In 2002, several members of the Climbers’ Circle, a Kolkata mountaineering club, trekked from Uttarakhand to Himachal Pradesh. While crossing Gibson Pass, they noticed a peak to the east of Borasu Pass. This was later identified as Jupkia (6,279m, 31°14'5.84"N, 78°32'2.39"E), and it remained on the club’s wish list until 2017, when I was part of a team that set out to climb the mountain. 

We first headed by road to Sangla, a small village in the Baspa Valley. We then had to acquire Inner Line permits from the district headquarters, as Jupkia is situated close to the Tibetan border. (The peak is about 12km southwest of the better-known Rangrik Rang; see AAJ 1995.) Continuing east through Chitkul and along the Baspa River, we then headed south toward Borasu Pass, eventually establishing base camp on the Jupkia Glacier moraine at 4,680m. Jupkia was visible to the east.

Over the next few days, we reconnoitered and established Camp 1 at 5,040m, at a point southwest of Jupkia where a side glacier rose toward the mountain. Seven of us occupied this camp on August 29. We moved up this side glacier—gentle at first but with steep sections higher up—to place Camp 2 on a flat snowfield at 5,610m. On the 31st, four of us occupied this camp. Above, a depression rose to the east, reaching a col below the south side of Jupkia. 

We climbed this section, fixing a little rope, and then planned a summit attempt on September 1. However, the weather turned bad, and it wasn’t until 4:30 a.m. on the 2nd that we left camp. After 15 minutes we were hit by a severe snow squall and returned. We tried again at 7:30 a.m. with the same result.

Finally, at 11 a.m., we left for a third attempt. The sky was overcast and visibility minimal, but we reached our previous high point and started climbing the south-southwest face of Jupkia. The weather turned bad again, there were many crevasses, and the face steepened toward the top, but we eventually reached the summit at 4:50 p.m. There was no visibility, a strong westerly wind, and we were worn out by the storm. We stayed no more than 10 minutes, regained our top camp at 7:30 p.m., and the following day descended to base camp to celebrate a carefully nurtured wish of almost 15 years. Our team was Buddhadeb Das, Arun Kanti Das, Rana Das, Rajib Sanyal, Prakash Shaw, and summiters Nagraja Pai, Pasang Sherpa, Pemba Tsiring, and me (expedition leader).

– Abhishek Das, India