Nanda Devi East. The expedition which I led to Nanda Devi East was composed of 14 Indians and 14 Ukrainians. Because of the closure of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, we approached from Kumaon to the east, making the second ascent of the peak from outside the Sanctuary. The first ascent was made by Poles in 1939. From the roadhead at Pithoragarh, we took five days to Base Camp at Badheli Gwar at 4425 meters, which we reached on September 7. We established four camps. Camp I was two hours above Base Camp. Climbing started there, ascending scree to a steep rock gully and up a narrow ridge to Longstaff’s Col, where on September 11 we placed Camp II at 5950 meters. The route to Camp III began with two 125-meter-high gendarmes and then a narrow, exposed ridge. We fixed rope on all this section. Camp III was placed at 6250 meters on September 15. We fixed some of the route on the way to Camp IV, which we pitched at 6850 meters on September 20. The climb from Camp IV to the summit was first on a snow ridge and then on rock, where we fixed more rope. In all, we fixed 2750 meters of rope. On September 21, Matislav Gorbenko and Vladislav Terzeoul reached the summit (7434 meters, 24,390 feet). They were followed on the 22nd by Ibrahim Zade, Valentin Boiko, Aleksander Serpak, Aleksander Parkhomenko and Lobsang Sherpa. On September 23, Dr. Aleksander Vlasenko, Pavel Serenkov, Alexei Kharaldin and Yuri Zaverchinsky climbed to the top. On September 25, three Indians, Magan Bissa, Kusang Dorje Sherpa and Sanga Sherpa, also completed the ascent.

S. Bhattacharjee, Climbers and Explorers Club, India