Chotar Zom (Dasbar Zom, 6,058m), south pillar; Nashran (5,200m ...
C hotar Z om (Dasbar Zom , 6,058m ), south pillar; N ashran (5,200m ), northeast ridge; Pois Chhish (4,400m ). O u r sm all French team — Eric Lantz, D idier Rognon, A rnaud Sim ard, and I, all from the BUC A lpin m o u n ta in club— sp en t July 22 to A ugust 11 in the D asbar Valley, so u th o f Koyo Z om (6,871m ). We explored th e area an d m ade three ascents. Eric and D idier reached the su m m it o f a 5,200m peak above the m ain valley via the northeast ridge. The clim b followed an ice couloir w ith sections o f 70° an d ended w ith a snow ridge; they reached th e su m m it after 800m o f ascent. We n a m ed the peak N ashran, a com bination o f the nam es o f o u r three Pakistani helpers. N ashran is a secondary su m m it o f th e beau tifu l K achqiant (ca 6,000m ), still un clim b ed . The sam e pair later reached the su m m it o f a sm all rock peak (4,400m ) via a 700m
face route o f 19 pitches up to 5.10. T hey called th e peak Pois C hhish and the route Lady Chatterley. D idier and I also clim bed the so u th pillar o f a peak we called C h o tar Z om (“small m o u n tain ,” as it is far from th e biggest in th e area). We reco rd ed an altitu d e o f 6,058m on th e su m m it by GPS. S ubsequent investigation indicates this peak m ig h t be D asbar Z om , clim bed in 1968 by A ustrians from th e o th er side. O u r clim b began at a cam p at 4,800m . T he technical p a rt consisted o f tw o successive couloirs th ro u g h loose rock bands, w ith ice to 55° an d m ixed rock at 5.4. T hese led to th e u p p e r snow slopes and a long, tiring plod to the top, w hich we reached at 4:30 p.m . To the n o rth rose Koyo Z om , and all aro u n d we saw countless beautiful and technical climbs. M uch o f the descent took place d u ring the night, w ith ice up to 70°, and we regained o u r bivouac at 11 p.m., having been on the go for 22 hours. We graded o u r route alpine D. We w ent on this exped itio n , a first for all o f us, to explore a seldom -visited area an d to test o u r capacities on reasonable m o u n tain s while m eeting great people. The m o u n tain s were not reasonable, b u t the adventure was great. Editor's note: Florian Tolle has provided a m ap and photos o f unclimbed peaks in this area. These m ay be fo u n d at the A AJ website: www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/page/47. F l o r ia n T
olle,
France
face route o f 19 pitches up to 5.10. T hey called th e peak Pois C hhish and the route Lady Chatterley. D idier and I also clim bed the so u th pillar o f a peak we called C h o tar Z om (“small m o u n tain ,” as it is far from th e biggest in th e area). We reco rd ed an altitu d e o f 6,058m on th e su m m it by GPS. S ubsequent investigation indicates this peak m ig h t be D asbar Z om , clim bed in 1968 by A ustrians from th e o th er side. O u r clim b began at a cam p at 4,800m . T he technical p a rt consisted o f tw o successive couloirs th ro u g h loose rock bands, w ith ice to 55° an d m ixed rock at 5.4. T hese led to th e u p p e r snow slopes and a long, tiring plod to the top, w hich we reached at 4:30 p.m . To the n o rth rose Koyo Z om , and all aro u n d we saw countless beautiful and technical climbs. M uch o f the descent took place d u ring the night, w ith ice up to 70°, and we regained o u r bivouac at 11 p.m., having been on the go for 22 hours. We graded o u r route alpine D. We w ent on this exped itio n , a first for all o f us, to explore a seldom -visited area an d to test o u r capacities on reasonable m o u n tain s while m eeting great people. The m o u n tain s were not reasonable, b u t the adventure was great. Editor's note: Florian Tolle has provided a m ap and photos o f unclimbed peaks in this area. These m ay be fo u n d at the A AJ website: www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/page/47. F l o r ia n T
olle,
France
