CORRESPONDENCE

Harish Kapadia
Lt. Nawang Kapadia Chowk
72 Vijay Apartments,
16, Carmichael Road,
Mumbai 400 026

Hon. Editor,
The Himalayan Journal,
Mumbai

Dear Rajesh,

Please refer to my article in the Himalayan Journal, Vol. 67, titled ‘A Peak, A Pass and A Monastery’. On page 143, I had credited the first ascent of the peak ‘Karcha Parvat’ (6270 m) to the party of Trevor Braham and Peter Holmes in 1955. This was based on the book Himalayan Odyssey by Trevor Braham. On page 111 of the book Braham mentions ascent of a peak 19,500 ft while Karcha Parvat is 20,570 ft (6270 m). It was erroneous to confuse the peak climbed by Braham and Holmes with Karcha Parvat. Holmes had also climbed a peak of 20,800 ft (1956) at the head of the east Gyundi valley. Thus there was confusion about location of Karcha Parvat in 1950s.

Numerous surveys were made by Holmes, K. Berril and Joss Lynam. Finally point 20,570 ft was determined to be ‘Berill’s Peak’ and later changed to ‘Karcha Parvat’. During the Shelbourne Spiti-Kulu- expedition, 1958 (led by J. G. G. Stephenson), Joss Lynam prepared a map of the area putting the peak in proper position. The peak was climbed by an Irish expedition, led by Mike Curran, in 1977. See article ‘To wander at will and free of charge: The Irish in Himachal Pradesh’ by Paddy O’Leary in Journal of the Irish Mountaineering and Exploration Historical Society, Vol. 3, 2012, page 57.¹

I am grateful to Paddy O’Leary, a leading Irish mountaineer, for pointing this out to me, which now stands corrected.

Harish Kapadia

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