A Walk on the Bara Shigri Glacier in the shadow of Robert Pettigrew

A Walk on the Bara Shigri Glacier in the shadow of Robert Pettigrew

In 2014 I received an unexpected invitation from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) to visit the Bara Shigri Glacier region in the Himachal Pradesh to review and offer advice on the IMF Expedition Leadership program known as ‘Climbathon’. Having little idea as to what challenges the area might provide my first objective was to search out a good map, a task not easily accomplished even in 2014. However persistence resulted in the said map being located in a small shop in Manali. As with most of the Indian Himalaya Maps there are always historical and trekking notes on the reverse side and during a quick ‘scan’ my eyes were immediately drawn to a familiar name – Robert Pettigrew. I first met Bob in the mid nineteen sixties when our paths crossed on the sandstone outcrops in the south of England, time drifted on during the course of which our universes occasionally collided through the field of mountain training. In more recent times we enjoyed a trek together in Nepal. So now I had another interest in the Kullu region, what exactly had my old friend Bob been up to in his younger years?

Due to various visa delays I was not able to join the IMF training program from the outset, so playing

a game of catch-up my fast track journey took me from Kathmandu to Base Camp at 3800m in a matter of 36 hours. The next stage, to be completed in the following 24 hours, was a climb of another 1100m over 18 km up the Bara Shigri Glacier to Advanced Base Camp. In the lower section this is one of the most gnarly glacial moraines I have ever had the pleasure to traverse, large boulders, small rocks, deep holes, gravel and crevasses, not to mention difficult route finding, all sliding about on a bed of clear blue ice. I clearly recognised the challenges ahead but these were only compounded when I was introduced to my companion who would accompany me up to Advance Base Camp. Jayant Sharma, a lean fit young man eager to engage in conversation and obviously not carrying an ounce of spare fat anywhere on his body. Setting off early the next morning it quickly became obvious that while gasping for breath between trying to respond to Jayant’s continuous conversational topics and keeping up with his pace, I was unlikely to see much of him over the next 24 hours never mind being able to hold a conversation with him, especially with him being at least 45 years my junior!

The Kullu area is one of the finest and most accessible Himalayan-Alpine regions in the Indian Himalaya. The true left wall on the Bara Shigri Glacier forms the watershed and great divide between Kullu-Lahul-Spiti and is the long ridge that keeps the monsoon precipitation to the west while to the east the mountains remain dry being in the rain shadow area. Despite ease of access and excellent mountaineering opportunities I have yet to encounter any other teams of mountaineers in the locality.

