Tilman Pass

 mountain pass  Add category

Tilman Pass.
Snow-ice pass oriented South-North.
Connects the valley of Langtang (Langtang Khola) with the valley of Balephi Glacier.
Height: about 5350m.
First passed in 1949 by the British mountaineer Bill Tilman.

A short description from North to South:
Start from the glacial lake on the north side. Then the route goes up through the western side of a local valley. It is necessary to go above the rocky outcrops.
Over the rocky outcrops there is a beginning of a scree couloir. Above the couloir lies a flat part of the glacier.
From this point of the path the saddle is clearly visible.
The ascent to the saddle is a snow-ice slope up to 25 degrees.
It is recommended to go in rope team style and to use crampons.
It is advised to come out in a wide arc to the eastern edge of the saddle, under the rocks.
The center of the glacier and the central part of the saddle are heavily cracked and it is not safe to go there.
The descent to the south side consists of 3 parts.
1. Transition from the saddle to the cracked glacier and up to the transition point from the glacier to rock slides on the eastern part of the descender gorge. Beware of many long cracks from side to side.
2. Simple descent on the scree.
3. A new descent on short sections of dead ice has become possible since 2016. (It is about 20 meters long and the ice-slope angle is around 35 degrees). This happened due to the fact that the lower part of the glacier has melted completely. Go down using crampons to the central couloir and then to the moraine plateau. A traditional descent to the south lied through the rocky shelves in the eastern part of the descender gorge.