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THE PEAK OF NEEDLES CLIMBED !
	One of the finest ascents of this season was climb of Suj Tilla West (6373 m) by two teams in different styles. The peak rises steeply near the Ralam village in the eastern Kumaun and was attempted before by climbers. Its known height was 6373 m. However on recent maps the true height is given as 6394 m. First a team from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation attempted the peak, fixing ropes till ridge. However one of the members slipped and was injured. The team members helped in the rescue and the attempt was given up. Then came the alpine-style and completely free climb of the peak- a wonderful first ascent by two British climbers, Graham Little and Jim Lowther. Starting their climb in dark they pioneered a steep line and climbed without fixing any ropes. They reached the highest point on the ridge which they called Suj Tilla West (6373 m). About 200 m away and 21 m higher they could see the peak of Suj Tilla East (6394 m) which is marked on the map. It was not possible fo
Within few days they were followed by a team from the Indian Navy who fixed 1100 m of ropes and following almost the same route reached the same point, to make a worthwhile second ascent of the peak. Suj Tilla West (6373 m) (earlier known as Suitilla) (A) Expedition: Indo- British team, First Ascent Leaders: Paramjit Singh and Graham Little This small team attempted this virgin peak in the Ralam valley in the eastern Kumaun. Paramjit Singh and member Alka Sabarwal had to return early because of an infection and ailment, while Graham Little and Jim Lowther continued the attempt. They approached via the Shyangalpa glacier and established the base camp on 17^th September and subsequent camps, Camp 2 at 5270 m by 28^th September. They climbed a superb line free and without any rope fixed. Their attempt on northwest face was given up while they climbed southwest face on 27^th and 28^th September reaching the summit. They had called the route of the south face as the ‘Moonlight Route’. This is what Jim Lowther had to write about the climb: Graham and I climbed the peak in pure Alpine style in a 22 hour long continuous push. By the time we got to the western summit at 6373 m (which we thought was going to be the highest point on the ridge but turned out not to be) we were totally spent and didn't have any reserves left to traverse the ridge to the other, higher, eastern point which we now believe to be 21 metres higher. We had to get down fast because we had no bivvi gear. This we did, and when we met up with the Navy a day later we told their leader about the height differences of the two summits. The western summit that we climbed is the one which you'd naturally assume is the highest point as it is the dominant snow peak visible from Ralam; the eastern summit is set back along the ridge. (Article, HJ Vol. 59) (B) Expedition: Indian Navy, Second Ascent Leader: Lt Cdr Satyabrata Dam Dates: September to Oct 2002 Peak Climbed: Suj Tilla West (6373 m) by the southwest face (Divyesh Muni, Lt Amit Pande, Sherpa Nima Dorje on 06 Oct 2002) and (Lt K S Balaji, Lt Amit Rajora, CHERA Rajkumar, PO A. Chaudhury, Sherpa Tsange Puri and Nima Thondup on 11 Oct 2002). The expedition to Suj Tilla was the first in the series of expeditions planned by the Indian Navy. The nine member team along with the support team of 5 Sherpas and two member camera crew established Base Camp (4220 m) at the upper plateau near the bottom of the Yankjari dhura (pass) on 23 Sep. It took several days of load ferry across the Yankjari dhura to establish ABC (4670 m) on the Yankjari glacier on 28 Sep. Beyond ABC the route went through a dreadful icefall, past huge crevasses and rocky cliffs showering stones and boulders from the top. Camp 1 (5350 m), located above the line of a gigantic crevasse, and right below the southwest face of Suj Tilla West, was occupied on 1 October by 4 members and two Sherpas. After a detailed study of the face and the ice and the rock condition, both of which were far from safe, it was decided to climb the face directly and not take the west ridge as it had been intended earlier.
The steep face offered gradients up to 70 degrees and even above at two pitches, with a minimum gradient of 50 degrees at the starting of the real climb. The climb involved technical rock and ice pitches of very high order and the team was constantly under the shower of shooting rocks and ice chunks. The team fixed almost 1100 m of ropes on the route and the line followed was same as used by Graham Little and Jim Lowther a few days earlier during their first ascent. With a good spell of weather the face was opened for 4 days and the first summit attempt on 06 Oct culminated after a continuous climb of 15 hrs in 3 members reaching the heavily corniced summit. After the first summit party descended, the weather took a turn for the worst and Camp 1 was vacated post-haste. The second summit team of 6 members occupied Camp 1 on 10 Oct and in a speedy ascent all of them reached the summit of Suj Tilla West on 11 Oct 2002. Though the team had intended to climb the Ralam dhura (pass), the plan was abandoned due to extreme inclement weather. 1st Ascent : by Lt. Srinivas Balaji and PO Anirban Chowdury on 1st October 2002 by the north ridge. 2nd ascent by Vineeta and Divyesh Muni by the east ridge on 11th October 2002. (Lt Cdr Satyabrata Dam) Article HJ Vol. 59
c ) Expedition: The Indian Mountaineering Foundation Leader: Loveraj Dharamshaktu In May the team from IMF attempted the peak of Suj Tilla. They fixed ropes till 5700 m and were preparing for an attempt at the summit. However while climbing the fixed ropes a member unroped and slipped on the steep slopes. He was injured and the members had to help in the rescue. The attempt was given up.

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