Our expedition from the Scuola Guido della Torre took place in August and comprised Matteo Filippini, Tommaso Lamantia, Luca Monfrini, Emanuele Nugara, and me as leader. Our goal was not only to climb virgin summits but also to thoroughly explore and document the Khane Valley. From a base camp on the First Terrace, at about 4,000m, we explored the main valley as far as the Khane Glacier icefall, at about 4,900m, as well as several side valleys.

During exploration of the valley leading toward what we called Hope Col (4,780m), we made the first ascent of Peak 45, as designated on Jerzy Wala’s 2012 sketch map. We climbed the ca 300m east ridge (VI+/VII) and adopted the local name for this peak: Shorsa Tower I (ca 4,900m). The rock was generally good though blocky; it was more compact for the final pitches.

We attempted the south face of Peak 42, but the cracks turned out to be grass-filled and dirty, and we abandoned the attempt after only one pitch. Investigation of the lower sections of neighboring towers led us to the same conclusion, and we made no more attempts in this area.

We attempted to reach Saws Col (5,270m) between Meligo and the Twins (or, more precisely, between peaks 64 and 66), and from there hoped to climb Peak 66. However, we were stopped on the glacier at 5,000m by frequent stonefall from the west face of the Twins. We attempted Peak 23 but again failed due to poor ice and stonefall—one large rockfall missed our tent by only 80m. Finally, we attempted a satellite peak near base camp and close to Peak 42. We climbed 300m up to III+, but the poor rock stopped us just 30m from the summit, which we named Nail I (4,500m).

Throughout our stay the weather was favorable, but constant high temperatures made climbing dangerous. Also, despite appearances, the rock quality was poor. [Download the full report on this expedition.]

Information provided by Walter Polidori, CAI, translated by Vittorio Bedogni