It is 4 a.m., –20°C, and I am awoken from my stuttered sleeping pattern at base camp (4,605m) with the call for morning tent tea. It is November 16,

day 15 of our expedition to climb Chhubohe (pronounced Chub Chay) and other unclimbed peaks in the Chomochomo Danda range, above the valleys of Nar and Phu.

We took six days to trek to base camp at 28°43.155'N, 84°12.703'E, one day above the village of Nar. On November 14, two days after our arrival, Pasang Sherpa and I set off to climb the northernmost summit in the Chomochomo Danda. We first traversed to a 4,300m saddle at 28°44.371'N, 84°13.336'E, which we named Nar Col. From here we turned left, crossed one summit, which we named Jaistai Dada (Just a Hill, 5,506m), and then continued to the black triangular peak at the end of the range. We named this Kaloche (Black Peak, 5,610m GPS), both as a reference to being devoid of snow, and also after Arnold Black, a friend who one year earlier had died of pancreatic cancer. To reach this point, we had kicked steps in a couple of snow slopes while approaching the col, roped for one section of snow, but otherwise moved independently over scree and snow, without crampons. We reversed the route, making an eight-hour round trip from base camp.

At 5 a.m. on the 16th, Pasang Sherpa, Tendi Sherpa, Bugs Wrightson, and I left base camp and climbed straight up to the snowline on the southwest face of Chhubohe, taking two and a half hours to reach this point. We then roped up, and, moving together, spent the next three and a half hours climbing appalling snow to a col on the summit ridge. Here, we unroped, turned south, and headed up to the summit rock towers. A narrow ridge of snow and rock with intimidating drops to either side led in 100m to a pulpit of rock on the summit. We soon realized that the summit is formed of two towers separated by a one-meter gap. With the aid of a tensioned rope between us, we leapt the chasm and landed atop the pulpit. The lowest of two GPS units gave 5,640m, as opposed to the official height of 5,603m. We regained base camp 11 hours after leaving.

Chhubohe was brought onto the official permitted list in 2002. Locals around Nar thought it was an important holy peak; the lama and others knew of no previous ascents. The expedition was organized to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK. All funds raised through my company Expedition Wise Ltd, and http://www.justgiving.com/Brian-Jackson2, will go to this charity.

Brian Jackson, U.K., www.expeditionwise.com