SUMMARY

Attractive unnamed and unclimbed rock spires above Tetleh glacier. From left P5950 m, P5940 m and 5980 m as seen from west. It is possible that peaks are indeed higher. Photo: Matija Jošt

Slovenian alpinists Anastasija Davidova – Nastja and Matija Jošt – Matic traveled to Raru Mountains between 20^th July and 9^th September 2015. Raru mountains are in Zanskar region of Indian Himalaya. In this rarely visited area we set our base camp in most western valley of the massif in Tetleh Nala.  We were second western team it the valley, the first was in 2011 »IMPERIAL COLLEGE RARU VALLEY 2011 MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION«.  Almost all information about mountains surrounding Tetleh Nala we got from their excellent report. Once in the valley, we found enough nice mountaineering potential varying from one day walk to unclimbed 6000 meter peaks to very hard looking rock climbing objectives in faces up to 1000 m leading to unclimbed 6000 meter peaks. Our goal was to climb in pure light alpine style (classical alpinism like) to unclimbed mountains, leaving nature as much as we can unspoiled. Another aim of our visit was to contribute to mapping of the valley. During our 35 days long stay in the Tetleh Nala we managed to make (we believe) the first ascents of three previously unclimbed peaks Khumchu Ri (6064 m), Kun Long Ri (6058 m) and Ri Pok Te (6210 m). We also carried small GPS device and made some readings during our activities and produced a sketch map of the Tetleh Nala.

MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION

Members of the expedition from left to right Anastasija Davidova – Nastja, Matija Jošt – Matic, Chetan Pandey, Heera Singh, photo Anastasija Davidova

Anastasija Davidova – Nastja (36 years) deputy leader, nastjadavidova@gmail.com
Matija Jošt – Matic (44 years) expedition leader, maticjostsp@siol.net
Chetan Pandey, lasion officer (L.O.)
Heera Singh, cook

AGENCY IN INDIA

Himalayan Run&Trek Pvt. Ltd.

T-5, Manish Chamber Plot No.-6,

Block – B, Mayur Vihar Phase – 2,

Delhi – 110091, India

Managing Director: Chander Shekhhar Pandey   

Mail: hrtindia91@gmail.com

We cooperated with HRT for the third time and again we were very pleased. They provided excellent service and everything went very smoothly. Also their cook Heera was phenomenal. They provided us with all road and off-road transport in India up to our base camp, accommodation and food for the duration of the expedition.

INTRODUCTION

The Raru valley is located in northern India, in the Ladakh region, the state of Jamnu-Kashimir. It is named after Raru village (3800 m), which is the starting point for the expeditions visiting the area.

Raru village lies some 25 km south of Padam (capital of Zanskar) and can be reached by car. Raru Mountains massif is comprised of three bigger valleys - from east to west: Katkar Nala, Nateo Nala and Tetleh Nala. South of the massif is Miyar Glacier.  

Our expedition was focused on one of the valleys in the Raru Mountains – Tetleh Nala. This valley is surrounded by numerous peaks between 5700 and 6250 meters high, some with up to 1000 meters high walls and difficult to access; the others seem more accessible and attract with their snowy and icy slops and walls. We planed the whole expedition as three members team, but Aljaž Tratnik seriously injured his knee just a week before expedition and had to abandon his participation.

The Tetleh Nala has been so far visited only by one expedition and information they published made us believe that it might be hiding some nice mountaineering challenges. The aims of our expedition was climbing new routes and ascending unclimbed mountains in the valley. Some of them were before presumably unclimbed. Our second goal was to help with mapping of the valley and identification of mountains.

It is prohibited to use satellite phone in India, so our expedition didn’t use it. For the communication with the Europe (and inside India) we used public services from larger towns along our way. There is telephone in Raru village. We took Thuraya phone but it was dissembled during our stay in India and kept by L.O. in base camp. During our climbs we used simple walkie-talkie set to report our position to base camp every evening. L.O. and cook also used FM radio to listen the news in Hindi.

