This year’s climb

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.

9^th – 11^th of July

Departure from Copenhagen, arrival in Delhi the 10^th before taking a plane to Leh (at app. 3500m) on the 11^th.

12^th of July

A relaxing day of acclimatisation so that we have time to getting used to the high altitude.

13^th 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).

14^th of July

Transfer – by car – to Spituk, south-west from Leh. A short drive of 4-5 hours that brings us to 3200m.

15^th 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!

16^th 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.

17^th 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.

18^th 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.

19^th 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.

20^th 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.

21^st of July

We walk down to the town Stok before we catch a ride back to Leh.

22^nd – 24^th 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.