The West Face of Cerro Kishtwar (© Stefan Schlumpf)

They have been on the road for the last three weeks and are expected to have meanwhile arrived at the destination of their expedition. The Swiss climbers Stephan Siegrist and Julian Zanker and the German Thomas Huber want to tackle the still not mastered West Face of the 6155-meter-high Cerro Kishtwar. The mountain, located in the Indian part of the crisis region Kashmir, has been scaled only three times so far. In 1993, the British Mick Fowler and the American Steve Susted succeeded the first ascent via the Northwest Face. In 2011, Siegrist, his Swiss countryman Denis Burdet and the Austrian David Lama reached the summit of Cerro Kishtwar as the second rope team, after opening a new route on the edge of the West Face. The third ascent was made in 2015 by the Slovenes Marko Prezelj and Urban Novak, the American Hayden Kennedy and the Frenchman Manu Pellisier. They were awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the Climbers”, for their first ascend of the South Face.

Always in his mind

He just could not get the West Face, “the largest still unclimbed rock face in the Kashmir Himalaya”, out of his head since 2011, Stephan Siegrist wrote to me before leaving to India. “At that time we climbed an ice route on the right side of the main wall. Again and again I looked at this amazing wall. The idea of ​​tackling this line did not let me off.” According to Stephan, the trio is also planning to free climb some rope lengths of the route. The 44-year-old has infected Thomas Huber with his enthusiasm. The older of the Huber brothers was raving to me about “one of the most beautiful, coolest unclimbed walls of the world”, with best quality of granite: “When I saw pictures of the Cerro Kishtwar West Face, I said: Actually, this is the second Cerro Torre,” the 50-year-old told me.

Instinct required

Thomas Huber (left) and Stephan Siegrist

The third in the trio is the Swiss climber and mountain guide Julian Zanker, who was already en route with Siegrist in the Indian part of Kashmir in fall 2016. Both were then temporarily detained by the Indian police because they were wrongly accused of having used a satellite telephone. The use of private satellite equipment is prohibited in India because of the fear of terrorist attacks. “Concerning weather you have to rely on your instinct again. This will be very exciting,” said Huber. “We have drawn up a strategy, and I believe it will work.” He really likes to be on the road with Stephan Siegrist, says Thomas: “Stef is an incredibly great rope partner. You always have fun with him in the base camp and on the mountain. There is always something to laugh about. But he knows exactly when it gets serious. And then he pushes it through.“

“Live as intensively as possible!”

Siegrist and Huber have something less pleasing in common. Both suffered fractures of the scull after falls. Stephan had to abandon an attempt on the eight-thousander Makalu in 2013 due to the long-term consequences of the injury he had sustainde several years ago. Since then, he has chosen his goals mainly on difficult six-thousanders. Thomas had suffered a skull fracture at the beginning of July 2016 when he had fallen 16 meters deep from a rock wall in the Berchtesgaden region. He had received an emergency surgery. Only a month later, he had set off for an expedition to a seven-thousander in Pakistan. “I just accepted this incredible fortune. I do not question that. And this is the reason that I’m well,“ Thomas told me recently. “I’m no longer afraid of my death. The more important thing is: Live now, as well, as intensively and as beautifully as possible!”

Stephan Siegrist

Who says that there is nothing left to explore! During their expedition in northern India this fall, the Swiss mountaineers Stephan Siegrist, Dres Abegglen and Thomas Senf first climbed three shapely mountains, all of them almost 6,000 meters high: Bhala (also called “Spear”, 5,900 m), Tupendeo (5,700 m) and Te (translated “Crystal”, 5,900 m), each of them on challenging routes. Indian Kashmir is still regarded as an insider tip among climbers. Because of the conflict with Pakistan, the mountain area had been closed to foreign visitors for a long time, until it was reopened in 2003. “The region was simply somewhat forgotten”, Stephan Siegrist tells me. The 42-year-old top climber has become almost an expert for Kashmir in recent years.

Stephan, three first ascents during an expedition cannot be matched by many other climbers. Have you been on a roll?

The motivation was very high. We climbed the first two peaks rather quickly. It is a great advantage that the time you need to acclimatize for altitudes up to 6,000 meters is much shorter, you almost don’t need any time. And the weather conditions were great.

“Crystal” – with the distinctive secondary peak

How did it happen that you climbed as many as three mountains?

First we climbed Spear. We had a picture that showed this mountain from the north side. It was technically much easier than we had thought before. Then we set off to climb Tupendeo. We still had time, the weather was fine. So we tried it three days later and were successful. We found that it was exactly the mountain we had seen and photographed from Kishtwar Shivling last year. After two and a half weeks the good weather was over and it was snowing for a week. But we had still enough time left, our expedition was planned to take six weeks. Further down the valley, there was another very aesthetic, distinctive mountain, the Crystal. Our primary goal was not the main summit but the secondary peak that really looks like a crystal. It has steep rock walls on all sides and a snow cap. After we had made it up to the top, we abseiled and climbed up to the main summit.

Siegrist, Senf and Abegglen (l. to r.)

That sounds like real adventure. Did you feel like explorers?

Yes, that’s exactly what we are interested in. It’s not just about performance but adventure and experience too. We have not looked for the simplest possible routes. There would have certainly been easier ones. We also wanted to test our abilities. Then it may happen that your attempt is a complete flop. I think we do some kind of exploring where a good performance is needed too.

There is only a single village in this remote valley. I assume that it is very rarely visited by western climbers. How did the local people receive you?

It is still an adventure to visit remote villages like Kaban in this Kashmiri valley. Especially the children have most probably never before seen a Westerner wearing these funny clothes and carrying climbers’ equipment. We are always trying to take enough time for these contacts. We had a liaison officer who spoke the language of the locals. The people there are extremely helpful. Immediately, you are invited to eat and spend the night in the village. The locals are also interested in what you are going to do. But they can hardly understand why you want to climb this or that mountain.

Stephan in action

You’ve been in Indian Kashmir, a political conflict area. Didn’t you worry about your safety?

I was in this region for the third time now since 2011. There are members of three religions, living absolutely peacefully in their separate valleys. But on our way back, there was a new conflict between Muslims and Hindus. You must be aware that you are traveling in a not entirely stable region. If you behave not arrogant but quite normal and cautious, you – as a visitor from the west and as a Christian – are not affected. But it’s no longer really dangerous. In Kathmandu, it is no less dangerous. I would even go there with my family.

In 2014, you found your destination for this year’s expedition. Did you pick out a new goal again?

There are still very interesting mountains in the north.

Means that you have not been there for the last time?

(He laughs) It is very possible.