Hi folks,

I had been on a 2 week ice-climbing trip to Spiti in January. It was a team of three (me and two good friends, who turned out to be wonderful mates as the days progressed; that to me, a recreational/amateur climber, was far more important than climbing prowess). The pampered, wimp of an alpinist that I am, I struggled with the Himalayan hardships (open loo at -15C being the hardest of them, seriously!). I caught a flu during return journey, and also had a ton of work and family commitments to catch up, somehow never got the time or motivation to write a proper report. I will come back and update this report. The main goal was exploration, with any actual possible climbing as a bonus. I had taken it as a training trip, so didn't even bother carrying a camera, in hindsight I am kicking myself for that because my buddies don't have any pics of themselves from a 2 week trip! And I have one!: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153325042796515&l=b1dba285a7

I intentionally posted this on "Rock-climbing" forum. This is because Indian Mountaineers does not have a forum for Ice-climbing! They have one for Mountaineering, which they dedicate to "Discussions on the most passionate sport of reaching the top!". To my mind ice-climbing is diametrically opposite to that ethos; reaching the top is perhaps the least important aspect of it all (at least for me); what matters is how you climbed, the form and aesthetics and ethics. Rather, it has a lot more in common with rock-climbing, which IM describes as: "Strength, endurance, agility & balance - The demanding sport of Rock Climbing!"

With this useless background, in the coming weeks/months, I will come back and try to add some practical info for those who may want to go ice-climbing or winter hiking there.

Cheers,
LR