Chiling II North Face Expedition

The team had the single aim of climbing Chiling II’s unclimbed North Face. After a two day car journey from Leh and a further day accessing Advanced base camp, they made an early reconnaissance and acclimatisation trip to the 5200m plateau between Chilin I and II. They spent two days shuttling and resting between BC and ABC before making a second acclimatisation attempt on Lalung III, bivouacing at the foot of the mountains East Buttress. After a second days climbing up to 5600m and a further nights bivouac, the weather turned and forced the team to retreat. The next two days saw them rest at base camp before striking out for Chiling II’s North Face on the 19th June. Initially the weather looked uncertain but appeared to hold, and the team successfully negotiated the lower sections before the being forced to retreat after the heavy precipitation that had settled on the face began to fall as the day warmed. They looked to make a second attempt the following day but the arrival of a significant weather system forced them to conclude the expedition and return to the roadhead. They believe that the more stable weather found in September would make a successful attempt more likely but that access could be difficult as previous expeditions have found.