UKH

Hi - Anyone climbed Himalayan Kyajo Ri South West Route? If you have would love to hear from you. Understand more about the technicality of the route. I know the East Face is tough - but I want to do the popular south-west route and would love to hear from anyone who has done it? Thanks Sharna

In reply to Sharn:

There's a mixed step, 2 pitches around Scottish IV, then 8-10 pitches of moderate ice (50-60deg).

Interesting approach, great route.

In reply to Removed User:

Hi Thanks for this - thought it was Scottish grade 2? Ive done Island Peak and Pisang Peak in Nepal - and I can lead climb V.diff. Is it technical Ice Climbing? I am cool with basic ice climbing - using T-rated shaft - but never done high altitude with 2 technical ice axes - is this what is required?

In reply to Sharn:

The upper arete is often hard ice, yes it does require ice climbing techniques and equipment. The descent is on v-threads. Around AD, lot more technical than the other peaks you mention.

In reply to Sharn:

My wife and I did it 3 years ago, lovely peak. Conditions were good, the snow and ice firm and reliable. The rockfall below the col was an issue because there'd been an earthquake 3 months before and things were still a bit wobbly - not good trying to climb over in the dark. Scottish II / III capability will see you through ok. Gus who climbed it the previous year were faced with a lot of bare patches and they said they had quite a tough climb in comparison. Go for it, it's my fave so far.

In reply to JamieG:
Thanks Jamie - I can't wait. Scottish 2 would be no probe for me - ur post got me quite excited about it!! I found Island Peak a great hike - but not interesting enough. Pisang is pretty tough. Perhaps you and your wife should try that. High camp to summit and back took 15hrs but bad conditions made it a toughie. Its defo not a trekking peak. descent by rappel. Thanks for your post!
Also - please can you tell me the best type of ice axe for this climb? Mountaineering axe or something a bit more technical? I have a Petzl Sum'Tec which is a great hybrid axe, not too technical but probably good enough for Scottish Grade 11. But would you also recommend taking my DMM 60cm too? Will I need both?
Also are there fixed ropes there? Any more advice would be great. Cheers

In reply to Sharn:

What's the deal with Pisang? I was thinking of using it to acclimatise for something else, but I don't see many trip reports. It looks very easy, but the elevation gain from the valley is huge, even in two camps. There was a terrible accident there years ago when the top rope team fell and took many other with them. Is it steep near the top? I heard they'd changed the normal route due to avo danger, from the SSW face to the west ridge - is that the case?

Edit: In 2009 I was climbing up in Nar Phu region and we exited via the Kang La, walking along the valley at the back of Pisang. Its north face is enormous and ugly looking from a climbing point of view, no ascents that I know of.

In reply to Sharn:

We took a pair of dmm fly's each...a little bit overkill. First 150m after the col is gradually rising up to about 40 degrees. Gets slightly steeper and then a couple of bulges where I'd estimate it was 60 degrees. I was also a bit knackered on the higher sections so we fixed a bit of rope (my initial 'nah we'll be ok' was wavering!! )
There were no fixed ropes but I did spot a couple of anchors. Just to recap though, I'd say our snow / ice conditions were excellent....it could have been a different beast the year before.
(We're off to Himlung in 3 weeks - can't wait!)

In reply to Damo:

Hi Damo - sorry only just seen this. Yes Pisang broke me!! It really did. I did the SW route.... and yes - at points horrendously squeaky avalanche snow. A sherpa had died on it 3 months before I summited. Fixed rope snapped. Jeez we took so many risks that day. I cringe when I think back. Knee deep snow, and I suffered with frost nipped toes as my Nepal Extremes were just not warm enough. It was a bit out of my technical ability but I managed it. Had a complete breakdown when I got back to high camp - as it hit me just how many times I could of died that day!!! Sherpas I was with were not the best 'safety' wise. Anyway - live to tell the tale and all that. Go give it a go! Yes it was 3000m of ascent in 2 days. But I was fine. Took diamox... Off to Nepal in just 3 weeks now yay

In reply to JamieG:

Hmmmm so you reckon I will need 2 axes then.... ok. This is really useful - thank you very much Hey you must be on your trip now - was it fun?? Would love to hear about it!

In reply to Damo: (Slightly OT but brings back memories...)

Pisang is technically easy and straightforward. The hard part is the elevation gain and the ? is the snowconditions. We did it with 2 camps from the valley floor which was good cause we carried all our stuff by ourselves. We kind of did little bit SW face and little bit W ridge, last 4-500 m or so where on SW face, slightly dodgy but short traverse on hard ice to get from ridge to face.

This was 2005 and me and my mates soloed everything. I had zero climbing background before this trip, my friends had some. Fortunately I did a 3!-week "alpinism course" with Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) in the region before so at least I knew how to self arrest. I tripped quite a few times on the way down so it was rather handy... The course with NMA had some shortlived good parts but consisted mostly of walking long distances (and running with boots every morning before breakfast!) We were supposed to do crevasse rescue, glacier navigation and basic iceclimbing near Tilicho Lake but we had a hard time even to get there. It snowed over 1m the day before and finally there the avalanches were booming down the long ridgeline (2000m higher) all day long. What sealed the deal to get out was one belgian guy also on the course nearly died of HAPE.

So, in short, if party members are reasonably fit and snowconditions are good go for it. Also look at Thorung Tse or what its called, the 6000+ peak or fore-summit to 6600-ish Khangtse(SP?) near Thorung La. Maybe even more straightforward than Pisang and easier/better to acclimatise on the way up. Also very nice views.

In reply to Sharn:
A distant collegue of mine is in Khumbu now, he´s climbing on Island peak and Lobuche with clients first so I dont know if he`ll be back before you go. I can leave a message here about conditions when I hear something.

In reply to DanielJ:

Fortunately I did a 3!-week "alpinism course" with Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) in the region before so at least I knew how to self arrest. I tripped quite a few times on the way down so it was rather handy... The course with NMA had some shortlived good parts but consisted mostly of walking long distances (and running with boots every morning before breakfast!)

Well that all sounds excellent fun!


Khangsar Kang - Yes, I walked past there a few years ago, but it was late monsoon and couldn't see a thing. Bloke I know spent a few weeks wandering around the area with some mates climbing various of those peaks in that area and toward Tilicho Lake. I presume others have done similarly. Nice and high, lodges nearby, no big icefalls, not too steep etc.

In reply to Damo: And dont forget that theres a tea shop at the bottom of the route/top of Thorung La Its very easy but still worthwhile.
Another worthwhile easy peak in that area is Chulu Far East.
Re Pisang N Face-That looks like theres some really good climbing on the gullies. Possibly not too difficult to reach by traversing in from the Kang La but still, I think, unclimbed.

In reply to L.A.:


"Interesting bloke. Crap tea." - John Cleese



Yes, at least in the top half. Not sure about the bottom half, huge buttress things with deep canyons. As you say, coming in from the right might be better.

I cant find any record of it being climbed, but I know Nar used to be visited by groups who had a permit for Pisang Peak, so maybe the broad gully on the western side of the north face, up to the west ridge, has been climbed? When we were there it was too cloudy to get a good look at the whole thing, but the main middle section of the face looked pretty daunting in the flesh.