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In August, a Polish expedition operated in the Miyar Valley. Michał Król (Vasque) and Przemek Wójcik opened two new routes (one of them on an unclimbed peak). The second climbing team - Marek Żołądek and Michał Apollo - also climbed a virgin peak via a new route. |
The Miyar Valley, located in the Indian part of the Great Himalaya, stretches for over 100km (c. 62 miles), from Udaipur to the Khang La mountain pass. The locals, the Tharanga people, are mainly shepherds and farmers. They are glad to help rare expeditions visiting the place and so they did not hesitate to help also our second Polish expedition to the valley (see Lotos Peak).
Crossing the river (photo Michał Król/Vasque)
The way from Tingrad to the base camp (photo Michał Apollo)
The valley is relatively hard to reach, which we experienced at the very beginning. On the way from Manali to Tingrad, the first obstacle was a destroyed bridge in Gompa village. Here, any further trip by our off-road vehicle "Tata" became impossible. We carried our baggage across a footbridge, and on the other side we managed to arrange a truck, which took us to the Tingrad village. There, we encountered another unpleasant surprise. It turned out that we could not use horses for transportation as I had done a year earlier. The bridge in Chaling was destroyed. Our plan needed some changes. Instead of the horses, we had to hire people to carry about 300 kilos (c. 650 pounds) of our equipment. After five hours of negotiations concerning the payment, we managed to bring the price down by half and hire eleven porters. We left Tingrad the next morning . The way from Tingrad to the base camp (c. 30 km/c. 20 miles) took us two days. After reaching the base camp, the weather was bad for the first three days. Although it was raining, we decided to give it a try.
ABC at the Tawa Glacier
(photo Przemek Wójcik)
Doomed to Miyar
In order to acclimate, Przemek and I set off to climb the north-west face of Tamadonog (5245m), overlooking the Nameless Glacier Valley. We set up our ABC at approximately 4237m. The next day, we scanned the line up and down and started to climb the face. After we had covered about 500m of the route, leading mainly through cracks, the weather broke. We were forced to have a freezing bivy. On the next day, 14th August, after covering a 500m long, easier part of the route, leading along an arete, we reached the summit. That was probably the second ascent of that peak.
The route: Doomed to Miyar, VIII-, OS, c. 1000m, 31h.
Tama Donog (photo Michał Król/Vasque)
Michał Król (Vasque) at the Tama Donog
(photo Przemek Wójcik)
"Doomed to Miyar" at the Tama Donog - first 500 meters
(photo Michał Król)
Geruda Peak
We spent the following days on recuperation, gathering strength to climb the Tawa Glacier. Because of severe weather conditions, we had to wait a week and only on 21st August we managed to set off for the glacier. It took us two days to move our base up to the altitude of approximately 4859m. We set the camp in the place of the previous year Italian base.
The planned aim of the expedition, which initially had been the south-east face of Mount Mahindra, was changed.
The route on the Geruda Peak
(photo Przemek Wójcik)
Przemek Wójcik, Geruda Peak
(photo Michał Król/Vasque)
After a reconnaissance, it turned out that the chimney along which we had wanted to lead our route was too loose and dangerous. At night, on 27th August, the weather finally improved and so we decided to take action. This time our aim was the virgin peak to the right to the Lotos Peak (the face I had climbed in 2005 together with David Kaszlikowski). The attempt was successful. The lower part of the route initially led through a mixed terrain (c. 250m), and then it got easier but a bit loose. Then, through vertical chimneys and cracks, we covered the rest of the face. Three pitches before the summit, the weather broke again. Snow and rain made the climb difficult, and that contributed to my decision to aid the last pitch as AO.
The route: Geruda Peak (c. 5640m), VII+, 1xAO, ice 50 - 60*, c. 900m, 21h
Masala Peak
The second climbing team of the expedition - Marek Żołądek and Michał Apollo - climbed a new snow/ice line on a ridge of a mountain located between the Thunder Glacier and the Tawa Glacier. After 14 hours of climbing, a new 800m long WI 4 route was created. That was the first ascent of the virgin peak, which was baptised the Masala Peak (approx. 5650m).
The route on the Masala Peak
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