Trip Reports

Stok Kangri - 30 Jul to 20 Aug '05

Trekking towards Stok Kangri base camp, with the mountain in the background

Written by Leader Bonny Masson, August 2005

The second Stok Kangri group are back in Leh, enjoying rest, food and shopping. The Dalai Lama landed this morning for a 3-week visit, so there is an air of great excitement here, with many Ladakhies dressed traditionally and hundreds of monks and nuns out and about in robes.

Our initial trek went very well with all group members acclimatising and getting fitter as the trip progressed. Slighty cloudy, but good weather meant we enjoyed cooler temperatures for the high passes, without forfeiting superb views.

After an enjoyable break in Leh, we trekked up to Stok Kangri BC in wonderfully clear weather. (The gods were with us as far as the weather went throughout the trip!) The views were amazing, as were the stars at night. Playing a game of patience, we spent 2 nights at Base Camp (5,000m), taking the chance to brush up ice axe and crampon technique the first day and practising our roped climbing the next!

With all of us feeling good at the altitude of Base Camp, we spent a short night at Advance Base Camp (5,400m). An early start at 2 a.m. allowed us to enjoy crisper snow conditions up to the ridge on summit day. The ridge proved interesting - mixed conditions of snow interspersed with bare rock, due to a lot of snowfall a few weeks ago. A superb day dawned as we approached the summit and we were all up on top by 8.30am. Yes! Spectacular panoramic views kept us up there for a good while, then we regretfully headed down.

The 10 happy summiteers were; Bonny Masson, (Jagged Globe Expedition Leader), John Eames (Bonny's partner and Jagged Globe leader on holiday!), Pam and Paul Conroy, Ben Bell, Sean Ryan, Shahid Khan, Brian Yates, Glyn Padgett and Jagged Globe's Reservation Manager, Stephanie Hopkinson. Many thanks to great help from Pema Bhotia, our Sirdar, Ang Dami Sherpa and Ang Temba Sherpa. Also, although John Eames was on holiday, he was obviously a great asset to the team.

Some of the group are already planning future trips although, as they gaze at the mountain from Leh, they cannot quite believe they stood up there 2 mornings ago. Bonny is going on to lead Jagged Globe's Lhakpa Ri expedition, meeting the new group in Kathmandu. John Eames will spend a week longer here, in the Nubra area, climbing peaks and hopefully finding some great new objectives. He will then go on to lead Jagged Globe's Cho Oyu expedition in Tibet - very well acclimatised and animal-like in fitness!

In summary, this trip is very worthwhile and everyone enjoyed themselves greatly. As we go back to our everyday lives, we will be sustained by wonderful memories - until we are climbing again - somewhere on the 'jagged globe!'

Bonny Masson, Expedition Leader « Previous report | Next report »

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