Thalay Sagar (6940 M)
- Duration: 14 Nights / 15 Days
Overview
Thalay Sagar is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of Peaks in the western Garwhal Himalaya. It lies in 10 kilometers southwest of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh which is the source of the Bhagirathi River. It is the second highest peak on the south side of the Gangotri Glacier after Kedarnath but it is more notable for being a dramatic rock peak, steep on all sides.
For military and geopolitical reasons foreign climbers were not permitted into most of the Garwhal region until the late 1970s. Unusually for such a hard peak, the first exploration of the Kedar Ganga valley and Thalay Sagar by non-Indians resulted in an attempt was actually successful. It was first climbed on 24 June 1979 via the northwest ridge and thence across the shale band of the North Face by an Anglo-American team comprising Roy Kingfield, John Thackray, and Pete Thexton. The key difficulty in the direct routes is a notorious band of Shale near the summit, which presents rotten and dangerous rock.
We welcome you to climb this peak with our guides, staff and expertise.
Package Itinerary
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Day 1Arrive Delhi
Delhi
On arrival, you will meet our representative who will drive you to your hotel in Delhi for overnight stay.
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Day 2Administrative work in Delhi
We drive to Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) after breakfast from the hotel. It would take around two hours time in briefing and if interested, you can request the officials for a visit to IMF museum which is quite encouraging with several climbing expeditions of past in Indian Mountains. Later you can visit some markets of Delhi after lunch.
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Day 3Drive to Rishikesh
Rishikesh
Rishikesh exudes a distinct mysticism and spirituality. Known in mythology as the abode of Shiva and the place where Ram observed penance for killing Ravana, the place holds importance for all Hindus. It is believed that meditating in this ‘World Yoga Capital’ brings one closer to attaining salvation. Gateway to the Himalayas, Rishikesh abounds in natural beauty as the mighty Ganga flows majestically past lush green hills. Take a tour around this quiet town and let yourself be soaked in its beauty and tranquility. Lakshman Jhula: A landmark in the town, it is a suspension bridge across the Ganga. According to a legend the bridge was built of jute ropes by Lakshman, hence the name Lakshman Jhula. Enjoy spectacular views of the holy river that flows beneath it as well as the striking mountains which lie in the backdrop. A favorite pastime for tourists visiting Lakshman Jhula is feeding the fish in the river. Triveni Ghat: This is the main bathing ghat in Rishikesh, forever busy with thousands of devotees taking a dip early morning. The ghat derives its name from the belief that that the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet here. The ghat is especially busy in the evenings when the aarti is conducted. The air turns especially sacred when priests offer their prayers and chant mantras to the river. After the aarti, the river gives out a spectacular view as thousands of earthen lamps are set afloat on the river.
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Day 4Drive to Uttarkashi, 165 Kms/ 6 hours
Uttarkashi
The drive between Rishikesh and Uttarkashi is reasonably wide, very smooth and scenic. Narendra Nagar is the first town, 15 Kms beyond Rishikesh. Thereafter, another vital town is Dharasu, about 115 Kms from Rishikesh. This is an important junction because the route to Yamunotri (100 Kms away from Dharasu) bifurcates from here. One gets the first view of Bhagirathi about 10 Kms before Dharasu. We reach Uttarkashi before noon and few hours are spent for the wild life formalities concerning our climb, although our advance party that joins us at Uttarkashi would have completed major formalities. Overnight Guest House
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Day 5Drive to Gangotri (3046m), 95 Kms/ 3 hours
Uttrakhand - Garwhal & Kumaun Himalaya
Gangotri, the origin of the River Ganges and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. The original Gangotri Temple was built by the Gurkha general Amar Singh Thapa. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga (the Ganges) from Devprayag onwards where it meets the River Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glaciers and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri.Gangotri is among the most beautiful in the Garwhal districts, with, high above, a snowline that endures year round and below a carpet of forests, superb Himalayan views and all the joys of trekking through God's country.
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Day 6Gangotri to Bhojkharak (3780m), 8 Kms/ 6-7 hourr
We start our trekking tour this day from Gangotri where after leaving Gangotri with a morning prayer, we find a steep ascent to Bhojkharak through Fir forests. We trek inside of the Kedar Gorge finding Bhoj (Birch) trees, it is pertinent to mention that the bark of birch was used as paper for ancient manuscript in India. Trek is uphill climb with paved way and later a narrow path on rocky slope. We reach Bhojkharak from where excellent views of mighty Thalay Sagar peak (6904m) become overwhelming.
