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It
was the summer of 1974, I was now living in Paris, and had just found
myself a job - savings only last so long – when I was surprised to be
contacted by my brother Harry. He was involved with another group from
Imperial College who were organizing an expedition to the Hindu Raj
mountains in North Pakistan. This is a range situated in the Chitral,
just to the East of the Hindu Kush of Nuristan that we had visited in
1970. Almost in a repeat of what had happened to me in 1972, they had
had a last minute drop out from the team, was I interested? This
put me in a tricky position: after a long period of looking, I had
finally found a job, not easy when you don’t speak the language too
well, not to mention the catch 22 aspects of French bureaucracy; to be
employed you need to have a “carte de séjour” and to get such a
card you have to have a job! The one I found was teaching English to
French employees, most of whom were about as turned on by learning as I
was by teaching, but at least it meant I could pay the rent. On the
other hand, I was obviously tempted by the idea, and above all felt a
little worried; I had introduced Harry to climbing and after what had
happened in Bolivia, two years before, I was perhaps a little over
anxious. What if something happened to him, and I had refused to go? I
could imagine going to my parents in Rye if it did, explaining that I
had had to turn him down for a poorly paid job with no career prospects
which had absolutely nothing to do with what I had studied. Which
ever way I turned it round, I came to the same conclusion, and I soon
found myself explaining to my recently acquired boss that I felt I had
no choice, family commitments…etc. He took it very well really, for
some reason he thought I was off on the hippy trail to India, perhaps
because of my long hair and beard, and I didn’t try too hard to
persuade him otherwise. So once again, I found myself setting off on an
expedition, with all the hard work of planning, fund raising and packing
done by others, I just had to provide the same very reasonable personal
financial contribution and meet up with them for the off, can’t be bad
I suppose. In the end they even dropped by in Paris on the way and
picked me up, even better! My French girlfriend didn’t quite see it
the same way, especially as she was about to go into hospital for an
operation over the summer, but…. what if something should happen?
There was only one answer to that question, I didn’t feel I had any
choice. The
idea was to visit the Hindu Raj range of mountains between the Hindu
Kush in Afghanistan and the Karakorams in North Pakistan. The highest
mountain, Tirich Mir, 25 280 feet (7706 m), is at the Western end near
the town of Chitral, famous from the days of the North West frontier
wars. It was also well known as a cooler mountain resort at that time to
escape the heat of Indian summers. I had already seen this mountain from
the summit of Koh-I-Marchech, four years before. Our objective was Koyo
Zom, about 100 kms to the East, and the second highest mountain of the
region at 22 606 feet (6890m)* – high enough for us, using Alpine
techniques. We would once again travel overland, first to Islamabad,
capital of Pakistan, to sort out the inevitable administrative details
and pick up our obligatory “Liaison Officer” – the influence of
the British Raj could still be felt! At least we didn’t have to pay as
you do these days. After this, by road again to Chitral and thence by
foot to our base camp, near a village called Pecchus. It would then be a
question of exploring the area to choose the best approach, get
acclimatized and , hopefully bag a few unclimbed peaks, before having a
go at Koyo Zom itself. Our information was that it had been climbed once
by the East Ridge by an Austrian team in 1968. We hoped to climb a new
route to the summit, but we had little detailed information. The
members of the expedition were Colin Brown (leader), Neville Jordisson,
Bruce Littlewood, Rob Wild, Harry Hooker (my brother) and myself, Bruce
Hooker. Neville and I had been in Bolivia together in 1972 and the
others were experienced members of the IC Climbing Club, Harry being an
honorary member after many a weekend thrashing along the A5 to N Wales,
or across France to Chamonix in his suped-up Transit van with the rest
of the club in the back. * Other sources give 22 547 feet and 6872m.
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