BRITISH LANGTANG EXPEDITION

South Face of Langtang Lirung (23,750 ft)

MIKE SEARLE

THERE IS a saying that once you have climbed in the Himalaya you will keep returning for the experience at any cost. This was just the case, as I had been planning a return ever since our first expedition to the Kulu Himalaya in 1978. At that time we had a highly successful expedition climbing 10 mountains up to 21,000 ft including three first ascents, and had enjoyed some spectacular calm and clear weather during May and June. Mike Stead and Nick Groves, also on the Kulu expedition, were thinking about another trip and our planning started in July, 1979, when I wrote to Mike Cheney in Kathmandu asking about possible objectives.

Whereas on our Kulu expedition we had climbed a lot of peaks Alpine-style from a central base camp, with a minimum of equipment, for this trip I planned to climb a technically difficult route on one mountain in Nepal. After some background reading-up on the ranges of the Himalaya, I finally applied for and received permission for the south face of Langtang Lirung, a spectacular peak of 23,750 ft (7239 m) on the Nepal-Tibet border, north of Kathmandu, dur ing the pre-monsoon period of 1980.

Langtang Lirung has had nine previous attempts made on it since Tilman's original reconnaissance in 1949, and only the last, a Japanese- Nepali expedition in 1978,6 had reached the summit via the Lirung glacier — a horrifically dangerous glacier rising above Kyangin Gompa. The mountain had been closed for 10 years being right on the border with Chinese-occupied Tibet but the Japanese sent reconnaissance trips to the South face and concluded in 1964 'seeing it from the south ridge we think it is impossible to climb the southwestern face of Lirung on account of many avalanches'. They finally concluded the only possible route to the summit on the south (Nepalese) side was via the Lirung glacier.

Footnote

  1. See H.J. 36, Illustrated Note 2.—Ed.

 

In the autumn of 1979 Nick trekked up to Langtang after his lightweight expedition to the Chota Shigri glacier area of Kulu and brought back some excellent photos of the mountain taken from the Ganja La and Gosainkund. He even managed to scrounge a helicopter ride up the valley so that we had good photographic coverage of the whole face. Meanwhile I had received the rules for mountaineering expeditions from the Ministry of Tourism and it soon became apparent that it would be an expensive trip with peak fees, salaries for the liaison officer and Sirdar and their gear to pay for.

By Christmas we had decided on a feasible route up the middle of the South face, one that seemed to be clear of avalanches and we started looking for others to join us. I wrote to Shaun Parent in Canada asking if he could come and received an instant *yes?. Pete Thexton, our doctor in Kulu, could not come but suggested a fellow climber/doctor, Neil Harding-Roberts, who was immediately enthusiastic and Mike persuaded another friend, Rod Mackenzie, to come. Finally John "Marjot decided to join us making the number up to seven. We decided to try the climb Alpine-style with a minimum of camps and fixed ropes and no Sherpa support. We had the minimum too of Government requirements in one Sherpa Sirdar — Serki Tsering from the Sola Khumbu, one cook, Chandra Bahadur Tamang, and one liaison officer, Bihendra Bassnet.

Mike and I spent the winter organizing the gear and food we would need and wrote off dozens of begging letters to firms. We also received a generous grant from the M.E.F. and B.M.C. and were officially sponsored by Barclay's Bank. I flew out to Nepal on March 2 arranging for the whole expedition to meet up in Kathmandu at the end of March.

Kathmandu to Langtang

I spent March trekking up to Everest base camp through the beautiful and spectacular scenery of the Sola Khumbu in an effort to get fit. In fact I suffered badly from altitude in the rapid ascent up to 18,500 ft and was glad our walk-in to Langtang began at only about 1000 ft at Trisuli Bazar allowing plenty of time for acclimatization. I arrived back in Kathmandu on 26 March, the day before Shaun arrived from Canada and Neil from England. The same afternoon Mike and Rod arrived. Nick and John could not get off work until the end of the month and were going to trek up to Langtang a week later.

We spent four days in Kathmandu sorting out all the gear, buying food and packing it up, using the Sherpa Co-operative office as our dumping ground. Probably the most hazardous part of our expedition was the hectic racing through the crowded alleyways of Kathmandu's bazars on our bicycles, dodging rickshaws, pedestrians and cows. All the remaining gear we needed we bought or hired from Purna who runs a business out of buying up expedition gear.

