2015 Zanskar Expedition

by Derek Buckle

After reading accounts of Kimikazu Sakamoto's recent exploratory visits to Zanskar, I was attracted to the idea of returning to this relatively unexplored region of the Indian Himalaya in the hope of making further first ascents of one or more of its unclimbed mountains. In 2013 our group travelled only as far as the Pensi La before climbing in the Pensilungpa valley, but this time we intended to travel deeper into the region to explore the mountains of the Korlomshe Tokpo valley to the south of Padam.

Derek descending the Korlomshe glacier
Photo by Knut Tømsberg

Thus, over one month in August to September 2015 our team of five made the exhausting two-day journey from Leh to Padam before trekking to a base camp (BC) at the confluence of the Temasa Nala and Korlomshe Tokpo at 4153m. This camp was nowhere near as high as we had hoped, but both logistics and terrain dictated its position. From this camp we established an ABC just below the Korlomshe glacier at 5130m, before siting a higher camp on the glacier proper at 5500m in the midst of a cirque of impressive peaks. From ABC Drew, Gus and I subsequently made the first ascent of a peak that we namedKusyabla (5916m, Alpine AD) via its southeast ridge and this was followed two days later by a second ascent by Knut and our Liaison Officer, Maly. The summit provided a superb panorama over the Korlomshe and neighbouring glaciers.

From the higher camp Gus, Knut and I then unsuccessfully attempted the steep east face (Alpine D) of a peak that we euphemistically called the 'Matterhorn', but were forced to retreat from a high point around 5900m when it became clear that we would have insufficient time to gain the summit and return safely to camp before night-fall. This peak, which we initially thought was below 6000m, was clearly much higher! Four long abseils took us back to easier ground and a relatively quick romp back to camp.

Knut on the final slope of Temple
Photo by Derek Buckle

Two days later, whilestill at high camp, Knut and I successfully soloed a peak that we called Temple (5,947m, AD) via its steep east-northeast face to make the first ascent before returning to high camp. As with Kusyabla, the summit afforded tremendous views. The next day we humped enormous loads back to ABC before continuing to BC for a well-earned rest. A day later we began the trek back to the road-head.

While the expedition had not gone as smoothly as planned, and had resulted in one member of the team returning early to the UK, it was nonetheless extremely successful in allowing a full exploration of the upper reaches of the Korlomshe Tokpo glacier in addition to the completion of two enjoyable first ascents. We are grateful to the Mount Everest Foundation, the Alpine Club Climbing Fund, the AAC(UK) Expedition Fund, Bergans and Duffler/Primus/Snigel-Design for their help in making the expedition possible.

Drew and Gus on the ascent of Kusyabla
Photo by Derek Buckle

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