A VISIT TO THE USHNU GOL (NE. CHITRAL), 1968

M. H. WESTMACOTT

once upon a time, I suppose, the difficulty was to locate the mountains one wanted to explore. Nowadays, for the Hindu Kush at least, the main problem is to find an area not already worked over by too many parties. We believed in early 1968 that we had found such an area at the head of the Ushnu Gol, which is fed by the Kotgaz and Chhutidum glaciers. Akher Chioh and Kotgaz Zom had been climbed (A .J., LXXIX, p. 225) and so had Lunkho East, but there seemed to be plenty of scope for further exploration.

We were a party of four—Trevor Braham, Hugh Thomlinson (doctor), my wife Sally, and myself. We decided at an early stage that we would not attempt to equip porters for high altitudes, though we would use them to help set up the first camps above base. Modest as our ambitions were, there still seemed to be a fair amount of correspondence to and from Trevor, in Pakistan, and a lot of kit and food to be transported there. We were a 'tourist' party rather than an officially sanctioned 'expedition', so we did not benefit from the customs exemption granted by the Pakistan Government to expeditions ; the most heavily penalized import appears to be food.

We arrived by air in Chitral on 21 July. The service from Peshawar is well run but its frequency is unreliable. If the weather is bad, the planes do not leave for some days and there is a build-up of waiting passengers and cargo. We were lucky on the way in, but on the return Trevor and Hugh were forced to go by road, paying four or five times as much for the privilege.

Soon after arrival we had an unexpected invitation to lunch. Our host was Shahzada Burhan-ud-Din, uncle of the present Mehtar of Chitral, black-bearded, bustling and infinitely hospitable. Our fellow guests at his house, seven or eight miles from Chitral, were 13 Japanese climbers, two biologists, one Swiss and the other Pakistani, a solemn German photographer and an English student recovering in the Shahzada's house from some disease he had contracted while living with the hippies in the bazar. We heard that there were no less than 15 Japanese expeditions reveal before we left—not that we could have done anything about it-and one of the things which contributed to our party's lack of success in the mountains. We set out on 23 July in two thoroughly overloaded jeeps and drove to Maroi, 22 miles away, (When" we returned, six weeks later, the road had been very completely washed away about 10 miles from Chitral) At Maroi we engaged eight donkeys, with their attendants, and set off to walk the 75 miles to Base Camp.

Kotgaz - Chhutidum  area 1968

Kotgaz - Chhutidum area 1968

We were not very fit, and some of us found the heat trying. Trevor, on his thirteenth expedition, said he had never known it as hot before, and Hugh suffered badly from both heat and insect-bites. We took three and a half days to get from Maroi to Burzund, beyond which the donkey-men said they could not go. There were days of barren rocky valleys punctuated by the rich green of villages every two or three hours, reminiscent to us of the Atlas but much hotter. The most gruelling day was the crossing of the high Kang Lasht plateau between the Mastuj and its tributary the Mulikho, beyond Kuragh, which in spite of a 5 a.m. start involved four or five hours in full sun on the bare, brown plateau, without water or shade. As consolation, there were marvellous views of Buni Zom to the south and Tirich Mir, Istor-o-Nal and Saraghar to the west and north.

At Burzund, we camped in an orchard by kind permission of the owner, one MaqsudMurad Khan, and started negotiations for porters. We soon found out that demarcation disputes are not confined to British industry. The men of Ushnu would not permit anyone but themselves to carry for an expedition in the Ushnu Gol. They were labelled rogues and robbers by the men of Wasisch, who themselves have a monopoly of the Ziwar Gol The first lot of porters we engaged were to carry us simply from Burzund to Ushnu, half a day's march, for five rupees. It was agreed one night, but the next morning they struck for more pay, only a hundred yards from camp! This was not a shrewd move, as we merely retired to Maqsud's pleasant garden and let them go , we know that weakness at this point would cost us dear later on. Trevor and I walked on to Ushnu and engaged porters through ‘Havildar' Said Ahman, one of the leading men of the village.