In 1912 Gen. C.G. Bruce, the first mountaineer to explore this region, his chief guide, Heinrich Fuhrer together with a Gurkha soldier, Lal Bahadur Gurung made the first ascent of Hanuman Tibba 5,928m (Soldang Weisshorn) and then went on to explore both the Indrasan and Deo Tibba mountains. Jimmy Roberts led an exploratory expedition into the region in 1939 again in an attempt to climb Indrasan and Deo Tibba. In 1941 Roberts returned and succeeded on Dharamsura, now known by its more popular name White Sail 6,446m. R.C. Evans tried Indrasan and Deo Tibba albeit unsuccessfully in 1952, however, success on Deo Tibba finally went to the Dutchman Van Graaf later in 1952. A few other expeditions followed into the region between the 1950 and 1960. A British Air Force expedition successfully climbed Shikar Beh 6,200m in 1955 while in 1962 a Japanese expedition visited the area and successfully summated the elusive Indrasan. In 1957-58 Major Geoffrey Douglas, accompanied by Hamish McInnes undertook a Yeti hunting expedition in the Kullu region. But the persistent and regular activist in the area for over the next decade was Robert Pettigrew, now Robert Pettigrew MBE. In 1958, Robert G Pettigrew, Bob, was staying at a guest-house in Manali owned by Major Henry Banon where he developed the idea of an attempt on the then unclimbed Indrasan 6221m. Other invited guests in the house included climbers in transit to and from various parts of the world. Bob was at the time working for the Outward Bound Trust (OBT) and was on his way back to the UK from a working visit to Malaya. He had been mulling over the idea of an expedition with friends as a result of receiving information via a letter on the 28th February 1958 from TS Blakeney (AC Secretary) in response to his request for suggestions for a suitable expedition region in the Himalaya. Blakeney responded by saying ‘You might make a trip from Tos over to Indrasan, an unclimbed peak and probably harder than Deo Tibba’. Blakeney went on to point out the advantages of Kullu as a venue for a light-weight expedition. By the beginning of May 1958 Bob had completed his research on possible objectives; he had recruited expedition members and had embarked on several exploration trips into the high valleys of the region. With the help of a local cobbler in Manali adjustments were made to footwear, tents were modified and sleeping bags sourced, the technical equipment comprised of items suitable for British winter climbing with the addition of crampons (10-points) and a few rock pegs, the stage was set. The expedition finally set off from Manali on the 7th May 1958 forging a route up the Duhangan Nala (river) towards the Chandra Tal. After three weeks of difficult route finding and being buffeted by storms the expedition decided to return to Manali to take stock. Feeling refreshed they set out again on the 8th June and retraced their steps in quick time back to their high camp. Due to time limitations the expedition decided that Indrasan would live to fight another day and instead they turned their attention to Deo Tibba with the secondary aim of reconnoitring the approach route to Indrasan. However Deo Tibba also remained elusive and with the monsoon weather clouds hovering ominously over head the expedition headed back down towards Manali but not without a foray onto a small 5334m summit directly south of Peak 5229m in the close proximity to Duhangan Col. The expedition consisted of Bob Pettigrew, Mike Thomson, Basil Poff, Pat Morrison and Ron Mowll, but by now Bob’s imagination and love for the region had been ignited. In 1961 The Derbyshire Himalayan Expedition began to take shape after received support from the Duke of Devonshire, as Patron, the Mount Everest Foundation and other notable Derbyshire residents and companies, however, a third of the expedition costs of £4,500 had to be met by the members themselves, J. Ashcroft, D. Burgess, D. Gray, R. Handley, T Panther, R Pettigrew, S. Read and N Symthe. The expedition’s objectives were to `make a useful contribution to the map of the Kullu/Bara Shigri Divide, to ascend what is now called Gunther’s Col from the Kullu side and finally to complete a recce of Ali Ratni Tibba, a splendid granite obelisk, approached from the Parbati tributary known as the Malana Nala’, a job previously undertaken by Jimmy Roberts. This area is approximately 10 miles to the east of Manali and approached via the Malana Nala and glacier. Initially the expedition believed it would be left to its own devices, however, two days before arriving in Bombay by boat a letter arrived informing the expedition that Cpt. Balgit Singh would be joining the expedition as the LO, a complication and cost that had not been envisaged during the expedition’s planning stage. In 1961 the vehicular road along the Beas Valley terminated at Nagar, south of Manali, and from the crossing of the Beas River progress was only possible on foot or with ponies and mules. The expedition from this point made good use of 57 ponies, 11 muleteers and Ladakhi porters to move the 12 miles onto Manali and then went on to succeed in making the fifth ascent of Deo Tibba on the 20th June (Pettigrew, Read, Handley along with Jimet and Zangbo, the local staff). This was the fulfilment of Bob’s three year ambition. Unfortunately, again, there was no success on Indrasan where Burgess and Gray reported that in their opinion the only possible route from the south was via a diagonal line that was continually swept by avalanches. By the 9th July the party had recharged their batteries at Base Camp and were ready for phase two of their expedition – to complete a plane-table survey and a climb of the Bara Shigri / Kullu Divide via a Col seen by Gunther in 1954 from the north-eastern side, and to complete a recce of Ali Ratni Tibba. Ashcroft and Burgess along with Bob and the Ladakhis, Jigmet and Ang Chook, ascended the Malana Glacier. Eventually this team found a manageable crossing linking the Malana and Tos Nalas and thus completed the first crossing of what they then called and is identified on modern maps as Animals Pass 4580m; the name comes from the animal shaped rocks that stretch across the col. This passage now represents a modern three day trek from Manali directly into the upper Tos Nala. In 1941 Roberts  wrote `the lower four miles of the Tos Glacier constitutes just about the most boulder-strewn, dirtiest stretches of glacier I have ever seen’, in my opinion this could be said about many of the glaciers in this region! Even Bob described the East Tos Glacier as being `arduous and ugly terrain unrecognisable as ice’ however, the higher you climb the more traditional and photographic these glaciers become. The head of the East Tos Glacier provided an excellent camp site from which the small team completed the first crossing of the col referred to as point 5410m on the present day map linking the East Tos and the Tichu Glaciers. On the 13th July the expedition made a short descent into the upper Tichu Glacial basin and headed towards a dip in the northern retaining wall of the glacier believing this to be the potential crossing point of the Divide leading down onto the Bara Shigri Glacier, the col first identified by Dr Gunther in 1953 from the Bara Shigri side. Locating the key passage up a hidden couloir to the skyline, Bob along with Burgess, became the first people to look down into the Bara Shigri Glacier from the pass. Bob describes the view down into Concordia as having `a text book appearance with lateral moraines being straight from the drawing board!’ This ‘text book’ appearance is still as much in evidence today as it was back in 1961. Pettigrew and Burgess completed the day’s activities by building a cairn right on the Col before retiring to their camp just west of Col 5410m on the East Tos Glacier. However, during the return journey down into the East Tos Glacier the team decided to stretch out their meagre rations so as to facilitate an attempt on White Sail 6446m, the peak climbed in 1941 by Jimmy Roberts and also situated on the Kullu-Kahul-Spiti Divide. Having now become reunited with the survey team Pettigrew, Ashcroft and Burgess set off for the Col south of White Sail leaving their tent at 3.45am on the 16th July. Within eight and a half hours the rope of three had surmounted steep ice requiring, in those days, step cutting, ascended exposed rock and in diminishing visibility and weather conditions reached the summit of White Sail (Dharamsura) 6446m, the second ascent of the mountain had been accomplished. Returning to Base Camp the whole expedition met up again to exchange stories, the other team consisting of Handley and Gray along with Wangyal and Zangbo had succeeded in making two first ascents of peaks known as the Manikaren Spires on the east ridge of Ali Ratni Tibba, but had failed to find a route to the latter before the monsoon arrived and forced them to retreat. At the time there was some confusion as to the correct location of ‘the Col’ as there are two possibilities on the main watershed but both present difficulties. As the original sighting by Gunther was from the north-east and Bob’s expedition was approaching from the south-west joining up the dots was always going to prove problematical, one crossing, it was reported, presented serious difficulties to the eastern side while the other difficulties to the western side. In the end one Col was given the inscription Gunther’s Col while the other DHE (Derbyshire Himalayan Expedition) Ice Col the latter to the east of the former named col. However on the Indian Himalaya Map in use today Gunther’s Col is shown as being at 5399m and is located as the first point of weakness to the west of Cathedral Peak 6250m, the Ice Col does not appear on the map by name. During 1962 and 1963 Bob visited Manali on family holidays but never wishing to miss an opportunity took a few days out to continue his exploration of the greater area. He trekked into the Solang Nala, to the north of Manali, and then back into the Malana Nala valley to the east, but in general, his forays were beaten by the inclement weather and frequent snow falls. From May 27th to the 31st Bob and party crossed the Chandrakhanni Pass in wintery condition and then the following day made an ascent of Peak 4426m, the last major peak on the long southern spur of Indrasan, to the north of the Chandrakhanni Pass. During the second world war the Kangra Valley was used to house Italian POWs and on the ascent of Peak 4426m a carved stone with the inscription JEL 10 1944 was found just below the summit, yet possibly further evidence of the excursions of Italian imprisoned climbers during their stay in the region?    As a result of Bob’s family holidays and his exploratory trips into the Solang valley in 1962 he was fired up and ready for more adventures. An opportunity presented itself in the autumn of 1963 when Bob Menzies, a friend of Bob’s was visiting India on business and suggested that he could spare a few weeks climbing in the Kullu. The stage was set and after the usual preparations and packing sessions based in the Banon’s guest house in Manali the team set off in the direction of the Solang Valley. The following two weeks saw exploration of the upper Solang Valley and after several nights with recorded 20° F temperatures Bob along with Wangyal completed the first ascent of Ladakhi Peak 5341m. The Sara Umgla La had long been used as an old trading route when the conditions were right. The Rajput warrior chieftains of the 17th century brought an end to the Tibetan occupation of Kullu, however, enforcing vigorously levied taxes forced the local traders to find ways round the customs houses. The old route, and Custom House, crossing the Rothang La was now an expensive option so a new route across the Kullu-Lahul-Spiti watershed was urgently required; the Sara Umgla La was open for trade! Bob’s next expedition was to locate and cross this pass. The expedition set out from Manali heading for the now familiar Malana Nala. Bob intended to use this expedition in a bid to complete a reconnaissance of Papsura 6451m. The approach was long and arduous but coincided with the twelfth anniversary of the first ascent of Everest and so it was decided that a first ascent of a virgin peak would serve as an appropriate celebration. An objective was located that met all the requirement and  on the 29th May 1965 Bob along with Langford, and the trusted Ladakhi staff Wangyal and Zangbo completed the first ascent of Ramchukor Peak 5189m situated immediately south of Animals Pass in the east retaining wall of the Ali Ratni Tibba Glacier, now referred to as the Dudhon Glacier. Relocating Camp 1 on the Pass of the Animals the expedition was easily able to identify the Sara Umgla La. By the 3rd June the expedition was again in forward motion. Aiming diagonally across the Tos Glacier they made for an obvious couloir and steep rock rib that would give access to the pass and eventually connects the Tos and East Tos Glaciers to the Chandra River valley immediately to the west of the outfall of the Bara Shigri Glacier. Once on the La the expedition was subjected to gale force winds that at their height split one of the tents down the side seam. The resourceful Ladakhi crew then proceeded to mend the split while battling to hold the canvas together so it could be sewn. On the 8th June the expedition, now a light weight reconnaissance team, set off for a closer inspection of Papsura 6451m from the south and western aspects. The north west ridge, the west face and the south ridge of Papsura were all carefully scrutinised but the team failed to identify a safe and feasible route through the difficulties to the summit. The expedition concluded their reconnaissance of the region by including the circumnavigating Ali Ratni Tibba via its east and west glaciers and then making the first crossing of the Pass of the Oblisk 4876m before heading down into the Parbati Valley at Jara on the 17th June. In the spring of 1966 Bob was back in Manali leading an Indo-British expedition to Hanuman Tibba organised by the Bombay Climbers’ Club. The approach route was laborious traversing steep hill sides of thick birch forests and steep and exposed sections of rock cliffs. To avoid the difficulties of the lower Manalsu Nala the expedition climbed high on the flanks of Khanapara traversing above the nala before descending back into the mid nala basin. The route chosen by the recce team took the expedition across the upper slopes of the eastern ridge before heading diagonally westwards and up the south face of Hanuman Tibba towards the summit. It was just as the lead climbers were approximately 160m below the summit that the ‘CRACK’ was heard accompanied by a dull roar and the breaking away of a big slab-avalanche. The climbers were engulfed and carried 160m down the slope to where they eventually slowed to a halt just above one of the many lower ice cliffs over which the main flow of snow and ice was passing. Shaken but otherwise unhurt the party reassessed their choice of route in consideration of the 160m of avalanche prone slope that still remained, so far intact, above the break-off point. Crossing the debris the climbers retraced their steps back to the East Ridge where they then pitched the remaining shoulder to the summit acutely aware of the poor snow conditions and the unstable cornice overhanging the precipitous north face and the lack of adherence of snow on the south face. After six hours from leaving BC the team reached the summit, first stood upon by General Bruce and his Swiss guide Heinrich Fuhrer from Meiringen. They had ascended initially from the north and the Salong valley before crossing Bruce’s Col, now called the Solang La and traversing the west face and then finally climbing the South Ridge to the summit. Bob’s party descended through the ice cliffs and finally glissaded back into Camp 2 by 1530hrs. While the main expedition