Hi Folks
Just got back from an excellent trip to far West Nepal with Mick Fowler. Managed to make the first overall ascent of Gave Ding (6571m) via its very impressive north buttress. The trip was unusually exploratory in that we had no picture of this side of the mountain before we departed and based the whole trip on satellite images from Google Earth (Gave Ding had the biggest shadow in the region).
The trip got off to a poor start when my bags failed to turn up on the flight and the Indian fuel blockade of Nepal threatened to bring everything to a premature holt. However the bags showed up later in the day and some black market fuel got us onto the 16 hour road to Nepalgunj. We flew into Simikot, then the walk into base camp was another four days. The mules stopped a days walk short of the face but near enough for our purpouses.
Once we got a good look at the north side of Gave Ding we knew we were potentially in for a good one.
Paul Ramsden
Photos and more to follow, Cheers, Mick Green