On 2 April we finally set off loaded into a bus for the 3-hour winding drive to Trisuli Bazar — the starting point for our trek to Langtang. At Trisuli, Serki organized the hiring of 23 porters to carry our loads for the 6-day trek up to Langtang. Each porter, including two Tamang women, carried between 20 and 30 kilos each in a wicker basket using a headband and were paid about NRs 24 each per day, the standard Government rate.

The walk-in was completed in 6 easy days walking on good paths and we stayed in a variety of places — sleeping out at Betrawati, in chai shops at Ramche and Dhunche, in a Buddhist gompa at Syabru and camping at Chongong. At Syabru the trail turned east, dropping down through dense forests with troops of monkeys and alive with birds, into the deep gorge of the Langtang Khola. At Ghora Tabela the valley floor abruptly widened out marking the limit of advance of the Langtang glacier, and the vegetation changed from rhododendrons and oak to pine and juniper.

Kongur. Route of attempt and ascent.

3. Kongur. Route of attempt and ascent.
Article 1 Photo: C. Bonington

From Ramche, where we had our first view of the Lining, up to Ghora Tabela we kept getting tantalizing views of the mountain through gaps in the forest and our proposed route up the South face looked more formidable than ever. On 7 April we arrived at Langtang village and Shaun, S'erki and I went ahead to find a suitable site for base camp. Above Langtang village huge rock walls of solid, sweeping granite-gneiss rose abruptly from the valley floor up to the Li rung and, although the site of base camp was only at 11,500 ft, it would have been impossible to get porters up this rock wall. Our base camp was, therefore, luxuriously pitched on a grassy meadow only 300 ft away from the 'civilization' of Langtang village. This had some disadvantages in that we were often invaded by curious locals and trekkers, but it never became much of a problem.

The next day the Langtang lama performed a short ceremony, building effigies of rice and with sacrifices of food to placate the mountain gods, chanting mantras for the expedition's success and the safe return of all members. It was a pity any genuine effect was ruined by his demands of more baksheesh after Serki had given him a Rs 10 present for his troubles. However the Gods of Langtang had been placated and we could start climbing.

South Face of Langtang Lirung

On 9 April we started out on our first day's climbing and, splitting Up into two groups, made two recce trips to find a good way up the daunting rock wall above base camp. Serki, Neil, Rod and I climbed a few hundred feet up the steep thorn-covered rock above the moraine east of the village and soon decided it was no good at all as a suitable route especially with loaded rucksacks. Shaun and Mike explored the Great Gully system immediately above Langtang village and, when we returned to base camp at midday, saw them climbing out on a grassy ramp near the top of the Rock Band. We also witnessed a huge powder snow avalanche pouring over the lip just beyond them. A huge plume of snow and air blast mushroomed up into the air from collapsing seracs at the foot of the high glacier. The wind blew all the debris into the valley sides and little actually came down the face. Still, it was an impressive sight and at base camp we all sat gasping up in awe.

The following day Serki, Neil and I climbed about 3000 ft up the south side of the valley to look across at the Lirung and pick a good line up the South face. We were duly impressed with the enormity of the 12,000 ft of climbing that lay ahead for us. The biggest dangers were the frequent big avalanches that continually swept down the face, but we picked out a relatively safe-looking route up an indistinct ridge that appeared to avoid most of the avalanche tracks.

On 12 April, Mike and Shaun moved up to establish and occupy Camp 1 supported by Rod and I who returned to base after carrying a load up. The route up the Great Gully that Mike and Shaun had found was an exceptionally good one. Looking difficult from below, it was in fact mostly scrambling with a few pitches where protection was needed and convenient escape routes whenever towering rock walls seemed to block the way. The side walls loomed above with huge sweeps of rock while the boulder-strewn gully had one section of slabs and an awkward overhang to climb before more broken rock, climbed solo, and a grassy ramp led eventually to the top of the Rock Band. We fixed ropes on two steep sections so on future load carries we could jumar up quickly.

Mike and Shaun spent two days at Camp 1, first moving it higher to a more suitable place and then climbing a series of snow gullies to reach a col where we had hoped to pitch Camp 2. We had a Polaroid camera which proved very useful in explaining the route to pairs taking over from the lead pair, Neil and Rod moved up to Camp 1 to take over the lead on, 14 April while I carried a load up and returned to base.

The following day Nick and John appeared with three porters having walked up from Trisuli in four days. The expedition was at last complete and progress seemed to be extremely fast. As long as the weather held we had high hopes of a rapid ascent by all members.

