High Himalaya Unknown Valleys (Fourth Edition)
Harish Kapadia
(Foreword by Sir Chris Bonington, C.B.E.)
ISBN : 8173870632
Year : 2001
Edition : Fourth
Pages : 336 + 29 maps + 17 sketches + 32 plates
About the BookIn the age of satellite pictures there exit many valleys in the Indian Himalaya, unseen by the human eye. These valleys, like the peaks around them, have never been trodden. Now that Everest has been climbed many times, the future of mountaineering lies in these smaller peaks, by no means easy to climb.
The book contains articles covering the author's treks and climbs in the remote valleys during the past thirty years. It contains stories of exploration of the areas in Sikkim, Kumaon, Garhwal, Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul, Zanskar, Ladakh and East Karakoram. There are stories of crossing passes and climbing peaks, accidents and deaths, personal injury and agony. These articles give an insight into the Himalayan areas, their history, its people and the period of development of Himalayan climbing in India during the last three decades.
For a trekker there are various suggestions in this book, for discovering different passes, many unknown valleys, and the history of travel, people, culture and nomenclature of the area. There are invaluable references to hordes of peaks, both most challenging and easy, between 6000 m and 7000 m range. Many of these peaks were climbed for the first time by the author and some of the climbs have not been repeated yet. For an explorer there are suggestions for things to be done, unexplored regions to set eyes on. And for an armchair mountaineer there are personal stories, and interaction with climbers of different nationalities. And all this is based on the experiences of the author.
With 29 maps, 17 line sketches, 32 photographs and many references, the book will be an invaluable guide to all present and future mountaineers.
The Contents
Foreword by Sir Chris Bonington, C.B.E.
Preface to the Third Edition
List of Illustrations
My Himalaya: An Introduction
GARHWAL TREKS
1. Two is Company
2. In Famous Footsteps
3. Central Garhwal and Kumaon
GARHWAL CLIMBS
4. Tragedy of Bethartoli Himal
5. Sudarshan Parbat—Une Belle Montagne
6. Youth in Gibson's Garhwal
7. Rescue on Devtoli
8. After Devtoli
KUMAON
9. Summer of '82
10. Mountain of Long Life
11. Sunderdhunga-Tharkot Expedition
NEPAL-SIKKIM
12. On the Sherpa Trail
13. North Sikkim
HIMACHAL PRADESH
14. A Quick Visit to Kulti
15. Around Kailash in Fourteen Days
16. A Winter Foray
17. Weeks in the Dhauladhar
18. A Note on Kinnaur
SPITI
19. Spiti—Where Two Worlds Meet
20. A Return to Lingti
21. Unknown Spiti: The Middle Country
ZANSKAR-LADAKH
22. The Enjoyable Difference
23. A Trek in Ladakh and Zanskar
EASTERN KARAKORAM
24. Exploring 'That Valley'--Terong
25. East of Saser La
26. Chong Kumdan
27. Eastern Karakoram: A Historical Review
28. Lots in a Name