Adventure and outdoor forum-himadventures.net

Location: Friendship is situated in Pir Panjal range with hight of 5289m . Roadhead is Solng Nala which is main town in Solang Valley-18 km. from Manali.

Peak Type :Rock & Snow & Ice

Knowledge Required : Ascenind and Descending in Snow, Walking in a rope, Use of ice axe,

Equipment You Bring: Climbing Shoes, Rucksack, Crampons, ( Equipment For HIRE Available)

Duration: 11- 13 Days

Other Resources: Picture Gallery

Climb Itinerary : Like last year-again we are booking climbing in himalayas where you will be provided all infrastructure to climb this 17200 ft. peak. If you are having high altitude trekking experience- just contact us ASAP and get booked for climbing with us.

Most Common Climbing Plan:

Day1: Reaching Manali/Solang Nala from Chandigarh/Delhi

Day2: A short trek on jeapable road to Dhundi.

Day3: Dhundi- Bakarthach

Day4: Rest Day

Day 5: Bakarthach- ABC

Day 6 : ABC- Base Camp

Day 7: Advance Summit Camp/ Summit attempt

Day 8 : Reserve for summit.

Day 9: Back to Dhundi

Day 10: Back to Manali

Day 11: Back to Delhi/ Chandigarh

Requirment For Climbing : You do not have to have any experience of climbing although exposure of high altitude trekking is necessary. Knowledge and use of climbing gear will enhance your enjoyment and comfortability -although we will provide you resources and guidence to climb. Start jogging /running and work out for atleast a month before you climb.

The Amarnath pilgrims, who are returning from the holy cave, say though the government has fixed the rates for services, they have to pay hefty amount of money to avail them during the yatra.

“The ponywallahs and porters charge as per their wish; if we try to bargain they simply refuse to provide the service,” says Vijay Kumar, a resident of New Delhi.

“There is total lawlessness. Even the police is not taking any action against the violators,” he adds.

The pilgrims say the people who have installed tents to give it on rent indulge in overcharging and the pilgrims are left with no option but to pay the amount.

Though the government had fixed a rent of Rs 120 per person per night but most of pilgrims say they had to pay more than Rs 10,000 to hire a tent for their family.

“As they see the rush of pilgrims they auction the tent,” said Mukesh Mahajan, a resident of Punjab.

The government has fixed an amount of Rs 2,800 as pony rent but the pilgrims say that the ponywallahs charge them more than Rs 6,000.

Arun Kumar, CEO of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, told The Tribune, “We can do nothing in this regard as this is the duty of the district administration, if there is any complaint it should be brought into the notice of civil administration and action needs to be taken against the guilty.”

SOURCE

After Dharamsala we took one of those wonderful Indian night buses to Manali. Along the way, the driver stopped for food (he was the only one eating, as everyone else had logically eaten before the 20:30 bus) at a roadside restaurant where there were so many flying insects that all of the pot covers were drowning in dead bugs.

We arrived very tired to Manali, which is a place that we weren’t that much looking forward to visiting as we had heard that it would be swarming with tourists, many of which were here to sample the famous Manali charas which is harvested from fields of naturally growing marijuana plants. As happens quite often, what we expected and what was actually the case were two different things. Manali is a typical hill station made awful by overcrowding, noise, cars, over-development and obnoxious tourists. However, Old Manali, where most of the backpackers head is beautiful. There are pockets of guest houses and cafes scattered along a mountainside, overlooking a valley of orchards. There are wild looking pine forests and the old town still has more farm houses than guest houses. The people are very different from normal Indians. They have quite pale skin, dress completely different, and are very amiable. Most of them seemed to be farmers. We saw quite a few women carrying in bundles of grain that they would beat by hand in the front yards of their fantastic stone and timber houses. The architecture in Manali was also very traditional, unlike the ugly concrete block buildings in most other towns. Even the town’s temple was wooden and had the feel of an Alpine log cabin.

We spent a couple of days walking in the hills, enjoying the silence and fresh air, and I caught my one and only Euro 2008 match. Croatia 2 – Germany 1.

READ FULL WRITE-UP

I had my maiden voyage to the source of Ganga that year and was getting ever fascinated with the Headwaters of our revered River Goddesses, purely from a trekker’s standpoint. I believe now, there are strong physical and geographical reasons as to why certain places in the mountains are worshipped and raised to that divine status and others are not! In the midst of Himadris at Gangotri one would find the most amazing gorges and at Gaumukh, that amazing amphitheatre of peaks. At Badrinath..you have that most comforting and convenient hot spring – Taptakund- right under the temple, ensconced beautifully at the feet of the mighty Nilkanth. Kedarnath- that massive wall of Mt Kedarnath overlooking the temple that houses the huge Swayamvu Lingam, Roopkund with its morbid story of skeletons of people and horses, The Panchakedars and Panch Badris all nestled in places geographically significant adds to the aura of the intriguing mystery of “Devbhoomi”. READ MORE

Four British students require partners to share cost for BEAS KUND trek. Trek starts on June 5th and ends on June 10th.

NOTE: Non smokers and non-drnking people only.