The journey from Burzund to Base Camp at the head of the Ushnu Gol took us two and a half days. The Gol itself is deeply cut, steep-sided, with the track winding generally far above the torrent, sometimes down beside it where the valley is slightly wider. It began to be a bit cooler, but it was hard work as we gained height, and Hugh arrived at the first camp exhausted and with a high temperature. He and I stayed there with one of the porters for 24 hours, while the rest of the party went on. For about half the length of the Gol there is a reasonably good track, since the villagers bring cattle there to graze in summer. Beyond that, there are only tracks left by expeditions ; we knew by this time that there was an Austrian expedition ahead of us, and later on a Japanese party also visited the Gol. The only major obstacle on the way up is the crossing of the Shahgologh torrent, which had been bridged for the Austrians by their porters, but had to be bridged again for us.

We were all together again at Base Camp on the evening of 31 July. It was a pleasant spot at the foot of the Chhutidum terminal moraine, with lovely water and a mass of golden ragwort and purple river beauty ; Sally and I had last seen river beauty in the Brooks Range, and the sight brought back memories. The view to the south was dominated by the beautiful north face of Noghor Zom, a mountain we would dearly have liked to climb. We saw the Austrian party reach the top of it a few days later.

Our first sortie was a reconnaissance of the Chhutidum glacier. With the help of two Wasisch porters, Abdul Akak and Abzar Khan, we carried up loads and established a camp at about 4,600 m., below Lunkho West, after spending a day locating a very easy route from Base Camp up the ablation valley to the east of the glacier. Trevor and Hugh, and then Sally and I, occupied the camp for a couple of days, making our way to the upper basin of the Chhutidum and examining the possibilities from there. They were not encouraging. The south face of Lunkho East offered two routes, the unclimbed south-west ridge, a soaring line reminiscent of the Breithorn Younggrat, and the south-east rib, climbed by a Japanese party to the summit in 1967. Lunkho West, which we had hoped to climb, was repellent— mostly steep rock, apparently of very poor quality, seamed by narrow gullies subject to stone-fall. To the south was the north face of Peak 6,441 m. (labelled on some maps Chhutidum Zom) which was clearly avalanche-prone. We learned later that this had been climbed by a German party in 1967. I thought I could perhaps see a possible line up its west ridge, but it would have involved technical climbing with loads for at least one higher camp.

Sally and I returned to Base, perhaps better acclimatized but somewhat discouraged, to find Trevor crippled by a poisoned foot. In the heat of the walk to Base Camp he had suffered badly from blisters, and one of them was deeply infected. In spite of antibiotics, he was unable to walk for two weeks.

It was essential to modify our objectives. We were down to three, with Hugh not yet fully fit and having difficulty in eating enough—he complained much less about this than I would have done. The two porters had now returned to the valley, though they had helped us before they went to take stores up to a high cwm between the Chhutidum and Kotgaz, as well as for the camp on the Chhutidum which we had just vacated; unfortunately, we could not equip them to come any higher. We decided to concentrate on the unnamed glaciers directly north of our Base Camp, which as far as we knew had never been visited ; this was confirmed by the porters, but turned out to be quite untrue.

Hugh and I set off on 10 August. We made camp above a long moraine rib leading up from the foot of the Chhutidum, in a rocky hanging valley just below the unnamed glaciers. Next day we made our way to the small glacier to the north-west. Above it, there were three possible objectives, peaks marked as 5,681 m. and 6,196 m. on the map, and a third which was also probably over 6,000 m. Peak 5,681 m., which we decided to go for, is called Wakhikah Rah on some maps, but this means Afghan Pass, and the name should no doubt apply to the pass just to the north.

During the next few days Sally, Hugh and I established a camp at perhaps 4,800 m. on the western arm of the glacier, not far below the Wakhikah Rah, and stocked it with enough food for several days, with the idea of tackling both 5,681 and 6,196. The 1967 German party had made an attempt on Peak 5,681 m„ but had failed due to lack of acclimatization. In the course of the building-up operation, we found to our disgust a cigarette packet on the glacier. Once Sally and I were driven down to Base by persistent bad weather (we had been told the monsoon does not reach Chitral—an oversimplification, it appears), but on 17 August we found ourselves at last in the high camp, ready for an attempt next day.

