원정 개요

Limi Himal, Ashvin, WNW Ridge (Paulo Grobel):

Landing just after dawn at Simikot airstrip with all our baggage was already a great success.

Our goal was to explore the Limi Group, a large "blank on the map" with more than 15 peaks over 6000m (see also AAJ 2015) and make the first ascent of Ashvin (6055m). However, early on the approach we were surprised to meet a young team of Japanese mountaineers from Doshisha University, returning from making the first ascent of this mountain from the valley of the Chuwa Khola. I was happy for their success because it marks another stage in my project to promote climbing in West Nepal, but also disappointed because it was me who proposed that this peak be opened, and I had hoped to climb it as far back as the spring of 2013. We would follow the same route as the Japanese on the mountain, though our approach to the base would be different. Ashvin has two summits, north and south, the former a less inspiring peak. The Ashvins are the two Vedic gods in Hindu mythology, and unfortunately a spelling mistake has crept into the official list of open peaks, on which the ministry refers to the mountain Aichyn, a name without meaning.

On September 24, from a high camp, Hugues De Varax with Rajan Lama, Dhan Magar with Marie Christine Duchateau, Jean-Paul Charpentier with Pierre Derieux, and Daniel Gascard, Magali Gorce, and I reached the summit of Ashvin North (30°17'35"N, 81°52'22"E, 6,025m, F). The following day De Varax with Dhan Magar, Charpentier with Derieux, and Rajan Lama and I first climbed the northeast ridge of a subsidiary peak Kaya Ko Himal, then descended from that summit southeast to what we called Cosmos Col, and finally finished up the west ridge of Ashvin (30°16'15"N, 81°51'28"E, PD).

As part of the Limi Himal Project, my website soon will have a page where all can share their experiences in this area. It may go some way toward convincing the Nepalese government to open the entire range under a special permit system, encouraging mountaineers to think "outside the box," have adventures in this remote area, and in so doing help improve its economic situation. Currently only Ashvin and Ardung (6034m) are on the permitted list in this region.