User:(WT-en) Kaushaldesai

I am an outdoor / climbing guide in the Indian Himalayas. I love everything about it - the vast open spaces I live in, the peaks, the people and the opportunities it gives me as a climber and as a human being. I live in Manali (Himachal Pradesh) but consider Ladakh home as well since I have spent a lot of time there.

What do I do there? I climb mountains, go river running, herd sheep with my Gaddi (shepherds in the Himalayas) friends in the high meadows of Himachal or go horse racing with the Chagpas of Changthang... Basically, wander and guide groups across the Himalayas for most of the year.

I've climbed more than 110 peaks between 6,000-7,500m (across Himachal, Ladakh and Uttarakhand) that include a lot of first ascents on relatively unknown peaks in lesser-known parts of the Himalayas, some so obscure that I am one of the few who knows of their existence.

I regularly live out of glaciers in Ladakh, Gharwal, Himachal and Kumaon. Some of the relatively known peaks I have climbed alpine style are Nun (7135m), Kun (7048), Shivling (6543m), Bhagirathi (6856m), Chukhamba II (7070m), Trishul I (7120m), Ronti (6063m), White Needle (6420m), Pinnacle (6955m), Momstang Kangri I (7526m).

When I am not scaling peaks, I love to pack my sack and hit the trails to some remote valley, going over high passes, camping by the still waters of some high altitude lake or on a glacier and discovering new trekking routes.

Mountains pretty much take up all of my mindspace. But beyond them, I am a huge Mark Twain fan. Thoreau, Muir, Gaston Rebuffat, Bonatti, Hermann Buhl, Yvon Chouinard, Fred Beckey and Jerzy Kukuczka are a close second on my scale of favourites.

You can read updates about me at: http://above14000ft.blogspot.com