WAKHAN CORRIDOR AND LUNKHO, 1968

ALES KUNAVER

Scottish Expedition: P. V. Brian, D. B. Martin, R. A. P. Mellor, R. A. North, I. G. Rowe (leader), R. J. Tancred.

We were eventually given permission to visit this area when already in Kabul. We hoped to climb Lunkho, then the highest unclimbed peak in the range, from the north (Ab-i-Ishmurkh), though we knew that an Austrian party was attempting it from our west, from the Ab-i-Khandut. The presence of a Yugoslav party in the latter valley and a French party to the east, in the Ab-i-Quala Panja, made it a busy year for the area and we were very glad to get permission, given that Poland and Czechoslovakia had seemed to hold a monopoly recently.

Base Camp was established on 29 July at an altitude of 13,650 feet and just below the glacier snout. In common with the other feeder valleys of the Oxus, ours rose up to the south and terminated in the barrier wall of the main chain, the border with Pakistan. Advanced Base was set up on the eastern flank of the glacier, below Uparisina, a giant Chardonnet of a mountain first climbed by Czechs in 1965. This camp (14,800 ft.) was stocked up while simultaneous reconnaissance penetrated to the icefall leading to a high glacier tucked into the Lunkho's northeastern back pocket by the arm of its north ridge. A high camp was established at 16,250 feet to the northern side of the bowl of this glacier, and the stocking of this and the increased stocking of Advanced Base were continued. Meanwhile from this camp a line to the foot of the north ridge was climbed by Brian and North. A subsequent attempt to stockpile food on the col of the north ridge was foiled by the first of a series of bad weather periods.

This heralded a time of increasing frustration. Two further attempts were made, each of which was beaten back by the weather. On the third attempt four members had to follow an obvious retreat into the Abi-i-Khandut, leaving behind them a stockpile above the major technical difficulties, which enabled North and Rowe on the fourth attempt to sit out a 24-hour blizzard in a snow cave.

WAKHAN: LUNKHO, 1968

North and Rowe reoccupied the snow cave on 2 September. This time the weather held good and the summit bid began at 2 a.m. on the 3rd. The going was extremely strenuous, very bad snow conditions aggravated by a toe-freezing ground wind, but after 13 hours the summit ridge was attained. At this date it was already known that the Austrians had forestalled us, and rather than risking benightment and further damage to North's already frost-bitten toes the party retreated without attaining the true summit, some 150 feet higher and half a mile distant.

In relation to the battle carried out on Lunkho the other work carried out by the members of the expedition seemed almost incidental. Attempts were made on Koh-i-Mina (21,096 ft.) and Koh-i-Quala Panja (20,761 ft.), both of which were unsuccessful due to adverse weather or snow conditions. A successful attempt on an 18,000-footer was made by Tancred and Mellor, and this was subsequently named Koh-i-Andaval.

The Eastern Hindu Kush and the headwaters of the Oxus, by their difficulty of access and legendary connotations, would repay any adventurous traveller. Coupled with unclimbed peaks of over 20,000 feet the area is for the climber rendered unique.

Ian Rowe

KHANDUT VALLEY

Yugoslavian Expedition:

After travelling by car from Yugoslavia, we established our Base Camp on a moraine on the north side of the Ab-i-Khandut (4,400 m.). We then met up with the Austrian expedition and climbed the two Lunkho summits together. Our starting-point for the final climb of the Lunkho Dosore summit (6,872 m.)— the most interesting summit in the valley—was a col at c. 6,500 metres on the ridge between Lunkho Dosore and Lunkho Hawar (113 m.). Dosore was climbed on 4 August by Draslar and Stupnik, and Hawar (6,872 m.) on 13 August by Belak and Sazonov. Between these dates, on account of bad weather, we were able only to climb Koh-i-Myiani (5,850 m.) on 9 August.

We subsequently evacuated all our camps on the north face of Lunkho and split into two groups to climb Koh-i-Hevad at 6,849 metres (18 August, Draslar and Kunaver) (previously climbed from the east by a Czechoslovakian expedition, 1965), and the unnamed peak at 5,902 metres (18 August, Belak and Stupnik), for which we propose the name Koh-i-Jashin. During this latter period, the fifth member of the expedition carried out scientific work and we all left on 24 August.

Ales Kunaver

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