Peak Above Khurdopin Glacier. Andrew Bradley, Richard Osborne, John DeBank, Paul Simpkin, Tony Briggs, Dr. Luke Hughes-Davis and I journeyed up the Karakoram Highway to Pasu. There we engaged 15 porters and a cook for the walk to Base Camp. From the roadhead, a three-day walk to Shimshal remained. After a rest day in Shimshal, two further days’ walk were undertaken before the porters were paid off. Our intended Base Camp was still another day’s walk across the moraine of the Yukshin and Khurdopin Glaciers. We finally established Base Camp at 12,000 feet just above the snout of the Khurdopin Glacier. Due to the distance of the mountain we originally hoped to climb, Bradley, DeBank, Simpkin and Briggs carried climbing equipment while Osborne and I each carried 28 kilograms of food and fuel for them. After three days, this food was dumped and we two returned to Base Camp. A brief reconnaissance showed the original objective, P 6240, was out of range from our Base Camp, though a worthy objective. From the gear dump, the four moved east following a hanging glacier to its head at 16,000 feet. They climbed the highest peak attainable from that glacier. The unnamed peak was about 19,000 feet high. Meanwhile, Osborne and I made an unsuccessful attempt on an 18,500-foot peak close to Base Camp. The following day the whole party was reunited at Base Camp. We decided that no more climbing was possible due to the rotten rock near Base Camp and the distance to the mountains with greater snow cover.

Gary Murton, Plymouth Polytechnic, England