2015.08.11 - D6, Trek Stok Kangri: Base Camp - Stok Kangri
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 7.43 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,527 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 3,527 ft
- Max elevation
- 20,076 ft
- TrailRank
-
39
3
- Min elevation
- 16,497 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 11 hours 19 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2190
- Uploaded
- August 16, 2015
- Recorded
- August 2015
near Rumbak, Jammu and Kashmīr (India)
Viewed 1001 times, downloaded 54 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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Day 6/10 - August 11, 2015:
Base camp (5,046 m) - Stok Kangri (6,153 m) - Base camp (5,046 m)
Duration: 11:15 hours
Highlight: Stok Kangri (6,153 m)
Distances and cumulative altitude: 12 km, +1,075 m / -1,075 m
Full route: 2015.08.06-15 - Trek Stok Kangri, Ladakh (10 days)
It's 00: 07h at night when they sting our tent to wake us up. The day before, after a brief explanation of the climb and a contact with our climbing guide, Puspa - a 25-year-old man - went to bed at 8:30 p.m. A short night then, but leaving early is an important security issue: this summer, it rained a lot on Ladakh and in July it snowed in quantity on the high peaks, a snow very much transformed today by the Indian sun. This combination of elements constitutes a real threat of avalanches on the steep slopes of the Stok Kangri.
Despite the few hours at night, we got a good night's sleep that together with the afternoon of the previous day in the base camp provide us with an acceptable rest. A hot tea, some cookies and at 00: 30h we start the climb. We left the camp by a long flank that we recognized yesterday, about 150 meters of unevenness in decomposed terrain and strong inclination. Once we reach the small hill that dominates the field we leave the valley of Stok and continue until at the height of 5,280 m, the first snow plates appear. We have barely left the base camp since the snow starts! ... The climb promises to be fun. At 5.350 m we are suddenly surprised by a sudden change in temperature and we quickly put on the Gore-Tex, cap and gloves, while we put on the crampons. This change scares us because at this time of the year the Stok Kangri is not known for a cold mountain despite the altitude and could mean an intense drop in temperatures in the hours ahead. Extremely bad luck, when reaching the glacier that closes the valley we crossed a type of depression in which the foundry water accumulates, and that we can not surround. A foot of water-snow that quickly enters the boots and soaks us, despite accelerating the pace. The cold, the snow from very low levels and now, the wet boots ... does not start the day very favorable! In the sky, no star. From time to time, some fine drops pass through the light of the frontals. But we have faith! Every day since we left Leh the Stok Kangri has dawned clear: in a few hours, the sun will rise! Little by little we gain in altitude. The snowy slopes are very steep, often 40%. We meander through eses but the progression in that thick snow, along with the altitude, is exhausting. Far above us in the fog dance a spotlight, while below, other mountaineers follow our steps. We all advance the same: very slowly. I smile That way of walking has more of a series B movie than mountaineering! Zombies, walking on Earth ...
After four hours of ascension our guide - to call it that way, the man barely made conversation with us and always, the last one remains! -, our "guide" because, after four hours he informs us that still, we are separated by four hours from the top. Four and four, eight ... It could not be! If in normal time, the climb is completed in 5, 6 hours! In normal time, already, but not with that snow ... At 6 o'clock in the morning finally, we arrived at the antecima. Several cordadas are already being equipped and in a short time, we all resume the climb to win together what separates us from the summit. Five hundred meters in total, 200 meters of altitude difference. The progression is very slow. The tiredness, the slowness of several cordadas following slow down our steps even more. The edge itself is not complicated or technical. The tie-in would not be necessary if it were not for the wind and safety, to prevent an eventual fall from the edge.
It's 8 o'clock when we finally reach the top. I look at the GPS: 6,152 meters. With tiredness the last few meters are exciting ... All the cordadas have gathered here, about 25 people, waiting in the snow for the exit of an unlikely sun through the clouds. All around is submerged in a thick fog. What a pity! We remember the photos of the peak in our memory and an extraordinary landscape: a sea of clouds, the low horizon and anywhere that reaches the look : mountains, all around. It will not be like that today and that, that we deserve it. We took some Tibetan flags that we bought in Leh a few days ago and added them to many others, floating in the wind. From that day even, some say that the wind, a Catalan flag floats ... We wait a little longer, as if to convince us that the meteo will not smile at us and one by one all the ropes, as responding to the same order silent, they get up. The legs are tired and have a hard time supporting our weight: the descent too, will be long. Together, in the same movement, we started the descent. About thirty mountaineers, such a silent army, fatigue in their faces. We have achieved it, what emotion!
Writing these lines, back to the base camp and warm in my sleeping bag, I think of the companions in the shops next door who have also gone to sleep, dreaming of the ascension within a few hours. They do not know what awaits them ...
