THE AUSTRIAN HINDU KUSH EXPEDITION OF 1963

(Translated by Hugh Merrick)

SEPP KUTSCHERA

In the autumn of 1962 an Austrian expedition had successfully reconnoitred Koh-i-Kesnikhan (7,200 metres) in the Eastern Hindu Kush. The Austrian Hindu Kush Expedition of 1963 left Leoben on June 11 to follow up the work of its predecessor.

It consisted entirely of students of the Mountain High School in Leoben and, like the previous expedition, was under the leadership of Sepp Kutschera. Its other members were Luis Maier, Rainer Weiss and Werner Pongratz.

Our four-man party and its baggage travelled overland by lorry, reaching Kabul in very quick time, without encountering any trouble, on July 1. On the 16th we reached the end of the lorry route, some 500 miles north-east of Kabul, at the hamlet of Warg, on the upper Amu Darya, at the entrance to the Wakhan Corridor. Here we enrolled 16 porters and completed the very short ascent to our Base Camp at 4,358 metres during the next two days. We then sent all the porters back to Warg, as they were unsuitable for high-altitude carrying. After siting a depot at 5,395 metres, the leader of the party and Pongratz were able to occupy Camp I (5,430 metres) as early as July 23. This camp was situated above a great ice-cliff giving access to a continuation of the route by way of a steep ice-slope. This was climbed next day by the same pair, carrying equipment for two more high- altitude camps ; at 6,000 metres they established Camp II, below a prominent dome of neve, while Weiss and Maier moved up to occupy Camp I. The next day was spent as a rest day in camp by both parties. On July 26 Kutschera and Pongratz executed a short traverse below the dome, to reach the west ridge between it and the summit of Kesnikhan; they then followed the ridge to about 6,500 metres where, towards dusk, they established Camp III. The rest of the way to the summit now lay clearly visible. On the following day they climbed the so-called 'Roof, a very abrupt wall of ice, offering the only approach route to the secondary summit. Proceeding over this, they gained a footing on the equally steep summit structure, where they encountered sheer polished ice. A short, narrow snow arete led from here to the 7,200-metre summit of Koh-i-Kesnikhan, which Kutschera and Pongratz reached about 11 a.m. (local time).

Koh-I-warg (6,500 m.) and Koh-I-spurditsch (6,300 m.) route

Koh-I-Kesnikhan (7,200 m.) from Koh-I-warg

Koh-I-kesnikhan (7,200 m.) route

An uneventful descent brought them down to Camp III in the evening. Here they met Maier and Weiss, who had moved up from Camp II and brought off a second ascent of the summit on the following day. The whole party was back at Base on July 29. During the next few days, the high camps were evacuated and Koh-i-Kalat, a fine 5,600-metre peak on the true left flank of the valley, was also climbed.

Returning to Warg on August 7, the expedition passed on into the next valley to the west of the Kesnikhan Valley two days later; this they named the Warg Valley. A Base Camp was established at 4,200 metres, and the head of the valley reconnoitred. It is formed by two splendid ice-peaks, Koh-i-Warg (6,500 metres) and Koh-i-Spurditsch (6,300 metres).

Camp I was established on August 15 at 5,130 metres. On the next day Kutschera, Maier and Pongratz ascended the true right- hand arm of the glacier, finding a route between gigantic crevasses, and then climbed a short, steep ridge of neve to reach the West Ridge of Koh-i-Warg, where they sited Camp II at 6,200 metres. On the 17th, all three reached the summit by way of a steep ice-slope and the heavily-corniced summit ridge. After spending a further night at Camp II, they proceeded westwards along the ridge leading to 6,300 metres Koh-i-Spurditsch. Half-way along it, they left their rucksacks at a col (c. 5,790 metres) and continued along the peak's east ridge, which is interrupted by a very difficult rock step of about 152 metres, to the summit. A somewhat hazardous descent brought them back to Camp I late in the night.

The expedition had thus climbed all the worth-while peaks in the group. On August 28 it was back in Kabul, and on September 14 all its members, in excellent condition, were safely home at Leoben.

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