Abi Gamin
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| Abi Gamin | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 7,355 metres (24,131 ft)[1] |
| Location | Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India |
| Range | Garhwal Himalaya |
| Prominence | 217 m (712 ft)[1] |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| First ascent | 22 August 1950 by R. Dittert, A. Tissieres and G. Chevalley (Anglo-Swiss) |
| Easiest route | Southwest ridge via Meade's Col (glacier/snow climb) |
Abi Gamin (also known as Ibi Gamin) is a Himalayan mountain peak situated in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state in India, 2 km (1.2 mi) northeast of Kamet. It lies on the northern border of Chamoli district, where India meets Tibet.
Abi Gamin is located in the central Himalayas and at the culminating point of the Zaskar Range. It is situated on the watershed of the upper Alaknanda and Dhauli rivers between the famous Manna and Niti passes on the Indo-Tibetan border.
Abi Gamin is the second highest peak in the immediate region, after Kamet. It is also one of the fifteen seven thousand metre peaks of Uttarakhand, and as such it is a significant peak. However it is not particularly independent, lying as it does close to the higher peak of Kamet, and separated from it by the high saddle known as Meade's Col, 7,138 m (23,419 ft).
Abi Gamin was surveyed (along with the rest of the group) by Richard Strachey in 1848; this was the first time that the great heights of these peaks was recognized.[1] In 1855, the Schlagintweit brothers named this range as Western, Central and Eastern Abi Gamin. These correspond to Mukut Parbat, Kamet and Abi Gamin.
The first attempt to climb the peak was launched by the Schlagintweits from the Tibetan side up the NE ridge : they estimated that they reached an altitude of 22000'.[2][3]
During the 1874-77 survey by the Survey of India under E. C. Ryall, I. S. Pocock set up a plane table at c.22050' on the West flank of Abi Gamin.[4]
Between 1907 and 1913 a number of expeditions attempting Kamet reached high altitudes on the flanks of this mountain. Thomas George Longstaff in 1907 recced the Purbi(East) Kamet approaches, and C.F.Meade's team followed the same route in 1913 to reach Meade's Col up the East flank of the massif. The attempts by A.M.Slingsby in 1911 and 1913 and C.F.Meade in 1912 were up the West flank from the Pachhmi(West) Kamet glacier. These reached Slingsby's Col(c.21000') between Mukut Parbat and Abi Gamin, but failed to go beyond c.23000'. [3]
Abi Gamin was climbed for the first time in 1950 by a small Anglo-Swiss Expedition comprising Alfred Tissierès, R. Dittert, and G. Chevalley (all Swiss), and Englishman Ken Berrill. They approached from the north side through Tibet, reached over the Mana Pass. Their NE ridge route was the same route the Schlagintweit's had tried nearly a century earlier! The summit was reached by the three Swiss members: they may have been accompanied by Sherpa Dawa Thondup.[5] [3][6]
Indian expeditions under Nandu Jayal climbed the peak in 1953 and 1955 by the SW ridge from Meade's Col, reached up the East flank of the massif from the Purbi Kamet glacier. [3] Later ascents have been up this route.
Contents |
[edit] Neighbouring Peaks
Mukut Parbat, Kamet and Mana. All three peaks are linked by a ridge.
[edit] Trek
Joshimath (Chamoli)--Markari-Nitti-Sapukaharak-Nand-Kharak-BC-CI-CII-CIII and CIV then summit.
[edit] Routes
- NE Ridge (by Mana pass and Mang Gang glacier).
- Purbi Kamet glacier, Meade's col, South face or SW ridge.
- North West Ridge.
[edit] See also
Himalayan Peaks of Uttarakhand
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Jill Neate, High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks, The Mountaineers, Seattle, 1989, ISBN 0-89886-238-8
- ^ Himalayan Journal Vol.36, p.72
- ^ a b c d Joydeep Sircar,Himalayan handbook, Calcutta 1979
- ^ Alpine Journal Vol. 33, p.72
- ^ Himalayan Journal 17, p.80
- ^ Toni Hiebeler,Himalaja und Karakorum
- Harish Kapadia, Across Peaks and Passes in Garhwal Himalaya, Indus Publishing, 1999, ISBN 8173870977
