Bhrigupath Attempt and Bhrigu Pathar. Britons Kevin O’Neale, Martin Welch, Ian Drigg and I were active in the Gangotri region in mid-September. The Bhagirathi Glacier and its encircling mountain faces had remained unexplored until our visit. Only two previous expeditions had recorded being in the area and they were restricted to the lower part of the glacier by the icefall. Neale and Welch climbed the 1000-meter-high, snow-and-ice, northeast face of Bhrigupanth (6772 meters, 22,220 feet) and reached the summit ridge some 150 meters below the summit, but they were stopped by poor snow conditions. Drigg and I started up a prow left of the blank white wall above the Bhrigupanth Glacier where we found an excellent free climb with sustained pitches of UIAA V, VI and VII with only short stretches of A1 to negotiate moss-choked cracks. The prow gave access to easier upper slabs and a shale-and-snow ridge leading to the summit of Bhrigu Pathar (6038 meters, 19,810 feet). We climbed the 26 pitches in capsule style over seven days, from September 8 to 14.

Martin Moran, Scottish Mountaineering Club