More information and images have been released following the successful first ascent of Gave Ding by Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden. Fowler and Ramsden are now back in the UK and have shared photos and details from the climb with expedition sponsor Berghaus. 

Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden reached the summit of Gave Ding, a 6,571m peak in far west Nepal, on Thursday 22 October.  They climbed the mountain by a route graded ED Sup, on the north face in a six day push, and then descended to base camp over two days, via the west ridge and north flank. Along with their support team of Steve Burns and Ian Cartwright, Fowler and Ramsden were the first westerners to ever set foot in the valley where the mountain is located. To reach the valley, the team drove for 14 hours from Kathmandu, flew to a mountain airstrip and then trekked for four days to a base camp at 4,500m. They had intended to have a higher base camp but their mules were unable to manage the difficult terrain beyond 4,500m.

Mick Fowler comments:

“The Gave Ding trip was absolutely brilliant – it couldn’t have been better really.  The approach and ethnic action were great, we were the first westerners to see the face, and it was as inspiring as we could have hoped.  The mountain was unclimbed and the route gave safe, hard climbing on an eye catching line that led straight to summit, followed by an aesthetically pleasing different descent route.  And the whole thing was a real adventure in that we were operating on gut instinct more than any detailed information. Retrospective pleasure is enveloping us nicely.”

Climbing in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius, Fowler and Ramsden tested prototypes of products that will be part of the all new Berghaus Extrem range for autumn/winter 2016.