17 -24 April

We had originally hoped to climb the South face of Lirung Alpine- style but the sheer size of the face and logistical problems of carrying enough food and gear for at least 8-10 days made this impossible. Our intention had then been to establish 2 or 3 camps stocked with food and to climb the top 4 or 5,000 ft Alpine-style bivouacking out. This would have involved a possible 5 or 6 days' climbing assuming good weather, from a Camp 3 at about 19,000 ft back to Camp 2.

Unfortunately our immaculate Kulu-type pre-monsoon weather did not repeat itself here. Every day cloud hung around the Lirung and usually by midday it was snowing and clagged in. Neil and Rod came back to base on 17 April, forced down by bad weather and high winds. They had succeeded in finding an ideal situation for Camp 2 after Neil had soloed up an ice-cliff while borrowing Rod's ice-axe.

Nick and John were fit and keen to get up high to start acclimatizing as base camp was really too low for this. They started load-carrying up to Camp 1 the next day and soon moved up to occupy Camp 1 and carry loads up to Camp 2. Although they arrived late, they carried more loads than anyone else and did their share of lead climbing as well. Meanwhile Mike and I moved up to Camp 2 supported by Shaun and Sekri who were occupying Camp 1. Serki, who proved to be a born natural rock-climber, was less confident on ice and declined to go up the ice-cliffs below Camp 2 but helped Us with several carries from base camp to Camp 1.

The route from Camp 1 to 2 followed a system of snow and ice gullies that carefully avoided the dangerous avalanche debris which constantly poured down most of the face. The col at the top proved to be useless as a camp site as well as being too low on the ridge but Neil and Rod had discovered a bypass gully higher on the face. This led up for 500 ft to a 150 ft pitch of steep ice which was climbed with an ice-screw. We fixed a rope down this section, clipping the rope into an icicle to avoid being frozen in overnight. After this, 600 ft of steep snow-plodding led to a perfect site for Camp 2 with a fantastic panorama of the whole of the south face of Lirung. When we arrived it had been cloudy and snowing and looked a miserable place but we set up the hoop tent and revived ourselves with brews.

Shivling and Shivling West.

6. Shivling and Shivling West.
Article 11

That evening the clouds cleared and we had the most incredible views of the remaining 4 or 5000 ft of our climb. In my diary I wrote: 'Our south ridge looks absolutely horrendous from here with bulging ice-cliffs, wide crevasses, very steep, long sections of glistening verglas ice. The whole section seems to be in danger of serac fall and avalanche right up to the rock knots at the top which must be 5000 ft above us here and yet looks so close. Never have I seen such an immense wall of ice and rock as the South face of Lirung.'

Mike and I had a bad time at Camp 2. The weather turned bad during the night with avalanches and falling rocks, lightning and the crack of thunder all night. One mighty avalanche fell right below us and rocks falling off the cliffs above kept us alert. A logistical error left us with no rock-climbing gear for upward progress and there was no kerosene to cook on. We went up to the rock buttress to sort out a route but by midday it clouded over and started snowing. Neil and Rod made a carry from 1 to 2 bringing kerosene up but by mistake took the pressurizer of the stove down with the empty bottle so we had no hot drink or food for three days.

That evening hurricane force winds sprang up and we battened the tents with axes, deadmen and rocks. One of the hoop tents was in imminent danger of taking off so we collapsed it and battened down the hatches. The storm blew all night until 3,30 a.m., snow piling on the tents and the most ferocious wind I have ever known. Lightning and thunder added to the dramatics with the constant roar of avalanches. At 4.00 a.m. the wind suddenly died down and it dawned clear with an extra foot of snow burying everything. It had been snowing down in the valley that night 7000 ft below us and at Camp 2 upward or downward movement was impossible. The snow gully was very unstable and the fixed rope buried under 2 inches of ice

24 April-3 May

The following day, 24 April, we went down, digging the abseil ropes out of the ice while Neil and Shaun moved up jumaring up the rope which by now had a gaping gap in the sheath midway. Nick and John also appeared doing their first of many carries up to Camp 2. Neil and Shaun stayed up at Camp 2 for 4 days and succeeded in climbing the rock buttress above. This consisted of 5 pitches of airy, exposed and technical climbing on solid amphibolite. From the top of the buttress they could see the tiny dots of the houses of Langtang village and the even smaller dots of our cluster of tents of base camp more than 7000 ft below. Neil and Shaun were impressed with the dangers of the icefall and the frequency of the avalanches pouring down the face.

