, the stage was set for the first guided climbs on the mountain.

Himalaya: Rocks, Ice, Clouds & Mountains