Nanda Ghunti (The Veil Of Nanda Devi) Peak, lies in the Nanda Devi national park. It shares the base camp with Trishul 1 peak. The Nanda Ghunti Expedition will be attempted from the South East face.
Factual Information:
Name: Nanda Ghunti (The Veil of Goddess Nanda Devi)
Height: 6309 m (20699 feet)
Location: Chamoli District in Garhwal Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India
Grade: Difficult (Mountaineering Expedition)
First Ascent: 1947, Swiss team
Nanda Ghunti Expedition Itinerary:
Details of Nanda Ghunti Expedition:
Team Assembly and Start of Expedition
The entire expedition team will meet in Dehradun where all equipment required for the expedition will be checked and finalised. We will then leave from Dehradun and drive to Sitil village where the camp for the first day will be set up. The next day, we will drive along the last 10 km of motor-able road to Sutol village, from where we will start our walk to Base Camp.
Sutol to Lata Kopri
The total distance between the two places is about 7-8 km. The entire walk is through a dense forest, with gradually ascending and descending terrains as normally encountered in forests.
Lata Kopri to Homkund Base Camp
The first 5 km on this day continue through the forest, after which terrain changes to alpine meadows. The walk through the initial stages of the meadow is gradual. On the last stretch of about 2 km, there is a slight incline reaching up to Base Camp.
The Base Camp will be set up at Homkund, which is one of the major pit stops of the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra (an important pilgrimage for the Garhwali people which takes place once every 12 years).
Base Camp to Advance Base Camp
The entire walk from Base Camp to Advance Base Camp is along a steep incline. Depending on the snow conditions encountered on the route, the actual condition of the walk will wary:
- If there is heavy snow on the ground, then the walk will be along steep snow steps.
- If there is no or little snow, we will encounter heavy scree and moraine like ground conditions.
Advance Base Camp to Camp I
By this stage, we should most definitely encounter snow. The walk to Camp I will be almost entirely in snow with slope gradients of about 35 – 40 degrees. Closer to the location where Camp I will be set up, the conditions will be a mix of snow and ice. The gradient however will not warrant Front-Pointing.
Camp I to Summit Camp
This walk will continue in the same vein as the walk from ABC to Camp I. The slope gradient will increase slightly to about 40-45 degrees, and will be a mix of snow and ice conditions. The Summit Camp will be set up on the ridge that has to be followed up to the Summit.
It will be very windy at Summit Camp not only because of its location on a ridge, but also because of the proximity of Nanda Devi peak, which creates its own local weather systems owing to its altitude nearing the 8000 m mark. This is the reason for the high winds that will be encountered almost continuously throughout the climb, and which of course will be felt in greater force on the Summit Camp.
Summit Camp to Summit
The gradient of the slope further increases on this day, going up to 65 degrees in some sections. Ropes will be fixed above Summit Camp to aid all the climbers. There are also some sections with crevasses between the Summit Camp and the Summit, which will have fixed rope. All of this will therefore be climbing in fixed snow and ice conditions.
Also, due to the local weather systems, the clear weather windows will be shorter. Therefore, each day’s walk and climb will start slightly earlier than normal and we will aim to establish and occupy each successive camp latest by 1 p.m. instead of the 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. deadline on other mountains.
Pricing Inclusions:
- Stay on twin or triple sharing basis depending on availability for the number of climbing days from Sutol to Sutol as mentioned in the Itinerary.
- Buffet/Pre-Ordered Vegetarian meals (breakfast, snacks pack/lunch, and dinner) for the number of climbing days from Sutol to Sutol as mentioned in the Itinerary.
- Land transport from Dehradun to Dehradun. Expedition members will be travelling from Dehradun to Sutol and back in Innova. Equipment will be carted in Bolero, Maxx or similar vehicle.
- All equipment required for the expedition – 3 man tents, kitchen tent, dinning tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, personal climbing equipment.
- Experienced, rescue-trained, English speaking climbing leader and deputy leader, 2 climbing guides and 2 High Altitude Porters (HAPs). This essentially means that a 1:1 client to guide ratio will be maintained, assuming there are 6 clients. HAPs will be increased in case the number of clients increases.
- All National Park permits, Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) booking and membership fees, camping fees and peak booking fees.
- All porterage charges for porters up to Base Camp. Members’ personal bags will also be carried by the porters till Base Camp.
- Personal Insurance (Extreme Adventure Sport Cover) which includes hospitalisation expenses for injuries, hospitalisation expenses for illness and medical evacuation (helicopter evacuation if required).
Medical First Aid in case of minor ailments.
Pricing Exclusions:
- Travel from and to city of origin to Dehradun.
- Meals during onward and return journey from city of origin to Dehradun.
- Stay in Dehradun before and after expedition.
- Extra meals ordered/a-la-carte orders/any meal which is not a part of the package.
- Hiring of extra porters for personal equipment.
- Additional stay and meals due to bad weather.
- Contingency charges in case of delay due to weather/accident, illness of self or any other group member, act of God, or any situation which is out of control of the expedition leader.
- Soft beverages, laundry charges, telephone expenses, souvenirs, collectibles bought during the course of the trip, any and all personal expenses.
- Any item not specifically mentioned in the “Pricing Inclusions” section.
- Tips paid to any party during the course of the trip.
For more details on Nanda Ghunti Expedition, contact:
Email: sales@themountainwalker.com
Phone: +91-8446779977
