This place should not be missed by anybody staying in Chota Dara for more than a few days. September and October is the very best time. It's a beautiful area in a superb situation at 3900/4000 metres altitude. There are a lot of good boulder problems already with more to do. Any time is okay during summer but for prime conditions and ease of access September and October until early November weather permitting.
There
is now a wire bridge
near where we used to wade across the main Chandra river just up the road from CD. A glaciologist camp (half
French,half Indian) come every year now and have fixed that
wire permanently meaning you can go in the summer as well. Once you've crossed the river walk back downstream to cross the much smaller river from Chota Shigri glacier to reach the main boulderfields which are directly over from CD itself.
The first time Chotashigri was reached as a bouldering destination it was walking from batal via Bara Shigri. I got drawn up the gully towards the glacier looking for a place to sleep or cross the ChotaShigri river. A good place to cross then a superb area presented itself especially an immaculate white and black streaked wall which is where I would sleep. I woke up in the morning to try the wall and it was climbed to give the first real classic problem of the area. It's a 'see and must do' type of wall.
Chota Shigri Wall - 7a+ Gully area no.3
In the gully area there is a beautiful collection of boulders in a setting which is so serene to be almost beyond words. After that out on the main plateau are 3 main levels of boulders then over a shoulder is the grassy meadow with it's own superb collection of stones. The whole area has a very different feel to Chotadara mainly because there is no road.
Bara Shigri and Chota Shigri in English means big glacier and small glacier.
Inside Out 7b
Mr.Twister 7a+
Main river in October
6c Mr.Twister area no.14
Lost at Sea 7c, central area no.3
Glacier area 7a
Cracking 6c in the gully area
I knew that after the end of September when the temperature really
drops it's possible to wade across the main river so get to ChotaShigari
in just half an hour from Chotadara instead of a 17 km walk in from
Chatru or Batal. My Spitian freind Kesan from the dabba had already told
me there is a place to cross which is only waist deep when the water
level drops.
The reason it's possible to cross is because the
'small glacier' stops melting and Bara Shigari (big glacier) stops
melting so they stop spilling huge amounts of water into the main
Chandra river. As Kesan told me, it's only possible after the middle to
end of September but you will take care he warned as the river floor is
uneven slippery stones so any mistake and you could end up in Pakistan.
Not just that but you must choose exactly the right place to cross. “Yes
I will attempt it,” I told him knowing that I would as I want a short
cut to that majical area.
Crossing Main Chandra River for the first time
The
next day I'm standing at the river trying to decide the right place to
cross. I decided to try it first without the pad so if anything happened
it would be easier to swim back to the side. I chose the place and
started across feeling the way with a stick but it was sandy and not
slippery stones like Kesan had said. This is much better I thought as
you can't really slip on the sand. It was going well until the very
middle of the river. Suddenly it went from waist deep to chest height
and I could feel the fast current start to move me off my feet. I tried
to back track but it was hard and my feet were being pulled from the
river floor. I managed to force my body back to the waist deep section,
find my feet properly and get back to where my pad was sitting. I was
super gripped and realized that if that current took a hold it would be have been hard to get to the side again when my body was moving so fast down
the river. It was simply not the right place and really I should have
known as Kesan had said there were slippery stones underneath not nice
grippy sand. Of course the current will make a deep groove in the centre
of the river if it's just sand! I had been so impulsive and stupid
trying to cross there.
I walked 15 metres upstream
and checked out the other places. I looked at the place where it's slightly wider and yes
there are only slippery uneven stones on the riverbed like Kesan said.
This is the place, it must be, I thought or somewhere around here
anyway. So I started over on the stones, waist deep, keep going, still
waist deep but now to pass the middle, the crux. In barefeet the stones
felt like ice cubes but I pressed on and it stayed waist deep just getting a
couple of inches higher at that crux centre point and I reached the
other side. But this was a test run my pad was still there on that side.
The main difficulty was to avoid slipping on the smooth uneven stones which have been worn by so many years of rushing water
and ice.
Next try I pushed my
way across with the pad and arrived at the
other side totally elated, I'd done it! The freezing cold stones seemed
so slippery and it took some commitment but I was so happy now as the
short cut to ChotaShigri is in the bag. Now I can come here any time on
day trips from Chotadara and get some more problems and projects
finished in the last month and coldest time of the season. I might have
had to cross 3 times today just to work it out but at least I'd gained
some important information for the next time. Now after watching the
place for so long from CD I've got the huge new bouldering area at my
finger tips.
The only thing to worry me slightly was that the water level rises slowly all the time during the day.
Fully psyched after the tension of crossing I went
straight to an undercut overhanging corner which looked good. I pulled
on stared up at the break and dropped off, it seemed so far away
and couldn't see if it was a good hold. That's when I went to the top to look down and check.Then next time I got my feet just right
committed to the throw and caught the break, superb.
Into the Void 7b
Nowadays of course all the stress about long walk ins or crossing the main river is gone with the permanent fixing of the wire bridge. This actually makes Chota Dara and Chota Shigri seem like one big area with day trips possible at any time of year. Even though so many have come to Chota Dara no boulderers ever venture over there but now with the wire in place this should change. If you are the first to make the trip try to report your findings, new problems and repeats.
