TNF_India_Expedition_2019 There is a tendency in climbing to separate disciplines too cleanly. Bouldering is power. Sport climbing is endurance. Alpine climbing is commitment. Big walls are logistics. These distinctions are useful for training, for conversation, and for classification. But on the wall itself—especially on new ground—they begin to dissolve. A hard move above gear does not belong to a category. It belongs to a moment. A long day at altitude does not resemble a discipline; it becomes a sequence of decisions. What matters is not whether a climb is labeled alpine, trad, or free—it is whether the climber can move, judge, and commit under the conditions presented. My own progression has been an attempt to bring these strands together—not as separate skills, but as a coherent method . Two alpine trad first ascents in the Indian Himalaya— Mahalaya and a newer route on Chonghor—have become the foundation for that method. They are not endpoints. They are early tests. Mahalaya: L...
The walls of Chongor Rehab Line Wall Rakchham is located in the Sangla valley, 11 km before Chitkul, on the banks of Baspa River. It has emerged as a popular tourist destination over the last 10 years, and has become an attractive place on the Kinnaur Spiti circuit for adventurous and enthusiastic tourists. Rakchham offers some of the best granite climbing in the world. This place offers all the different forms of rock climbing of the very highest quality, the boulders, cliffs, and bigger walls provide ample opportunity to the intrepid climber to create lines of great quality and difficulty. In the previous posts, we delved deeper into the great climbing the valley has to offer., and shared our experience on these amazing climbs. in this post we share our experience of exploring and climbing on the amazing alpine walls of the Chongor a.k.a Rakchham plateau The best alpine rock climbs in the valley lie above Rakchham village. A short approach leads to Chongor, a ...