Climbing Stok Kangri
This summer I led a trip for World Challenge to Ladakh, far northern India, where we planned to climb Stok Kangri, the highest peak in the range there at a whopping 20,187ft… My team were a group of 16-18 year olds from a boys school in Rugby, none of whom had done anything like this before! Below is a quick write up of what we got up to, hopefully it might be of some use if you’re planning on climbing Stok Kangri…
None of the group had been to altitude before, so landing at 3500m in Leh after a hectic schedule of flights changing in Mumbai and Delhi, we planned to take it fairly easy. Drinking lots of honey, lemon and ginger tea in the excellent Oriental Guesthouse was my plan! Run by Dawa, World Challenges long standing in-country agent for the area, The Oriental Guesthouse is a beautiful oasis of green in an otherwise very arid area. The flight and landing in Leh in itself is spectacular, with views in to the Karakoram and some fairly close proximity flying near massive mountains! The team all seemed to take the initial altitude in their stride, so rather than sit idle we ventured out in the afternoon for a walk up the steep steps to Shanti Stupa, and their first acquaintance with the Buddhist culture of the area. Excellent views over the valley and of our objective in the distance, and a good chance to get the acclimatisation process started!
The next few days were spent exploring, relaxing and eating far too much excellent food. We had a whole days walking up to Leh Palace and Namgyal Hill for more incredible views and culture, but perhaps the highlight this day was strolling through the random assortment of cobbled streets in beautiful Leh and stumbling across two bulls fighting! Never a dull moment and a hasty retreat made… I was keen for the guys to get some exercise over 4000m before we started our climb, so we got taxis a little way up the Kardung La (claims to the highest motorable road in the world title) and found an area to play some football and run around before a beautiful hike back to town. With a day to prepare kit and finalise plans all the team had taken to the altitude really well, so I was starting to feel fairly confidant in their chances of climbing Stok Kangri!
Looking down on to Leh old town from the Palace…
We started out trek in from Chilling, a slightly longer than usual route, that would take in two high passes before we reached base camp, to give us the best chance of success. This also meant a cool approach to the start, over the Zanskar river… They’re building a bridge but it wasn’t quite finished when we were there, it probably will be by the time you read this. Make sure you click the link below to see the video:
Over the coming days we hiked along fairly gentle trails through occasional beautiful small settlements, where life seemed set back several hundred years from our normal ways. Usually camping in the settlements or near the river so we had access to water in this arid desert landscape, several of the team remarked at times how it looked lunar… We had a couple of longer days, ascending the Ganda La and Stok La passes, both just about touching 5000m, and still the team we’re going well despite the thinner air.
Camping on the approach to Stok Kangri
As we crossed the Stok La and approached base camp the weather took a turn for the worse. Cold, wet and windy – it all felt very British! We weren’t really expecting prolonged poor weather, supposedly in the Ladakhi rain shadow and away from the monsoon.. Fortunately we looked forward to our meals, always a big bonus on trips, and having been on dozens of overseas Expeds all over the world, I can honestly say that Gumbo and his cook team were by far the best I’ve ever seen. I can’t cook pizza out of a packet that well in my oven at home let alone from scratch on a single gas burner at altitude!
We arrived in base camp on a dreary day, passing teams on the way down who had little or no summit success due to the weather. The team were all in good spirits and fit and healthy, but certainly a little deflated with the inclement weather and the realisation of its impact on our summit plans. All we could do was carry on with our acclimatisation programme and hope for the best. Pretty cool at base camp to bump in to Charlie who was one of the original founders of World Challenge years ago, he was there for a second time with all his kids, not a bad family holiday! He was really excited that we were there with our team and a very interesting chap with fascinating future plans to get more youngsters involved with the outdoors…
We had a day walking above basecamp so the team could practise walking in crampons, with ice axes and moving together roped up. Great to see the team take to it well and still going strong, despite the first signs of tiredness above 5300m. I was glued to the different weather forecasts and local guides opinions, desperate for a good window of weather, knowing that our team had an amazing chance if all the variables played ball… We had 2 days for possible summit attempts, so all we could do was rest, relax, sleep and hope!
Stok Kangri base camp and some rare sunshine
Sat that night in my tent listening to the the thunder storm rage on the surrounding peaks, I was definitely more than a little subdued, desperate for my team to have decent weather to give it their best shot. Woken with the usual delicious bed tea (how did that even become a thing?!), the sky looked grey and somber like my mood! The basic weather forecast we were able to attain was fairly similar for the coming days, so we decided that we may as well attempt at the first opportunity after a rest day, as it wasn’t going to get any better. Having a hard talk with the team about how conditions were less than ideal and how there was a big question mark on whether we’d actually get to the top, and that my main aim was to keep them all safe, and so no matter what, if I said we had to go down that was what we’d do, no discussion. They saw deflated teams heading back in to base camp from their failed summit attempts and I think grasped the situation. There were some successes though, but as some of the lads pointed out, they were all from proper mountaineers not a bunch of school pupils!
Our team were actually pretty fast walkers, and we decided on a slightly later than usual 1am get up for a 2am start. Some slow teams had left at 9pm!!! Bags were packed and what sleep was possible was had, and I was super impressed with the team all being there and with it so early in the morning… A slow steady pace, all keeping together, had been our strong point throughout our approach, and that’s what would give us the best chance of keeping it going for the long day ahead. A quiet but determined team left basecamp and walked together into the night… The teams first steps on a glacier at 3am in the morning at 5500m was an eye opening experience for them, with me working hard at the front cutting steps so we could avoid putting crampons on, fortunately the steeper section was short lived!
On the glacier on Stok Kangri
The long slog to what the locals call ‘The Shoulder’ was perhaps the longest and toughest section of the whole climb, but with dawn coming part way up, and the the team catching up with and passing many parties, motivation levels were high, and despite the toughness of the day, I never heard a single grumble or negative word, they just kept on plodding up… And most importantly, despite the cloud coming and going and a bit of wind – the weather was holding.
Sunrise over India from Stok Kangri
Once at the shoulder we rested a little while, then roped up for the final climb up the ridge. With the group in 4 roped parties, me leading one and three local guides on the others, the team took to it really well and looked after each other as they went, with some easy but exposed sections that could have fazed a less able team of youngsters. It was awesome to pass Charlie as he and his kids were on their way down after a successful ascent, and I think it was only then that it dawned on our team that they were really going to do it!
As we came up to the final rise and saw the prayer flags on the summit, the team had the top of Stok Kangri to themselves and with occasional glimpses into Pakistan and Tibet, hugs and photos all round… Most of them were too tired to feel any emotion but I was super proud of the guys and the effort they had put in, not just today but on the approach in general. We were the only group from World Challenge to have 100% team success on the mountain this season, and it was all down to the lads efforts… Below is a short summit video:
After a climb back along the summit ridge, down the steep slope from the shoulder, back over the glacier and finally down to base camp, the guys just managed to stay awake long enough for a delicious late lunch prepared by Gumbo, well deserved after a 14 hour summit day…. A good nights sleep and waking with a sense of tired euphoria, we flew down the trail and back to Stok Village and some well deserved (and much needed) showers at Oriental Guesthouse…
Our time in Leh was wrapped up with lots of shopping and eating, but the final highlight was getting the opportunity to go and see a teaching by the Dalia Lama… Always a pleasure working for World Challenge and the experiences and opportunities it gives not only the youngsters – but myself also! Very very lucky to call all this “work”…
My selfie game needs work… On the summit of Stok Kangri.