Ladakh/Kashmir India

[Gabriel]

Hey,

I just got a great deal on a ticket to Leh, India. Any info on the area greatly appreciated. Seems like many 6 and 7 thousand meter peaks in the area. Anyone ever climbed in this area? Please no mother hen advice, I have experience in the Himalaya, Andes and Alaska.

G

[Presto]

Thought I'd chime in since no one responded ... You've probably already checked this website (SP), but thought I would link these just in case ... these peaks are just outside of Leh.

http://www.summitpost.org/namgyal-hill/154141" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.summitpost.org/nanga-sago/155260" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's the entire "India" page ... many peaks above 20,000 feet.

http://www.summitpost.org/object_list.p ... rovince_1=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looking forward to your trip reports. Happy trails and have a great time! :D

[jrbren_vt]

I was a client on a 3 week guided expedition in 2007 (KE Adventure, UK) where we spent 1 week in Leh for acclimatization (explored monasteries, rafting day (which I skipped due to being violently ill driving the porcelain bus due to food poisoning). One of the days we drove up to a pass north of Leh (Kardung La) where great Karakoram views could be had (better if it had not been cloudy, but the clouds were high enough to see a portion of the big peaks north of the pass).

We spent week 2 trekking the Markha Valley and week 3 climbing Stok Kangri. There do seem to be allot of relatively non technical 6000 meter peaks in the region. One of the highlights of the trip for me is we got lucky and were able to be present for a speech by the Dalai Lama the free day in Leh we had after the trek.

I am not a technical climber. Not sure what mother hen advice means. What type of info are you looking for ?

[Gabriel]

Thanks for the replies. I'll be alone. Were there places on the Stok Kangri glacier where a rope/partner were necessary or desirable? Crevasses hidden or open when you were there?

I do visit SP, but thanks for the links.

Any info on the 7,000 meter peak Nun-Nun?

G

[jrbren_vt]

The route crosses the base of this snow wall from left to right and then climbs the rock/snow slopes in front of it to a col, then climbs the ridge where this photo was taken from. This is about 1000-1500 feet or so below the summit before we entered clouds which would descend.
If you click on the photo I think it takes you to my web shots where you can see all the photos (that is how it works for me).


My friends took much better photos of the route, here are a few.


We did rope up for the glacier crossing, but I never saw any crevasses like one would see on Rainier for example.
I would not recommend going alone but that may be "mother hen" advice. I imagine an experienced climber who understands the risks which you sound like would have minimal difficulties in good conditions. Our weather was good other then clouds obscurring the views. Winds were not ad and temps were not bad either for 6000 meters.

I do not know much about Nun and Kun other then they looked awesome from the plane, really stood out. No photos, I never have luck with plane photos. I have read they are technical climbs by their easiest routes.

You could also look into Kang Yaze, we did an acclimatization hike to the snow line at about 16,500' or so. The true summit is a technical climb harder then Stok Kangri.

I may go back to Ladakh some day and visit the Nubra region or around Tso Morari. Thanks for the thread to get me to look at my old pictures I have not looked at in a while.

[Gabriel]

Thanks John for the info and great pics. Just what I needed to plan my trip. It seems from your photo album that I could make camp in Stok kangri basecamp and have enough climbing to fill at least a month! I do have several questions.

1. Was there a water source or tea tent in the basecamp and on the route to basecamp?

2. I know you were on a guided tour, but do you know what type of fuel is available in Leh, assuming gasoline and diesel for the vehicles at least.

3. I'm taking a harness. Is there enough traffic on the standard Stok Kangri route that I could possibly Clove-hitchhike onto a rope if the conditions warrant?

Thanks so much for the info.

G

[jrbren_vt]

I recommend this guide book here for you:
http://www.amazon.com/Trekking-Ladakh-3 ... 1873756755" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1.) Water for all camps was from a brook that would be nearby and fed from snow melt. Our cook staff would go fetch the water and boil it.
2.) The above guidebook says kerosene and petrol Rs35 per litre. As you noted, I was in a guided group and this was taken care of for us so I never looked.
3.) Not sure, does this mean hooking up with another group ? I would think very probable either in Leh or on the trail. Never tried it. Stok Kangri is a very popular mountain due to its height over the magic 6000 meter mark and 20K foot mark, and being relatively straightforward technically to climb if the conditions are good, and being close to Leh. Leh is also a bit of a magnet for endurance sports, They used to run a marathon there and and bike rentals are plentiful to bike up the passes. The bikes did not give me warm fuzzies so I skipped it. I did not trust the breaks. They had some major floods in the region last year (2010) that put great hardship on the region, not sure where the recovery stands right now.

We approached stok kangri base camp from a non standard route that came from Kongmaru La and paralleled the Indus river valley but was in the mountains, after the Markha valley trek.

The day we summitted I think there was 1 or 2 other groups on the route. But coming down from base camp we passed a group of 56 from Delhi (yes, that's fifty-six). High camp did not have much room, maybe a half dozen tent sites ? Not sure how they made out. I was just glad we were not on the mountain at the same time as them. Stok Kangri base camp is not very pleasant but worth putting up with for 1 or 2 nights to climb the mountain. Very chaotic, no rules, manure everywhere. We had donkeys hitched about 5 feet from our tent by people that came in late. If you hire pack animals go for horses, Donkeys never shut up. The rest of the camps in the region were much nicer. High camp was nice.

[Gabriel]

Thanks, very helpful

G

[Andreas]

Was with this company Ladakh couple of years ago:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Project.Himalaya" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of their guides does Ladakh climbing:
http://lukesmithwick.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you want to check out blog/pics of my trip:
http://www.andreastravels.com/Ladakh.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They include lots of pics of Kang Yaze and Moriri peaks. Not a climber, but hope that is of some help to you. Awesome place!

Andreas