In September-October 2022, Innes Dean, Alex Mathie, and I spent five weeks in the Lalung Valley. Our main goal was to climb the 1,400m north face of Chiling II (6,253m). In 2018, Alex had attempted it with Matt Harle, but the pair was forced to retreat low down due to unstable weather, poor conditions, and heavy spindrift avalanches. During their acclimatization, they reached about 5,600m on unclimbed Lalung III.

We approached from Leh in a van, via Kargil and Rangdum, to just short of the Pensi La, from where we walked for a day up the Lalung Valley to a base camp just short of the glacier snout.

To reach the bottom of the north face, we followed the same approach that Alex has taken four years previously: up the Lalung Glacier, over the col linking it with the Chiling Glacier to the north, then up to the face. However, when trying to drop into the Chiling Glacier, we found that a fresh landslide had come off a 5,600m peak northeast of the col and had intersected an icefall. We spent two days trying to navigate a way through but failed.

We turned our attentions to other peaks in the vicinity. [For a discussion of the location and naming of these peaks, refer to the report in AAJ 2019.] First, we attempted the north ridge of unclimbed Lalung I (6,243m), which looked spectacular from a distance. Closer inspection revealed it was comprised of frozen soil and loose rock, making it very unappealing. A meter of snow overnight resulted in us taking most of the day to descend 1km of the Lalung Glacier, then a further day to regain base camp.

Finally, we attempted unclimbed Peak 6,048m, up a side valley east of the Lalung Glacier. The north ridge appeared brilliant, steep, and, in our assessment, safe from avalanches after the heavy snowfall. Unfortunately, we only climbed the initial slopes to reach a low-angled section, where we released a slab avalanche. Above, our intended line would have involved several sections of similar ground, so we retreated.

— Timothy Elson, U.K.