Gorakh Himal

The Gorakh Himal range lies in the far west of Nepal between the Changla Himal and the Kanta Himal, and close to the border with Tibet: partly due to the 9 day approach march it has had very few British visitors, so was a good choice for this very experienced team to explore. It also offered a number of peaks awaiting first ascents. They decided to concentrate on the western end of the range, approaching via the Luruppa Khola, never previously visited by foreigners. From a base camp at 4500m they initiated a number of reconnaissance trips, hoping to find a viable route on Langtachen (6284m). When this proved to be unsuccessful, they made a further recce into the Karpunath Lekh, to the west of base. From a col at 5600m they had a good view of the surrounding country, including a particularly fine peak of 5816m, but too far away for them to attempt. Before leaving, Colton and Douglas climbed a 5100m rock peak to the SW, which gave some VS climbing to the summit tower.