Climbing UT Kangri

 UT KANGRI (6070m)

After a long hiatus have posted this blog. Missed out a lot of blogs on treks over the past 4 years. This is my first and hopefully not the last peak attempt.

Well, it all started with my cousin Sarang egging me on to do an expedition after our planned Chadar trek was scrapped by the Leh administration. We selected UT Kangri a moderate difficulty peak. Bhagwan Chawale a mountaineer was organising an expedition there so we put our names in his team. Bhagwan was a  an experienced mountaineer with multiple 8000ers under his belt. So we were sure he would bring us back in one piece. The team consisted of 9 members of which I was oldest at 59years, Sarang at 53 years and youngest was 22 years. This kind of expedition was the first for all of us except Bhagwan.The peak was a recently opened in 2019  on the Manali highway near Tanglangla pass. 

Both me and Sarang reached Leh 2 days prior to main batch on 11 Aug to ensure acclimatization. I had a short 1km walk on 12th and a 3 hour walk into the hills behind Spituk monastery with Sarang on 13th. On 14th we had a walk from Thiksey Monastery to Shey Palace and explored both the locations.

Shey Palace

   Thiksey Monastery

On15th we had a drive to Khardungla then after we went for a short walk on the Khardungla road to an altitude of 13000ft. On 16th Aug  we were dropped from Leh to near Tanglang La and walked 2 hours from elevation of 14800 feet to our first camp at an elevation of 15186 feet which was an easy walk.

Camp 1

Next day we walked 7km to our base camp at an elevation of 17100 feet.

Base Camp

Enroute we had to cross a few big streams by skipping over rocks in it. In one of the crossings I slipped on a rock and plunged into the chilly water - not an ideal situation as I had soaked all my clothes and shoes n socks. Mingyu who was with me looked a bit shocked. Fortunately the weather was kind and sunny and I waited to dry my clothes. Luckily I suffered no injuries except that of bruised ego. Fortunately I was carrying a warm hoodie and a rain cape in the day pack which were only slightly wet. Shoes however were totally soaked.

Drying myself after the dunking. Shweta and UT are in the picture.

At the base camp we were were introduced to our main equipment the Scarpa boots which are as comfortable to walk in as walking on stilts! And on top of it they weighed a ton. It took considerable effort to get in them and the shin were getting scraped unless properly fitted. The Ladakhi guides help was a saver.

Stanzin Norboo helping with the Scarpa boots

We had a couple of acclimatization walks in them. As the soles of the boot were not flexible and the ankle was  securely enclosed by the boot, stepping of rocks with an incline would put complete pressure on the side of knees. So I had to select flat rocks to step on! 
The effect of high altitude was clearly felt at the base camp. Simple actions like putting on socks and shoes or getting in and out of our tent would be exhausting. Two of our team dropped out due to being affected by High Altitude sickness. One was Shweta who was the strongest amongst us. The other was a Sandeep who started feeling nauseous and wisely decided to stay back.

The next night on 19 Aug at 1am in pitch darkness our climb to the peak began. The first part was a 2.5 km walk and 350m elevation gain over rocky scree, a slow painful walk to the ice wall of 70-80'height.

Bhagwan climbing up the ice wall

For this we used normal trekking shoes- CTR. One of our team Gayatri gave up as she found it too tough.Here we changed to Scarpa and with the help of the Ladakhi guide leader Stanzin did jumaring to scale the wall. Midway up the wall my crampons on one boot came off and I slipped and turned , hanging on to the rope halfway up the wall. Stanzin had to come up and fix the crampon as there was no way for me to go down. It was slow going up thereafter.

On top of the wall we were then roped in 3 groups of 4, with a Ladakhi at both ends of the rope, and our ascent started, this time over snow.

Roped up

By this time dawn was breaking. The distance was 1.5 km and an elevation rise of 450m. A slow tiring walk with heavy breathing due to the altitude. The last 100m were the toughest and required lot of mental strength and encouragement from the guide on my rope - Mingyu. Finally 6 of our team made it to the top- pretty good record. Only one girl of the 3 succeeded though she pleaded to be dropped in the last 100m! Stanzin ordered the guide on her rope to give her rest and food and then push her to the top.