We nearly did not start. The ground-sheet had leaked badly and our foam mattresses and sleeping-bags were sodden when we woke; we waited for the sun to hit the tent before we could summon the necessary enthusiasm. We finally left camp at 8.30 a.m., but the snow was firm and we did not need the rope until we had reached the col and were some way above it. The first section was a steep and heart-breaking snow slope, 45 degrees for over 1,500 feet, generally easy as it was covered in ‘snow fences’ which provided excellent steps, but consistently exhausting and occasionally icy. After this, a level section of ridge, in which I sank to the thighs in rotten snow, annoyed that Sally only went in knee-deep, followed by a steep pitch which involved a bergschrund and a traverse across a steep wall. The wall consisted of a thin layer of good snow, over rotten snow, over hard ice—we were relieved to reach a good rock belay.

The ridge went on, now straightforward, now moderately steep and icy. At about 3 p.m. we cramponned up an exposed section and found the top just ahead of us—three rock pinnacles on a beautifully sculptured snow ridge. It was one of the most delightful summits I have known, and there was a tremendous view— Akher Chioh and Koh-i-Tez to the south-west, to the south Noghor Zom which we were surprised to see definitely below us, Peak 6,196 m. to the north-east and the Lunkhos further along the frontier ridge. Across the Wakhan, we could see what must be the Pamirs.

We spent half an hour on top having lunch, but there was little time to spare. Having made up our minds that morning that we were not going to ‘push it’ we had brought neither bivouac equipment nor torch, so it behoved us to get down quickly. It took us just two and a half hours back to camp.

If we had only known, this was the time to pack up the expedition and go home, but as it was we felt we had good prospects still. Trevor and Hugh were to come up to the high camp and either repeat Peak 5,681 m. or attempt Peak 6,196 m., which appeared to be easy, if boring, from the col. After that, and after Trevor's departure home, the three of us remaining could turn our attention to other nearby peaks or even pay a further visit to the Chhutidum. In the event, we had nothing but frustration. Trevor, whose foot was much better, came up to the first camp, but then found himself suffering badly from urticaria. Diagnosis was uncertain, and it was at first thought lie might have developed an allergy to his sleeping-bag, in which he had certainly spent an inordinate length of time, but reaction to the antibiotic seems more likely. Leaving camp with Hugh, Trevor struggled up for two or three hundred feet, but was unable to continue. There was nothing left for him to do but to return to civilization, and it was clear that Hugh should go with him, both to look after him and because Hugh himself was keen to return early.

Sally and I discussed whether to go, too, but we thought it worth while to stay to have a crack at Peak 6,196 m., now the camp and stores were in place. For this it was essential to have some support, as the route to the glacier camp was heavily crevassed and the snow was getting increasingly soft. Now that the others were leaving, we had bedding and tents enough for two porters, so we asked Abdul Akak and Abzar Khan to rejoin us. They came up on 25 August, and we started immediately for the first camp. On the 26th we were at the glacier camp, ready to climb next day. On the 27th, it snowed all day. On the 28th it still snowed, and it was obvious that the route on Peak 6,196 m. would be avalanchy, so we packed up and brought down the top camp. On the 29th, more snow, though we had time in the morning to make a short reconnaissance of the other unnamed glacier, to the north-east of our camp. On the 30th, more snow again, so we gave up and returned to Base.

At Base, of course, the weather cleared while we waited for porters from Ushnu, and the sky was unclouded for the 95-mile walk back to Chitral Town. This we did in five days, the 85 miles from Ushnu taking us three and a half. We did not want to hang around, but the main reason for speed was that we had agreed with the porters, after many hours of negotiations, a fixed rate from Ushnu to Chitral irrespective of the number of days en route. Two of the porters used donkeys instead of carrying the loads themselves, and the other three acquired a series of assistants who helped from time to time when the pace got too hot. They would have had to carry us, if the road to Chitral had been much longer.

View west from peak 5,681 m., second summit in foreground; Kotgaz glacier on left

View west from peak 5,681 m., second summit in foreground; Kotgaz glacier on left

⇑ Top