was on Hanuman Tibba two of the base camp staff Nadkarni and Chering Namgyal completed the first ascent of Peak 5303m via the South East Ridge immediately due west of Seri to the south of the Manali Pass. Finally on the 5th June Bob together with Warhurst and Chering Namgyal made the first ascent of Shakuntla Tibba 4954m. And so the season drew to a close with expedition members gathering in the Banon’s guest house on the 7th June before finally departing the Kullu. Looking into the Chhola in the 1967 season got off to a rocky start during an attempt on Papsura 6451m, the Peak of Evil, and ‘twin’ peak of Dharmsura (White Sail). On the 1st June Colin Pritchard, Mike Payne and Bob took a 500m fall down Avalanche Couloir, Hill and Payne escaped relatively un-harmed while Bob suffered a dislocated hip. Papasura is the third highest peak in the Kullu/Lahul divide. The expedition started on the 4th May from the Parbati River, BC was established near the snout of the Malana Glacier, a site previously used by Bob and his trusted staff. The next two weeks were taken up ferrying loads across the Pass of the Animals the expedition was beset by bad weather. Camp 1 was eventually established in the cwm to the west of Papsura on the 22nd May but only after Pritchard had taken a fall into a large crevasse when a bridge collapsed. The team was then bogged down by a severe snow storm that deposited enough snow over the next six days to bury the tents. A 160m rope was fixed to the foot of Avalanche Couloir the chosen route for the ascent. On the 31st May, nearing the top of the couloir it became obvious that the way was blocked by a big boss of ice, the only option left was to descend, always easier said than done. No sooner had the team started their retreat than they were struck by a small side avalanche that quickly gathered speed and strength pulling all three roped climbers off their feet. Their downward momentum came abruptly to a halt at the bergshund. Mike Payne had ‘flown’ across the shund but had in the process twisted his arm, Bob came to rest straddling the lower lip of the shund with his legs bound together in the climbing rope and Colin Pritchard, well Colin might well have acted as a sea anchor and could have been the reason why the party fell no further, he was in the depths of the bergshund being strangled by his rucksack straps and acting as the ‘team anchor’! It turned out that Bob had dislocated his hip and had to be evacuated the next day to a safe location. Half the party descended to let wives and family know the situation and at the same time to arrange for a rescue party to ascend to Camp 1. Mean while back at Camp 1 the remaining ‘fit’ team members elected to have one last attempt at the peak with Hill and Pritchard going for a New Zealand style dash. Their proposed route was up the main South Face Couloir that had previously been discarded because of the objective danger from the large amount of snow and ice suspended higher on the face. This danger was ultimately reduced as a result of following a mixed snow and rock rib situated to one side of the couloir and out of the main fall line. Leaving camp at 3.15am the pair climbed quickly reaching the top of the western couloir of the south face by 10am. Whilst preparing to cross the heavily corniced couloir the rucksacks were tied into the rope to be lowered into an icy basin, unfortunately the knot slipped and the sacks with all spare clothing, food and cameras fell nearly 1,000m down to the base of the face. Both climbers agreed to push on, although the climbing was straight forward it required a bit of ‘grunt’ with strenuous moves on the rock band and the summit snow ridge. By 14.30 hours the pair were on the top. During the descent Hill slipped twice while cutting steps on the steep hard ice in the rapidly deteriorating weather and heavily falling snow. By the time they had reached the less steep part of the lower couloir the snow was waist deep. The pair returned to Bob, still awaiting rescue in Camp 1, nearly 21 hours after departing camp that morning. Once the rescue team had arrived the return trip to BC, with a laden stretch, took four days crossing the Animals Pass and the Tos Glacier before climbing over the Chandar Khanni Pass and down into the Kullu Valley using fixed ropes in the icefall. Expedition was made up of John Ashburner, Charles Henty, Geoff Hill, Mike Payne, Bob Pettigrew (leader), Colin Pritchard, supported by the high altitude porters, Sonam Wangyal and Pasang Lakpha, local boys came from Malana and Manali to help with logistics and the rescue stretcher team. This little epic brought a golden decade of exploration of the Kullu region to a close for Bob. But that is not the end of his story, for the next thirteen years he focused on alpinism, instructing, and serving in the RAF Mountain Rescue Team where he went onto completing first ascents in Arctic Norway. Later he decided to further his education and secured a place at Loughborough University as a student, eventually following in John Disley’s footsteps as President of the Loughborough University Mountaineering Club. However, the wilds of Kullu eventually got back into his system and in 1980 he returned to Manali where he has consistently over the subsequent three and a half decades continued with his forays into the hills and valleys of Himachal Pradesh. Back to my, by now, solitary wanderings up the Bara Shigri moraines, trying to pick out the newly erected cairns carefully camouflaged amongst the glacial rubble and at the same time trying to spot the blurred silhouette of Jayant breaking the skyline many hundreds of metres in front of me. The ascent seemed never ending and I took frequent stops to catch my breath under the guise of taking photographs. It had been suggested that I might manage the journey within the day but that was not to be the case. Thankfully Jayant realised that I was neither his age nor at his level of fitness and, within an hour of my thinking that this was all a bad idea, I crested a moraine ridge to be greeted by my grinning minder who suggested we bivied on the relatively flat grassy plateau in amongst the boulders that I had just arrived at. The food that I had set out with was still festering in the top of my rucksack, which would do for the evening meal and stretched out a bit, for breakfast as well. After a few hours rest the dawn seemed to come quickly, the warmth of the sun much later. Although the second part of the moraine journey starts to lose its steepness the moraines continue on for another 4 kilometres before it is possible to descend onto the flattish ice normally associated with glacial travel. In the distance the collection of tents indicating the end of that part of my journey and my first introduction to the Kullu – Lahul mountains much loved and traversed by Bob. I have now completed this moraine trek four times and it never gets any easier either in ascent or descent. However the mountains at the end of the trudge are worth every aching moment and every word uttered under the breath. And as a post-script – Bob spent October 2016 in, where else, Manali. Bob, you have another convert! Illustration captions Bob Pettigrew Nepal 2014 © Ian Wall Jayant Sharma Bara Shigri Glacier 2015 © Ian Wall Tiger’s Tooth 5943 m and Snow Dome 5947 m © Ian Wall Shigri Parbat 6526 m© Ian Wall Kullu Pumori 6553m © Ian Wall  Looking across Concordia towards Gunther's Col from the Bara Shigri Glacier; Peak 5947 m to the right of the Col, Cathedral Peak centre and Peak 6259 m to the left © Ian Wall  Concordia and the Upper Bara Shigri Glacier © Ian Wall Concordia with peak identification © Ian Wall  Ascending towards Gunther's Col from Concordia © Ian Wall  Looking into the Chhola Shigri Glacier with Lalana 6265m on the left © Ian Wall Heading up toward Concordia on the Bara Shigri Glacier with Shigri Parbat 6526m at the head of the valley © Ian Wall The region much traversed and loved by Bob Pettigrew © Ian Wall

