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LESLEY AUSTIN

Lesley following the early explorers footstps

OCTOBER23-2000

By Asem Mustafa Awan

ISLAMABAD — Fifty one year old Lesley Austin from Britain made the millennium trek in the Northern Areas and she is perhaps the only woman in the world who has a unique affinity with the early explorers in the Shimshal area.

This year she undertook an exploration of her own in one of the remotest and least visited areas of the world - Shimshal which lies in the Great Karakorum.

"I am lucky to be alive! said Lesley who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society last year and has the support of leading explorers in the UK.

As well as going over a new pass in the Shimshal area she followed in the footsteps of one of the early explorers, RCF Schomberg, who explored the region in 1934. Beginning from Shimshal she followed the tricky Pamir-i-Tang route to Shujerab. From there she followed the Pamir-i-Tang river to its glacier source which no body (no foreigner) has done before.

From the Shujerab Glacier she crossed the new pass which is at an altitude of 6400 metres (according to the Swiss Map) known locally as the Sherilik Pass at a height of 6400 meters..

To get there she walked up one of the glaciers (third on the left on the map!) to the new pass and from there descended to the Sherilik Valley which are remote pastures used for Yaks during the winter and only locals have been to the area.

She followed the Sherilik valley to its confluence with the Oprang River (bordering Pakistan and China).

She took the route from Oprang River to Sherbloq where it flows in to the mighty Mustagh (Shaksgam)River and then followed the Mustagh to where the Braldu River enters it at Firzeen. The route along the Oprang and Mustagh river valleys has not been done since the first explorer RCF Schomberg 66 years ago.

She followed the Braldu River Valley back to Shujerab via the Shimshal Pass 4735 metres.

She said,"Shimshal pass is very important geographically as rivers to the east flow in to the deserts of Central Asia and to the west make their way to the Indus river and flow into the Arabian sea."

"The explorers Eric Shipton and RCF Schomberg both noted the importance of this pass."

It took her 20 days of hard, arduous and chilling walking from Shimshal to Shimshal to establish this unique feat of human perseverance and tenacity.

The most difficult situation she faced during the trek was the descent from the Sherilik Pass at 6400 metres which was extremely steep with waist deep snow (avalanche hazard). The Mustagh Valley also presented its share of  problems to the 51 year old determined Briton as she had to scale near vertical cliffs to avoid the river which was icy cold with surging and foaming waters.

"In addition we had to cross a channel of the Mustagh River. If this had not been possible we would have had to retrace our steps and trek back to the pass which would have been very difficult."

She managed to survive a close call when a great boulder came crashing down but her team of local guides identified the hazard in time with the tell-tale signs of an imminent rock fall.

She said," It was all possible because of my friend and guide Majnoon Khan from Shimshal who was inspirational in my endeavour for following in the footsteps of Schomberg and exploring the new pass."

Lesley goes to Shimshal alone and is accompanied only by Shimshali people during her journeys, just as Schomberg did all those years ago. She has met Shimshalis who actually knew him and people whose fathers had been porters for him.

She has been a frequent visitor to Shimshal and her first sojourn in the region was in 1993 where the people and their culture attracted her. During her subsequent visits in 1994 and 1995 went to all the major high altitude grazing grounds where the women make dairy products from the milk of their thousands of sheep, goats and yaks.

"I got to know a lot about the area and did a lot of research about the life and culture of the people who are self sufficient and produce cereal crops and dairy produce to feed the population of about 1400."

"The Wakhi speaking people are Ismailis and their culture is linked to that of Central Asia," said the avid explorer adding," Historically access to Shimshal has been very difficult; so much so that the Mirs of Hunza used Shimshal as a penitentiary, and even until recently access has not been easy."

"However,this is about to change with the construction of a road begun in 1985," she said adding," It is now half-way to Shimshal and the people hope that within a couple of years the necessity of carrying in additional items into the village over very difficult terrain will become a distant memory.

"In addition it will mean the people will have access to better medical care and educational facilities. The villagers have established organizations which will monitor developments which inevitably occur once the village is connected with the Karakorums Highway."

"Indeed, one significant change has come to the village since Lesley went there in 1993 - an electricity supply. A small HEP station has been built powered from the melt waters of a glacier, but this means that power is available only during the summer."

As she predicted, as soon as electricity was available there would be the introduction to the village of a satellite dish. Despite the changes which have occurred in Shimshal the early explorers would still recognize the relatively isolated community which lies in the heart of the Karakorums mountains.

In 1998 Lesley was the first person to have gone on a 'Yak Safari' to the beginning of the Braldu valley, and as a result was awarded a 'Yak Riding Certificate'!

Over the past few years she has been researching into the history of the area and the early explorers who went into the vast and largely unknown Karakorums. She has followed in the footsteps, to a greater or lesser extent, of all the major explorers. According to the Shimshalis she was the first English person after Francis Younghusband who was the first foreigner to enter the Shimshal area in 1889, to have followed a particularly difficult route.

The Shimshalis say she is the only non-Shimshali who has visited more areas there and has built up an in depth knowledge of the life and culture of the people.

"I thought it was about time I undertook an exploration of my own." she said.

"The opportunity arose this year so I took it and believe that I have achieved something special."