Friendship Peak + Yunam Peak Expedition

A single twelve-day expedition that climbs two Himachal summits back to back: Friendship Peak at 5,289 m above the Beas Kund cirque, then Yunam at 6,111 m off the Baralacha La. The order is the point. Friendship is climbed first from Manali, which puts several nights between 3,300 m and 4,700 m into your legs before the expedition drives north over Rohtang and Baralacha La to Bharatpur at roughly 4,700 m. That acclimatisation is what makes a 6,000 m summit bid realistic on a twelve-day schedule; attempted cold, the Bharatpur drive alone gains around 1,500 m of sleeping altitude in a day. Neither summit is a walk-up. Friendship's summit day crosses a crevassed glacier to a corniced ridge and is roped, with crampons and ice axe; a climber died there in November 2022 when an avalanche swept him 20 m below the summit and the search was abandoned because of hidden crevasses. Yunam is technically more straightforward but physiologically far more serious — the danger is the altitude and the speed at which you reach it, not the climbing. Two buffer days are built in for weather and route conditions, and summit success on either peak is never guaranteed.

• The Beas Kund cirque and Hanuman Tibba on the Friendship half, out of Solang and Dhundi.
• Friendship Peak's glacier, crevasse field and corniced summit ridge at 5,289 m — roped, cramponed climbing that doubles as acclimatisation for what follows.
• The drive across Rohtang and down the Chandra valley to Lahaul: green Kullu on one side of the pass, high desert on the other, in a single morning.
• Baralacha La at 4,890 m, the divide between the Bhaga and Yunam, with Suraj Tal at 4,883 m just below it.
• Bharatpur at 4,700 m and a high camp above 5,200 m, on bare moraine.
• Yunam's summit at 6,111 m — a 6,000-metre peak reached on foot, with the Zanskar range and the Lahaul-Spiti desert on every horizon.
• Two entirely different mountain systems in twelve days, which is the whole argument for doing them back to back.

Protect the acclimatisation and training day at Lady Leg - it is the structural difference between a defensible itinerary and a cheap one, and it doubles as the day you learn to self-arrest. Prefer itineraries that include a load ferry to the summit camp and a return to Lady Leg to sleep, which is textbook climb-high-sleep-low. Drink 3-4 litres a day, eat when you do not want to, and skip alcohol in Manali the night before you leave. Insist that the group carries supplementary oxygen, a pulse oximeter with readings logged twice daily, dexamethasone and nifedipine under the leader's control, and a written evacuation plan naming Dhundi as the road head and the receiving hospital in Manali or Kullu. The descent is the mitigation that always works: Lady Leg is only 8-9 km of trail above a road, and losing 1,000 m from the summit camp can be done in an afternoon. If symptoms are worse in the morning than they were the night before, you are not summiting - you are descending.

• This expedition summits two peaks in one trip. Friendship Peak (5,289 m) is climbed first, deliberately, to build acclimatisation before Yunam (6,111 m).
• The drive to Bharatpur crosses Baralacha La. That road is seasonal — it typically opens in May and closes with the first heavy snow, usually between mid-October and November. A late-season departure depends on the pass staying open, and the operator's judgement on the day is final.
• Prior high-altitude experience is expected. Independent sources for Yunam ask for several previous treks above 4,500 m and at least one above 5,000 m; Friendship's own sources ask for a prior 5,000 m trek plus crampon and ice-axe proficiency.
• You must be able to walk roped on a glacier, self-arrest with an ice axe, and move in crampons on steep snow. These are not skills you can learn on the summit day.
• Bharatpur is not a village. It is a seasonal cluster of three or four dhaba tents at about 4,700 m with no permanent buildings, no medical facility and no mains power. The nearest permanent settlements are Jispa and Darcha, 60-75 km back down the road.
• Free e-Aagman registration (eaagman.hp.gov.in) is mandatory for any vehicle entering Lahaul-Spiti, and HP Police record ID at the Darcha check post.
• Friendship Peak is on the Indian Mountaineering Foundation's trekking-peaks register and requires an IMF booking plus an HP Forest Department permit from the Kullu division. Yunam's permitting authority is genuinely unclear — it appears on the Himachal state peak register but in none of the IMF's four peak registers. Ask your operator to produce the actual permit.

