On September 16, Crystal Davis-Robbins and I made the first ascent of the south face and east flank of CB6A (5,450m). I had found a picture of this beautiful peak, yet had no idea where it was or how to get there. After arriving in Manali, we spent two days talking with locals in Vashisht and eventually learned the mystery peak was located near the small village of Chhatru on the Chandra River.

A few days later, our bags were packed, mules were loaded, and we were ready to go. We started up the Chhatru Nullah toward our proposed base camp, where we intended to spend the next 10 days. [The Chhatru Nullah forms part of a classic trek across the 4,270m Hampta Pass, rising south from the Chandra River toward 6,220m Indrasan.] However, two hours into the hike, our horseman informed us he could go no farther, due to hazardous terrain. We decided to bivouac on uneven ground, unsure what to do. The next morning Crystal and I decided to go forth alone, taking only what we would need for five nights. We repacked and began the trek up steep, loose talus, finally setting up camp at 4,300m in a beautiful meadow.

Three striking peaks shot into the sky, but the middle pyramid drew our attention, and we eventually opted for a line that began up the south face. We moved camp to 4,900m, just above the glacier. That night snow fell and we prayed to the weather gods for clear skies the following morning, as we only had one more night of food. At 4 a.m. we set off across the glacier toward a steep and loose gully. The gully was frozen, so we climbed with crampons and tools until we reached solid rock. We swapped leads up 5.8–5.10 terrain until we reached the ridge above. From there we moved onto the east flank and simul-climbed a few hundred feet before it steepened. We finished with three more pitches of nice 5.9 crack climbing.

To our surprise, we found a cairn on the summit and later discovered that a Finnish party had climbed the east side a couple of years earlier. We located their rappel line as snow began to fall. We named our route NibbiJibbi (400m, 5.10-).

Editor’s note: In 2010 the Finnish team of Pasi Kyto, Samuli and Jussi Pekkanen, Mikko Tukiainen, and Janna Ylipelto climbed the east face of this formation to the summit ridge (400m of climbing, 5.10-), but did not continue along the last sharp section to the top. They returned in 2013 and finished their route directly to the highest point. The Finns refer to this group of rock peaks, which lie on the east side of the Chhatru Nullah, as the Charas Towers. As for the peak name, CB stands for the Chandra Bhaga Range, and 6A is how the name of the Finns’ hometown is pronounced in their local dialect.

Whitney Clark, USA