Kuber Glacier Exploration and first Indian ascent of Sky Peak, June 2001
This expedition was probably the genesis of Adventure Mania. I found my report in Himalayan Journal's 2002 Expedition and Notes section. I am putting a copy of that report below:
EXPLORATION IN KUBER GLACIER
ANINDYA MUKHERJEE
OUR AIM WAS TO EXPLORE the less known plateau of Kuber glacier and evaluate possibilities of new high altitude trek routes in the area.
Kuber glacier is located to the east of Badrinath in the district of Joshimath (Uttaranchal). The coordinates of Kuber are 300 45′ N, and 790 31′ E. It is 3 km in length and 700 m wide. The height of its snout is 4008 m. The most dominant peak of Kuber is Nar Parvat (5855 m). The glacier is located at 790 33′ 30″ E and 330 44′ 50″ N, to the west of Nar Parvat. Kuber glacier stretches from east to west.
There is another interesting peak on the southwest ridge originating from Nar Parvat. This is the ‘Sky Peak’, climbed and christened by the famous ‘Ocean to Sky’ expedition of Sir Edmund Hillary in 1978.
History of Kuber
In 1978, after the ‘Jet Boat’ part of the famous ‘Ocean to Sky’ expedition was over, the team trekked their way on to Hemkund and Valley of Flowers, before attempting Narayan Parvat. They could not climb Narayan and instead attempted its companion Nar Parvat. Here another misfortune awaited them. Sir Hillary fell seriously ill with pulmonary oedema at Camp 1 (5360 m) Two helicopters of Indian Air Force flew on an evacuation mission the same day. But their attempts to land were foiled by bad weather. Luckily the weather relented and Ed was flown to Mana and then further to Bareilly. Three members, Peter Hillary, Murray Jones and Graeme Dingle finally climbed an unnamed peak (5850 m), which they symbolically named as ‘Sky’. They sprinkled Ganga water on the top of the peak.
We were the second team in Kuber and the first Indian team in the area. We were certainly thrilled to follow such famous footsteps.
The Journey
I started from Kolkata on 27 May, 2001, reaching Joshimath on 29 May. Balbir Burphel of Joshimath joined me there and we moved to Malari by jeep. We trekked to Gamsali village on the same day. On 31st Balbir and me entered the Amrit Ganga valley.
The Trek
On 31 May 2001 Balbir and myself moved west from Gamsali. After worshipping at the temple of Dani, we crossed the Amrit Ganga river and thereafter followed it’s true right bank. We intended to cross the famous Bhuindhar Kanta but did not follow the traditional track that follows through Thaur Udiyar and Eri Udiyar. We trekked beyond the vicinity of Thaur Udiyar and camped on the right lateral moraine SSE of the legendary Kakbhushandi Peak (5830 m). Next morning we had a grand view of Nilgiri Parvat (6474 m) to our west.
On 1 June, we moved south and entered the sanctum of Rataban (6166 m). Rataban north face was standing with all its grandeur. In this small valley, two glaciers join hands (one from Bhuindhar Khal and one from Rataban) and move north to join the main flow of Bankund glacier. That day we camped below the khal. It was a memorable night with high velocity wind funneling down from the pass. On 2 June, we moved west. Ours was going to be the earliest
crossing of the Khal of the year as most of the crossing generally takes place in July to October. We negotiated a steep ice slope and after a long traverse reached the top of the pass. Its altitude is 5090 m. We had a good view of Ghori Parvat (6708 m) and Rataban from the pass to the Bhuinder Valley side. The descent to Tipra glacier side was through treacherous snow slops involving long traverses and steep descent. Finally, we camped at Dhara Kharak. This name is given by ‘Shepherds’ as numerous waterfalls surround the camping ground. The enormous icefall coming from the south face of Rataban was the backdrop of our campsite. 3 June, was a cloudy day. We started early and traversed the Tipra glacier to SW and soon climbed up its right lateral moraine and entered the Valley of Flowers. We passed Chakulthela, Tipra Kharak and walked on the bed of Bhuindhar Ganga. Then after crossing Bamni Dhaur we reached Ghangharia and started down the valley to reach the bus head of Govind Ghat by late afternoon. By 06.00 p.m. we reached Joshimath. Thus the first part of our trek was over.
