Overview. In 2009 there were 64 Indian and 37 foreign expeditions in the Indian Himalaya, the total of 101 being the largest in recent years. Many Indian expeditions visited peaks that have been climbed many times (Satopanth, Chhamser Kangri), and many foreign groups were commercially organized trips to well-known mountains, such as Nun and Kun. Stok Kangri retained its status as the most-climbed 6,000m peak in the world, with the added tag of harboring one of the dirtiest, most foul-smelling base camps anywhere.

Both leading organizations in India had new Presidents. Ramkrishna Rao, former Director General of the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP), was elected as President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, while a leading Indian mountaineer, Col. Ashok Abbey, took over the reins of the Himalayan Club.

Finally, the Indian Himalaya was severely affected by changes in the weather, and one can use the cliché that the only certainty about this year ’s weather was its uncertainty. The dry spells affected villagers’ psyche too. The population of Langja, in Spiti, long suspected that the mountain rising above their village, with the romantic name Chau Chau Kang Nilda (Blue Moon in the Sky), affected their weather. This year they stopped three expeditions from proceeding to this peak, as they believed it would affect the crops: a curious effect of global warming.

Harish Kapadia, Honorary Editor, The Himalayan Journal