Kalanka from the North. Our expedition had 14 members: Jan Kulhánek, Dr. Bohumil Karâsek, Jirí Strych Jaroslav Hons, Jirí Janiš, Ladislav Jón, Richard Kašták, Oldrich Kopal, Jaroslav Krnák, Gustav Pfannenstiel, Misoslav Polman, Josef Rakoncaj, Miroslav Uhlír and I as leader. We traveled from Czechoslovakia by truck. In Delhi we were joined by our liaison officer, Pramed Deogirikar, who managed the porters well, keeping their demands reasonable. The approach to Kalanka’s north face is possible by two routes. The northern one, leading from the Dhauli Ganga valley by way of the Dunagiri and Bagini Glaciers is much easier but was not allowed because of its closeness to the Tibetan border. The southern route is a hard-to-find path winding through passes, rocks and steep slopes high above the Rishi Ganga; the whole first part is the approach to Nanda Devi. The march to Base Camp took seven days. Base Camp was established on August 20 at 15,100 feet on a grassy field below the Ramani Glacier between the peaks of Rishikot and Hanuman, south of Kalanka. The expedition operated in the area for 35 days. Three days after establishing Base Camp, we set up Camp I, four miles away, on the upper part of the Ramani Glacier at 16,900 feet just below the Bagini Col, 18,375 feet, between Changabang and Dunagiri. We crossed the col and placed Camp II also at 18,375 feet. We fixed ropes on the col, which was exhausting and dangerous from rockfall. The north side of Kalanka and Changabang is a compact granite massif, covered with water ice and snow, some 6500 wide and 6000 feet high, scarred by rock and ice avalanches. We first tried a direttissima but were forced back by unfavorable weather. The second attempt was started some 350 feet to the right and headed for the Kalanka-Changabang saddle. After two days of climbing, Camp III was established at 19,525 feet. Above, there was a vertical rock pillar, the crux of the ascent which took three days to climb. On a small plateau below the col a place for a last bivouac was found. On September 18 we decided to stop fixing ropes and finish the climb alpine-style. The summit team was Rakoncaj and Jón with Janis, Hons and Uhlír in support at Camp III. On September 19 the summit team ascended to the bivouac and the next day went for the top. At 11:30 A.M. they reached the Changabang-Kalanka ridge 500 feet above the saddle and ascended the last 1650 feet along the ridge which the Japanese had climbed in 1975. At three P.M. they reached the summit. They were back in Camp III late in the evening after numerous rappels. Because of the scarcity of porters, I had had to fix the date of leaving Base Camp on September 23. On the afternoon of September 22, the happy but exhausted summit team got back to Base Camp. After dismantling it on the 23rd, we started in bad weather with snow, rain and fog and completed the first stage at eleven P.M. Some porters bivouacked on the way. Two porters were injured on the slippery terrain and from then on each had to be supported by one other porter in order to reach their village. The weather during the whole expedition was unfavorable.

Frantisek Grunt, Alpine Club Liaz Jablonec nad Nisou, Czechoslovakia