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2016 Off the Wall Newsletter August 11

The headline image for this edition is of crossing the Mendokrin Lek before descending to the west of Crystal Mountain and then down to Shey, Dolpo.

Over the last three years there have been various well publicised events that not only shocked the mountaineering world but also Nepal as a nation, the fight on Everest, the avalanche and then the earthquake.  All of this was followed by a political dispute with India who then imposed economic sanctions on Nepal. The world offered support both financial and practical but a government without a vision failed to respond positively and apart from the Sherpa people who set about immediately rebuilding their communities most of the other affected areas of Nepal struggled on.

A tented camp is still occupied near the Hyatt Hotel Boudha

Sixteen months after the earthquake and many people, especially those from the remoter and poorer areas are still waiting for the promised government financial support. But this lack of compassion is also evident in Kathmandu, there is very little sign of domestic accommodation development, however, new hotels are springing up like weeds in the monsoon. There are of course all sorts of reasons publicised by the government as to why this relief process is not running efficiently.

Nepal’s Budget

In May the Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel presented the budget of 1,048,920,000,000 NRs (approx £7,089,213,300) for the fiscal year 2016/17 to Parliament. This represents a 28% increase on the current fiscal year with a focus on the implementation of the constitution, acceleration of development work and the reduction of poverty. The Government also allocated 140 billion NRs for post-quake reconstruction and rehabilitation work, pledging that earthquake-affected families will also receive an additional NRs 300k each, approximately £20,000.  Civil servants’ salaries were increased by 25 percent while social security allowance and allowances provided to the disabled, single woman and endangered communities have also been doubled.

The government also announced the policy to produce electricity by levying five percent tax on petroleum products with a commitment to end load shedding by 2018 by producing 10,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity. NRs 26.5 billion have been allocated for the School Sector Development Program.

In general the Nepalese population believe that this was a good budget and it looks like Prime Minister Oli has strengthened his hold on the role of PM for the foreseeable future. I hope this will now lead to a period of political stability, a renewed confidence in Nepal’s future and a concerted effort to attend to the future security of those families affected by the earthquake.

And then?

‘Maoists quit government’

Tuesday, July 12th, 2016 Nepali Times

The CPN (Maoist-Centre), the ruling UML’s main coalition partner, has decided to withdraw its support of the KP Oli government. After a meeting with top Maoist leaders at his own residence in Lazimpat on Tuesday, the CPN (Maoist-Centre) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal sent a letter to Prime Minister KP Oli saying his party is no longer in the government.

Now, if PM Oli fails to persuade Dahal to withdraw his decision – which he succeeded in doing two months ago – his government will collapse. The Maoists are likely to forge a coalition with the main opposition NC and form a new government. In the letter to PM Oli, Dahal justified his party’s decision by blaming the ruling UML for failing to implement the nine-point agreement signed between the two sides in May.

In the first week of May, the Maoists were all set to separate themselves from the Oli government and form a new coalition with the NC. However, hours before the Maoists and the NC were to sign a pact, Oli persuaded Dahal to stay in the government by signing the nine-point agreement.

Expeditions
Spring is now the ‘normal’ season for expeditions to Everest. Initially the number of expeditions requesting climbing permits this year was low, however, at the last minute, the Ministry of Tourism honoured their pledge to accept those expeditions who had permits for the 2015 season but cancelled due to the earthquake and announced they would be accepted them for both the 2016 and 2017 seasons. At the same time it was also announced that the permits issued in 2014 but were not used due to the avalanche would also be honoured for the next five years, through to 2019.

An expedition permit must be obtained by every
expedition planning to climb a peak in Nepal
image Ian Wall

Various foreign organisations offer incentives to their members who summit Everest, the Indian armed services acknowledge summating Everest with instance promotion, which obviously includes a wage and pension increase, the stakes are high. At the end of the Everest 2016 season a story emerged that two police officers from the Pune Police Force (Bengal) allegedly manipulated photographs to prove that they summated Everest. These were submitted to the Nepal Department of Tourism as proof of their success which was duly acknowledged.  However, a possible fraud was recognised by other expedition members who verified that the husband and wife team had throughout the expedition been wearing red and black down suits, in the summit photos they appeared to be wearing yellow and black suits, their boots had also changed and a complaint was filed at the Maharashtra Police Commissioner’s office (Bengal). In July the Nepal Tourism Department recommended that the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation take a formal decision to impose a 10-year ban on Dinesh Chandrakant Rathod and his wife Tarkeshwari Chandrakant Bhelerao from visiting Nepal for mountaineering expeditions, to cancel their summit certificates and to charge them with forgery and fraud.

The top two images are the orriginals while the lower ones
have been manipulated Images THT

This scandalous situation gave rise to an investigation into the part played by the Liaison Officers (LO) in the expedition industry. LOs are allocated to all expeditions attempting mountains over 6500m their role is to assist the expedition and to help resolve local issues and they must also provide evidence of summit bids and successes post expedition. According to the Tourism Law they should stay at Base Camp for the duration of the expedition, a job for which on Everest they receive nearly 3000 US $. During the Spring Everest season 2016 it has been discovered that nearly 50 per cent of the liaison officers never reached Everest base camp and thus did not carry out their paid duties representing the 33 expedition teams. The majority of LOs who trekked to the height of 5,300 metres, Base Camp, on the other hand, `vanished within minutes after taking a few images for their keepsake and social media bragging.’ The Himalayan Times quote

A long line helicopter evacuation

Long-line evacuation by helicopter

Aside from that instance bringing Everest back into media attention the weather conditions also had a serious impact on some other expeditions. Two German nationals along with their 18 Nepalese staff were stranded in the Saribung Himal following a strong snowstorm on Friday 13^th May and had to be rescued using helicopters and ‘long line’ techniques. Everest saw the death of five climbers including three from India and one from Australia, all above the higher camps.

Over the last few days of May areas of the Himalaya experienced very unsettled weather with strong winds and rapidly dropping temperatures which caused several other expeditions to pull back off their objectives.

Dolpo, our trek and small expedition 

This could almost be a scene from the film Himalaya. Trekkers watching a group of yaks traversing a typical 

In May I took to the hills with friends from Australia and Nepal, an extended trip to the farthest reaches of northern Dolpo, in fact to within half a kilometre of the border with Tibet/China.

