#2 Ultar Hidden Pillar
Participants: Erwan Lelann, Jerome Blanc-Gras, Yannick Graziani and Herve Qualizza
"The storm comes back, raging, leaving us no choice but to...."
ULTAR REPORT
The project's objective:
Our project "Ultar Sar 2000" had different purposes:
- On the one hand, the project was about opening a new route
on the Ultar II, a 7288m. high mountain whose summit has only been reached
once before, in 1996, by a Japanese team.
The pillar we had views on, on the Southeastern side of the
peak, stretches out over a 3500m.in height, offering all together snow, ice
and rock difficulties.
- On the other hand, we wanted to take advantage of this trip
to dispatch school supplies to the children of the Hunza Valley schools.
- Our final aim, through this sport's achievement, was to
promote, test and develop the products of our different sponsors:
Polartec,
Adidas, Béal, Charlet-Moser,Grivel, Petzl, Pinel, Salomon, Simond.
Geographic layout:
The Hunza Valley is located on the Northwestern part of Pakistan, in the
Hindu-Kush massif, which is border to the Karakorum.
The Ultar peak consists of two summits (Ultar I and Ultar II). The access to
this peak is rather complex, yet not so long (barely three days are required
from the last village, reached by 4WD car). Our Base Camp, located right
beneath the pillar, in a hidden valley, could only be reached after a few
days of hard work, setting up fixed ropes.
The members of this project were:
Jerome Blanc-Gras, 26years old, High Mountain guide and
Schoolteacher.
Erwann LeLann, 27 years old, High Mountain guide.
Yannick Graziani, 26 years old, High Mountain guide.
Herve Qualizza, 23 years old, High Mountain guide.
Unfolding of the expedition:
We landed in Islamabad, capital city of Pakistan, on May,3rd.
We stayed in Islamabad from May 3rd to May 6th, to deal with all the
administrative paper work, such as organization and permit formal
procedures.
Finally, on May 9th, we reached the village of Karimabad, capital "city" of
the Hunza Valley, and our final destination by car. This will be our
starting point for the climb up to base camp.
>From May 8th to May15th, we progressively put up 1200m. of fixed ropes to
reach the so-called Hidden Valley, located at an altitude of 4600m.
This valley houses the Ultar glacier. It will also be the shelter for our
base camp, and this is where we will convey our mountaineering gear, with
the help of carriers. The pillar is only three hours away from our base camp
(walking distance).
During that time, the weather is gradually worsening and soon the few ray of
sunshine give way to uninterrupted disturbances. We then decide it would be
better to go back down to Karimabad and wait for more stable conditions.
We return to base camp on May 18th to start the acclimatization process. The
weather hasn't gotten any better, yet we decide to go out and acknowledge
our surroundings and the different ways to access and come down from the
Pillar.
During 6 days, we walk around base camp...it's snowing daily...
May 24th...finally a lull in the ongoing snowfalls. We head out for
a 5200m. high unclimbed peak, whose summit we reach by climbing up a 800m.
long snow couloir.
The next day (May, 25th), we head out with two days of self-sufficiency,
with the intent to climb a pillar (rock-climbing) on a tower which summits
at 6000m., facing our objective. After having climbed a 55° steep snow
couloir, we bivouac on a col, at 5500m. But during the night, the storm
comes back, raging, leaving us no choice but to turn around first thing in
the morning. Intense snowstorms and strong winds accompany us all along the
descend from the col and back to base camp. We remain two more days
imprisoned at base camp, waiting for another lull in the storm. We really
don't have much luck! The weather seems dead set against us and we only have
one week left to give the pillar a one and only go.
May 25th, the weather clears a little. We decide to take this opportunity to
open a 500m. rock pillar on a tower, overlooking the Ultar glacier: we
called it "Freedom Spirit" (TD+, with some grade VI pitches). This route
summits at 5600m.
But the weather deteriorates again the next day...the snowfalls are getting
thicker and thicker, reaching up to 1m. (and more) per day. We have to put
up with a few avalanches..., sweeping away at the same time our last hopes
of an attempt on the pillar.
On the evening of June 2nd, we go back down to Karimabad, hoping to open a
rock climb, on a summit of a lesser altitude, close by the village of
Ahmetabad. But the rain catches up with us at the top of the third pitch,
forcing us, one more time, to turn around!
In the last week of our stay, we decide to take our time and teach basic
climbing skills to the local Pakistanis in the valley and theoretical bases
to insure their security up in the mountains.
We set up different workshops on the nearby cliffs. We teach the most
motivated ones how to abseil, jumar up, belay...
On the last day, we visited the local school of Karimabad, where we gave out
our school supplies (erasers, pens and pencils) to different classes. Those
few moments of complicity with the local teachers and kids were
unforgettable.
Review:
We haven't had much luck with the weather throughout our stay amongst the
Pakistanis mountains, and this is the reason why the sport's challenge of
this expedition has remained a failure.
However, we were able to test all of our technical equipment during our
approach, acclimatization and ascents.
What is certain is that your products have brought great satisfaction to all
four members of the team and we still now use them for professional
purposes.
Despite the bad weather, this trip brought us great human resources and we
hope to leave again soon, for an adventure of even greater intensity.
Jerome Blanc-Gras,
Erwan Le Lann.
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