I am old enough to remember how it was to climb in Himalaya without weather forecast. In the era of too much noise in the air it is really refreshing to be in remote mountains on your own. During our expedition weather was unstable until 24^thAugust. It rained a little almost every day, but the longest rainy (snowy) period without interruption lasted only four hours. All mountains cleared very quickly. Temperatures were mild for the time of the year with night freezing temperatures at around 5500 m. After 24^th August weather was super clear but colder and windier.

During our ascents and trips up the Tetleh Nala we used a small watch-like GPS device (Garmin Forerunner 310XT, borrowed from our friend) to determine our position. We took readings to all summits we climbed and also on all bivy sites. Sometimes we measured some characteristic waypoints along our way. Accuracy of readings was up to 10 m for horizontal position and up to 20 m for elevations (we recorded GPS-WGS84 ellipsoidal heights). Before expedition we printed a map template based on Google maps contour view and used it for the sketching on field. So after processing our observations, Sakamoto’s maps, map of the British 2011 expedition, local people testimonials about names of the Peaks, we made a sketch map of the Tetleh Nala. 

  

SHORT MOUNTAINEERING HISTORY OF RARU MOUNTAINS

2009. Japanese senior “Kyoto Zanskar expedition” (leader Kimikazu Sakamoto) visited Raru mountains massif. They made exploratory trek in to Katkar Nala and Nateo Nala and names the peaks from R1 to R35. Their report in AAJ 2010 suggested that 21 peaks in Raru mountain range are virgin. Part of their report was also sketch map of the Raru Mountains. It is believed that this was the first mountaineering visit to Raru Mountains.  

2009. British expedition to Katkar Nala made ascents of Skilma Kangri (5979 m) and Mt. Jules (5800 m). They reported their activity in AAJ 2010.

2011. Swiss expedition made ascents of Red Apple Peak (6,070m), GoCook Peak (6,050m) and Tong’a Miduk Ri (Hidden Peak in Ladakhi, 6,040m) above Katkar glacier. Their report can be found in AAJ 2012.

2011. »IMPERIAL COLLEGE RARU VALLEY 2011 MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION« visited Tetleh Nala. They made ascents of Lama Jimsa Kangri (6276 m), Moel Kangri (5930 m), Bhaio Aur Bheno Ki Khushi (5985 m) and Base Camp Big Wall (5385 m). They also made some attempts on other peaks. They published report in AAJ 2012, they put their excellent report on web site of the college and an article on http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4209

2012. Greek expedition to Katkar Nala made ascents of Katkar Kangri (6148 m), Mutik Skal (6243 m), Skilma Kangri (6020 m), Lama Soo (5947 m). They operated without IMF permission and reported about their expedition in AAJ 2013 and on http://nikolas.kroupi.gr/in12/index.html

2014. Swiss Ski expedition made ascent and ski descent of Sonam Ri  (6060 m) above Katkar Nala. They reported in AAJ 2015.

2015. Local people at Raru village told us about large Swiss team in Katkar Nala or in Nateo Nala. They left the area just before our arrival. We didn’t know anything about their activity. We were sorry to hear that one member drowned when crossing the river on their trek out from the valley. 

CHRONOLOGY OF THE EXPEDITION (20th July 2015 – 9th September 2015)

20^thJuly 2015: Air flight from Slovenia to India (Delhi)

21^stJuly 2015: Arrival to Delhi. Briefing at IMF, L.O. Chetan and cook Heera set off by road to Leh, with most of the baggage.

22^ndJuly 2015: Delhi

23^rdJuly 2015: Air flight from Delhi to Leh.

24^thJuly 2015: Acclimatization walk above Leh to 5000 m. Chetan and Heera arrived to Leh.

25^thJuly 2015: Drive from Leh to Kargil.

26^thJuly 2015: Drive from Kargil to Padum.

27^thJuly 2015: Drive from Padum to Raru.

28^thJuly 2015: Short trek from Raru to Onkar (4000 m). We hired 11 horses and two horsemen.