Quest for Kuber
On 4 June, Balbir and me reached Badrinath and Joined the Kuber glacier exploration team. It was a day of reunion and rest. We arranged for 3 LAPs took care of the last minute shopping, and went for a recce. We talked to bakriwalas and villagers of Mana. According to the map, the Kuber glacier is located directly east of Badrinath. We agreed on a direct approach from Badri.
Trek to Base Camp
On 6 June, we moved direct east from Badri and moved up the grassy spur. The going was tough due to a steep gradient. There was no track or trail. In most of the places we literally had to climb using the grass bunches as hand and foot holds. After 4 hours of strenuous but rewarding scrambling we reached our Transit Camp. Our TC was a beautiful, green, level patch of ground among vertical surroundings. It rained during the night but the next day dawned fine. We woke up under the ever watchful eyes of Nilkanth (6596 m). Urvashi and Narayan peaks looked like it’s two arms. After breakfast, we climbed eastwards. Very soon, we faced steep icy remains of winter snow on the upper part of the slope. We cut steps and fixed rope on the ice slope for the safe passage of the team. Then we moved a little to the north and climbed up a dangerously loose boulder zone. Then again took to the east. Dense fog was interrupting our progress intermittently. After 5 hours of toil we saw the icefall of Kuber glacier. A suitable site was found for making our base camp. The icefall was to our north. To our east was a 600 ice slope with four intermittent rock bands. To reach the upper plateau of Kuber we have to negotiate this very wall. To our SE was a rocky peak of 4319 m.
Beyond Base Camp
On 8 June, myself, Abbas and Balbir put our climbing boots on and started climbing the wall. Ice axes became a burden on the rock step. Very soon we were rock climbing with crampons on. We were relieved to see last of the rock bands. Then after steep climbing on hard ice, we reached a decent slope that led to the plateau. Clouds were closing in on us and we cut a shelf on the slope and pitched a tent. A mild drizzle of powder snow continued for the rest of the day.
On 9 June, the entire Kuber plateau was blanketed by heavy mist. It was impossible to find our route on the plateau. Still we pressed on, with the aid of a compass towards east. We climbed three humps but the curtain of mist showed no sign of improvement. Over the top of the third hump we waited for a long and frustrating hour but then gave up hope and went back to the camp. Around 3.30 p.m. blue sky appeared in the east. Balbir and myself went for a recce. This time we moved a little to the SE. After climbing two humps a fine, shapely, snow peak appeared on the far end of Kuber plateau. At the very first sight we recognized the peak. It was the Sky Peak, 5853 m. To its NE was Nar Parvat (5855 m). From Nar another ridge emanated towards west. On this ridge was a distinct col to climb Nar Parvat one would have to cross this col from Kuber plateau and attempt from its northern side. This might have required two more camps from our present point. So we turned our focus on Sky Peak. Between Sky and Nar Parvat lies a col that theoretically leads to the Khunt khal area. But the col was wearing a jacket of crevasses and a dangerous icefall guarded its descent. So we cancelled any probability of that route. However happy with our recce, Balbir and I returned to camp.
Ascent of Sky Peak
On June 10, Abbas, Balbir and myself started climbing the humps and within an hour reached the roof of Kuber plateau. We roped up and gained the NE ridge of Sky Peak. As soon as we reached the ridge a great view was waiting for us. We could now see Nanda Devi, Changabang, Kalanka, Dunagiri, Bethartoli Himal, Trisul and Ghori Parbat stretching from east to SE. We then turned south and started climbing the ridge. We climbed a 600 wall and gained the north shoulder of Sky. The summit ridge was sharp and beautiful. Carefully we negotiated the last steps and reached the summit of Sky at 08:00 a.m. We were happy and proud to be the first Indians on top of Sky. We did ‘puja’ on the summit and took photographs. Our eastern side was dominated by the Nanda Devi group and the same peaks were seen from the lower ridge. To our south west was the Vishnugarh dhar of the Khir ganga valley. We retraced our steps back to camp. We packed our tent and moved back to BC. The descent to BC was really treacherous. We climbed down cautiously and reached BC safely around noon.
The next day, we cleared BC and went down towards Badrinath. It was an endless descent. We made it to Badrinath by 2 p.m.
Team: Anindya Mukherjee (leader), S. K. Abbasuddin, Akash Parial, Diganta Roy Chowdhury, Subrata Bhattacharya and Balbir Burphel (HAS).
