new approach and ascent. This Indian Army expedition with 30 strong ...

M am ostong Kangri (7,516m ), new approach and ascent. This In d ian A rm y exped itio n w ith 30 strong m em bers was led by Col. Ashok Abbey in O ctober-N ovem ber. Following a new approach route, they clim bed the peak as a u tu m n cold and snow was settling in. After crossing Saser La, they tu rn e d n o rth along th e S hrok an d tu rn e d fu rth e r west in th e T h an g m an Valley leading tow ard M am ostong Kangri. Clim bing a ridge directly, they avoided the H ope Col. Several m em ­ bers reached the su m m it (n u m b ers and nam es are n o t know n). M am ostong Kangri lies south o f th e C h ong K um dan m assif an d features a 2,000m face th a t m u st be o n e o f th e greatest unclim bed snow an d ice walls in the Indian H imalaya; it will be a su p er-ro u te if a safe line can be found. W hile cam ped nearly a m ile from the b o tto m o f this face in 1991, a British team was b uffeted by sp in d rift from a large serac avalanche. T he 2007 In d o -F ren ch team clim bed th e opposite side, repeating the original ro u te via the southeast ridge to th e u p p er n o rth east ridge, first clim bed in 1984 by an Indo-Japanese ex pedition led by Balw ant Sandhu (w ho m ade the first ascent o f C hangabang). This was a strong team , w ith experienced Japanese such as O gata and Yamada, and Indians such as C h a u h an , PM Das, an d Rajiv Sharm a. T his high m o u n tain has received ab ou t h alf a dozen ascents by several routes, b u t the 2007 ascent appears to be the first since 1992. H arish Kapadia, Honorary Editor, The Him alayan Journal, and Lindsay G riffin, M ountain INFO, www.climbmagazine.com