After six climbing seasons (1901-1906) in Canada, Christian Kaufmann (with his brother Fritz) travelled to Sikkim, India, in August 1907 to climb with Alexander Mitchell Kellas (1868-1921), a Scottish mountaineer and physiologist who was interested in studying the causes of altitude sickness. Neither Kellas nor the Swiss had been in the Himalayas before, although Kellas was to make seven more trips to the region. The expedition, including the two Kaufmanns, left Srinagar (5,200 ft.) in the Kashmir Valley on August 3, 1907, heading for the most stupendous mountain barrier in the world. Kellas said his objective was to explore the glaciers of Kangchenjunga, and ascend any mountains of the region which might prove accessible. And he wanted to do scientific work in connection with variations in the composition of the atmosphere at high altitudes, and alterations in the relative numbers the red and white corpuscles in blood, what he called mountain lassitude or altitude sickness. After experiencing difficulties crossing the Pir Panjal mountain range and fording the swollen Rembiara River, they crossed Pir Panjal Pass (11,400 ft.) and encountered several other rivers with flood conditions. On August 12, one of the Kaufmanns was unwell and stayed at a rest-house near Naoshera, but he finally returned to Srinagar, while Kellas and the others travelled on to Darjeeling, visiting the Kangchenjunga glacier along the way.