Summary: Exploration in Kuber glacier and ascent of Sky Peak, June 2001.
EXPLORATION IN KUBER GLACIER
ANINDYA MUKHERJEE
OUR AIM WAS TO EXPLORE the less known plateau of Kuber glacier and evaluate possibilities of new high altitude trek routes in the area.
Kuber glacier is located to the east of Badrinath in the district of Joshimath (Uttaranchal). The coordinates of Kuber are 300 45′ N, and 790 31′ E. It is 3 km in length and 700 m wide. The height of its snout is 4008 m. The most dominant peak of Kuber is Nar Parvat (5855 m). The glacier is located at 790 33′ 30″ E and 330 44′ 50″ N, to the west of Nar Parvat. Kuber glacier stretches from east to west.
There is another interesting peak on the southwest ridge originating from Nar Parvat. This is the ‘Sky Peak’, climbed and christened by the famous ‘Ocean to Sky’ expedition of Sir Edmund Hillary in 1978.
History of Kuber
In 1978, after the ‘Jet Boat’ part of the famous ‘Ocean to Sky’ expedition was over, the team trekked their way on to Hemkund and Valley of Flowers, before attempting Narayan Parvat. They could not climb Narayan and instead attempted its companion Nar Parvat. Here another misfortune awaited them. Sir Hillary fell seriously ill with pulmonary oedema at Camp 1 (5360 m) Two helicopters of Indian Air Force flew on an evacuation mission the same day. But their attempts to land were foiled by bad weather. Luckily the weather relented and Ed was flown to Mana and then further to Bareilly. Three members, Peter Hillary, Murray Jones and Graeme Dingle finally climbed an unnamed peak (5850 m), which they symbolically named as ‘Sky’. They sprinkled Ganga water on the top of the peak.
We were the second team in Kuber and the first Indian team in the area. We were certainly thrilled to follow such famous footsteps.
The Journey
I started from Kolkata on 27 May, 2001, reaching Joshimath on 29 May. Balbir Burphel of Joshimath joined me there and we moved to Malari by jeep. We trekked to Gamsali village on the same day. On 31st Balbir and me entered the Amrit Ganga valley.
The Trek
On 31 May 2001 Balbir and myself moved west from Gamsali. After worshipping at the temple of Dani, we crossed the Amrit Ganga river and thereafter followed it’s true right bank. We intended to cross the famous Bhuindhar Kanta but did not follow the traditional track that follows through Thaur Udiyar and Eri Udiyar. We trekked beyond the vicinity of Thaur Udiyar and camped on the right lateral moraine SSE of the legendary Kakbhushandi Peak (5830 m). Next morning we had a grand view of Nilgiri Parvat (6474 m) to our west.
On 1 June, we moved south and entered the sanctum of Rataban (6166 m). Rataban north face was standing with all its grandeur. In this small valley, two glaciers join hands (one from Bhuindhar Khal and one from Rataban) and move north to join the main flow of Bankund glacier. That day we camped below the khal. It was a memorable night with high velocity wind funneling down from the pass. On 2 June, we moved west. Ours was going to be the earliest
crossing of the Khal of the year as most of the crossing generally takes place in July to October. We negotiated a steep ice slope and after a long traverse reached the top of the pass. Its altitude is 5090 m. We had a good view of Ghori Parvat (6708 m) and Rataban from the pass to the Bhuinder Valley side. The descent to Tipra glacier side was through treacherous snow slops involving long traverses and steep descent. Finally, we camped at Dhara Kharak. This name is given by ‘Shepherds’ as numerous waterfalls surround the camping ground. The enormous icefall coming from the south face of Rataban was the backdrop of our campsite. 3 June, was a cloudy day. We started early and traversed the Tipra glacier to SW and soon climbed up its right lateral moraine and entered the Valley of Flowers. We passed Chakulthela, Tipra Kharak and walked on the bed of Bhuindhar Ganga. Then after crossing Bamni Dhaur we reached Ghangharia and started down the valley to reach the bus head of Govind Ghat by late afternoon. By 06.00 p.m. we reached Joshimath. Thus the first part of our trek was over.