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Day 7Bhojkharak to Bhojkharak to Kedartal (4912m), 12 Kms/ 10 hours
A pleasant uphill trek takes you to the Kedarkharak meadows and the Bjoj (Birch) forests move with us. The distance till Kedarkharak is about 6 Kms and yet we have 5-6 more kilometers to reach KedarTal. The trek after Kedarkharak is strenuous through snow, boulders and loose rocks. The camp site is surrounded by high mountains and several snow covered peaks. Kedartal (also known as Shiva's lake) is a glacial lake situated at an altitude of 4,750 metres . The lake is fed by the snowfall over Thalay Sagar (6,904 m), Meru (6,672 m), Bhrigupanth (6,772 m) and other surrounding peaks
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Day 8Kedartal- set up of Base Camp
Our staff and porters will help you in setting up the camp this day. Tomorrow onwards, you will have our cook and kitchen helper here with your team and the LO from IMF.
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Day 9Higher camps till day 20 and the Summit Attempts by the team
Higher camps till day 20 and the Summit Attempts by the team.
(If it is an Alpine style expedition, we leave you after BC with 02 High Altitude Porters and if you chose an Expedition Style, our climbing guide/Mountain Sherpas will assist you till Summit Camp and ahead to Summit.
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Day 21Trek back to Base Camp of Kedar Tal
Our porters will meet you back with your trekking guide this day at Base Camp.
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Day 22Trek back to Bhojkharak
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Day 23Trek back to Gangotri
We reach Gangotri this day and check into a pre booked hotel.
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Day 24Gangotri to Rishikesh drive
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Day 25Rishikesh to Delhi drive
Delhi
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Day 26Morning visit to IMF for debriefing and drive to airport in the evening.
Inclusion
- Administrative coordination with IMF, State Governments, Wild Life, Police, Army posts, local administration and local bodies
- Airport to airport transportation and hotels from Delhi to Delhi
- IMF briefing and de briefing
- Trekking camps till BC with all equipment and food
- 02 High Altitude Porters
- 01 cook at the BC for whole expedition
- Fresh supplies and weather forecast at regular intervals
- Porters with insurance and entrance fees in forest areas
- Campsite fees as applicable
- LO expenses
- Walkie Talkies
- IMF peak fee, LO charges and state government royalties/ environment levy as applicable.
- Air travel, air/ land rescue
- Climbing gears and equipment
- High altitude food
IMF peak fee- IMF and other state government peak fees
Peak Fee by IMF
For initial 02 members: 700 US$ (For two persons)
For additional members up to 07 persons: 300 US$ per person
After 07 members up to maximum 12 persons: 350 US$ per person
LO fee from the whole group of any size: 500 US$
Uttrakhand environment charges: 65000 INR (It can be converted in US$ as per the exchange rate of that day)
Insurance – click here to get yourself insured
What can you book on additional cost/ rent?
- Insurance for your expedition.
- Butane Gas, stoves, torch, Gas heater, alpine cookware, ropes etc.
- Climbing equipment & oxygen
- Small and medium size generators
- Solar battery chargers
- Satellite phones (We can seek permission to buy a Satellite Phone in India, if allowed then you can use. Carrying Satellite phone from outside of India is strictly prohibited and use is an offence)
- Sightseeing of Agra and Rajasthan or any other place after completion of your expedition.
Payment can be made through cards/ online and wire transfer to our bank.We charge 25% of the total tour cost at the time of booking and rest 45 days prior to your arrival in India.
Once you book the tour with mentioned amount of advance, we will send you our bank details for balance payment along with the invoice. You can opt various methods of payment including cards and wire transfers.
If cancellation is made before 60 days, full amount will be returned after deduction of applicable taxes and 5% processing charges. If cancellation is made before 45 days, we refund you 50% of your deposit and if the cancellation is made before/during 30 day prior to arrival, the whole payment deposit will forfeit.
No refund, cancellation or compensation will be paid back to the client in case of any reason caused by natural disaster, war, terrorism, weather etc. which force to close the trip, change the itinerary or cancel the trip.