The team on top

 Brothers on top

The view from the top at 19910 feet was mesmerising. We could see peaks and ranges all around us - a 360 degree view.

After clicking snaps our descent started.

During descent my crampon came off twice which delayed our team and increased our frustration as the rest of three teams were well ahead. Mingyu fixed the crampon but his usual smiling demeanour was showing frustration. To make things worse was my leg getting stuck in a crevasse! The situation was me sitting immobilised with my left leg properly cemented upto my knee in the crevasse, Mingyu couldn't move as he too was on top of a crevasse! Finally I had to dig myself out with the ice axe- a very tiring 30 -40min where I had to catch my breath after every 2-3 strokes of the ice axe. A few steps later I saw another crevasse on the path created by the other teams so stepped to the right and a few steps later was again embedded as I stepped into another crevasse! This time I could extricate my foot quickly. All this problem was due to the suns heat and thus the snow covering the crevasses were melting and the crevasses getting exposed. Also contributing was the size of my boot - Size 12 and my weight - 81kg.

Then Mingyu asked me to slide on my backside for a short distance to avoid the crevasse region. A risky move as with the gradient I would accelerate out of control. And that did happen but was saved due to my cousin Sarang anchoring the rope and me digging in my feet crampons and my ice axe. Not a pleasant experience as my arse was freezing and for a moment I expected to be the first ever case of an arse frostbite! The descent seemed to be never ending and frustrating as we were the last team on the snow. The youngest of our team Hardik meanwhile had collapsed due to exhaustion and was dragged over the snow by the Ladakhi guides to the ice wall. My team on the rope made it to the ice wall but not before my crampon coming off again! I was belayed down the ice wall with only one boot having the crampon as we had to change to our hiking shoes at the base of the wall which was a relief. There after the walk down over the scree with Sarang and Stanzin was done in next 2 hours to reach our base camp at 2:30pm, a total duration of 14.5 hours of walking and wading through scree and snow. 

With Stanzin and Sarang back to the camp.

Joy in the faces on completion of the climb

I was totally exhausted as was Sarang. I had never experienced this kind of exhaustion in my life. Had a quick bite and collapsed in my tent into the sleeping bag for a deep sleep.

Nevertheless it was an unforgettable experience(which my body won't forget for some time)!😃

We were lucky to have an excellent Ladakhi guide team who had a very positive attitude and an excellent cook. The meals were truly 5 star keeping the occasion in mind. Without their help we couldn't have succeeded. Special Thanks to Mingyu and Stanzin.

The team:

The team less Sarang

R to L

1. Lt Col (Retd) Kedar Pitre
2. Bhagwan Chawale
3. Darshan Dhore
4. Shweta Night
5. Gayatri Ghate
6. Anuja Pharate
7. Sandeep Gite
8. Hard Sane 
9. Sarang Pitre( Not in Photo)

Mingyu the ever smiling Ladakhi.

A few key Takeaways:

1.  Being fit is essential while attempting peaks in altitude over 16000 feet.

2. Being fit does not exempt you from getting fully acclimatized. High Altitude is unforgiving. The more you acclimatize at Leh the better. Usually trek operators have a 3 day acclimatisation, which may not be enough. Going a couple of days early would definitely help. Army has a 6 day acclimatisation in Leh for going to higher altitudes.

3. Don’t  rush, walk slowly with even breathing.

4. Preferably have a low weight - makes it easier to walk in snow.

5. Learn to fit the Scarpa boots  else they will repay you back with scraped shins and lots of pain.

6. Learn to secure crampons properly.

7. Learn how to stop a slide using the ice axe.

8. Wear multiple layers and get good gloves.

9. Good quality wool caps and sunglasses are a must.

10. With every person who quits enroute, one guide has to accompany him down. This could result in the complete team returning if more people abandon their quest to reach the top. So go ahead only if you are sure - for your team's sake.