On the Siachen Glacier, 1998

by Harish Kapadia

Part 7: History of Siachen Glacier » Europeans on the Glacier

Europeans on the Glacier

Upper Siachen Glacier (43 kb)
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In 1929 Dr. Ph.C. Visser of the Netherlands was on his fourth trip to the Karakoram. They explored the two Terong glaciers and the Shelkar Chorten glacier which were unknown till then. Dr. Rudolf Wyss and surveyor Khan Sahib Afraz Gul stayed in the Terong valley and mapped the area. Thus they completed surveying the lower part of this great glacier.

At the same time, in 1929, the Duke of Spoleto expedition (Italian) crossed the Karakoram by Muztagh pass and reached Turkestan La from north. They descended from Turkestan la (East) after discovering Staghar and Singhi glaciers.

In 1930 Professor Giotto Dainelli completed the survey and exploration of the Siachen Glacier. He reached the glacier from the southern approaches, from the Nubra valley. He established himself at the Teram Shehr glacier junction in early June. He wrote : . . . . thus reaching the Siachen tongue with all my baggage, a caravan of seventy coolies and six and a half tons of food for the men, carried by an additional caravan of ponies and supplementary coolies. On the 9th of June--exactly two months after my departure from Florence--I was heading for my first depot up the glacier. I hope my English colleagues will appreciate this rapidity of execution, which I consider a record! Compare this with the present timings. One can reach the snout in 3 days from Delhi without taking a step on foot ! Dainelli, with his only companion Miss Kalau, stayed at the Teram Shehr junction and carried out various geological surveys. Due to the flooding of the Nubra valley in the lower reaches, he could not return by the same route and hence crossed a 6200 m pass to Rimo glaciers in the east. He named this Col Italia (Italy Col). With this, the survey and exploration of the Siachen in major respects was over.