This region never ceases to amaze me with its pure remote and wild beauty. In terms of Nepali trekking numbers not many people visit this area and if they do they tend to go to Shey before heading east and eventually leaving either via Juphal or Jomsom. We wanted to go into the district 4 days to the north of Shey for an attempt on a small but unclimbed peak, a long and hard extension and one that ideally requires at least four to five weeks to complete. Although the Great Himalayan Trail goes through this area even that fails to enter the northern most sanctuary. Passing through the small community of Kuwgaon the local residents said they could not remember the last time foreigners had passed through if ever, and there were one or two elder people in the community! Although Dolpo is not known for its lofty snowy peaks it does provide serious high altitude tough trekking, most of the routes to the north of Shey are above 3800m with many passes over 5000m. If you are looking for a real ‘off the wall’ experience then northern most Dolpo can certainly provide all the right ingredients. Oh! And the expedition, well we spent five days in Base Camp with the weather slowly deteriorating, in the end we sadly ran out of time and good days. Our Nepali friends had a good crack at the route getting to within 200 - 250mts of the summit but the weather and conditions on the route were .. well it’ll be there next year!

The team, literally chilling, out at our Base Camp
Image Ian Wall

Post earthquake Megre School

Many of you kindly supported our efforts with the reconstruction of the school in Megre post earthquake. This project is nearly completed and will be occupied for teaching as usual post monsoon when there will be an official opening. The project included the construction of 4 class-rooms and a toilet block for boys and a separate one for girls. Originally we planned to build six class-rooms but the new government policy called for an increased in size of an individual room which meant we could only go for a four room structure. The outside of the building will be cement rendered and then painted. Earthquake resistant technology was also included in the design.

 

Sherpas on Top

Sherpas have always been the back bone and work force of many successful expeditions. Over the more recent years many foreign groups have successfully climbed routes in good Alpine-style. Now the Sherpa (ethnic group) as well as climbers from other ethnic groups are climbing and running their own expeditions for their own pleasure and enjoyment. During the autumn 2015 season Chobutse 6,686m, West Face, the Dorjee Sherpa Route, was climbed by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa. This 1,200m route starts in the Rolwaling Valley immediately below Chobutse. Initially ascending the west ridge before descending 60m to the foot of the main face from here the route continues up the steep snow face.

Chobutse with the line taken by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa
 on his solo ascent Image Ian Wall

Chobutse with the line taken by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa on his solo ascent © Ian Wall

Mingma climbed solo but after being stranded for two days and nights on the summit without food or shelter he was evacuated by helicopter.

Also in the Rolwaling Valley Thakar-Go East 6,152m, Langdak 6,220m, and Raungsiyar 6,224m were all climbed as part of the same expedition by three fellow Sherpas, Tashi Sherpa, Dawa Gyalie Sherpa and Nima Tenji Sherpa. The team climbed three new routes up previously unclimbed mountains in the same area. Now at the time of writing news is coming through that Tashi Sherpa, Nima Tenji Sherpa accompanied by Tenzeng Sherpa successfully climbed the West Rib of Mt Denali – it is reported that eight Nepalese climbers made it to the summit of Denali this spring season. The boys are coming of age .. well done lads!

The Sherpa summit team on Denali having completed
the West Rib image Nima Sherpa

Dalai Lama’s birthday

Zealous policing at Boudhanath Image Kathmandu Post

On a less cheerful note, in July the Buddhist world celebrated the Dalai Lama’s birthday. Being squeezed between India and China Nepal has signed up to a non-political neutral partnership protocol with both India and China, Nepal will not take a stand that upsets either our northern or southern neighbours, (except when it suits them as in the standoff during the blockade that started nearly a year ago). In Kathmandu Boudhanath is the Tibetan enclave where many Tibetan monasteries and schools of Tibetan teaching are situated.

The Songtsen Brikuti School in Boudhanath was where the Tibetan community was scheduled to celebrate the 81st birthday of the Dalai Lama. However, on the 6^th July the area was overrun by Nepalese police who disrupted the celebrations and detained approximately 30 Tibetans including the Tibetan Settlement Officer despite the fact that the proper permission had been granted by the Nepalese authorities for the function.  The celebratory event was cancelled. Interesting to note the heavy-handed police officer on the right of the picture is female.

Weather and the Monsoon

I guess many of you will have read and heard about the serious flooding in northern India, well Nepal hasn’t escaped the wet weather either. There have been torrential downpours, which I have to say were much needed, but along with that there has been the usual devastating landslides. The road south into India was blocked for several days and again this prevented supplies from reaching Kathmandu, petrol stations were again closed and long queues formed. In other areas much more serious incidents have been reported. As a result of indiscriminate development and a lack of monitoring the heavy rains seriously eroded the Bhote Koshi banks in the Sindapalchowk district which collapsed taking over 200 houses from Tatopani VDC's Larcha to Liping into the water.

Indiscriminate building, no planning and even less monitoring
leads to more tragedy in Sindupalchowk

Is Nepal on another planet?

The International Astronomical Union has now named a 9.8km (six mile) wide crater on Mars ‘Langtang’. Dr de Haas, who studies Mars's physical geography at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, told the BBC that he chose Langtang because his colleague had worked there while studying Himalayan glaciers.

Dr de Haas went onto to say "It was his base camp for a long period, so we said maybe it's a nice tribute to call [the crater] Langtang". Langtang is a "scientifically important" crater, "the marks on the top of the crater wall were probably water flows, and below them you can see ridges - the remains of former glaciers."

The Langtang Crater on Mars Image NASA

Another ‘Everest’ story

Lhakpa Sherpa exhibiting her seventh Everest Summit Certificate

In the spring season 2016 Lhakpa Sherpa, summated Everest for the seventh time, breaking her own world record for the number of ascents by a woman. Lhakpa is 43 and a mother of three. She was born in the shadow of Makalu, Nepal but has travelled repeatedly to the Himalaya from her home in the USA, where she works as a housekeeper. Lhakpa first climbed Everest in 2000 as part of the Nepali Women Millennium Expedition. 

