Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden make First Ascent of Kishtwar Kailash | EpicTV Climbing Daily, Ep. 152

They're at it again! It seems to be an annual event that these 2 make a significant first ascent and this year is no different. Kishtward Kailash lies in the disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir, which was closed to mountaineers between 1993 and 2011. However, Fowler had been there in the early nineties and obviously made a note to go back. Their chosen route up the peak was the 1500m south-west face, which provided some difficult climbing up to about Scottish grade VI. The route was steeper than they'd expected but lines of weakness allowed them to push through and reach the summit after six and a half days of climbing. They abseiled the line, taking a day and a half to do so. Paul and Mick are legends in the mountaineering world - their low key way of doing things is widely respected and clearly very effective. They've won the Piolet d'Or twice and seem to have an incredibly high success rate in the Greater Ranges despite foregoing the normal training and healthy living of top climbers. Fowler (who famously wrote his autobiography whilst commuting into London on the Tube) once commented that "mountaineering is an excellent way of getting fit, it's not something to get fit for". The expedition was sponsored by http://store.berghaus.com/ Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden make the first ascent of Kishtwar Kailash (6451m) | EpicTV Climbing Daily, Ep. 152