I really felt it this year, something had changed. It could just be that I've become so familiar with the whole thing having been so long staying up here or maybe something did really change within myself. Almost like a brand new receiver developed in my brain which allows me to see things more clearly, identify and climb projects more quickly and be more open to the perfect pristine beauty of the experience. To stay without craving or grasping to be back "down there" with all the nice things. It makes me realize how lucky I am to be here doing this but also how different from other people I must be... for most people (even climbers) it's the ultimate nightmare ! staying for months on end in this harsh enviroment completely alone without any nice things , no comforts, just struggling with huge luggage like a mule from boulderfield to boulderfield with nowhere to stay except dirty caves, always desperately worried about the weather and eating only dhal and rice over and over again. After a while here I really don't give a shit about anybody or anything at all except the next problem and how little I can get away with resting without getting injured. My own obsessive tendencies are somehow magnified by the brutal realities of the place and lead to philosophy which is in itself a type of natural illumination. At the same time the rocks themselves are also undergoing a transformation. Some areas are reaching a sort of maturity with a lot the best problems having been done already. Its gone from being just a load of old rocks which were of no use to anybody (except caves for a few sheperds in summer) to what is probably one of the best bouldering areas on the planet. As for me I,m so hopelessly lost in the immaculate and transcendental nature of the whole trip and have been irretrievably altered by the whole thing. The big problem is that up here the season really does END meaning I must COME DOWN and this year it really did end unexpectedly and suddenly.

Double Coloured, 6a	900mg Breakfast, 7b	Big Red, 6c	Future in Shak, 7a
Future Shak, 7a	Full Shanti, 7c+	Full Shanti, 7c+	Slopey Groove, 6a
Obsessed	Warm, 6c	Big Smile, 7c+	Grey, 7a+
Grey Sit, 6c+	Arete, 6c	Heart of Stone, 7c	Bridge too Far, 7a
Chota Dara	I do mind, 7a+	Mindful of Majik, 7b+	Altitude Intelligence, 7b
Jaggery Mountain, 6b	Jeep	Top Shigari, 6c	Shigari Wall, 7a+
Shigari Left, 6c	Shamuk	Red And Yellow, 6b	Snow Goofa
Slopey Lip, 7b

I was on a "big trip" and planned to be out about 10 days at this brand new area which would take me at least 2 days to walk there and with some big rivers to attempt to cross on the way between Batel and Chota Shigara (across the river from Chota Dara) After 6 days it was going really well. Superb new boulders , good weather and I had always managed to find a cave with water not too far away. Then the weather changed. It was well cold ,windy (as always) and started to snow . I was laughing at first and thinking how great the boulders would look tommorow . Especially as I had a great cave which would keep me dry no matter what happened.

The next day I awoke to a very white world but it was coming down even harder building up at what seemed like about an inch every half an hour !! the problem was getting out of there as the walk was not at all straight forward with some high angle scree and boulder strewn slopes directly above the main Chandra river (death) I just couldn't imagine how I would get across those sections safely if there was more than 2 or 3 feet of new snow. There was nothing to do except wait for the trap to get bigger or bail out in the thick of the storm......I had to go ! After 2 minutes I was encrusted with ice and snow and had already fallen over the invisible rocks under the snow .It was going to be hard I realized. At the half way point (a glacier fed 20 m wide stone filled river) there was about 2 feet of snow lying everywhere and unrelenting from the sky. I didn't have any gloves and my hands were constantly freezing up as I gripped on to my stick. One of the problems with crossing these rivers is how cold your feet get after just a few seconds in the water! this time when I got to the other side I just collapsed in the snow to fight with the icy lumps and get my wet socks back on. I eventually made it back to chattru that day but felt cold and wet for a long time and became sick the next day. That was it. season over almost a full month earlier than last year. It had been a good one though despite a lot of crazy mountain weather !