Lhakpa Sherpa exhibiting her seventh Everest Summit
 Certificate

At a gathering of mountaineers in Kathmandu, post expedition Lhakpa met US-based Romanian-born climber George Dijmarescu, who she went on to marry. But during the 2004 Connecticut Everest Expedition, she and Djimarescu had a violent altercation that left her seriously hurt, and sparked a small media sensation in the mountaineering world. The couple divorced in 2015, after a lengthy court battle.

Lhakpa intends to try to make the summit of Everest 10 times, in October 2016 she is returning to Nepal in an  attempt to climb Cho Oyu, she has also got K2 in her sights, having been beaten by bad weather on her first attempt in 2010.

The World’s highest marathon, yes ‘on Everest’

They're off! Everest marathon runners descend from Everest
Base Camp at the start of the race. Image THT

This annual event marks the anniversary of the first ascent by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953. This year a Nepali soldier won the Everest marathon, Bed Bahadur Sunuwar was one of more than 150 local and foreign runners in the race, which began at Everest base camp. The winner completed the race, which ended about 2,000 metres further down the valley in Namche Bazaar, in four hours and 10 seconds.

Problems in Upper Mustang for mountaineering expedition

During the first week of July an expedition comprising of two foreign mountaineers was prevented from entering Upper Mustang by the local people. The expedition to Arniko Chuli 6039m, SW of Lo Manthang, was told that they could not progress through Upper Mustang during the ‘growing season’ because this is considered to bring bad omens into the area, anything from hailstorms to cyclones, causing the crops to fail. Despite paying all the taxes and obtaining the required permissions for mountaineering in Kathmandu before setting off the local people elected to impose the ban on foreigners entering the area from the Tiji festival in April up to September. The local Upper Mustang residents can fine foreigners, under local traditions, who breach this law. After receiving a complaint from the climbers, the Department of Tourism’s director Laxman Sharma told the expedition members that the department took this situation very seriously and would look into the case. Upper Mustang of course relies heavily on the revenue generated by tourism.

Mountain Rescue – Nepal

Ms Phunjo Lama

By 1973 the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) had been established with the uncompromising mission ‘to reduce casualties in the Nepal Himalaya’. Since then things have moved on, and sadly not always in the right direction with many issues related to an abuse of the insurance system becoming well known. However, you can’t tar everyone with the same brush. Several years ago the Swiss took Nepal literally under their wing and supported the helicopter rescue training of experienced Nepalese helicopter pilots and mountaineers come rescuers.

Recently Ms. Phunjo Lama became the first female from Nepal to train as a long-line rescuer (Aerial Rescue) which she completed in Switzerland. The technique is often referred to a "Long Line" or "Short Haul", and is similar to other helicopter long line systems in use throughout the world.

HFRS (Helicopter Flight Rescue System) involves the lowering of a crew member, sometimes by several metres to beneath the landing gear of the helicopter, this allows the pilot to hover clear of physical danger while the crew member is lowered to the casualty on the mountain. The evacuation is often completed when the crew member clips the casualty into the long line then both are flown, hanging beneath the helicopter, to an area more conducive to landing and providing medical treatment. Congratulations Phunjo.

Glacial Melt

The overflow system installed in Rolwaling at Tsho Rolpa
Image Ian Wall

There is growing concern over the rising water levels of Himalayan lakes due to climate change, melting glaciers and melting semi-permanent snow fields, additional concern has been raised as a result of the 2015 earthquake which scientists believe weakened the natural moraine dam structure.

In June 2016 approximately 40 Nepal Army personnel supported by members of the high altitude communities of the Khumbu (Everest region) began work to drain some of the water out of Imja Lake, 5000m near Island Peak. With financial assistance from the UN the army constructed an outlet system to gradually release the water over a period of 45 days and to reduce the water level by three metres. The outlet will be similar in design to that constructed in 2000 to address concerns over the water levels in Tsho Rolpa, Rolwaling. At this time of year the weather is bad with monsoon precipitation falling as snow accompanied by seasonal low cloud. The army also lifted heavy earth moving equipment to help the personnel on the ground.

Heavy earth moving equipment at Imja Lake and the line of the new overflow channelAdd caption

Despite two failed rounds calling for international bidding for the contract the army was called in as the situation was declared as a matter of urgency. It is reported that this is the highest altitude disaster risk mitigation work ever carried out by an army team in the world. One can only imagine the catastrophic disaster that would be inflicted on those communities and the environment situated lower downstream in the event of the glacial lake outburst.

Helicopters in Nepal

The Dragon being assembled in the workshops at the International
Airport Image Fishtail

Nepal has recently acquired several new (nearly new!) helicopters. Fishtail Air has a Heli Linth B3e (H125) helicopter called Dragon as it is painted with a big animated dragon in its livery. The Dragon aircraft was dismantled into pieces, the fuselage, tail boom and rotors and was then transported in a container through the road system from Calcutta, India to Kathmandu, Nepal. The dismantled parts in the container passed customs at Birgunj in Nepal and have now been reassembled in Tribhuwan International Airport by a team of engineers. The `Dragon’ aircraft will get a new livery in Fishtail Air colours. In 2015 two brand new Mi-17V-5 helicopters were delivered to the Nepal Army from Russia and Simirik Air purchased a new Bell Helicopter, the 407 GXP and an AS350B3 (first registered 2005).

Helicopters and Everest

Three images of 'luxuries' at Everest Base Camp

After years of denied requests from both international guides and local mountain workers, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism finally in 2016, granted permission to use a helicopter to transport rope-fixing gear from Base Camp to Camp 1 on Everest’s South Col route, bypassing the treacherous Khumbu Icefall and thereby sparing the mountain workers some of their time exposed to the deadly zone this season.

