So, arrangements are being made and
deposit has been paid – a vacation has been planned! This time it is a climb,
and I’m going back to the Himalayas. But now the goal lays in India, a small
mountain high up north in the Ladakh province, called Stok Kangri. Well, small
is relative. Personally it is an attempt to break my previous altitude record (Kilimanjaro,
2010, 5895m) – the summit of Stok Kangri is 6153m, so it will be very
interesting.
9th – 11th of July
Departure from Copenhagen, arrival in
Delhi the 10th before taking a plane to Leh (at app. 3500m) on the
11th.
12th of July
A relaxing day of acclimatisation so
that we have time to getting used to the high altitude.
13th of July
Today we will be driving up to the mountain
pass Khardung La at app. 5600m. From here we will be riding mountain bikes down
back to the town. Of course, there will be the option of taking the car back
down again. But turning down the chance of biking in the Himalayas at high
altitude? Psh!
Fun fact: It’s only the third day in the
country, second day in the mountains, and I am already higher than I have been
since 2012 when I reached the summit of Elbrus (5642m).
14th of July
Transfer – by car – to Spituk,
south-west from Leh. A short drive of 4-5 hours that brings us to 3200m.
15th of July
Today will be the first day of trekking.
We will walk into Hemis National Park where we will continue through and end up
at 3750m in the village Rumbak. It’s a half day’s walk, so we are starting
gentle.
Another fun fact; if we are to see snow
leopards, this is the area to do so. Unfortunately they are very rarely seen,
though a couple of Kipling’s (the company I am travelling with) expeditions
have seen a glimpse of one once or twice. Pay attention!
16th of July
Acclimatisation day. We will try to push
on up to 4800m if possible before returning to camp. This is expected to be a
long day.
17th of July
From the village we will continue on and
ascend to Stok La at 4900m. In this pass we will be able to see Stok Kangri
itself and parts of the path towards the top. After taking in the view we will
descend again to 4400m to the Stok Chu River and the village Mankarmo.
18th of July
Today will be a short day, moving in to
Stok Kangri Base Camp at 4900m. Mental and material preparations are made.
There will probably be an attempted acclimatisation to advanced base camp.
19th of July
Another relative short day; today the
focus will be relaxing and getting ready. We will be pushing to ABC at 5300m,
and if possible we will try to push a little further to optimize our
acclimatisation.
20th of July
As any other normal summit day we get up
just after midnight. Starting higher than BC makes the ascent easier but at
this altitude it will still be a challenge. The beginning of the climb might
start off with some scrambling, but it will never be really steep. And then it
just goes up and up and up until we (hopefully) reach the summit.
After celebrating we descend the same
way down until we end up at BC.
21st of July
We walk down to the town Stok before we
catch a ride back to Leh.
22nd – 24th of
July
Flight back to Delhi from Leh where we
will have a free day (a full day trip to Taj Mahal is an option) before we the
last day get a flight back home.
This trip will without a doubt be the
hardest trip I have been on yet. It’s going to be horrible. And fun. And
beautiful. And the Danish guide joining us is the same as the one I had in
Turkey last year. And that is definitely a good thing.
