Jen Higgins Fund - 2007

	Jen Higgins Fund		2003– Wallflowers
	2000 – Cascade Inlet		2006 – Glaciers, Girls and Granite
	2000 – 4 ½ Pimples in the Northern Sawbacks		2007 - The Partition, Karakorum Glacier
	2001 – Peaks of Fire		2008 - Patagonia Adventure
	2002 – Las Hermanas de las Montanas

The Partition:

A Female Expedition to the Karakorum Range, Pakistan

Photo by Louisa Giles

During the summer of 2007 , three woman: Luisa Giles (British, 25), Sarah Hart (Canadian, 27), and Jacqueline Hudson (Canadian, 28), established a new 900m free rock line in the Karakorum Range of Pakistan. The route is on a potentially unclimbed 5200m rock peak, on the Choktoi Glacier, in the Latok group. The peak , on the south side of the Choktoi glacier, is situated east (down valley) of the North Ridge of Latok I.

The team’s line ascended the east face by a series of granite corner and ledge systems. The unnamed peak is the second (or western most) of two similar  north facing rock buttresses joined by a high col, and an ice couloir. The eastern most of these two peaks holds the The Indian Face Arete, 5.10 A3 established by Doug Scott and Sandy Allen in 1990.

The weather this summer was unseasonably poor for the Karakorum. Despite this the team had luck with coinciding blue skies and health. During the short windows they were able to acclimatize, scout and climb the below described route,

In mid July, the group established base camp on the north side of the Choktoi Glacier. An early weather window allowed for a one-day reconnaissance in which a left trending line of weakness was spotted on the east face of the peak. During this attempt the first few hundred meters of the route were climbed, although altitude sickness and gastro-intestinal problems turned the team around.  This particular face appeared to possess superior quality rock than the north-facing ridge crest.

Photo by Jacqui Hudson

A second single day attempt was thwarted by bad weather, although the team managed to further their high point on the wall.

During the next weather window the group attempted the route for a third time. The peak was climbed over the course of three days; two nights were spent en-route including both a planned and unplanned bivouac.

A series of cracks, on the east face of the peak, were followed to reach a system of left trending ramps, which ended as the face steepened. The first night was spent at this junction. The second day of climbing followed a steep corner system on clean granite (roughly 200m meters of continuous high quality 5.10 climbing), to reach an upper groove on the east face. This groove kicked back in angle and allowed for some fast simul-climbing over a pproximately 300m of left trending lower angle slabs. The terrain steepened again; granite face cracks and shallow corners were followed to reach the ridge crest. Another two to three hundred meters of ridge climbing on looser more fractured granite brought the team to a sub summit by 4pm.

The route went free with 19 full 60m-rope lengths – including many fantastic pitches of 5.9 – 5.10 climbing, and roughly 300m of simul-climbing over more moderate terrain.  The hardest pitch being around 5.10b. The group reached a northern sub-summit which is thought to be at around 5200m. The true summit was a few 100 meters lateral, and higher, and would have required an alternative descent and the crossing of a number of loose corner systems to reach . Due to time, and an estimated absence of remaining quality climbing, the team chose to stop at this high point and descend.

Photo by Sarah Hart

The descent was made by roughly reversing the route. A rope getting stuck on an early rappel wasted the remaining 2 hours of daylight, and required cutting one of the ropes. A series of rappels aided by moonlight brought the group back to their stashed bivi gear by 11pm, at this point they decided to stay on the wall for a second night, and finish the descent the following day. The remainder of the descent consisted of a down climb and a number of further rappels, which brought them into a breakfast of fresh bread, jam, boiled eggs, tea and coffee, brought to them by their worried base camp cook – being as they were now somewhat late returning.

During the climb the team found 2 old pieces of rap tat (one low on the route, the other about 2/3 the way up). It is possible that a previous party had reached the summit of this peak via another line, but it is very unlikely that the route this summer’s party took had been climbed before. The group has not found documentation of any previous ascents.

The team named the route ‘The Partition’, in honor of the 60th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence this year, and also because Doug Scott’s route ‘The Indian Face Arête’ is situated on the adjacent eastern twin rock peak in the valley – a metaphor for the geography and politics of India and Pakistan.

We kindly thank the following organizations for their support; the Alpine Club of Canada for their backing through the Jen Higgins Memorial grant, the Mountain Equipment Coop, and the Mount Everest Fund.