Italy’s Matteo De Zaiacomo, Chiara Gusmeroli, and Davide Nesa are on their way to the Rangtik Valley in the Zanskar region of India’s Ladakh.
This remote side valley is attracting a growing number of expeditions, mainly technical climbers searching for new routes and first ascents. There is much left to climb on the area’s high-quality rock faces.
“I can’t wait,” De Zaiacomo wrote.
Among the latest successful teams were Yuri Koshelenko, Bayarsaikhan Luvsand, and Mikhail Pups of Russia, who bagged a first ascent on a 6,000’er.
Zanskar lies south of the Kargil district, where a Pakistani terrorist group attacked and killed 27 civilians at a popular outdoor area. It escalated tensions between the two countries this past spring, and several climbing expeditions had to cancel, postpone, or change their goals.
Tensions have eased since then. However, the place remains remote and isolated — in part, because satellite phones and InReach devices are forbidden in India.
Ladakh-Zanskar region map. Photo: Research Gate
The wall spiders
De Zaiacomo and Gusmeroli opened a new route on a rock spire in the Karakoram’s Namgma Valley last year. This time, Davide Nesa, a promising young climber, is joining them.
De Zaiacomo is the president of the legendary Ragni di Lecco (Lecco’s Spiders), a mountaineering club that has launched international expeditions since 1946. It is known for an ethos that combines climbing innovation with respect for the traditional values of mountaineering. In Zanskar, the team will search for “technically challenging walls to tackle…without a drill and in alpine style,” said De Zaiacomo.
Another Ragni di Lecco team is currently on a climbing and packrafting expedition in Canada’s Cirque of the Unclimbables. Dario Eynard, David Bacci, Giacomo Meliffi, and Enrico Bittelli have just opened a 6c/A3 route on Middle Huey Spire.
Another well-known member of the club, Matteo Della Bordella, is tackling Patagonia’s Fitz Roy in winter conditions.
Women’s expeditions
As the monsoon recedes, more climbers will arrive in India’s Himalaya. Among them are two female teams that have received a Grit and Rock Award: Fay Manners (UK) and Michelle Dvorak (U.S.) will attempt the first ascent of Chaukhamba II (7,068m) in Uttarakhand; and Oksana Kochubei, Nadezhda Muzhikina, Nadezhda Pilschikova, and Olga Paduchieva of Russia will try a new route on 6,040m White Sapphire Peak in Kishtwar.
Oksana Kochubei, Nadezhda Muzhikina, Nadezhda Pilschikova, Olga Paduchieva. Photo: Grit & Rock Awards
