EXPEDITIONS AND NOTES

1. KIRAT CHULI, 1985
2. COWBOYS ON CHO OYU, 1986
3. NEW ZEALAND LANGSHISHA RI EXPEDITION, 1986
4. THE NORTHEAST FACE OF AMA DABLAM, 1985
5. JAPAN EVEREST EXPEDITION, 1985
6. WINTER EXPEDITION TO DHAULAGIRI I, 1985
7. 1986 AMERICAN ANNAPURNA II EXPEDITION
8. ANNAPURNA SOUTH: EAST FACE, 1985
9. GANGAPURNA NORTH FACE, 1985
10. CLIMBING ABOVE CLOUDS
11. TILICHO PEAK, 7132 m
12. EASTERN KUMAON EXPEDITION, 1985
13. NANDA KHAT-BAULJURI EXPEDITION, 1986
14. A MOUNTAIN FOR GREENHORNS
15. KALINDI KHAL EXPEDITION, 1985
16. THE PARTY
17. A QUICK VISIT TO KULTI
18. PEAK D 41
19. THE FRENCH EXPEDITION TO SICKLE MOON, 1986
20. DURUNG DRUNG GLACIER
21. SUCCESS AND TRAGEDY ON K2, 1986
22. GASHERBRUM II, 1985
23. GLASGOW SHANI EXPEDITION, 1986
24. BENELUX NANGA PARBAT EXPEDITION, 1986
25. DIRAN, 1985

 

 

THE 28 PERSON TEAM assembled in Kathmandu at the end of August 1985. The team included climbers from all three services of the British Forces, including 2 women, plus 4 officers from the Royal Nepal Army and 3 civilians. The team was built around 8 very experienced Himalayan climbers and was deliberately a large one as it was intended to complete several projects.

The main aim of the expedition was to climb Kirat Chuli 24,165 ft (7365 m) (formerly Tent Peak) in the Kangchenjunga Himal and to use the expedition to train young climbers and give them as much Himalayan experience as possible. The team also undertook a project in the last inhabited village near the mountains which would be of benefit to the local people. In addition to this they also carried out a botanical survey of the area on behalf of the Botanical Gardens at Kew in London. It was to be a very busy and ambitious programme to try and complete in only two and a half months.

The team left Kathmandu at the beginning of September and: drove in a hired truck and bus to the British Gurkha Depot at Dharan in East Nepal. Here 2 days were spent amongst the crates of food and equipment sorting them into porterable loads. The expedition then moved again by road to Hille where they arranged some 270 porters for the 11 day trek to the village and Ghusa at 11,500 ft. Because of the large numbers involved, the expedition and porters were divided into 2 groups and kept 24 hours apart along the track.

At Ghunsa the team took a 2 day rest in order to re-sort the loads for the different groups and to sort out who would initially go with each party. On 21 September the main climbing party left to complete the 5 day journey to the mountain, the first botany trek set out and work began on the project.

In all, three botanical treks were run by Dr Peter Curzon from New Zealand who was accompanied on each trek by 3 different team members. The three treks each lasted for 7 days and each covered a different series of side valleys around Ghunsa ranging in height from 11,000 ft to 15,000 ft. They collected, documented and photographed some 220 specimens all of which have now been handed over to Kew.

The project was to bring the village water supply 1 km into the village of Ghunsa itself using plastic piping buried in the ground and to erect 3 stand pipes or taps within the village. The project was overseen by Major Duncan Briggs and constructed in 2 separate stages. This was to allow the first group, who constructed the reservoir tank and laid the first 400 m of pipe, to go up to base camp to take part in the climbing. They were later replaced by a second group at the end of the expedition who erected the stand pipes and laid the remaining pipe. Finally on 28 October the whole thing was completed and the water turned on, to the delight of the village women.

The main climbing group set up an acclimatization camp at Pangpema at 16,800 ft and spent the first few days on a reconnaissance of the mountain. As expected the north col/north ridge route appeared too steep for the purpose of the expedition, so the leader decided to climb the mountain from the south, via the Nepal Gap/ Kangchenjunga glacier, the south ridge of Nepal Peak and the long ridge leading from Nepal Peak to Kirat Chuli This offered a good general mountaineering route and a chance for everyone in the team to be involved high on the mountain.

Base camp was established at 18,000 ft on the glacier below Nepal Peak and Camp 1 at 19,500 ft in the snow-basin below the ridge which joins the mountain to Nepal Gap. During the next 2 weeks the route up the headwall and along the ridge was completed but persistent bad weather, high winds and driving snow delayed the occupation of Camp 2 at 21,000 ft. The route was not technically difficult but the poor condition of the snow on very steep slopes made progress slow, tiring and often quite dangerous.

Eventually on 14 October, climbers were able to occupy Camp 2 and began work immediately on finding a route up the south ridge to the summit of Nepal Peak. The route was steep, very exposed and constantly subjected to strong cold winds. The snow was in very poor condition which made belaying extremely difficult. On 15 October the 3 lead climbers reached a point about 500 ft below the summit of Nepal Peak but due to the cold winds decided to withdraw and return the next day with the equipment to establish Camp 3 from where they would be able to climb Nepal Peak and begin work on the route along the ridge to the summit of Kirat Chuli.

