Written by: Ahsan Tariq
Posted on: January 09, 2020 | 
LAS at Chillinji Pass
“Your worst battle is between what you know and what you feel.”
What I know?
Four of our companions have turned back due to ill health. The weather has not cleared for four days, and everywhere I look, I see dark stormy clouds. The wind will sweep away our tent if we stop anchoring it down. The entire day, we have been plagued by a snowstorm and the crossing of the La (Pass) will be close to impossible now. What I feel? The need to conquer the mighty Chillinji La, irrespective of the odds we face.
These were my sentiments at the base camp of Chillinji La, on the night before our planned attempt. When the LUMS Adventure Society (LAS) Council unanimously decided on Chillinji La, I was filled with only one emotion: excitement. Chillinji La is a pass at an altitude of 5140m that connects Chapursan Valley in Upper Gojal with Ishkoman Valley in Ghizer district.
LAS on the way to Chilling Pass
We left for Aliabad, Hunza with a group of 10 members. After a 20 hour exhausting bus journey, we reached Aliabad in the wee hours of the night. The next day was spent finalizing our preparations for the 10 day trek that lay ahead.
On 12th August, we hired jeeps to take our group from Aliabad to Babagundi (3660m), the last settlement of the Chapursan Valley. We stopped on our way to Babagundi in Zood Khoon, a small and beautiful village lined with fields of wheat. We reached Babagundi at night and set up camp close to the shrine of a mystical Sufi saint that has been a popular Ziarat (pilgrimage) for the Ismaili community for centuries.
Our first trekking day was very disappointing; it rained the entire day and the terrain was harder than we had expected, with sharp ascents. With our trekking bags getting heavier with each step, a gloomy atmosphere set in.
The next day, surprisingly, we woke up to a clear and sunny day. With our spirits uplifted, we left for Baitar (4020m). While trekking to Baitar I noticed two things that made me quite nervous, the terrain was getting harder and there was a salient drop in oxygen levels. All the members of our group had noticeable difficulty in breathing.
The campsite in Baitar was beyond anything I had imagined. It was a small green meadow on the slope of a mountain, with rocks naturally sheltering the campsite from the elements of nature. Nearby ran a long, fast flowing river which provided refreshingly cold water when we arrived weary and exhausted.
The Campsite at Baitar
While leaving Baitar, the weather unexpectedly took a turn for the worse, as it started to rain. As we moved higher into the mountains, the rain morphed into snow and the snow eventually into a snowstorm. The weather stopped us from moving any further, and we camped on the leeward side of a small mountain next to a glacial stream.
The night was incredibly stressful as the group members, along with the guide, discussed our problems. The decrease in oxygen levels was proving to be a greater issue than we had previously contemplated, the weather had the potential to end our chances of attempting the Chillinji La, and some group members were showing signs of altitude sickness. We decided to push for High Camp (4960m) the next day, with the contingency plan of camping at Base Camp (4620m), in case the weather was not on our side.
Trekking Through Difficult Weather
With tensions high, we started our ascent towards High Camp on the third day. The ascent was steepest during this leg of the trek. Yet the yearning to conquer Chillinji La made us push ourselves even harder. An hour from the Base Camp, a snowstorm began and so we camped at the Base Camp for the night. That night was the hardest for our group, as we had decided that four of our members should turn back due to altitude sickness and breathing issues. These individuals, with their thirst for the Chillinji La on one hand, and the respect for the mountaineering code on the other, bade us farewell with a heavy heart.
With four of our companions gone, and the weather forcing us to stay another day on the Base Camp, we felt our dreams vanishing before our eyes. An unspoken dread remained, that we too would have to return if the weather persisted like this.
The next day we woke up at 4 am to the news that the weather had still not cleared. We had breakfast and slept again. At 6 am we were woken by screams of our guide, “Chalou, Chalou!” (Let’s Go!). The weather had finally cleared. Unable to contain our excitement, we jumped from our sleeping bags, donned our shoes and bags and left. Knowing that we’d only get a small window, we had slept with everything packed and ready.
The Team on the Way
The trek to the High Camp and then the Chillinji Pass was the hardest trek that any of us had ever done. The oxygen level fell with every step we took, making it harder and harder to breathe. Also as we had left in such a hurry that we had not consumed enough water, nor carried enough for the hike up. We had expected to find water on the High Camp, but with the constant snowfall all the small streams or pools had frozen over. Dehydrated and breathless we pushed ourselves.
Reaching the top of the Chillinji La (5140m) was an indescribable feeling. The sense of achievement felt at the top of the Pass is unmatched by any experience in my entire life.
Our triumph over Chillinji La was a transformative experience for me, and I gained new confidence in my physical and mental capabilities. At the Base Camp the practical decision would have been turn back, but the ascend to Chillinji La was a daunting challenge to my will and physical prowess.
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