Region: China and Tibet

John Town (with Derek Buckle, Alasdair Scott and Martin Scott). September 2003

The objective of this team was an elegant 6270m double-peaked mountain in Toling Dechen county, a mountainous area in the south of the Nyanchen Tangla range of Tibet, which - as far as was known - had never previously been attempted. Satellite photographs and Russian military maps identified the chosen peak as Da Kangri (Horse Peak) and enabled accurate interpretation of the terrain, so although the locals called it Beu-tse (Calf Peak), they were able to guide their Land Cruisers up back roads to establish Base Camp at 4645m only 3 hours after leaving Lhasa: unnervingly, this turned out to be well within earshot of automatic fire from Chinese military manoeuvres in the next valley. From here, two routes were considered: the long West Ridge rising abruptly above BC, or a hanging valley to its north which led to the foot of the NW Face. They chose the latter, and after placing two intermediate camps reached the summit in about 6¾ hours climbing, descending the same way. The sustained and exposed nature of the route made it Alpine D+.