page_title: Shipton–Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions
section_title: Badrinath–Gaumukh crossing
hierarchical_section_title: Shipton–Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions / 1934 expedition / Badrinath–Gaumukh crossing
caption_attribution_description: English: Enclosing Wall and Head of Glacier tributary, right bank, Bhagat Kharak (Bhagirath Kharak)
context_page_description: The Shipton–Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions took place in the 1930s. Nanda Devi is a Himalayan mountain in what was then the Garhwal District in northern India, just west of Nepal, and at one time it was thought to be the highest mountain in the world.
  Nanda Devi is surrounded by a ring of mountains enclosing the Sanctuary which, despite decades of attempts, no one had been able to enter. In 1934 Eric Shipton, Bill Tilman and their three accomplished Sherpas succeeded in finding a climbing route into the Sanctuary via the Rishi Ganga gorge. Then in 1936 Tilman and Noel Odell, as part of an American–British team, climbed to the 25,643-foot summit making Nanda Devi the highest mountain ever to have been climbed at that time.
  It was only in 1950 that a higher summit was reached when Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal climbed Annapurna. Nanda Devi itself was climbed for the second time in 1964.
context_section_description: Back at Joshimath on 2 July and expecting travel through the gorge would not be possible before 10 August, they embarked on a crossing from Badrinath to Gaumukh. The sources of the three main rivers that together form the Ganges: the Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Alaknanda, each have temples – Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath – that are the destinations for Hindu pilgrims. This region is very mountainous and the watershed had never been crossed. Leaving Joshimah for Badrinath, the party hired porters and set off on 12 July  for the Bhagirath Kharak glacier. Finding there was no pass at the head of the glacier they explored four subsidiary glaciers entering from the south-west but none were passable. Instead, they headed north to the Arwa River – climbing a 21,500-foot (6,600 m) peak on the way – to where a previous expedition had reached the watershed but had not completed a traverse. The team found a way over the watershed and, guided by the sight of Shivling, descended the Chaturangi Glacier to the snout of the Gangotri Glacier at Gaumukh. With insufficient food to include Gangotri on their itinerary, they returned to Badrinath via the Arwa valley.
caption: Bhagirath Kharak: enclosing wall and head of glacier tributary
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