J&K Police summit on Nun and the IMF arrive in Leh.
14/08/07 19:17
A small article in the Daily
Excelsior claims that J&K Police have
recently summited on Nun, one of Zangskar's two
7000m peaks. The team summited several days
before the IMF (Indian Mountaineering
Foundation) announced the opening of a branch
office in Leh. Reported in Magpie, the office is
arriving in Leh to make it easier for local
agencies to apply for permissions for Stok
Kangri (although personally I think the office
is designed to capture revenue as the majority
of foreigners that climb Stok Kangri usually do
so without permission). However, the IMF have
made the refreshing move (that's the second one
documented on these news pages) to reduce the
fee for Stok Kangri to Rs2000 per head. Perhaps
of more interest for budding mountaineers who do
not want to queue, is that the IMF has also
announced the opening of 100 new peaks for
mountaineering expeditions in Ladakh. I suspect
however the red-tape will be the usual turn-off
for all but the most determined and wealthy
teams, although I would love to be proved wrong.