Nick and Rod were the next pair to move up into the lead, taking 4 days' food with them to explore the ground above the rock buttress. Neil and Shaun moved right back down to base and Mike and I moved up to 2 on 29 April for the last time. We had the feeling that this was it —if we couldn't get up the route this time, that was it. Upward progress seemed to have come to a grinding halt and we were already beginning to run out of some essential high-altitude food.

On our way up we were full of confidence, convinced that Nick and Rod would find a site for a hoop tent on the col and even attempt a rapid push for the summit. John, Mike and I arrived at Camp 2 at midday and watched them on the ice-arete on top of the rock buttress. By 3.00 p.m. cloud welled up from the valley and shrouded the mountain. Thunder and lightning started but, as Mike said, it was only a 'training storm'. High up on the ridge Nick and Rod were having a major epic, caught out on the face with their ice-axes buzzing with the electricity and the storm raging around them. They reached a high point on top of the second rock buttress and had a glimpse through the cloud of a 1000 ft gully blocking access to the basin to the right. The 2000 ft ice-arete on our proposed route was hard ice, steep and avalanche prone from overhanging seracs, 'very necky' as Nick put it. Also there was absolutely nowhere to pitch a tent so they decided to retreat, abseiling down on ice-screws and pegs. They arrived back at Camp 2, late in the afternoon with the bad news. It was the beginning of the end.

The next day the weather was bad and on 1 May, Mike and I with two ropes and rock gear climbed the buttress to see the possibilities for ourselves. Three pitches of exhilarating rock-climbing straight up the buttress gave us one of the most enjoyable days of the expedition with spectacular views up towards the end of the Langtang valley. Dome Blanc, Dorje Lakhpa and Gangchempo were amongst the spectacular array of peaks to the east. The views west were unfortunately blocked by the south ridge of Langtang II (West). We reached the top of the buttress at midday and as usual were soon engulfed in cloud and flurries of snow. The monotonous regularity of the afternoon snow was one of the main causes of our failure.

On 2 May, Nick and John left Camp 2 on a last-ditch effort to place a camp on the 'col' and find a route up through the hanging glacier above. Yet again we had bad weather all day, snowing on and off with more thunder and-lightning. Nick and John did reach the 'col', found it in fact a knife-edge ridge with nowhere to even pitch a tent. They finally staggered back into Camp 2 about 5.30 p.m. and our climb was abandoned that evening

 

History of climbing on Lang tang Lirung

1949 Spring British(Tilman) Reconnaissance of southern flank.
1959 Autumn Japanese Lirung glacier. E ridge
1961 Spring Japanese Lirung glacier. Three died in Avalanche. (H.J., Vol. XXIH, p. 192).
1963 Autumn Italian Lirung glacier —E ridge. Two died.
1964 Spring Japanese E ridge. Reached 5770 m.(H.J. Vol. XXV, p. 205)
1964 Autumn Australian S ridge. Reached 6700 m. (H.J., Vol 36, Illustrated).
1971 Autumn Japanese S ridge — unsuccessful.
1973 Autumn Japanese Reconnaissance. Three died
1978 Autumn Japanese Lirung glacier E ridge. First ascent by Wada and Pemba Tsering 24 October 1978. (H.J., Vol 36, Illustrated Note 2)

 

Note: The mention of a possible solo ascent reported in John Cleared book Mountains was the result of a local rumour which, along with those of yak-chasing lamas, yetis and vanishing chai shops, must be treated with scepticism. After seeing both routes at first hand it would seem that even the superstars of today might baulk at such an attempt.

Geology

The peaks around the Langtang valley are entirely composed of metamorphic rocks with some late tourmaline granite intrusions, Langtang Lirung was built of very solid garnet-bearing amphibolite which was excellent for rock climbing. Some spectacular banded mica schist’s and large augen granite gneiss were encountered higher up the Langtang valley and some quartz-tourmaline schorl had impressive crystals of black tourmaline up to 5" long.

Natural History

Wild life in Langtang is abundant and varied with the great alti- tudinal differences. In the lower part of the valley the forests were alive with birds including spectacularly coloured sunbirds and flycatchers and troops of monkeys roamed around in the canopy. Bears and red pandas were commonly seen by locals though not by us. High up near Camp 1, herds of sure-footed mountain goats were frequently seen, once even crossing the glacier whilst lammergeiers and eagles quartered the skies. The Monal Pheasant with its impressive blue and purple iridescent plumage is the national bird of Nepal and was common above 12,000 ft. In all, 160 species of birds were seen in Nepal about half of which were seen in Langtang.

 

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