I am not putting up any pictures here as they were put in the Day 2 story.
Camping site, having some food
A Stitched view of whole Shtidhar and Friendship peak range from Camp One
After reaching camp one, on the nearby snow laden area, we did some practice with crampons for our summit next day. It was fun as well tricky. But we did managed to do some round and then slowly dozed off to be ready for early morning summit.
Soon after about a km of almost vertical trek on loose snow and rocks, we hit the completely snow-covered rocks and climb was getting tougher and tougher. Hearts panting as breathing got tougher and tougher, we stopped every 10-20 steps and slowly we started out ascent. On our way, we thought we would go to Ladakhi but route was laden with massively loose snow in which we started dipping so we moved towards Shitidhar. We had to use ropes etc on our way to get us lifted in which guides helped us. There were many slippages but slowly we kept moving ahead. At many places, we had to vertically climb to rocks with almost on the toes which was draining, frightening and very tough.. Although I must say that weather was good for us, mostly sunny and helpful. Visibility was also very good.
However after 5 hours or so hard work, we were on top of Shitidhar. It was an awesome feeling with a sense of triumph as well as an admiration for nature. Here I could feel that why should we not spread filth on the mountains as they are source of water to us and any problems here would severely affect us. Here we stayed only for a while as weather started getting bad and we started getting down. Getting down was not easy and was tough due to vertical nature of mountain and it was quite risky as well.. Slowly we made it to camp one where we stayed for a while to take rest before getting down to Beaskund by the evening. Overall we were knackered but sense of achievement was there and team felt very proud. We then had a good dinner and then slept off for route back to Manali next day.
View around, snow, snow and snow
On this dinner, the dinner also felt good for the first time, we wanted to have a feast and porters end up making a rather nice curry. Chatted a lot a night before slowly dozing off.
Day 5
On the way to Dhundi: A happy bunch
We got at Solang Nallah at about 1-2 pm or so. We were tired and hungry but did not have enough time as the bus was ready to go to Manali. Solang Nallah is a nice place which is I think the last inhabited area before mountains start and is famous for skiing during winter. We reached Manali at about 4 pm and then headed for food to a hotel before having a stroll though the markets and then dozing off to a sleep which was awesome.
IITK team..
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A seemingly simple trek to Vaishno Devi frightens me so I can’t even imagine what your must have felt like after conquering this peak. I imagine that the journey back is easier after some rest.
Nice pictures, wish they were a bit bigger though.
Keep travelling, keep sharing.
congratulations for successfully n safely completing the trek….
must say a very good article…. n beautiful pics too….
ashish.. me n my frnds will b going for friendship peak in d same region nxt month….although i hv been trekking in the himalayas for long , this is d first time i am attempting any climbing in snow…. last year d route near the frndshp summit was washed away…dont know the situation now…in case v r unable to climb frndsh v wil go 4 shitidhar….ur article gave a very clear idea of wht to expect
To all; thanks for the comments..
Rajni: I am told that Friendship is easier than Shitidhar..
Yes, the pics would look at higher resolution. 640 X 480 fits best in this layout.
What is a crampon ?
Crampon is a metallic frame worn under the shoe with pointed front and back ends to make a better grip on the snow.. Help to walk/climb on snow..