Nearest airport: Bhuntar (KUU), about 50 km from Manali; Chandigarh (IXC) is the reliable all-weather alternative at roughly 300 km. Nearest railhead: Joginder Nagar (JDNX) narrow gauge, or Chandigarh for mainline services. The expedition starts and ends in Manali.

• 3-4 quick-dry full-sleeve base tops - full sleeve, because UV reflected off snow at 5,000 m burns anything exposed
• 2 fleece or synthetic mid-layers, one light and one heavy
• 1 down jacket, 650-fill or better, genuinely rated for around -15 C for the summit-camp night and the pre-dawn start
• 1 waterproof breathable hardshell jacket with a helmet-compatible hood, taped seams
• 1 pair of hardshell or softshell climbing trousers, plus waterproof overtrousers - jeans and cotton track pants are not a joke on this route, they are a hypothermia mechanism
• 2 thermal base-layer sets, one kept strictly dry for sleeping
• Insulated beanie plus a balaclava or buff - the summit ridge is windy and there is nothing to shelter behind
• Two pairs of gloves minimum: thin liners for handling hardware and rope, plus insulated waterproof outers or mitts. Carry a spare pair; a glove dropped on the ridge is gone
• 5-6 pairs of wool or synthetic socks plus one thick dedicated sleeping pair
• Category 4 glacier sunglasses with side protection, and a spare pair. Snow blindness on a glacier is not a discomfort, it is a rescue
• Rigid or semi-rigid mountaineering boots that take a crampon properly. Most operators rent these (Himalaya Destination lists Scarpa climbing boots as a rental) - if you are renting, fit them on day 1 with the crampons you will actually use, not on summit night
• Trekking boots for the walk-in to Lady Leg, broken in beforehand
• Gaiters - mandatory once you are on snow
• Camp shoes for the evenings
• Crampons, ice axe, climbing harness, helmet, carabiners, sling, ascender/descender - almost always issued as group or rental gear by the operator, but confirm in writing what is provided and what you are expected to bring. A helmet is not optional on a route with moraine, rock and a corniced ridge
• 50-60 litre rucksack with a rain cover, plus a small summit pack if the operator uses one
• Sleeping bag rated to around -10 to -15 C comfort, plus a sleeping mat with an R-value of 4 or better - the summit camp is on moraine and cold comes up from underneath
• Two trekking poles for the approach and the descent; they are not a substitute for an axe and you will stow them once roped
• Headlamp with a fresh set plus a full spare set of batteries - summit day starts in the dark and cold flattens batteries fast
• 2-3 litres of insulated water capacity in bottles, not a bladder; bladder hoses freeze on summit day
• Water purification tablets or a filter - everything above Dhundi is glacial melt
• SPF 50 sunscreen and SPF lip balm, reapplied. Reflected UV burns the underside of the nose, chin and ears
• High-calorie snack food you will actually eat when your appetite has gone
• Powerbank - there is no charging above Dhundi and no signal above Solang
• Original government photo ID plus photocopies - checked at the forest post and required for the peak permit paperwork
• Passport and valid Indian visa for foreign nationals, plus passport photographs - foreign climbers go through the Indian Mountaineering Foundation process and pay a peak fee
• Medical fitness certificate from a registered doctor - required as standard by operators on this peak (TrekNomads lists it as mandatory alongside an indemnity bond)
• Adventure or mountaineering insurance explicitly covering climbing above 5,000 m and helicopter evacuation. Standard travel insurance excludes mountaineering; read the exclusion clause, not the brochure
• Signed indemnity/NOC form as required by the operator
• Your operator's registration details and your guide's certification - Himachal requires adventure operators to be registered with the state tourism department and guides to hold valid certification
• Acetazolamide (Diamox) is routinely discussed on this profile, but whether you take it and at what dose is a decision for a doctor who knows your history. Never take it for the first time on the mountain
• Dexamethasone and nifedipine are the emergency drugs for severe AMS, HACE and HAPE. These belong in the trek leader's controlled kit, administered by someone trained, and are a bridge to descent - never a substitute for it
• A personal pulse oximeter is worth carrying in addition to expecting one in the group kit; two evenings of falling saturation is information you want before committing to summit day
• Paracetamol or ibuprofen, oral rehydration salts, antiemetic tablets
• Blister and foot-care kit - rented rigid boots on unfamiliar feet is the classic way to lose a summit
• Antiseptic, sterile dressings, crepe bandage - moraine produces gashes and turned ankles