Change in the itinerary
If you make any changes in the itinerary after booking of the tour, additional cost will be charged wherever and however necessary. This will imply even the itinerary is changed because of bad weather, cancellation of connecting flights, road blocks or any other natural / man- made situation.
Coming back to last village/ settlements from BC and again going back
Sometimes the team members come back from BC to last village settlements or market areas and then they plan to trek back to BC after one or two days. In that case, the additional money will be charged because our cost includes only one time coming back from BC which generally is at the completion of expedition.
Medical, rescue and evacuation
You must get your insurance done well in advance. In case of any land/ air rescue/ evacuation services provided by us will be charged from you. It may include hotels, transportation, food, doctors, helicopters, porters, hospital service etc. We don’t take any responsibility of your baggage and other belongings.
Your fitness and training
It is your responsibility to undertake our adventure services after examining your fitness at required level. Secondly, you need to be familiar with walking in snow and ice and need to be skilled in using Ice Axe, Crampon fixing, Jummar ascender and descender. You need to be skilled in using your personal harness and in case of Alpine Style Expedition, kindly test your skills on Butane Gas operated stoves and making food in higher camps.
Your details are highly secure with us
We don’t share your contact details with anyone so whenever you communicate with us through query forms or while making online payments, rest assured about your data security.
Liability form
Before leaving for the adventure, we require your consent and signature on duly filled liability and responsibility form which declares that you book the adventure for your own leisure and experience and take all responsibility of your health and your belongings.
Our hotels
We provide 4/5 star hotels in Delhi and 3 star hotels in Bagdogra, Darjeeling, Ziro, Rishikesh, Nainital, Manali and Leh. The hotels in Uttarkashi, Almora, Gangotri, Zanskar, Kargil and other places will be mixture of best available hotels/ guest houses/ home stays. These are the cities and towns on the way to 90% of our journeys.
Our food
The hotels in Delhi will be offered on room+ breakfast basis and hotels in Himalayan cities will be offered on room + breakfast + dinner basis and in remote areas it will include all meals. The camping days will offer all meals. (We provide base camp food for 5- 7 days to the groups on climbing expeditions and all meals at BC to LO and cook + kitchen helper during such expeditions). Our cost includes food for the porters and horse/ mule handling persons too during trekking. Our cooks are trekking for more than 20 years with our groups and they are expert in serving you delicious and nutritious food during trekking. We have made certain experiences with Himalayan Herbs which keep the body warm at high altitude and the cooks offer you variety of cuisine, cakes and breads. If you have any special choice of food, you are welcome to send the list before the tour. If you need gluten free diet or any special requirement, kindly convey well in time.
Our transportation
We use different kind of transportation in different cities/ terrain starting from large and small AC coaches to Tempo Travelers, Toyota Innova cars and other 4WD cars. We offer powerful support vehicles for your luggage and our camping gears wherever necessary.
Cargo Management
We have good experience of handling Cargo in India if you are planning to send equipment and food in case of big groups and expeditions from your country.
Porters / ponies/ horses
Our porters are trained in carrying trekking/ expedition material. Our High Altitude porters are experienced in climbing up with the teams and fix ropes. Low Altitude Porters carry your equipment and food till Base Camp. Every Low Altitude Porter group is led by a captain to avoid any kind of inconvenience during the trekking period. Horse- men are also experienced in the mountains and when there were no emails and phones in our region, they never forgot to reach to the loading points decided one year in advance. We follow the guidelines of IMF and state bodies in terms of load in Kilograms to be allotted to per porter. Since every expedition teams (Alpine Style and Expedition Style) come with different weight of loads, so we discuss the number of porters while planning expedition and logistics once you decide to book your expedition with us.
Equipment checklist
Kindly click here to get whole list, you can consult your climbing instructors in your country and email us to finalize the list of equipment according to your expedition.
Guides and escorts
Our escorts and guides are passionate and trained. Trekking guides and exploratory trip escorts understand your requirements and at same time climbing guides and mountain Sherpas add all possible scope of success in your expeditions. Our climbing guides remain occupy in Indian peaks and Nepalese peaks equally so if you are not planning an alpine style expedition, it is always advisable to book you guide well in time.
Community support
We enjoy a great community back up and support in entire Himalayan region because we belong to these mountains and have best references everywhere. This community support works a lot in any last minute requirement, natural hazards or passing communication.
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Standard list of gears