British Arwa 1999

Recent photographs by Harish Kapadia indicated tremendous potential for hard rock climbing on the unclimbed Arwa Tower (6,352m) and Arwa Spire (6,193m) in Garhwal, N of Badrinath, close to the Chirrese border. Because it lies inside the 'Inner Line' the area has had few visits from foreigners - maybe none since Frank Smythe in the 1930s. After establishing a base camp, the team split into two separate pairs, Cool and Jones concentrating on the Spire whilst Fowler and Sustad went for the Tower. The former were unsuccessful, but the latter made the first ascent by an ED Sup route on its NW Face.