Asia, Pakistan or Afghan Frontier, Hindu Kush, Shohgologh Zom, Lunkho Group

Publication Year: 1969.

Shohgologh Zom, Lunkho Group. Takao Nagamine, Tetsuo Shimada and I left Tokyo on July 21 and arrived in Chitral on the 24th, where we began the journey with 450 pounds of gear on four donkeys. We got to the last village, Phurgram, in the Rich Gol on August 1. The next day we came to the point the porters called Moghalang, where streams from the Noroghik and Anosha glaciers pour into the Rich Gol. We chose the left-hand glacier, the Noroghik and on the 3rd set up Base Camp on the moraine at 12,000 feet. The Phurgram porters were afraid of walking on the ice and so we had to carry our gear up the first icefall to set up Camp I at 13,000 feet. On the 6th we found the safest place we could above the second icefall for Camp II at 14,100 feet. This commanded a view of the upper part of the glacier and of many 6000ers and 5000ers. The upper part of Lunkho was seen high and great. Aiming at the saddle between two peaks on the ridge running south from Lunkho, we crossed the wide snow plateau and set up Camp III at 15,400 feet. Availing ourselves of the small glacier falling from the saddle, we struggled to place Camp IV at 17,700 feet on August 9. Too exhausted from the altitude to try another 1000 meters of ascent, we gave up P 6442. On August 11 Shimada and I (Nagamine could not even get to his feet that day) followed the ridge south from the saddle and finally got to the steep rock peak towering between the Noroghik and Shohgologh glaciers. It was about 6000 meters or 19,685 feet. We should like to call it Shohgologh Zom. (This is the peak which lies between peaks 336 and 334 on the Wala map.—Editor.) We got back to Base Camp on the 14th and Chitral on August 22.

Toru Yoshitomi, Alpine Club of Tokyo University of Education