Chandra Parbat I. Our Australian team of eight made the first ascent ...

Chandra P arbat I. O ur A ustralian team o f eight made the first ascent of C handra Parbat I (6739 m eters, 2 2 ,110 feet), w hich lies on the eastern bank o f the Suralaya G lacier. T here seem s to be confusion over our p eak ’s name (P 6739 or C handra Parbat I) and P 6728 or C handra Parbat II; the latter lies northw est from it. We have suggested the nam e o f Indradhanush Parbat (R ainbow M ountain) to the Indian M ountaineering F oundation for our peak. We established Base Cam p below Vasuki Parbat and A dvance B ase below P 5801 at the junction o f the C haturangi and Suralaya G laciers on Septem ber 12 and 16. Cam p I was placed on the Suralaya G lacier at 18,000 feet. On Septem ber 22, Glen Tem pest and Jam es Serie clim bed directly up the 70° northw est face to the sum m it. G avin D unm all and I w orked out a route up the ridge and then up the face to the left o f the Tem pest-Serle route. We clim bed scree, crum bling rock and finally a 40-m eter gully to our second cam p on the ridge. The next day, w e skirted around the side o f the ridge, hoping to find a w eak spot up to the ridge proper. A t six P.M. we m ade cam p below a rock band that looked clim bable. The next day, Septem ber 25, we clim bed steep rock until we cam e to the snow line at 6200 m eters. A 70° snow ram p and then 500 m eters o f 65° snow got us to the sum m it ridge proper at 4:30 P.M. A t 5:45 we w ere on the top. R unning out o f daylight on the descent, we m ade an open bivouac at 6200 m eters. At B ase Cam p, w e discovered that G rant Else had clim bed the entire northw est ridge to the sum m it solo, shortly before us also on the 25th. O ther team m em bers w ere P eter W illiam s, A ndrew M cN eill and Sarah Boyle. D arren M iller, A ustralia