Tasio Martin & Marc Toralles climb Punta Guillem Aparicio in Shafat Valley, Zanskar, India

Marc Toralles is on a roll. Following his bold first ascent of Ànima de corall up the inhospitable East Face of Siula Grande in Peru with Bru Busom in July, in August the Catalan alpinist struck gold once again, this time with Basque mountaineer Tasio Martin in India’s Zanskar mountains.

After travelling to the Indian Himalayas with a large group of mountaineers, the pair set their sights on a stunning unclimbed, unnamed granite peak in the remote Shafat Valley. A first attempt was started on 13 August but they were overtaken by a violent storm and bailed on the 15th. Writing to planetmountain.com, Toralles explained "on our first attempt we made an unforgettable bivouac in the middle of the wall due to the storm that lasted all night. With the thermal blanket we somehow managed to keep warm just enough, but we spent many hours on the ledge, without seeing each other and without being able to communicate, surviving as best we could."

On the 23rd of August the climbers were back and despite the previous experience, chose to proceed fast and light once again. They climbed without bivy gear and, following a series of obvious cracks and corners, managed to reach the 5700m summit in what can only be described as a remarkable 19-hour stint base camp to summit and back.

Toralles stated "It was a brutal experience. We were blown away by the quality of the rock as we climbed our direct line to the summit of a virgin peak." The climbers have now called the mountain Punta Guillem Aparicio, in memory of their friend who lost his life in a climbing accident in 2011.

Txoria Txori is circa 740m high and breaches difficulties up to 7a+. Described as being "a gift", it was climbed all free with only nuts and cams. No bolts were placed, and only a few wires and pegs were left in-situ during the abseil descent.