NAYA KANGA 5,844M AND LANGTANG VALLEY

"In the central Himalayan location, amazing valleys and gorges, traditional culture and buddhist religion, pristine forest, area of the red pandas, and in the close backdrop of the high Langtang Himalayan range".

Introduction Naya Kanga in the Langtang Valley, climbing and trekking expeditions.

The upper Langtang valley was first explored by Tilman in 1949 and 46 years later still retains a hint of Shangri-La, due to its closeness to Tibet and the untracked wilderness beyond Langshisa Kharka. The upper Langtang valley has proved to be an ideal location for alpine style climbing holiday and our aim will be to explore this upper valley, following in the footsteps of Tilman. As well as Naya Kanga, one of Nepal's permitted trekking peaks, there are several peaks that offer a variety of climbing challenges, many with no technical difficulty.

Starting out from Kathmandu by bus to Syabrubensi, we will begin our trek to the Langtang Himal, taking the direct approach via the Langtang khola. Four days of easy walking on good trails, through the dense forest of oak, birch, pine and then rhododendron leads to the tree line and then to Kyangjin Gompa (3749m). Kyangjin is a splendid base in a beautiful setting of high snowy mountains from which to acclimatise and plan our explorations and climbs of the upper valley. The group will have enough days to explore further a field and we will move our base camp higher, depending on the objective.

Good acclimatisation days will be spent exploring the upper Langtang valley, beyond the rich meadows of Langshisa Kharka, first explored by Tilman, when he was probing for routes into Tibet. These upper meadows are rarely visited by trekkers and are home to large herds of thar, the valley ending in a massive wall of mountains, forming the frontier with Tibet.

Climbing onto the ridges to the north of the valley we will attempt the glaciated peak rising above the Yala Glacier, Yala Peak (5500m). Then we cross to the Chimsedang Lekh and the Kangjal Himal, a ridge of peaks bordering the valley to the south, we establish base camp below the Ganja La (5,121m). From here it is possible to climb Naya Kanga (5844m). All of the peaks are glaciated and offer a variety of climbing challenges amid spectacular Himalayan scenery. All of these summits will provide stunning views of the great mountains flanking the Langtang valley, including Ganchenpo (6387m), Dorje Lakpa (6990m), Pemthang Karpo Ri (6830m), Langtang Lirung (7245m) and across the border in Tibet rises the huge bulk of Shishapangma (8046m).

Whilst most of the peaks are technically straightforward, to get the most from this trip, it is important that you are a strong hill-walker with previous experience of snow climbing, or at least the completion of one winter courses or similar.