Kang Yassay, West Peak. The expedition (Mike
Kang Yassay, West Peak. The expedition (M ike Ratty, leader, Trevor W illis, John Shelley, John Lovett and N ick Fellow es) had planned an ascent and exploration o f the unclim bed Thalda Kurm is, in the R upshu region of
Ladakh. Perm ission for the peak was w ithdraw n at the last m om ent by the Indian authorities, w ith no explanation given. (The restriction applies only to foreign clim bing team s, as I have since learned that the peak was one o f several clim bed by Harish K apadia during July, and the area is open to for eign trekkers.) Perm ission was granted instead for K ang Yassay, w hich is also in Lakakh, but in a popular trekking area near Leh. On A ugust 17, Mike Ratty and Trevor W illis attem pted a route on the northeast shoulder. Above the glacier we encountered steep snow overlying ice; the ridge was steep soft snow. At 5400 m eters, exhaustion and a hailstorm ended the attem pt. On A ugust 19 M ike Ratty, Trevor W illis and John Shelley clim bed to the sub sidiary (west) sum m it (6100 m eters) by the ordinary route, w hich offers no technical difficulty. The rem ainder o f the tim e at basecam p was beset by bad weather. On A ugust 25 the expedition trekked out eastw ard over the Lalung La to the Leh M anali road.
M ike R atty, England
Ladakh. Perm ission for the peak was w ithdraw n at the last m om ent by the Indian authorities, w ith no explanation given. (The restriction applies only to foreign clim bing team s, as I have since learned that the peak was one o f several clim bed by Harish K apadia during July, and the area is open to for eign trekkers.) Perm ission was granted instead for K ang Yassay, w hich is also in Lakakh, but in a popular trekking area near Leh. On A ugust 17, Mike Ratty and Trevor W illis attem pted a route on the northeast shoulder. Above the glacier we encountered steep snow overlying ice; the ridge was steep soft snow. At 5400 m eters, exhaustion and a hailstorm ended the attem pt. On A ugust 19 M ike Ratty, Trevor W illis and John Shelley clim bed to the sub sidiary (west) sum m it (6100 m eters) by the ordinary route, w hich offers no technical difficulty. The rem ainder o f the tim e at basecam p was beset by bad weather. On A ugust 25 the expedition trekked out eastw ard over the Lalung La to the Leh M anali road.
M ike R atty, England