29^thJuly 2015: Trek from Onkar to base camp. We set our base camp in Tetleh Nala (GPS: 4623 m, 33^o16'17'' north, 76^o54'15'' east).

30^thJuly 2015: Base camp.

31^thJuly 2015: Acclimatization trek upwards Tetleh valley. We set our bivy at side moraine of Tetleh glacier at altitude of 5169 m (AK C1; GPS: 5169 m, 33^o14'05'' north, 76^o52'17'' east).

1^st August 2015: We continued our walk up the Tetleh glacier to altitude 5300 m and return to base camp.

2^nd August 2015: Base camp.

3^rd August 2015: Trek up the Tetleh valley to the site of our first moraine bivy (AK C1) at 5169 m.

4^th August 2015: We continued our walk up the Tetleh glacier and towards unnamed and unclimbed mountain on the west side of the valley just south of Lama Jimsa Kangri (6276 m). We set our bivy at 5549 m (AK C2; GPS: 5549 m, 33^o14'03'' north, 76^o51'44'' east).

5^th August 2015: Ascent of Khumchu Ri (GPS: 6064 m, 33^o14'32" north, 76^o 50'52" east). We believed we made first ascent of the peak. We started at 9:00 from our bivy and returned after 13 hours roundtrip.  

6^th August 2015: Descent from bivy (AK C2) to base camp.

7^th August 2015: Base camp.

8^th August 2015: Exploration walk west from base camp up to altitude of 5100 m.

9^th August 2015: Trek up the Tetleh Nala towards unnamed and unclimbed mountain on the east side of the valley. We set our bivy just at the start of our proposed line of climbing at the foot of the west face at 5325 m (B0; GPS: 5325 m, 33^o14'41'' north, 76^o54'01'' east).

10^th August 2015: Bad weather forced us back down to base camp. We left most of our equipment at bivy site.

11^th August 2015: Base camp.

12^th August 2015: Exploration walk up to the base of the east face of Ri Pok Te. 

13^th August 2015: Trek up the Tetleh Nala towards unnamed and unclimbed mountain on the east side of the valley. We picked our equipment at the foot of the face and start our climb up the west face. We set our bivy at 5533 m (B1; GPS: 5533 m, 33^o14'43'' north, 76^o54'05'' east).

14^th August 2015: During the night and in the morning there was some bad weather but we continued our ascent and climbed some more 200 m to reach the north ridge at cca 5700 m. We bivouacked at ledge on north ridge. (B2; GPS: 5688 m, 33^o14'41'' north, 76^o54'12'' east). Some snow showers at evening.

15^th August 2015: Very nice weather. We needed five hours to reach the beginning of snowy part of the ridge. We set our third bivy at 5689 m on really nice flat spot (B3; GPS: 5689 m, 33^o14'34'' north, 76^o54'17'' east).

16^th August 2015: Kun Long Ri (GPS: 6058 m, 33^o14'19'' north, 76^o54'26'' east). Summit day despite cloudy and cold weather. We reached the summit at 14:00 and we believe it is first ascent of the peak. We descended at first the route of ascent, but from site of B3, we headed towards east via northern snow slopes to reach glacier in the neighbouring valley. We continued descend to the Raru Nala and us reached Onkar (4000 m) just before midnight.

17^th August 2015: Trek from Onkar to base camp.

18^th August 2015: Base camp. Anastasija started to feel toothache.

19^th August 2015: Anastasija and Chetan went to Raru and forward to Padum to see the dentist. Matija and Heera stayed in base camp.

20^th August 2015: Matija and Heera trekked up to the beginning of Tetleh glacier to pick up some equipment left on previous occasions.  Heera returned, but Matija hiked up on the glacier to 5400 m to take some photos. Anastasija felt better after dentist visit and together with Chetan they returned to base camp late in the evening.

21^st August 2015: Base camp.

22^nd August 2015: Base camp.

23^rd August 2015: Base camp.

24^th August 2015: We made an attempt to start climbing up east face of unclimbed Ri Pok Te (Sakamoto mark this peak R4). Some snow showers rolled in and we left our equipment at the foot of the couloir and returned to base camp.

