Going for a stroll on 5200m Shittadar Peak.

By:  Sam
March 30, 2010


After four and a half hours of climbing by headlamp, just as the first rays of pre-dawn light were brightening the sky and the wind, which had been gaining force all morning, reached the height of it’s strength, we came to the base of slope too icy to skin and even a little sketchy to boot pack up. As we got our gear ready for the hike, I began to get intolerably cold, but Allen graciously lent me his mittens, saving my day. At the top of the steep, icy pitch, we found that we were, in fact, not yet at the ridge, but still about a hundred meters below it. Another fifteen minutes more, and we were finally (FINALLY!) on the ridge, in the sun, and, unfortunately, also the wind. We sat around for a few minutes, trying to warm up before setting off up the ridge forwards the summit.

Not ten minutes further, we crested a ridge and were shocked to learn that we were still not on the summit ridge, but that we were, in fact, on a lesser ridge that abruptly ended in the middle of a large face that we would have to boot up (too steep/icy for skinning) for at least another thousand feet before gaining the summit ridge.

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They say its better to lead than follow. That’s especially true when you have to follow this walking view ruin-er. (Allen, gaining the false summit ridge.)

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Allen, following Amits skintrack towards the final open slope.

Up to this point, we’d been moving pretty fast, and gaining altitude at a headache inducing clip. By the time we got to the snow slope though, we were at a crawl. Somewhere on the slope, we crossed the 5000m mark, and to make it more challenging, the snow we were climbing was extremely crusty, necessitating time-consuming rest-stepping. When we finally reached the real summit ridge, we were all feeling the effects of altitude in the form of fatigue, headaches, and a mild dizziness. After a short rest we pressed on to a high point at 5100m, where we stopped for lunch. The summit lay another hundred meters higher, but the steep, exposed snow below it would have taken at least another two hours to climb in our condition. We decided that since the snow below us was already starting to warm, it would be smart to eat lunch at our current location and enjoy great skiing, rather than push on to the summit and thereby expose our self to the dangers of thin air, and late afternoon snow.

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Allen, near the Glacier, booting up to the snowfield.

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The mind numbing climb up the crusty final slope.

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Allen, nearing the final ridge.

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The view off the back of the ridge.

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Each of the little valleys you can see here could support a month of aggressive backcountry touring without ever skiing the same line twice. If they’re lucky they see a party a year.

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Allen and Amit, nearing our high point while I catch my breath. The true summit of Shittadar peak is visible in the background.

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The view across the valley.

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“Ok everyone, pretend you don’t have a headache and that you haven’t been hiking since 2am”

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Read about the author:   Sam

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13 Comments

  1. powhounddd
    wrote on March 30th, 2010 at 10:20 pm  
    1

    Just amazing! I can’t say anything else. Loss of skin at the very very end is just karmic. And the mountains let you come and go home unscathed — very blessed trip.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  2. Adrian
    wrote on March 30th, 2010 at 10:21 pm  
    2

    That trip sounds beyond incredible and the photos are very awesome too!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  3. Greg
    wrote on March 30th, 2010 at 10:28 pm  
    3

    dude

    seriously incredible

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  4. jb
    wrote on March 30th, 2010 at 10:51 pm  
    4

    caw! caw! great write up. beautiful shots. those ones are spectacular! thanks for sharing

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  5. Anonymous
    wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 8:41 am  
    5

    totally badass…trip of a lifetime

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Sam
      wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 8:46 am  
      6

      I appreciate the complements, but “trip of a lifetime” always touches me off a little. This trip was amazingly affordable and with a little schedule magic, there isn’t a reason one couldn’t spend every winter in Manali. In short, i hope it isn’t a trip of a lifetime, only the trip of the season.

      Glad you liked the TR!

    • christian
      wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 10:59 am  
      7

      that was me (my internet forum skills are freakin’ awesome). didn’t mean to hit a bad nerve sam, but if you out-do this trip next season…i will give you 100 high fives.

    • Sam
      wrote on May 11th, 2010 at 12:08 pm  
      8

      challenge accepted.

  6. TheBEast
    wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 9:15 am  
    9

    Outstanding….Himalayan views all capture my imagination.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  7. Ben
    wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 10:25 am  
    10

    Amazing! The scale of those mountains is just so different…

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  8. Gregg L
    wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 10:30 am  
    11

    Pretty amazing trip! I’ve really enjoyed reading the TR’s and the pics are outstanding. Great job getting after it!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  9. Lionel Hutz
    wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 3:02 pm  
    12

    Really sweet but one question:

    “After four and a half hours of climbing by headlamp, just as the first rays of pre-dawn light were brightening the sky and the wind, which had been gaining force all morning, reached the height of it’s strength, we came to the base of slope too icy to skin and even a little sketchy to boot pack up. As we got our gear ready for the hike, I began to get intolerably cold, but Allen graciously lent me his mittens, saving my day.”

    What Mittens were these! (Wink Wink)

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  10. Porter Haney
    wrote on March 31st, 2010 at 9:15 pm  
    13

    Granite counter tops in the backcountry. That’s fantastic.

    Great write up Sam. Makes me want to go root around those adjacent valleys.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
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