An ascent of Black Peak or Banderpunch II (20, 956 feet altitude) in the Garhwal Himalaya, by an expedition from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA, in 1991.
Expedition members included Jens Voges, Ashley Campion, Odd-Even Bustnes, Rupin Dang, Matthew Valentine, James Ziobro, Thomas Douglas, Joseph Bachman, Joel Brenner and Harry (Hank) Midgley.
Kalanag or Black Peak is of the major peaks in Bandarpunch mountain range, others being Bandarpunch I (6316 m) and Bandarpunch II (White Peak) (6102 m). It literally means "Black Cobra". It is close to the Ruinsara Valley.
An excerpt from the Himalayan Journal:
BLACK PEAK, 1976
authored by MANDIP SINGH SOIN | published in 1976-78
On the 18 May the money came in. On the 21 May the St Stephen's College Hiking Club launched its expedition to the Tons glacier in the Garhwal Himalaya. Led by Ajay Tankha, an ex- Stephanian, the objectives of the expedition were to study the area, impart training to the inexperienced and to attempt the summit of Black Peak (Bandarpunch I).
ced ourselves for an eighteen hour journey to Purola. We halted for a day at the well maintained Forest Rest House and then moved on to Mori, a nerve racking journey on the precipitous road piloted by an over enthusiastic daredevil of a driver. We hired mules at Mori and started a short trek of two hours to Naitwar along the river Tons.
Since repairs were going on at the road, we marched on to Taluka next day which one will soon be able to do by jeep. Just out of Naitwar we saw the entrance to the Supin pass. All along the road, there were large apple orchards and work in progress with the pine-rosin tappings and their despatch.
From Taluka we set off towards Osla. This route lay through a heavily forested area—the treetops couldn't be seen and neither rain nor sunlight could come through.
Later we came upon an opening and we saw the villages of Gangar and Pauni which seemed precariously perched on the mountainside.
At Osla, we rested for a day, preparing loads of 25 kg for the porters_we employed thirty in all. The next dawn saw our expedition rambling along the Tons and we skirted the path going to Har ki Doon.
Ruisher Tal, a turquoise-blue lake at 12,000 ft with trees and boulders all around. A profusion of flowers greeted us—primula denticulatas, involucratas, irises, androsace, fritillaria and the inevl the "buttercups. We were lucky to spot a few of the rare Primulae Moorcroftiana.
Kiarkoti, at a height of 14,000 ft, had nearly everything a small stream nearby and large patches of snow and ice not far off. For the next two days we concentrated on ice-craft and rock-climbing and got toned up for the real thing.our calves.
After working with numb fingers for about twenty minutes, we see a break in the sky. We pray. Another fifteen minutes and the sky is definitely less threatening. In that twilight we decide to push towards the summit. We rope up. Tankha and Moishar on one rope and Sunil, Chandan and I on the other.
We start off. The snow conditions have not improved in the least. There are many false ridges and it is quite frustrating going up and down and not covering much distance. Later, the monotony of false ridges is broken and we come up to a fresh one climbing up and up. The gradient increases to 45° and our going is slowed. Now it is three hours from the start and fatigue is showing. I develop a severe headache and find leading quite taxing and Sunil takes over. The climb seems never-ending and breathings becomes more laboured—Moisher complains of nausea. Tankha is winded and Sunil stops often to regain breath. Chandan, too is in bad shape.
We sit down for a rest and munch our chocolates. We gaze at the summit ridge which is just about one hour away. 'We will make it,' is thought. The gradient sharpens some more and I cut steps. Soon Tankha takes over and after what seems ages, we reach the summit ridge. We are now at 20,000 ft and the summit is at 21,000 ft. We take a deep breath and smiles flicker on our faces. We decide to hurry up and beat the weather to the summit. We put on our crampons to negotiate the blue ice further up. Chandan and Moishar do not feel up to it and so the three of us are off. Scarcely ten minutes pass when we have another look at the sky—it is most disturbing. Five minutes later it starts snowing, and suddenly a snowstorm is raging. It is hitting us hard, our faces become numb and the snow gathers on the goggles. It becomes darker and the visibility is down to ten feet. We realize bitterly our helplessness and, casting a glance towards the summit that snow couldn't be seen, we start going down defeated.
Though it may have been a defeat, we came back wiser people.I quote Michel de Montaigne who said,
"There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.'
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