25^th August 2015: At 5:00 we started from base camp up the eastern slopes of Ri Pok Te, at 7:00 we started scrambling up the couloir. We followed quite the same line as British pair (Prinold-Scott) did and reach nice bivy site (R4 Bivy; GPS: 5920 m, 33^o15'55'' north, 76^o52'50'' east).

26^th August 2015: Ri Pok Te (GPS: 6210 m, 33^o15'59'' north, 76^o52'41'' east). We started our second day of ascent at 9:00 am o’clock when it became warm enough for climbing in rock shoes and without gloves. In perfectly nice weather we reached what we consider the highest point of Ri Pok Te at 15:30 o’clock. We descended more or less via route of ascent to reach our bivy spot late at night (23:00 o’clock), where we spent short but cold night.

27^th August 2015: We continued our descent. We descended more or less via route of ascent mostly by rappelling (12 x 50 m) and some down climbing to reach our base camp at 17:00 pm.

28^th August 2015: Base camp.

29^th August 2015: Base camp.

30^th August 2015: Sunday trek on slopes east of base camp.

31^st August 2015: Base camp.

1^st September 2015: Base camp. At evening arrived eight horses, two horsemen and teacher from Raru village.

2^nd September 2015: Trek from base camp to Raru village.

3^rd September 2015: Drive from Raru to Padum.

4^th September 2015: Drive from Padum to Kargil.

5^th September 2015: Drive from Kargil to Leh. Anastasija and Matija stayeed overnight in Leh, Chetan and Heera continued their drive to Delhi.

6^th September 2015: Flight from Leh to Delhi.

7^th September 2015: Delhi. Arrival of Chetan and Heera. IMF debriefing.

8^th September 2015: Delhi.

9^th September 2015: Flight from Delhi to Ljubljana (Slovenia).

MOUNTAINEERING OBJECTIVES

Ascent of Khumchu Ri (GPS: 6064 m, 33^o14'32" north, 76^o50'52" east)

Anastasija enjoying on rocky south-east ridge of Khumchu Ri, Photo: Matija Jošt

Actually it was our acclimatization climb. After morning rain shower we were skeptical about our day out. Anyway we set off and during the day weather improved. After short approach from our tent (we passed beside some small rock fence, one of very few British trace in the valley) we reached snow flank leading to southeast ridge from the north.  At first we climbed some 400 m of rocky southeast ridge with difficulties up to grade 4 UIAA on high quality rock. Then we continued some 600 m on snowy east ridge, which did not exceed 50^o to the summit. All together 1000 m of climbing, but 550 m of height difference from high camp (AK C2, 5549 m) to summit. 

Morning rain shover washed away our nightime AMS-headeache, photo Matija Jošt.

Morning rain shover washed away our nightime AMS-headeache, photo Matija Jošt.

Matija heading towards the summit of Khumchu Ri, photo: Anastasija Davidova.

Matija heading towards the summit of Khumchu Ri, photo: Anastasija Davidova.

Easy climbing on fantastic rock up the southeast ridge of Khumchu Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova.

Easy climbing on fantastic rock up the southeast ridge of Khumchu Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova.

We made our descent via south slopes and back up to gain southeast ridge and back to our bivy at 5549 m. It took 8 hours for ascent and 5 hours for descent, we think overall grade of climb is D+. The shape of the summit gives us association of bird’s beak so we named the peak Khumchu Ri (Khumchu means beak in Ladakhi language and Ri means peak). We thought that Sakamoto marks this peak as R7. It was really nice enjoyable climb. We believe we made first ascent of the peak, it was 5^thAugust 2015. At the summit we fixed nylon tat and enjoyed nice views. 

