Chaukhamba
Two virgin peaks beckoning climbers are in the Garhwal region namely Chaukhamba III [6,974m] and Chaukhamba IV [6,854m]. Of the four Chaukhamba peaks two have already been scaled.  One was conquered by a Swiss expedition in 1939 and the other by a French team in 1952. In 1999 an Austrian expedition had in vain attempted assailing Chaukhamba III by a circuitous route through the Gangotri glacier in the north and then via Khalindi Khal, the Arwa Valley and the Bhagirath Khark glacier near the south-west ridge. The mission was aborted when a sudden avalanche scared the porters away. The Austrians however, climbed up to the Satopanth glacier, but found it impossible to scale the last two kilometres.
The mighty massif of Chaukhamba [4 pillars] lies muzzled between Gangotri glacier in west, Bhagirath Khark glacier in north and Satopanth glacier in the east. It was earlier known as the Badrinath Parbat, after the Hindu pilgrimage centre in the Alaknanda Valley.
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