RAIN POURED DOWN AND clouds loomed as our 4WD Tata inched around the huge boulder that had been washed onto the road. The gap between the rockfall and the precipitous slope down into the Indus had looked impossibly narrow, and the brave mountaineers had all jumped out, leaving the driver to exercise his skills alone.
Rain and fallen rocks could not diminish our enthusiasm for the journey, because we were driving east from Leh, into territory that had long been closed to foreign climbers, and refused to us two years before. We had passed the junction with the military road down to the Rohtang la, opened some 10 years ago, and now were well into Rupshu. This really was going to be an exploration of the unknown: our geographical knowledge of the area come from American military maps that pre-dated most roads, and mis-spelt many names. All we had seen of Rupshu was a TV documentary film about the wildlife of Tso Moriri. However, the last few years had seen articles in the Himalayan Journal1 and Indian Mountaineer2 and an exploration of the area by the Bombay mountaineers. And best of all we had recommendations for two easily accessible peaks from Harish Kapadia, and permission to climb them both.
Our first target was Chakula (6529 m). This is part of a group immediately NE of Chumathang, an army base about one day’s drive from Leh. The group is complex: on the western side a steep and rocky ridge runs approx. N to S, and from this a series of ridges run E to W, forming a number of cirques on the eastern side. This produces several peaks around 6000 m, of which Chakula is the highest, and at the centre of the group. Cairns are visible on some of the summits, and there is scope for all manner of climbing.. Plenty of snow covers the ridges, which enclose small glaciers, and the N faces are steep and ice covered. The rock varies, but in places is reassuringly solid and blocky.
Footnote
Photos 25-26-27
Chakula Group Ladakh
Rather than attempt Chakula from the roadside on its western rampart, we decided to come in from the east. Mahe is the furthest that we were allowed to go in that direction, and from this small village with its gompa, a trail leads N towards the Pangong Tso. We hired ponies and a donkey from the monks, and transported our base camp over two passes to the beautiful and isolated valley of Yaye Tso, where there is summer grazing for yaks and sheep, and plenty of water. From here it was possible to explore the eastern valleys of the range, and find a site for ABC in a grassy hollow below the terminal moraine of Chakula glacier. The interconnecting ridges that make up the range are accessible at a number of points, where truncated spurs slope down to the scrubby slopes of the flat valley system. Here there are pools and lakes (one of which, curiously, is covered in ice despite being comparatively low) and trails used by herders.
Over the next few days we established a cache of equipment at the glacier snout, having found a way through the extensive moraine. Following the dome-shaped glacier almost to its end at the head of the cirque, took us to below the gullies that run up the S flanks of the mountain. This would be our bivouac site from which to launch an ascent. There were no crevasses evident, and the small avalanches from the icy N face of the peak opposite Chakula were no threat. Above the gullies, a steep snow ramp gave access the upper face, which looked like a reasonably angled snowfield. This, we hoped, could be climbed in a day. The only other approach to the S face snowfield would be via the eastern ridge, which seemed to be largely made up of loose rock.
And so we came to 12/13 August, the only feasible summit days (given our tight schedule). In deteriorating weather we marched up the glacier and set up the bivouac. Heavy clouds blew in, and we hurriedly cooked a brew by torch light, with spindrift whistling about our ears, and scrambled into bivvy bags before it got any worse. There were four of us, huddled together in a shallow pit dug in the glacier: myself, Trevor Willis, Richard Law and our L.O. Narinder Singh. At 4.00 a.m. our planned start time, wind and snow conditions were still severe, and we stayed in our bags until the cloud began to lift, giving some hope for the remainder of the day. While Trevor melted snow for breakfast and a brew, we dug the ropes and equipment out of the drifts, and set off. Time was short, and the gully, rocky near the bottom, proved to be thick with soft snow. Trevor, Richard and Narinder took turns at the gruelling work of kicking steps. The snow did not improve with height and climbing the gully took much longer than the hour or two we had hoped for. When we reached the crest of the ridge we were exhausted. With all of the main snowfield still to climb, and conditions continuing soft, it was obvious we could not reach the summit before dark. It was time to give up.
Pologongka Group Ladakh
Back at Mahe two days later, we met the lorry that was to transport us to the next peak-Pologongka. It was a fascinating journey, with hot sulphur springs colouring the bleak arid landscape. The road crosses the Indus, and skirts a long line of mountains on their southern side, reaching its highest point at the Pologongka la, before descending to the salt lakes of the Thugje Chenmo plains. Although higher than Chakula, the peaks in this group carry much less snow, and the south side is windswept and rocky, with the occasional shrinking glacier. Our base camp was just below the pass, literally at the roadside, on soft ground near streams. The numerous small holes proved to be burrows-home to a colony of hamsters. Every day herds of yak and flocks of sheep and goats were driven over the pass, and occasional jeep loads of tourists drove by on their way from Tso Moriri. Climbing the slopes S of the road gave a good view of the complex northern skyline. Steep sided spurs, truncated by the broad pass, run down from the main spine that runs westwards from Thugje (6148 m), the peak which looms over the Tso Kar salt lake. Pologongka (6632 m) is the highest point of a long ridge, in fact the western spur of a huge irregular cirque. It has an eastern twin (from which it is separated by a deep notch in the ridge) that is a little lower. Joined to the main ridge are several minor peaks, both inside and outside the cirque.
Despite cloudless skies base camp was a cold place, exposed to an almost constant wind which swept over the bleak pass. In contrast, the valleys below the mountain were very sheltered, and we pitched advanced base camp in a sunny spot at the foot of a ridge, made up of broken rock, leading straight towards the summit of Pologongka. On 29 August we were ready to go. For this attempt there were just three of us: Richard, Narinder and myself. With weather conditions nearly perfect we set off well before dawn, up the tumbled boulder scree that made up the lower slopes of the ridge. As the ridge narrowed, the route became self defined, and with increasing frequency there were outcrops of solid rock to climb, and snow patches to negotiate. Finally, atop the last rock buttress was the summit plateau a broad, gently sloping snow slope.
At the highest point was a cairn, and we gathered here to fly flags and admire the considerable view. Pologongka, being the highest of an isolated group enjoys views in all directions. Tso Moriri, its surrounding peaks and the Chalung and Chakula groups were closest, whilst the Eastern Karakoram loomed to the north. Beyond Tso Moriri could be seen the snowy mass of Gya on the border of Spiti and Tibet. South and west was a dazzling array with the Greater Himalayan, Ladakh, Zanskar, and Kishtwar ranges crowding the horizon in splendid profusion.
We split up to descend: Richard was feeling particularly fit, and wanted to continue round the ridge before losing height. Narinder and I took the quick way down, following the steep snow and ice at the western end of the ridge down into the notch between Pologongka and its neighbour. This was a superbly rapid way down, ending in a rubble-filled gully with a shrunken glacier at its base, the ice mass sitting in a small glacial pool among rocks, like a stranded whale. The gully broadened out, and led back to the rocky pastures around ABC. Richard’s traverse was not without interest: apart from the risk of cornices, there were ice and rock obstacles to avoid with awkward traverses, until the ridge ended at a large buttress that is visible from base camp. From here descent down a steep stony gully brought him back to ABC.
To complete our circuit, we returned to Leh in one long day, via the Tso Kar salt lakes, and over the Tanglang la.
SUMMARY
The first ascent of Pologongka (6632 m) peak on 20 August 1997 by a British team. The attempted Chakula (6529 m).