Panwali Dwar. On October 3, George Healey, Winky O’Neale and I made the third ascent of Panwali Dwar (6663 meters, 21,860 feet), which we approached from the Pindari valley to the south. The peak lies on the rim of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. We climbed the southeast ridge alpine-style with camps at 5200 and 6100 meters. Both previous ascents, in 1980 and 1991, were made with much fixed rope, but the heavy late monsoon plastered the mountain in snow and we saw few traces of old rope. The heavy snow cover let us climb directly up the lower ridge from the Buria Glacier with relative ease whereas earlier parties made a steeper rocky approach from the Bauljuri col. The final 500 meters followed a diagonal line across the upper edge of the south face at a sustained angle of 45° to 50°. The route is without serious objective danger.

Martin Moran, Alpine Climbing Group