8^th July to 10^th July – (Pune to Delhi) the team is packed and ready to embark on this adventure. Morale is high and all of us are eager to get going. We are travelling to Delhi by train.

11^th to 13^th July – (Delhi to Leh) we intend to travel from Delhi to Leh via Manali and Keylong. After we arrive at Leh, we will have a stopover for 2 days; during which we will purchase and round up all the necessary supplies. This will be the only time we will have to pack all basic necessities / amenities for most of the rest of the climb, until we are back from base camp. Packing is most important and only the most essential should be packed. We don’t want to be searching for something vital in an emergency.

14^th to 18^th July – (Leh to Kargil) we plan to reach Kargil on the 14^th. Kargil to Tangol on the 15^th. We will set up Interim Camp after Tangol. All supplies will be shifted from the Interim Camp to the Base Camp on 18^th. The whole team will be involved with this.

19^th to 31^st July – (Base Camp – Camp 01 – Camp 02 – Camp 03) this will be the period where we will split into three teams and hike to our destination. Progress will be excruciatingly slow and filled with uncertainties. Everything depends on the weather and wind conditions. All the three teams need time to acclimatize to the threatening and harsh conditions. Along the way we will set up camps for rest. These will also prove useful as a fallback during rough weather or other extremities.

1^st to 3^rd August – We will split into four teams here. This will be the time when each team will make a first attempt to the summit. This exercise will provide valuable experience for any exigencies we may have to face during subsequent summit attempts.

4^th to 7^th August – One team after the other will make their attempt to the summit. The crowning moment. We know we will achieve it. While one team is attempting to reach the summit, the other teams will stand by for any support.

7^th to 10^th August – will be the time to get back to base camp via all the other camps and clearing up after us.

8^th to 9^th August – these will be dedicated to rest the whole team.

10^th to 14^th August – we take the same route back home. Expecting to arrive back in Pune on the 14^th.

Nun has been explored for over a 100 years; since 1898 when Arthur Neve made three expeditions to the peak. Dutch mountaineer Dr. H. Sillem reached an altitude of 6,400 m (21,000 ft) on Nun. But the first successful ascent of Nun was made in 1953 by a French-Swiss-India-Sherpa team lead by Bernard Pierre and Pierre Vittoz. Fifty-eight years passed before anyone else could successfully scale the peak again – and when it happened, it was an expedition of the Indian Army.

These days its quite common to see expeditions attempting Mt Nun every year.

What is it like to climb Mt. Nun, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayan range on the Indian side of the Line of Control? Mt. Nun (see picture below) at 7,135 m (23,409 ft) is located near Suru valley, about 250 km east of Srinagar, will be attempted by a mountaineering team from Pune led by Rupesh Khopade of Giripremi (what a lovely name for a mountaineering club).

There are very few mountaineering clubs like Giripremi in India that are dedicated to spreading the popularity of mountaineering.  The 10-man Giripremi expedition to Mt. Nun left Pune on 8 July 2010 and are scheduled to scale the peak early August.

Khopade and his team have the well wishes of each one of us at Wildcraft.

Over the next few weeks, Khopade and his team will share their experiences with the challenge, on this blog with details of the team, the background of mountaineers, their schedules, maps, their progress and experience through words and pictures. So visit this blog often to get an up close and personal view of what it takes to scale Mt. Nun. Who knows, one day you may want to follow the Giripremi team in their adventure.

For the rest, this still is an adrenalin pumping real-life adventure in the challenging and tricky Himalayas.