Quest for Kuber
On 4 June, Balbir and me reached Badrinath and Joined the Kuber glacier exploration team. It was a day of reunion and rest. We arranged for 3 LAPs took care of the last minute shopping, and went for a recce. We talked to bakriwalas and villagers of Mana. According to the map, the Kuber glacier is located directly east of Badrinath. We agreed on a direct approach from Badri.
Trek to Base Camp
On 6 June, we moved direct east from Badri and moved up the grassy spur. The going was tough due to a steep gradient. There was no track or trail. In most of the places we literally had to climb using the grass bunches as hand and foot holds. After 4 hours of strenuous but rewarding scrambling we reached our Transit Camp. Our TC was a beautiful, green, level patch of ground among vertical surroundings. It rained during the night but the next day dawned fine. We woke up under the ever watchful eyes of Nilkanth (6596 m). Urvashi and Narayan peaks looked like it’s two arms. After breakfast, we climbed eastwards. Very soon, we faced steep icy remains of winter snow on the upper part of the slope. We cut steps and fixed rope on the ice slope for the safe passage of the team. Then we moved a little to the north and climbed up a dangerously loose boulder zone. Then again took to the east. Dense fog was interrupting our progress intermittently. After 5 hours of toil we saw the icefall of Kuber glacier. A suitable site was found for making our base camp. The icefall was to our north. To our east was a 600 ice slope with four intermittent rock bands. To reach the upper plateau of Kuber we have to negotiate this very wall. To our SE was a rocky peak of 4319 m.
Beyond Base Camp
On 8 June, myself, Abbas and Balbir put our climbing boots on and started climbing the wall. Ice axes became a burden on the rock step. Very soon we were rock climbing with crampons on. We were relieved to see last of the rock bands. Then after steep climbing on hard ice, we reached a decent slope that led to the plateau. Clouds were closing in on us and we cut a shelf on the slope and pitched a tent. A mild drizzle of powder snow continued for the rest of the day.
On 9 June, the entire Kuber plateau was blanketed by heavy mist. It was impossible to find our route on the plateau. Still we pressed on, with the aid of a compass towards east. We climbed three humps but the curtain of mist showed no sign of improvement. Over the top of the third hump we waited for a long and frustrating hour but then gave up hope and went back to the camp. Around 3.30 p.m. blue sky appeared in the east. Balbir and myself went for a recce. This time we moved a little to the SE. After climbing two humps a fine, shapely, snow peak appeared on the far end of Kuber plateau. At the very first sight we recognized the peak. It was the Sky Peak, 5853 m. To its NE was Nar Parvat (5855 m). From Nar another ridge emanated towards west. On this ridge was a distinct col to climb Nar Parvat one would have to cross this col from Kuber plateau and attempt from its northern side. This might have required two more camps from our present point. So we turned our focus on Sky Peak. Between Sky and Nar Parvat lies a col that theoretically leads to the Khunt khal area. But the col was wearing a jacket of crevasses and a dangerous icefall guarded its descent. So we cancelled any probability of that route. However happy with our recce, Balbir and I returned to camp.
Ascent of Sky Peak
On June 10, Abbas, Balbir and myself started climbing the humps and within an hour reached the roof of Kuber plateau. We roped up and gained the NE ridge of Sky Peak. As soon as we reached the ridge a great view was waiting for us. We could now see Nanda Devi, Changabang, Kalanka, Dunagiri, Bethartoli Himal, Trisul and Ghori Parbat stretching from east to SE. We then turned south and started climbing the ridge. We climbed a 600 wall and gained the north shoulder of Sky. The summit ridge was sharp and beautiful. Carefully we negotiated the last steps and reached the summit of Sky at 08:00 a.m. We were happy and proud to be the first Indians on top of Sky. We did ‘puja’ on the summit and took photographs. Our eastern side was dominated by the Nanda Devi group and the same peaks were seen from the lower ridge. To our south west was the Vishnugarh dhar of the Khir ganga valley. We retraced our steps back to camp. We packed our tent and moved back to BC. The descent to BC was really treacherous. We climbed down cautiously and reached BC safely around noon.
The next day, we cleared BC and went down towards Badrinath. It was an endless descent. We made it to Badrinath by 2 p.m.
Team: Anindya Mukherjee (leader), S. K. Abbasuddin, Akash Parial, Diganta Roy Chowdhury, Subrata Bhattacharya and Balbir Burphel (HAS).
Summary: Exploration in Kuber glacier and ascent of Sky Peak, June 2001.
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