Our Black Peak Expedition was an wholesome experience with lots of new learning. The first 3 days included long trails through forest, meadows and river crossings to cover ~35km to reach Kyarkoti Base Camp. After reaching Base Camp, we experienced almost 60 hours of non-stop snowfall, followed by another 2 days of intermittent snow. Hence, we were holed up at the Base Camp for 4 days instead of planned 1. During this break, we saw 3 avalanches, the last of which came down from Swargarohini, right into our campsite. Thankfully it was a light powder snow avalanche which, by the time it reached us, felt like a frozen version of a mist fan used outdoors in Delhi during summers.
When the weather opened, we moved to Camp 1 with the Sherpas & guides with “breaking the snow” to open the route navigating over extremely narrow ledges on slippery snow, making footsteps and laying the safety rope for us. One of the guides, who has climbed Black Peak 17 times, admitted that he had never seen so much snow on this route, neither in pre- nor in post-monsoon season.
Since the mules do not go above the Base Camp, we had to “load ferry”. In addition to our personal stuff, we were required to carry the tents, sleeping bags, equipment and food to the advanced camps; our guides took disproportionately higher load.
Soon after we reached Camp 3 (5500m), it started snowing quite heavily, and continued till evening. We knew that the summit attempt would be difficult that night. We started our way down next morning: it was snowing at 7am when we started and continued for next 4-5 hours. On our way down, around camp 2, there was a complete white-out and we just couldn’t find our direction beyond it. After struggling for 30-40min (and maybe going round in circles), we agreed to set up temporary camp right where we were, and wait for some clearance, and any sign of the sun or a mountain that could help us get a sense of direction. Thankfully, before we unpacked the tent, one of the guides found a marker and we could start moving again.
Return journey from base camp was long, but relaxed and fun. We made a little diversion to see Osla - the village of most of our staff and spent evenings playing cards, bonfire and bird watching at the campsites.
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