Base camp (5,046 m) - Stok Kangri (6,153 m) - Base camp (5,046 m)
Duration: 11:15 hours
Highlight: Stok Kangri (6,153 m)
Distances and cumulative altitude: 12 km, +1,075 m / -1,075 m
Full route: 2015.08.06-15 - Trek Stok Kangri, Ladakh (10 days)
It's 00: 07h at night when they sting our tent to wake us up. The day before, after a brief explanation of the climb and a contact with our climbing guide, Puspa - a 25-year-old man - went to bed at 8:30 p.m. A short night then, but leaving early is an important security issue: this summer, it rained a lot on Ladakh and in July it snowed in quantity on the high peaks, a snow very much transformed today by the Indian sun. This combination of elements constitutes a real threat of avalanches on the steep slopes of the Stok Kangri.
Despite the few hours at night, we got a good night's sleep that together with the afternoon of the previous day in the base camp provide us with an acceptable rest. A hot tea, some cookies and at 00: 30h we start the climb. We left the camp by a long flank that we recognized yesterday, about 150 meters of unevenness in decomposed terrain and strong inclination. Once we reach the small hill that dominates the field we leave the valley of Stok and continue until at the height of 5,280 m, the first snow plates appear. We have barely left the base camp since the snow starts! ... The climb promises to be fun. At 5.350 m we are suddenly surprised by a sudden change in temperature and we quickly put on the Gore-Tex, cap and gloves, while we put on the crampons. This change scares us because at this time of the year the Stok Kangri is not known for a cold mountain despite the altitude and could mean an intense drop in temperatures in the hours ahead. Extremely bad luck, when reaching the glacier that closes the valley we crossed a type of depression in which the foundry water accumulates, and that we can not surround. A foot of water-snow that quickly enters the boots and soaks us, despite accelerating the pace. The cold, the snow from very low levels and now, the wet boots ... does not start the day very favorable! In the sky, no star. From time to time, some fine drops pass through the light of the frontals. But we have faith! Every day since we left Leh the Stok Kangri has dawned clear: in a few hours, the sun will rise! Little by little we gain in altitude. The snowy slopes are very steep, often 40%. We meander through eses but the progression in that thick snow, along with the altitude, is exhausting. Far above us in the fog dance a spotlight, while below, other mountaineers follow our steps. We all advance the same: very slowly. I smile That way of walking has more of a series B movie than mountaineering! Zombies, walking on Earth ...
After four hours of ascension our guide - to call it that way, the man barely made conversation with us and always, the last one remains! -, our "guide" because, after four hours he informs us that still, we are separated by four hours from the top. Four and four, eight ... It could not be! If in normal time, the climb is completed in 5, 6 hours! In normal time, already, but not with that snow ... At 6 o'clock in the morning finally, we arrived at the antecima. Several cordadas are already being equipped and in a short time, we all resume the climb to win together what separates us from the summit. Five hundred meters in total, 200 meters of altitude difference. The progression is very slow. The tiredness, the slowness of several cordadas following slow down our steps even more. The edge itself is not complicated or technical. The tie-in would not be necessary if it were not for the wind and safety, to prevent an eventual fall from the edge.
It's 8 o'clock when we finally reach the top. I look at the GPS: 6,152 meters. With tiredness the last few meters are exciting ... All the cordadas have gathered here, about 25 people, waiting in the snow for the exit of an unlikely sun through the clouds. All around is submerged in a thick fog. What a pity! We remember the photos of the peak in our memory and an extraordinary landscape: a sea of clouds, the low horizon and anywhere that reaches the look : mountains, all around. It will not be like that today and that, that we deserve it. We took some Tibetan flags that we bought in Leh a few days ago and added them to many others, floating in the wind. From that day even, some say that the wind, a Catalan flag floats ... We wait a little longer, as if to convince us that the meteo will not smile at us and one by one all the ropes, as responding to the same order silent, they get up. The legs are tired and have a hard time supporting our weight: the descent too, will be long. Together, in the same movement, we started the descent. About thirty mountaineers, such a silent army, fatigue in their faces. We have achieved it, what emotion!
Writing these lines, back to the base camp and warm in my sleeping bag, I think of the companions in the shops next door who have also gone to sleep, dreaming of the ascension within a few hours. They do not know what awaits them ...
Waypoints
Risk
17,969 ft
Agua de superficie!
Mountain pass
17,085 ft
Collado
Information point
17,784 ft
Crampones
Campsite
16,553 ft
Kangla Jal / Stok Kangri Base Camp (5.046 m)
Summit
Comments (2)
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over the top!!
Thank you Borissa for your appreciation, did you enjoy the ascension?
Salut i muntanya!