‘The Silk Road’ Tajikistan 2013

After a 2-week drive from UK to Tajikistan, this team of university students started their walk-in to the mountains surrounding the Rog Valley, but when a rucksack containing a passport rolled down a hillside to disappear in a raging torrent, they were forced to return to Dushanbe to arrange for the British Embassy to issue a replacement. This wasted a whole week, leaving insufficient time to reach the area where they had intended to place their base camp. They therefore drove east up the Zerafshan Valley to approach the mountains from the north, establishing a camp at c4000m. From here, over the next 2 weeks they made ascents of Mt. Christopher Ward (4922m) and Mullach Siseal Scott (4492m) plus 3 minor tops, with difficulties up to TD. The drive back to UK was delayed due to changes in Russian visa legislation, and necessitated a more circuitous southern route.