Kalanka is a mountain of Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand India. Kalanka standing majestically at 6931 meter 22740 feet. Its the 20th highest located entirely within the uttrakhand India. Nanda Devi, is the highest mountain in this category. Kalanka is 48th highest peak in India and 319th highst peak in the world. Southern side of Kalanka is falls under Nanda Devi National Park.
Climbing history
Kalanka lies on the outer rim of the Nanda Devi sanctuary and in between Changabang and Saf Minal. The first ascent by Ikuo Tanabe's four-member expedition from Japan in 1975 through the west ridge. They follow the Rishi Ganga gorge and crossed over to Shipton's col to gain the col between Changabang and Kalanka and climbed the west ridge. The first summit was reached by Noriaki Ikeda, Tsuneo Kouma, Kazumasa Inoue and the leader Tanabe on 3 June 1975. The first ascent of the north face was made in 1977 by Czechoslovak expedition, led by Frantisek Grunt, They approach the col through the Bagini glacier and the west ridge. Jozef Raconcaj and Ladislav Jon reached the summit on 20 September 1977. The north face direct had been attempted many times but remained unclimbed until Fumitaka Ichimura, Kazuaki Amano and Yusuke Sato, of Japan, succeeded in alpine style in 2008.
Glaciers and rivers
It is surrounded by Glaciers on the three side Changabang Glacier,on the southern side, Uttari Rishi Glacier On the eastern side and Bagini Glacier on the northern side. The River from Bagini Glacier met with Dhauli Ganga at Jumma. Changabang Bamak and Uttari Rishi Bamak also met Dhauli Ganga through Rishi Ganga gorge. later Dhauli Ganga met with Alaknanda river at Vishnu Prayag two main tributaries of Ganga. These two main rivers meets at Devpryag. The name Ganga starts from their. The entire surrounding area are protected within the Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve which is a World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO. The Nanda Devi National Park is home to several world-class treks.