• Personal prescription medication in original packaging with three days spare
• Sunburn and cold-injury care: high-SPF lip balm, and know what early frostnip on fingers and toes feels like before you are on the ridge
• 4 quick-dry full-sleeve base tops - Lahaul is high desert, the UV at 5,000-6,000 m is extreme and there is no shade anywhere on this mountain
• 1 expedition-weight down jacket, 700-fill or better, rated for -20 C or colder - this is a 6,000 m summit in the dark, not a trek
• 1 waterproof breathable hardshell jacket with a helmet-compatible hood
• 1 pair of insulated or softshell summit trousers plus a hardshell overtrouser
• 3 thermal base-layer sets, one kept strictly dry for sleeping
• Insulated beanie plus a balaclava - Baralacha La is notoriously windy and the summit ridge has no shelter
• Three pairs of handwear: thin liners, insulated gloves and expedition mitts. Carry a spare. Frostnip on the summit push is the ordinary cold injury here
• 6-8 pairs of wool or synthetic socks plus one thick dedicated sleeping pair
• Category 4 glacier sunglasses with side shields, plus a spare pair, and ski goggles for wind on the summit slope
• Category C or D expedition mountaineering boots that take a crampon properly. Trekking boots are not adequate for a 6,111 m summit push - MountRoutes specifies category C/D explicitly. If renting, fit them on day 1 with the crampons you will use
• Trekking boots or approach shoes for the base camp days
• Gaiters - essential on scree and snow both
• Down booties or thick camp footwear for the high camp
• Crampons, ice axe, harness and helmet - usually operator-supplied, but confirm in writing. Even sources that describe the route as non-technical list crampons and microspikes as required kit
• Group technical gear: rope, snow stakes, ice screws or pitons, carabiners and slings. Kahlur Adventures lists fixed rope, snow stakes, carabiners and ice pitons as supplied; confirm that yours does
• Sleeping bag with a genuine comfort rating of -20 C or better for the 5,300 m camp, plus a mat with an R-value of 5 or higher
• Trekking poles for the moraine approach
• Headlamp plus two full spare battery sets - summit day starts between 1 and 4 am and cold destroys battery capacity
• 3 litres of insulated bottle capacity, not a bladder. Bladder hoses freeze solid on a 1 am start
• Water purification - all water here is glacial melt or stream water
• SPF 50 sunscreen and SPF lip balm reapplied constantly; the combination of altitude, snow reflection and Lahaul's thin dry air is the worst sunburn environment in the region
• High-calorie food you will still eat at 5,300 m, where appetite disappears
• Powerbank and a spare - there is no charging beyond Jispa, and no signal beyond Darcha
• Original government photo ID plus photocopies. The police check post at Darcha records passport or Aadhaar details for everyone heading up the highway
• Passport and valid Indian visa for foreign nationals, plus passport photographs for peak-permit paperwork
• e-Aagman registration for the vehicle entering Lahaul-Spiti district - free, mandatory, and the operator's job, but confirm it exists
• Medical fitness certificate from a registered doctor
• Mountaineering insurance explicitly covering climbing above 6,000 m and helicopter evacuation. Ordinary travel insurance excludes this; read the exclusions
• The peak permit paperwork - ask the operator which authority issued it and to see it (see the permit flag below; this is genuinely murky and worth checking)
• Your operator's Himachal Pradesh tourism department registration number and your guide's mountaineering certification
• Acetazolamide (Diamox) is very commonly used on this profile, given a base camp at 4,700 m reached by road - but the dose and the decision belong to a doctor who knows your history, and you should never take it for the first time on the mountain
• Dexamethasone and nifedipine for severe AMS, HACE and HAPE belong in the leader's controlled kit, administered by someone trained. At 6,111 m with a base camp at 4,700 m these are realistic drugs, not theoretical ones
• A personal pulse oximeter in addition to the group's. On this profile the trend across three evenings at Bharatpur is the single most useful piece of information you will have
• Paracetamol or ibuprofen, oral rehydration salts, antiemetics - vomiting is a common AMS presentation here and dehydrates you fast at altitude
• Blister and foot-care kit; rented expedition boots on unfamiliar feet
• Antiseptic, dressings, crepe bandage for moraine cuts and turned ankles
• Personal prescription medication in original packaging with at least three days spare - a road closure on the Manali-Leh highway is a normal event
• Motion-sickness tablets. The two road days are long, high and relentlessly winding, and being carsick at 4,000 m starts you dehydrated