SAMAYA x FRANCESCO RATTI
WIND OF SILENCE AND SUPER THURAYA: 2 NEW MIYAR ROUTES
In September 2023, Francesco Ratti, Alessandro Baù, Lorenzo D'Addario and Jérôme Perruquet travelled to the Miyar Valley to try out new technical routes. This wild region is virtually unexplored, offering great possibilities for climbers, although the terrain is dangerous, virtually inaccessible and requires as much technical and physical skill as mental resources. For Samaya, Francesco looks back on their expedition and the two new routes they were able to open.
"Our destination for this expedition was the Indian Himalayas, in particular the Miyar Valley, which lies in the northern Himachal Pradesh region. It lies directly north of New Delhi, between Pakistan and Tibet. The main town in this region is Manali, a charming mountain town. We were looking for an area with good potential for opening up new technical routes, and here we found a very little-visited valley, offering many opportunities to explore unclimbed faces and peaks.
We arrived at our base camp during a very good weather window and decided not to waste time resting, immediately starting our acclimatization phase. The following days went perfectly: we reached the summit of the Takdung glacier, where we set up our high-altitude camp at 5100 meters. We spent 2 nights there to allow our bodies to acclimatize to the altitude. During these two days up there, we climbed the south-east ridge of Enzo Peak at 5600 metres, a beautiful and easy ridge that had never been climbed before, perfect for our acclimatization. During our stay at the advanced base camp, we also studied the unexplored southeast face of the Neverseen Tower, which was our main objective. We tried to locate the best line for our attempt. Conditions in general were pretty good, the face looked dry, but temperatures were high and during the day, melting snow from the top of the mountain tended to make part of the face soaked. We had to find the right line for our new route to avoid these water run-offs from the high snowfields.
When we returned to base camp after the acclimatization phase, we were very enthusiastic and had a good feeling about our project and the mountain conditions.
However, bad weather conditions set in and temperatures plummeted. It snowed up to 4500 meters. We were going to have to deal with more ice and snow than we had anticipated. For almost ten days, the weather remained very unstable and I personally began to doubt our chances of achieving our goal. Eventually, the weather improved, but temperatures remained quite cold - the zero degree altitude dropped from 5500 to 4200 meters.
For such an expedition, we needed equipment that was both highly efficient and lightweight. To open such routes, we carry a lot of equipment, and we have to transport heavy loads in the mountains. Every piece of equipment has to be 100% reliable, yet as light as possible. The Samaya equipment fully met my expectations for such an expedition. The tents were very reliable and functional, while offering excellent comfort and insulation. What's more, they are the lightest tents on the market. Especially in the second part of the expedition, we had some very cold nights up there and in the Samaya tents I was always warm and dry!
Despite the snow on the face, we decided to give it a go and finally succeeded in opening up a magnificent new route on the unexplored south-east face of the Neverseen Tower at 5800 metres!
We called this route "Wind of Silence" because in the valley, there was always a little cold wind that kept us in silence and concentration.
Once our main objective had been achieved, we had a few more days of good weather, and decided to open another route on an unexplored pillar a little lower down at 5400 meters, where the rock looked incredible. It was arguably the best granite in the region, and we were able to open another magnificent line on it. We called this second route "Super Thuraya": "Super" for the quality of the rock and "Thuraya" in reference to the satellite phone company which caused us some problems with the local police, as they are forbidden in India.
Now, back home, I'm very happy with our project. The routes we opened are really magnificent, and I would have signed up for a result like this before we left. I've also shared many emotions and beautiful moments in the mountains with my friends, so I know that this experience has given me a lot, not only on a technical level, but also on a human level.
On the other hand, every time I accomplish a big project, I know it's only a matter of time before the question "now what?" has to be answered."
