New Alpine Big Wall on Cerro Kishtwar in Indian Himalaya

The strong team of German climber Thomas Huber and Swiss climbers Julian Zanker and Stephan Siegrist recently made the first ascent of a new climb up the northwest face of Cerro Kishtwar in the Indian Himalaya.

Their new route is called Har Har Mahadev and their summit was only the fourth recorded ascent of the 6,155-metre mountain.

Cerro Kishtwar cast it’s magic spell on English Alpinists Andy Perkins & Brendan Murphy 25 years before @thomashuber_buam , @julianzanker.ch and I fought our way up the granite face! Their story would inspire perseverance and teamwork throughout our climb in the route that more than earned it’s name ‘Har har Mahadev’ @mammut_absolute_alpine @medigmbh @cepsports @scottsports @pamp_sa @victorinox #ifeelbetter #eigerextreme @timeline_production @andy_perkins_mountain_guide @expedint #summit #alpinism #kashmir #cerrokishtwar

A post shared by Stephan Siegrist (@stephansiegrist) on Nov 12, 2017 at 9:54am PST

This was Siegrist’s second new route on the peak, having made te first ascent of Yoniverse with Rob Frost, Denis Burdet and David Lama a few years ago.

It took the team two serious attempts, with their successful climb taking one week. The rigged four camps on the face and had a portabledge. They graded the climb VII 5.11 A3+ M6 and had to climb in temperatures dipping to -20C. Huber and the team spent 11 days on the wall.

Planetmountain.com reported the routes as being Light Before Wisdom (trip report) by Hayden Kennedy and team in 2015, and the Original Route by Mick Fowler and Stephen Sustad from 1993.

They also note: “It’s worth pointing out that in 1992 Britain’s Andy Perkins and Brendan Murphy had been forced to turn back 100m short of the summit after having endured 17 days on the mountain.” Full story here.

ABC Camp on Cerro Kishtwar. Ready to Rock!!! #adidasterrex #climbing #alpinism

A post shared by Thomas Huber (@thomashuber_buam) on Nov 12, 2017 at 8:47am PST