Ascent of Kun Long Ri (GPS: 6058 m, 33^o14'19'' north, 76^o54'26'' east)

Kun Long Ri from the southwest, photo Anastasija Davidova

Photo of Kun Long Ri (left center) taken from Raru-Padum road, photo: Anastasija Davidova

Photo of Kun Long Ri (left center) taken from Raru-Padum road, photo: Anastasija Davidova

Attractive peak on east side of the Tetleh valley seemed appropriate goal for us after we felt acclimatized enough. Left part of the west face of the peak looked safe, rocky part of the ridge above it was a riddle, continuation to the summit supposed to be straightforward. Our first try ended at the foot of the west face because some rain showers forced us back to base camp. Next time we were luckier. We approached in nice weather and picked up our equipment at the beginning of the climb. We climbed some 200 meters of good quality granite up west face (up to grade 4 UIAA) and set our bivy at 5533 m (B1; GPS: 5533 m, 33^o14'43'' north, 76^o54'05'' east). It wasn't comfortable and without water (nor snow). When night came to an end it started raining. We didn't carry a tent but bivy sack gave us enough protection. Later in the morning weather improved, we continue our ascent and climb some more 200 m on good rock (up to grade 5+ UIAA) to reach the north ridge at cca 5700 m. Ridge itself was rocky, narrow and with gendarmes. We tried to climb forward just to reach more snowy terrain some 300 m ahead, but ridge turned out to be very tricky so we returned for two pitches to a bivy ledge where we spent the night. (B2; GPS: 5688 m, 33^o14'41'' north, 76^o54'12'' east). Evening snow shower cooled out our heads. Early morning sun melted the snow powder and we were psyched to continue. We climbed some 300 m distance avoiding difficult ridge gendarmes on east side of the crest. Rock quality on east side was not so good and we made also two rappells (2 x 30 m) down the east face. The climbing was rock up to grade 5 UIAA and ice (max 60^o). We needed five hours to reach the beginning of snowy part of the ridge. We set our third bivy at 5689 m on really nice flat spot (B3; GPS: 5689 m, 33^o14'34'' north, 76^o54'17'' east). 

Matija approaching west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova.

Matija approaching west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova.

Morning after first bivy during ascent of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt.

Morning after first bivy during ascent of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt.

Nastja leading first pitch, west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt.

Second day of climbing, west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt.

Looking down the west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Tricky rocky part of north ridge, Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt             

Exit in to the beginning of snow part of north ridge, Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Exit in to the beginning of snow part of north ridge, Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

View towards south from third bivy from north ridge of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

View towards south from third bivy from north ridge of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Clear night ended with clouds coming in from the south. It was cloudy and cold in the morning. We didn’t give up after three days of ascending and summit didn’t seem so far away. From our bivy we climbed up the snow slopes of north ridge (max 65^o) to the notch 100 m below the summit. 

Taking breath bellow summit pyramid of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Taking breath bellow summit pyramid of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Just below the summit of Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Summit at last.  Selfie on Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Summit at last.  Selfie on Kun Long Ri, photo Anastasija Davidova

Descending towards Slovenian glacier over north flanks of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt

Descending towards Slovenian glacier over north flanks of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt

From the notch we traversed in to the west face and climbed mix ground (rock up to 4 UIAA, and ice up to 70^o) to the summit. We reached the summit at 2 pm. Weather somehow cooperated and there was more and more sunny spells during the afternoon. From the summit we mostly down climbed the route of ascent but on some occasions we made 4 rappels (4 x 30 m) to reach site of B3. At that point we decided to descent to the neighborhood valley. We headed towards east via northern snow slopes to reach glacier (we suggested name Slovenian Glacier, foot of the glacier GPS: 5110 m, 33^o15'03'' north, 76^o55'05'' east. We continued descend via very broken moraines to the Raru Nala and reached Onkar (4000 m) just before midnight. On the next day we regained our base camp. Very common question in India, when you communicate with locals is “Do you have a happy journey?” Indeed we had a happy journey. We believed we made first ascent of the peak. Length of the climb is 1500 m, height difference from beginning of climb at the foot of the west face to the summit is 750 m. We thought overall grade is about TD+. Name of the route: Happy Journey. Ascent took place between 13^th and 17^th August 2015. Under the impression of 14^th Dalai Lama book “Ethics for the new millennium” we named the peak Kun Long Ri. He explains: “Kun Long, the term for what is considered to be of the greatest significance in determining the ethical value of a given action is the individual's kun long. Translated literally, the participle kun means "thoroughly" or "from the depths," and long (wa) denotes the act of causing something to stand up, to arise, or to awaken.  But in the sense in which it's used here, kun long is understood as that which drives or inspires our actions - both those we intend directly and those which are in a sense involuntary.  It therefore denotes the individual's overall state of heart and mind.  When this is wholesome, it follows that our actions themselves will be (ethically) wholesome.”

