In 2003 the Third Koksil Glacerier was visited by Bernard Vaucher and his Pakistan friend Ishaq Ali. They reached the Peak 5,717 (Jacky Chhish)

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1 JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2012 TATSUO JANUSZ (TIM) MAJER INOUE The First Koksil Ascent Valley of Lopchin Ghujerab Feng Mountains (KG-2) 6,805m Autumn 2009 Exploration Expedition 2011 to Northern Kangri Karakoram, Garpo East Pakistan Mountains, Tibet From 8th to 19th August 2011, we explored the Koksil (Kuksel/Kuksil) Valley in Kunjerab Mountains of northern Karakoram. The members were Katarzyna Karwecka-Wielicka (Poland), Frank Gasser (Italy), Krzysztof Wielicki (Poland, leader) and Janusz Majer (Poland). The Koksil Valley was first explored by a Visser s couple from Netherlands in After having crossed Chapchingal Pass, they headed southwards and, through Ghunjerab Valley, reached the Shimshal Valley. At present, this trail (with certain changes) is a trekking route recommended i.a.by the Lonely Planet guidebook. In the year 2000, a Pakistani guide Karim Hayat began a search of one of side valleys of the Koksil Valley marked on the Jerzy Wala s map Third Koksil Glacier. Up till now, he guided a few Austrian trekking groups to this valley. He also climbed several times a peak 5717 m (Jacky Chhish). Karim Hayat has organized our and Austrian expeditions in 2011 too. In 2003 the Third Koksil Glacerier was visited by Bernard Vaucher and his Pakistan friend Ishaq Ali. They reached the Peak 5,717 (Jacky Chhish) We reached this valley on 8th August The Austrian team led by Harry Grun had been active there for two weeks. The Austrians Markus Gschwendt on and Ulli Fechter and Birgit Walk on had already conquered Koksil Sar I (6,176meters). During our stay in the valley, they climbed two more almost six-thousand peaks: Koksil Sar II (Markus Gschwendt on ) and Koksil Sar III (Brigitte Hantusch and Klaus Adler) Itinerary and Activity 8th August: Having departed from Sost in the morning, we reached the last Police checkpoint before Khunjerab Pass at KKH near the outlet of the Koksil Valley (4,100meters) around midday. After fourhours march, we gathered with porters to a place of our base camp at 4,650m. 9th August: Rest day. In the afternoon, we ascended about 300 meters for acclimatization. 10th August: We set a camp two tents at m. (Five hours march from base camp to the first section on a moraine, then the final part on a glacier). Frank Gasser and I returned to base camp, while Wielicki couple stayed overnight in this camp. 11th August: Wielicki couple descended to base camp. In the evening, we had a farewell meeting with the Austrians. 12th August: In the morning, the Austrians left base camp. Frank Gasser and Janusz Majer reached the upper camp. In the evening, Katarzyna and Krzysztof Wielicki joined them. On the 13th, all of them wanted to climb Koksil Sar II. Bad weather onset and it much snowed at night.. 48

2 JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS th August: Early in the morning, we descended to the base camp in fog. Porters carried down the equipment from the upper camp to the base camp. 14th August: In the morning, it sleeted in the base camp. We marched up the valley seeking for accesses to side valleys marked on the Jerzy Wala s map: First Koksil Glacier and Second Koksil Glacier. We found that it was not easy to access to moraine of the Second Koksil Glacier. Fog and low cloud prevented us from passing through the whole valley. We returned to the base camp. 15th August: With help of porters, we set an advance camp (two tents) on the First Koksil Glacier at 4,750m after about five hours marching from the base camp. In the afternoon, Frank Gasser and Krzysztof Wielicki went to the upper plateau of the glacier in about 2.5 hours and came back to the tent in the evening. 16th August: Snowfall and fog for the whole day. In the evening, the weather got better. We decided to start at night. 17th August: At night, it continued to snow. The snow stopped at midnight. Frank Gasser, Katarzyna and Krzysztof Wielicki left the bivouac place at 1:00 a.m. At day, they ascended three 5,000m summits ranging on the ridge sharing the Chinese-Pakistani border. The climbs were the first ascents. Janusz Majer left the bivouac place at 7:00 a.m. and, after reaching the upper part of the glacier, he took a series of photos of surrounding mountains. 18th August: At night, there were more snowfalls. In the morning, we returned to the base camp. Porters helped us to transport the equipment to the base camp. 19th August: In the morning, we descended to KKH and we reached Passu by bus on the same day. During 12 days stay in the mountains we visited two glaciers: (1) Third Koksil Glacier (2) First Koksil Glacier probably, we were the first to explore the latter one. A team of Krzysztof Wielicki stood atop three virgin snow-covered summits of 5,000meters. We took a series of photos of the vicinity of the glacier, which must be much informative. Two beautiful six-thousand meters summits could be challenging goals for future ambitious expeditions to open mixed climbing routes on great walls. Literatury: 1. Dr Ph. C. Visser und Jenny Visser-Hooft Karakorum und die Angrenzenende Gebiete 1922, 1925 und 1929/30 Band I 1935 and Band II 1938 Leiden E.J. Brill 2. Markus Gschwendt Kuksil, 6152 m Pakistan: Drei Erstbestesteigungen in einer Woche O.A.Z Oct-Dec

3 JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2012 Koksil Sar 6,176m (F. Gasser) 50

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5 JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2012 Yawash Sar & (F. Gasser) Upper part of the First Koksil Glacier from north (J. Majer) 52

6 JAPANESE ALPINE NEWS 2012 Yawash Sar Ⅰ 6,258m (J. Majer) First Koksil Gl. & 6,072m PK (J. Majer) K. Wielik & F. Gasser Koksil Sar Ⅱ (2) (F. Gasser) Koksil Sar (1) (F. Gasser) 53