On April 23, 2016 a helicopter made six trips to Camp 1 (6,035 meters, or 19,800 feet) in the Western Cwm to deliver ropes, anchors, and oxygen for the Nepali workers—a total of

roughly 2,866 pounds of equipment.
The helicopters saved only approximately 84 loads out of a thousand or more that are estimated to traverse the ice fall every season. It is estimated that they could cut another 50 percent or more of the loads using a mix of helicopters, storing gear at Camp 2, and restricting all the luxuries and ridiculous other clutter that is perceived as being required at Camp 2 by clients and agents fighting for the client’s business (like carpeting, chairs, tables, huge kitchens and kitchen staff, and solar panels). What would Mallory have thought?

Some images of life in camp on Everest – admittedly not all goes beyond Base Camp but some luxuries certainly do, either way it all needs transporting to the foot of the mountain and back again.

The effect of the UK – EU spat?

Sadly the shock waves are rippling round the world. As has been widely announced the pound has come in for a hammering and today 27^th July it has slipped to 137/- NRs with the dollar at 105/- NRs this is a reduction from 160/- NRs and 108/- only a few weeks back. However the exchange rate always moves pre-monsoon, the real test is to see if it recovers in September.

As I finish the last of this newsletter information is coming in of a restructured policy for climbing mountains in Nepal, changes include:-

·         Climbers MUST be accompanied by a guide

·         Restricted helicopter used for personnel above base camp

·         Nepalese mountain workers to receive ‘Summit Certificates’

·         Upper age restriction of 75years and double amputees, visually impaired climbers to be banned

·         A pre-requisite of a 7000m summit is required to enable an Everest permit to be issued

I’m sure this issue will run and run and already one point has risen to the surface.

A difficult situation and decisions to be made

One of the new issues to be considered by the Department of Tourism is whether to implement the policy of requiring every climber to be accompanied by a Nepalese guide. This is a similar situation to the one raised concerning solo trekkers a few years ago. While one of the real attractions of being in the mountains is that there are no real laws only common sense it does create a problem in Nepal where so many climbers and trekkers go missing.

Dhaulagiri 81767 m the worlds' seventh highest summit and Nepal's sixth highest mountain was the last 8000 m peak to be climbed

At the beginning of May Dutchman, Christian Wilson went missing from Dhaulagiri base camp when he failed to reach the lower Italian base camp. He had retreated from his solo attempt to climb the world’s seventh highest mountain, after reaching Camp 2. He gave up as he was (reportedly) a ‘free individual trekker’ on a climbing permit. Despite searches being conducted in the area there are still no answers to the question as to what has happened to Christian. Another trekker,

Romanian Popescu Adina Monica, an experienced orienteer and trekker died in a landslip on the Annapurna Sanctuary trek. Her body was found in the Shivay River, Ghandruk on the route back to Naya Pul, only a few kilometres from the road head and route back to Pokhara.

Who says the Nepali Government is not doing its job?

Since 11^th October 2015 the Government has met over 40 times and taken over 800 decisions. Approval was given for 183 foreign trips, 106 appointments, 79 regarding financial support 75 for promotions and transfers and 370 undisclosed approvals. So far very few decisions have been passed that would address some of the other pressing issues in Nepal.

Does Pakistan have a reason?

While our three Nepali ‘Himalayan Queens’ successfully climbed K2 last year there is a growing speculation amongst the Nepalese climbing fraternity that Pakistan wants to limit the role of Sherpas on expeditions to the Karakoram. Lakpa Sherpa has already climbed K2 twice, this season he arrived with all the required permits with the plan to accompany Ruban Payan, an American climber on his K2 expedition. Lakpa was told on arrival by an immigration officer that he had to return to Kathmandu, no reasons were given. When he reclaimed his passport in Kathmandu he found he had been blacklisted. Lakpa is not the only one, many other climbers have been prevented from entering Pakistan this season. An Australian-New Zealander, Chris Burke was refused entry despite having all the required permits, she believed it was because she had a Nepalese climber in her team.

Sometimes ‘Nepali Time’ is faster than time in the rest of the world – especially in politics!

Prime Minister KP Oli resigned on Sunday 24^th July, nine months after getting into power and only minutes before parliament was to vote on a ‘no confidence’ motion that he was likely to lose.

Oli was forced to resign after allies of his multi-party coalition deserted the government accusing him of not honouring power sharing deals that had helped install him as prime minister in October last year. There had previously been ‘behind the scenes negotiations’ between the leaders of the various parties but ultimately these had all fallen off the rails.

Nepali politics is never simple to understand especially for foreigners interested in Nepal. Oli had shunned India’s advice and their expressed concerns. This new move will mark India’s return to Nepal’s political landscape. The blockade was part of India’s move to demonstrate discontent with Oli’s leadership after being unable to shape political outcomes in Nepal over the past year. This move will also demonstrate to China the difficulties of micro-managing a diverse, plural democratic landscape in South Asia.

Nepali leaders, almost exclusively from hill castes, were keen to preserve their dominance. They saw the border Madhesi issues as an Indian conspiracy to increase its control. They disregarded both Indian advice and Madhesi protests and pushed the constitution forward in September, 2015.

Beyond these political games, the test will be to see if the next Nepal government brings back inclusive democracy and the country’s relationship with Delhi back on track. For Delhi, another nightmare in Nepal ends. It will now have to build back bilateral ties, while discreetly pushing for political inclusiveness. And as for Beijing, well there is a lesson. Unlike one-party systems, democracy can be messy with many political permutations resulting in change. China has some way to go before it can compete with India’s natural advantages in the Himalayan states.

That’s it!

And with that folks I’ll leave you with a view of our own little ‘jungle’ created by the monsoon weather; remember all the flowers in the last issue, now replaced by lush green foliage and snakes. Yes snakes, Sarita found a large skin in the bushes the other day..but I think he was just passing through..hope so anyway!

Enjoy summer!

July 2016