Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 17
DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE
Voytek had a list of faces he wanted to climb; Bandaka was only the first. We de-
ferred to him to find us another objective once we failed to get Gasherbrum IV in
Pakistan's Karakoram. Changabang was the second peak in India Voytek applied
for; our friend Terry King had already taken his first choice - Nanda Devi's north-
east face. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation suggested Changabang as an al-
ternative.
The name had a nice familiar ring to it. An Anglo-Indian expedition led by Chris
Bonington had made the first ascent in 1974. In 1975, Joe Tasker spotted the stun-
ning challenge of the west face while climbing nearby Dunagiri. The following year
he and Pete Boardman made a remarkable capsule style ascent of that face. It was
a tremendous climb, achieved after several enforced retreats from the face in poor
weather. It also demonstrated that big-wall tactics applied by a determined and
skilful two-man team could succeed on a truly high mountain. Doing the south
buttress alpine style would move the marker up a notch or two.
Raising the sponsorship and cash for our Anglo-Polish attempt on the south but-
tress of Changabang fell to me, as did most of the rest of the organisation from the
British side. Alex was impressively busy at the BMC and I, at least, had my even-
ings free. This year my dealings were not with Andrez Zawada but with Voytek.
Our Bandaka climb had made its mark in Poland; his expertise not just as a
climber but also as an organiser of alpine-style trips was fully accepted. For this
trip, our main sponsor was not the Polski Zwiazek Alpinizmu. They were happy to
loan equipment, but Voytek had negotiated with his local club and the town coun-
cil of Zakopane, the mountain capital of the Polish Tatra, to give us support. It was
the 400th anniversary of their incorporation, and for reasons never quite ex-
plained, our international expedition was seen as the perfect way to celebrate.
After our humiliating experience the previous year, having to skimp on every as-
pect of the expedition, I hoped to do a better job raising finance for Changabang.
But to get private support for equipment and food, we first needed grants from the
Mount Everest Foundation and the BMC, the stamp of approval that opened up
opportunities for additional support. We only had limited personal funds to con-
tribute. Since there were no trains from Poland to India, we needed enough cash to
fly.
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