Ascent of Ri Pok Te (GPS: 6210 m, 33^o15'59'' north, 76^o52'41'' east)

Matija trek out from Tetleh nala Base camp. Ri Pok Te (center) as seen from northeast, above his head, photo Anastasija Davidova

Matija trek out from Tetleh nala Base camp. Ri Pok Te (center) as seen from northeast, above his head, photo Anastasija Davidova

Ri Pok Te from southeast as seen from west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt

Ri Pok Te from southeast as seen from west face of Kun Long Ri, photo Matija Jošt

After Anastasija’s troubles with toothache and her return to base camp we still had plenty of time to try another objective. Ri Pok Te (Sakamoto mark this peak R4) attracted us with its east face. The luxury of early morning sun proved too strong magnet and we couldn’t resist it. British team (Prinold-Scott) attempted nice looking pillar in 2011, but they retreated due to bad weather from around 6000 m. We thought that their line was safe and suitable despite pillar itself didn’t lead directly to true summit. Our first push ended very quickly because some snow showers rolled in before we managed to reach the foot of the face. We left our equipment at the foot of the couloir and returned to the base camp. Next day at 5:00 we started from base camp up the eastern slopes of Ri Pok Te. Approach to the face was short, we picked our equipment and at 7:00 am started scrambling up the couloir. Higher we moved left (south) out from the couloir to the prominent pillar follow quite the same line as British pair (Prinold-Scott) did. We put on our rock shoes but continued climbing unroped. Latter we start belaying and we climbed ten (10 x 50 m) pitches before we reached nice bivy site (R4 bivy; GPS: 5920 m, 33^o15'55'' north, 76^o52'50'' east). Despite 4 more hours of daylight we decided to stop. Climbing was on excellent granite on really nice slabs never exceed grade 4+ UIAA. As long we moved on sun it was enjoyable warm, but in the afternoon shadow it became cold. 

Nastja approaching east face of Ri Pok Te, photo Matija Jošt

Nastja approaching east face of Ri Pok Te, photo Matija Jošt

Still some 1000 m to go, photo Anastasija Davidova

Night was perfectly clear and cold with no wind. We started our second day of ascent at 9:00 o’clock when it became warm enough for climbing in rock shoes and without gloves. Six pitches of very nice climbing on excellent rock (up to grade 6- UIAA) brought us to the southwest ridge (GPS: 6149 m, 33^o15'55'' north, 76^o52'43'' east). We tried to continue via ridge, but it looks complicated so we traversed some 100 m diagonally down in to the west face. Nice ledges brought us to the foot of 80 m dihedral. We climbed it to regain southwest ridge (grade 5+ UIAA) at notch with jammed block and continued along the ridge (first grade 5 UIAA than easier) to the summit. In perfectly nice weather we reached what we consider the highest point of Ri Pok Te at 15:30 o’clock. Summit ridge is almost horizontal and it widen to plateau towards north. We descended more or less via route of ascent mostly by rappelling (8 x 50 m) and some down climbing to reach our bivy spot late at night (23:00 o’clock), where we spent short but cold night. Next day we continued our descent. We descended more or less via route of ascent mostly by rappelling (12 x 50 m) and some down climbing to reach our base camp at 17:00 pm. We believe we made first ascent of the peak. We think that overall grade of the climb is TD+/ED-. Length of the route is 1200 m, height difference from beginning of climb to the summit is 1000 m. Name of the route: From East to West, and the quality of climbing 5 stars. We climbed entire route in rock shoes but carrying our crampons, ice axes and boots almost to the top. Local people at Raru village know the mountain as Ri Pok Te. You can see the summit of it from some part of the village and it means something like: the mountain that hides other mountains and/or mountain from which you can see backside. 

