Kashmiri Climbers make rare twin ascent of Umbrella Peak and cefn carnedd

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-09-25 06:40:46 |

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KS News Desk 

Sonmarg, Sept 25: A team of seven Kashmiri mountaineers has successfully scaled Umbrella Peak (4,695m) and Cefn Carnedd (4,700m) in the Thajiwas range, marking only the third recorded ascent of Cefn Carnedd.

The team consisted of Mohammad Zahid, Yasir Khan, Faik Aijaz Pattoo, Muzakir Khan, Saqib, Umer Khan, and Arun. Five members hailed from Srinagar, Umer Khan from Sopore, and Arun from Kathua.

The expedition began on September 19 from Sonmarg, with the climbers making their way through the Amphitheatre Gully despite hailstorms and steep rocky slabs.

By evening, they established their base camp at 4,190m between Glacier 3 and the gully, with views stretching across Thajiwas Peak, Kazim Palaham Bal, Valehead, Mosquito Peak, and the distant Ladakh ranges.

On September 20, the team set out at 7:20qm for their summit push. They scrambled up the Amphitheatre Wall, traversed towards the Kazim Bal side, and made a direct ascent of Umbrella Peak, reaching the summit by 10am.

There, they found a cairn and a tin box believed to have been left by John Jackson’s pioneering 1945 expedition.

Without pause, the climbers moved on to Cefn Carnedd. After roping up to traverse the steep glacier col, they climbed loose boulders to reach the summit within an hour. The clear weather rewarded them with sweeping views of Thajiwas Peak, Lidder Valley, Royul Sar Lake, Nun Kun, and the dramatic drop towards Glacier 2.

Though they had initially planned to attempt The Blade, the team chose to descend due to time constraints, returning safely to their base camp by 6:30.

The following day, they trekked back to Sonmarg, completing their expedition.

The achievement adds a new chapter to Kashmir’s mountaineering history, as Cefn Carnedd has only been summited twice before – first by John Buzzard and his team in 1945.

One of the climbers said that standing on these peaks felt like retracing history.

"These mountains are rarely climbed, and they remind us how much potential Kashmir holds for mountaineering and alpine exploration," he said.