Trip Reports

Stok Kangri - 21 Jul to 11 Aug '07

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

Written by Leader Hannah Burrows-Smith, August 2007

I met all but one of the team at London Heathrow amid the chaos following recent flooding. Fortunately our flight wasn’t one of those cancelled and despite much queuing we were in the air relatively on time. Unfortunately on arrival in Delhi, one team member's haulbag hadn’t quite made it. A definite concern with regards to the equipment needed for the trip, but there were 3 days before we started the trek, so there was time for it to turn up.

We sept a day relaxing in the fine Taj Mahal hotel, with a short excursion to visit some of Delhi’s historical delights. We met up with the remaining group member, Torbjorn, who had flown in separately from Finland, and all prepared for the flight out to Leh in Ladakh early the following morning. Two days were then spent in Leh acclimatising; flying in to a height of 3,500m required us to take things easy for a day, then a short wander up to Leh Monastry the following day again aiding acclimatisation. The missing bag finally arrived in Delhi by the end of this 2nd day and due to the fine efforts of our local agents, the bag arrived in Leh just in time the next morning as we were departing to start the first trek.

The first part of the expedition, essentially to allow the team to acclimatise well enough before the relatively short approach to Stok Kangri, turned out to be a complete delight and quite a surprise for the group. It was a journey over 3 passes through an arid landscape of complex rocky peaks and screes, interspersed with the lush irrigated farmlands of green crops and trees, and the faces of the Ladakhi folk greeting us along the way. The group were driven westwards along the wide, mountainous valley of the River Indus to the trek starting point at Lamayuru. It was great to finally get started walking, dispensing with the first of the cols that afternoon, then dropping into the Ripchar Valley (which we were to follow for the coming 4 days) to the first night’s camp outside the village of Wanla. Here we were introduced by our guide, Nima, to our support team of sherpas, cooks, helpers and the multitude of ponies and donkeys that would be carrying all our stuff.

Cool mornings, blisteringly hot days and atmospheric locations for campsites followed, as well as a height gain and descent pattern that gradually had us climbing higher, sometimes considerably higher, each day but then dropping down to sleep at a lower altitude, yet also the height of the camps gradually increased day by day too. The 2nd col, the Konze La, was the toughest and the high point of the first trek at 4,950m. Not an easy objective so early on but slow steady pacing and many rest stops ensured, albeit with a few headaches and queasiness, that all the group got over the col okay and down to the relative comfort of the next valley. Drinking lots of water (up to 3 litres each during the day) was a key element to this trek, as was good personal hygiene, and together they ensured the group stayed in good health, ate well from the impressive selection of food produced by Nepali cook, Jumar. The surest sign came with the comparative ease of ascent of the final col, (4,700m) by all of the group. From here at last we could also see Stok Kangri; the next objective, before descending in the heat to the road head and campsite at Chilling.

A day and half of rest back at our lovely hotel in Leh followed, which involved the checking of equipment, a little shopping, mountain biking by some and the arrival of the Dalai Lama himself, who was on a 2 week visit to Ladakh. Arriving on the 7am flight into Leh, it was great to experience the eager anticipation of the local crowd amassed to greet him, dressed in traditional costume and bearing flowers.

On a less cheerful note, on the morning of departure for Stok Kangri, a phone call from the UK brought the news that a group member’s father had become critically ill. Jagged Globe's local ground operator was fantastic in getting a flight organised to Delhi later that morning, and a London flight for that evening. It was sad to lose a group member so suddenly and this was at the forefront of our thoughts as we began the trek up the Matho Valley for the 2nd phase of the expedition. An impressive gorge was the next immediate objective; multiple fins of rock jutting into the winds of the narrow valley. Some thigh-deep river crossings ensued and also a little scrambling, before finally emerging from the gorge on to open pastures and our camp at 4,400m. We trekked over another pass the next day, with imposing views of Stok Kangri, now looking much more real, before the final climb to Base Camp at around 5,000m. The group was quite tired now and welcomed a whole day and a half here to recover. It was quite sociable at BC as there were several other parties either approaching or returning from Stok. We spent one morning at 5,300m with a little cramponing practice, and gradually by the following morning the group were feeling well and eating well and we all headed up to Advance Base Camp (ABC). This was in a stunning location – at last we were amongst mountains and glaciers, and Stok Kangri was right in front of us.

We were to be up and climbing the mountain by 2.30am, so it was just a short stay at ABC. We had a little more cramponing and rope-work practice on the adjacent glacier, a simple dinner and then an early bed. By morning, which is never a great time to feel wonderful, the condition of 2 group members had not improved overnight; Chris in particular was still very breathless although otherwise healthy, and opted to stay at ABC. Gareth, feeling queasy, decides to see how things would pan out and gave it a go. The journey began by following the moraine to the left of the glacier, crossing onto the lumpy, dry glacier and then on to either a steeper slope of firm snow or rock scree. Splitting into smaller groups, steady progress was made, almost by all, gaining height up the steeper main face of Stok Kangri, before reaching the icy rising traverse that leads to the summit ridge. Reaching the start of the steeper slopes, Gareth decided to turn back, his condition having not improved. It was a hard decision in some respects but the best one and a Sherpa accompanied him back down to ABC.

The rising traverse was a little more demanding than expected for the mountain; crampons were essential. We were relieved to reach the summit ridge, which is rocky and involves less technical scrambling. Here we took our crampons off and they were not needed again until just before the summit. Torbjorn by now was also feeling quite ill with a headache and opted to return down just beyond reaching the ridge. The rest of the group reached the summit of Stok Kangri. The summiteers were as follows:

Dave, Phil, Chris, Jai, Andy, Allen, Tom and Amy [Amy previously worked for Adventureworks, Jagged Globe's Schools Expeditions - Ed].

We enjoyed amazing views along the ridge and at the top, and we certainly were very fortunate with the weather on this trip. Yet even then the sky was closing in on the summit and by half way down the face it had started to snow. Back in ABC we were greeted by the other team members, and had a brew and a quick bite to eat before continuing on down to BC. For those that stayed or returned early, this rest has helped a little and on descent their health improved further.

The following morning, we left BC and headed for Stok village and the road end. It was still raining and seemed a good time to be leaving the high mountains. The sun was out by the time we reached Stok, which is a lovely chilled out location to end the trek in and from which to say goodbye to Nima and our support team, all of whom we have gotten to know well. There were a mixture of emotions, thinking about where our successes lay and all the effort required in climbing Stok. It was also put into perspective as another group member had to leave us that evening to return home because of a family bereavement.

Returned to Leh, and then having not used our ‘spare summit day’ on Stok, we all went rafting on the River Zanskar (which we saw back at Chilling); a fantastic journey through the mountains one final time, with exciting rapids and many water fights en route. A great way to finish the trip in Ladakh before the flight back to Delhi.

Hannah Burrows-Smith,
Expedition Leader« | »

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