Second day of superb slabs up the east face of Ri Pok Te, photo Matija Jošt 

Exit to the southwest ridge of Ri Pok Te, photo Matija Jošt 

Afternoon joy on top of Ri Pok Te, photo Matija Jošt 

One of many rappels that bring us back from Ri Pok Te to base camp, photo Matija Jošt

FINANCES

Outgoings	amount in EURO
Air tickets  Ljubljana-Delhi-Ljubljana	1.180,00 €
Excess luggage (Ljubljana-Delhi-Ljubljana)	320,00 €
Air tickets Delhi-Leh-Delhi	433,71 €
Insurance	576,00 €
Tax, IMF (we pay one 6080m peak for three members)	766,45 €
Tax,  IMF (extra charge for two additional summits)	357,00 €
Gas cartridges	76,00 €
Rental of one oxygen bottle for first aid proposes	147,00 €
Himalayan Run & Trek package cost	7.738,00 €
Bank provision by paying some advance	40,00 €
Visa (tourist)	104,00 €
Additional high altitude food	300,00 €
Personal expenses in India	300,00 €
Total	12.338,16 €
Total per member	6169,08 €
Income
Alpine association of Slovenia	3.161,68 €
Personal contribution of members	9.176,48 €
Total	12.338,16 €

CONCLUSION

Mountains above Tetleh Nala and valley itself are great. Upper part of the valley is very rarely visited even by locals and therefore nature is pretty much unspoiled and fragile. During our activities we found little trace of British 2011 expedition: some stone cairn at spot of their base camp, stone fence below Lama Jimsa Kangri, nylon rappell sling in east face of Ri Pok Te. We are appreciative them for their respective attitude towards nature. They left no rubbish but they left very nice report and part of their souls. 

Blue Himalayan poppy, photo Anastasija Davidova

Tetleh Kangri, photo Anastasija Davidova

For our climbing pleasures we had chosen such objectives that fit our skills and other circumstances. It means that we managed to climb in simple (alpine) style. Mostly we used nuts and friends for protection, we hammered in few pitons, and only one of them pollutes face of Ri Pok Te, we use it for abseil. We also left some 25 rappell slings, some of them with carabineers that now “decorate” slopes of Kun Long Ri and Ri Pok Te. When we left the valley we did our best to clean the base camp.

Every expedition is pollution somehow; ironically we need them to realize that. One of possible ways to minimize the pollution is to operate in small teams with modest comfort. We hope that our successors will be satisfied with our behaviour.

Our planet. View from Khumchu Ri towards east, photo Anastasija Davidova

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

We would like to thank all of the organizations and individuals who assisted this expedition.  Especially to:

- Slovenian army forces for Nastja employment as a top athlete.

- Patagonia company for providing us with warm clothes.

- Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS) for a partial funding by the Commission for the Alpine Climbing (KA).

- Treking-šport, Petzl distributor in Slovenia for ropes and Petzl equipment.

- Amm d.o.o., distributor for adidas eywear in Slovenia. .

- Lyofood for dry meals.

- Marmot company, for borrow us a test tent.

- TopAtlet, for High5 energy bars ang gels.

We would like to acknowledge the support, advice and information from mums Olga and Pavlina, father Silvester, Tina di Batista, Monica Kambič, Klemen and Anja Bečan, Sergej Jamnikar, Nikolaj Šarlah, doc. Jurij Gorjanc and doc. Barbara Sodin, Elektro servis in instalacije Vinko Pesjak, Aljaž Tratnik, Mitja Šorn, Marko Prezelj, Rok Zalokar, Aleš Česen, Barbara Polanšek, Milena Praprotnik.

Anastasija Davidova & Matija Jošt