CORRESPONDENCE

Indian Mountaineering Foundation
Benito Juarez Road, Anand Niketan,
New Delhi – 110021

20 October 1992

No. 39(FE) – IMF/92 Pt. I

Dear Shri Kapadia,

Kindly refer to your letter dated 29th September 1992, and previous correspondence, regarding wrong claims of ascents of Panch Chuli III, IV and V by the 1964 Indian expedition, led by late Capt. A.K. Choudhury.

This Foundation has gone into the details of the 1964 Panch Chuli Expedition and also of the 1972 1TBP expedition which succeeded in climbing Panch Chuli I, and has arrived at the conclusion that It would not be possible to approach peaks Panch Chuli IV and V from the junction point of Uttari and Dakhini Balati glacier where the camp was established by the 1964 Panch Chuli expedition and even peak III is extremely difficult to be climbed from the said route.

The IMF 1964 expedition led by the late Gp. Capt. A.K. Chowdhury, to have been mistaken in identifying the Panch Chuli III, IV and V, perhaps due to poor visibility and inadequacy of maps. This isnow been proved by the joint Indo-British expedition in 1992  led by Harish Kapadia and the world famous British climber Chris Bonington. Therefore, the claim of the 1964 expedition having scaled Panch Chuli Peaks III, IV and V from the said route within the reported time, is untenable and IMF nullifies their claim and treats Panch Chuli III, IV and V as unclimbed peaks.

With regards,

Hukum Singh
Hony. Secretary, IMF

25 October 1992.

Dear Shri Hukum Singh

Thank you for your letter of 20, October, 1992 No. 39 (EF)-IMF/ 92 -Pt. I.

It is noted that the I.M.F. agrees with the view that the peaks Panch Chuli III, IV and V were not climbed by the 1964 Indian expedition led by late Group Captain A.K. Chowdhury and sponsored by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation. We are happy to note that the IMF has taken this objective view to correct the records of their own sponsored expedition.

It may be noted that the first ascent of the Panch Chuli V was made by the Indian-British Panch Chuli expedition this year (1992). Peaks III and IV remain unattempted.

One of the so-called summiteers Sheo Raj Singh in his letters to J.C. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary, The Himalayan Club and Harish Kapadia, Hon. Editor, The Himalayan Journal, wrote that ‘they (Nanavati and Kapadia) are not competent to seek clarifications from him or doubt the climb of Panch Chuli III, IV and V.’ In his view ‘the I.M.F. is the only competent authority’ to decide the matter’.

With the result of our studies now corroborated by the IMF the matter is now concluded. It is evident that it was Sheo Raj Singh and his 1964 team members who were not competent – for 28 years.

Harish Kapadia

Hon. Editor
The Himalayan Journal