Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Central Garhwal, Bhagirathi III, West Face, New Route

Publication Year: 1999.

Bhagirathi III, West Face, New Route. Alexander Odintsov, Igor Potankin, Yuri Koshelenko, Vladimir Kachkov, Andrey Lukin, Ivan Samoilenko, and Lioudmila Krestina (doctor) arrived at the Bhagirathi Base Camp in Nandanvan on August 25. The expedition took 12 weeks—one month more than they had planned. Six climbers started a route up the center of the west face; four summited. They spent 16 days climbing capsule style on their route and two more for the rappel. They experienced serious weather on the wall, including a storm on the descent that killed three Indian rangers in a neighboring valley and destroyed 25 kilometers of the road, which they later passed on foot. A full account of their route appears earlier in this journal.