Climbing on the Himalaya and Other Mountain RangesCollie, Norman
History
Climbing on the Himalaya and Other Mountain Ranges
Collie, Norman
Himalaya Mountains; Mountaineering
Our route with the coolies was to skirt along the lower slopes of Nanga
Parbat as near the snow line as possible. This would lead us first
into the Ganalo nullah, and thence to the Rakiot nullah. There we had
arranged to meet Mummery by the side of the glacier. Having crossed
the Diamirai glacier, we went straight up the opposite side of the
valley for a pass on the ridge south-east of a pointed rock peak at
the head of the Gonar nullah. This peak we have named the Gonar peak,
and the pass the Red pass (about 16,000 feet). From this pass a superb
view of the head of the Diamirai nullah was obtained, whilst to the
south and south-west a beautifully shaped snow mountain, beyond the
Lubar glacier, probably the Thosho peak, shone in the sunlight over
the Goman Singh pass. To the east we saw for the first time the great
Chongra peaks on the north-east of Nanga Parbat. On the north side of
our pass snow slopes stretched down some hundreds of feet to a small
glacier. Some of the coolies tried an impromptu glissade here, and
seemed rather pleased at the result; but it was a dangerous experiment,
for various rocks and stones awaited their arrival at the bottom. At
last in the dark after much trouble we managed to get down far enough
to collect wood for our camp fires, and put up our tent by the side of
a small stream.
Next day it was found necessary to climb up again at least 1000 feet
before descending about 2500 feet on to the snout of the Ganalo
glacier. This we crossed on the ice. On the far bank most luxuriant
vegetation covered the hill-side, and for a long time we climbed
rapidly upwards through woods of pines, birches, and other trees till
the rhododendrons were reached late in the afternoon. Still we pushed
on, hoping to get over into the Rakiot nullah, for perhaps Mummery
would be there awaiting tents and food. But the coolies were dead beat;
therefore, when we were still more than 1000 feet below the col, we
were forced to camp beyond the limit of the brushwood in an open grass
valley.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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