However, the next day another violent storm struck during which Camp 1 had to be abandoned and the occupants of Camp 2 were cut off for 2 days and nights with no sleep, in freezing conditions and hurricane winds. Eventually during a break in the storm they decided to risk a descent on the ridge rather than freeze to death and survived 2 avalanches before reaching base camp two days later.

By now the mountain was in an extremely dangerous condition and two camps had been lost during the storm. With time running out the leader took the decision to abandon the climb and the team withdrew to Kathmandu.

Although the team did not reach the summit, it completed all its other aims. The young climbers gained a great deal of experience in a season during which 36 out of 49 expeditions were abandoned because of the extreme weather, caused by two cyclones, and in which 21 mountaineers died on various other expeditions. Despite being a large team the expedition was marked by team work and good humoured friendship.

Photos 30-31

 

 

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THE COWBOYS were an international team from the Seattle area of Washington State, United States of America. The leader, Jim Frush, and four other American members were Michael Bacon, Alan Jennings, Charlie Schertz and Ed Yoshida. Michael Clarke, (an Englishman but has acquired United States citizenship), David Hambly, is British and Davind McClung, is Canadian.

The eight-man team arrived in Kathmandu by mid-March. We attempted to fly to Lukla with all of our baggage on 21 March, but the Royal Nepal Airlines made it impossible. We did fly to Lukla on 21 March, but our baggage came overland through Jiri.

We took the standard approach to base camp, travelling through Thame, Marlung, and Lunak. The weather on the approach was poor, with heavy snows. One yak died in the heavy drifts, for which we compensated the owner. On 7 April we established BC at Kangchung at about 5200 m. The Schneider map is mismarked at this place and BC was placed at the area called Dzasampa on the Schneider map. In fact, Dzasampa is located further up the Nangpa glacier at the base of the icefall.

During the next ten days, we used a dozen porters to help us transport our high altitude baggage to the site of Camp 1. To accomplish this task, we moved our kitchen and established temporary camps at Dzasampa and at a site above the icefall. On 17 April, all the members established and occupied Camp 1 on the moraine of the Gyabrag glacier at an altitude of about 5920 m. This camp served as our Advance BC. One difficulty in fixing altitudes is that the Schneider map fixes the altitude of Cho Oyu as 8153 m but the height has been reset and accepted as 8201 m. It is unknown where on the Schneider map this adjustment needs to be made other than at the summit.

Camps 2 and 3 were established and occupied in the next week. On 20 April, Frush and Schertz occupied Camp 2 at 6350 m on the northwest ridge. On 23 April, Hambly and Bacon occupied Camp 3 at 6720 m on the ridge at the base of the icefall. At this point all the members returned to BC for our only rest period.

It was our intention to return to the upper camps, stock them, fix portions of the icefall, then make an alpine or semi-alpine style attempt on the summit. Eventually, all members did reach and carry to Camp 3.

On 7 May a four man party attempted to leave Camp 3 to establish our high camp, Camp 4, at about 7500 m, and thereafter make a summit attempt. However, high winds and intense cold resulted in the group turning back a few yards from Camp 3.

On 10 May, we again attempted to establish our high camp and make a summit attempt. Bacon, Frush, Hambly and Schertz left Camp 3 with Frush and Hambly (the summit party) carrying their personal gear and with Bacon and Schertz carrying a tent, climbing hardware, and food. Using lines we had previously fixed in the icefall, which had ice up to and over 80 degrees, the group broke new ground and late in the afternoon, in a snowy white-out, reached the base of the first rock band on the west face of Cho Oyu. Bacon and Schertz dropped their loads and Frush and Hambly found and established a site for Camp 4 some 100 m higher at an elevation of about 7500 m. The summit party carried up the loads that had been dropped below and finally pitched a tent on the frozen 45 degree rock and ice-slope and crawled in to occupy it at about 7.30 p.m.

The next morning Frush and Hambly began brewing up at about 3 a.m. They left the tent at about 6.30 a.m. and started through the first rock band. They bore to the right and joined the west ridge at about 7800 m and progressed up the ridge (a series of moderate ice-pitches) to the fiat snow area below the second rock band. They took a direct line through the second rock band, exiting on the right side. The broad and long summit area was before them. After a long traverse, Frush and Hambly reached the summit at about 2.30 p.m. on 11 May. During the half-hour they stayed at the summit, they took photos and displayed the flags of Nepal, the United States and Great Britain. The thermometer read —20°C and the wind was estimated at about 30 km an hour with gusts up to 60 km an hour. At the summit was a metal flag pole with a metal Chinese flag attached. The true summit should not be confused with the lower false summit which is closer to the second rock bank and is reached much easier and sooner than the true summit. At the false summit is a pole with odd bits of prayer flags. They descended the same route and arrived back at the high camp at about 6.30 p.m.

No other summit attempts were made. Supplementary oxygen and high altitude porters were not used. The route was cleaned and the group returned to Kathmandu without incident.

 

 

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The decision to climb Langshisha Ri (6427 m) came in the final hectic week before I left New Zealand in November 1985. Arriving in Nepal several months before the others, gave me the opportunity to do the necessary paperwork but more importantly to gain a feel for Nepal and its people.

March soon arrived and I met Simon Coz, John Goulstone, Steve Upton and Kirsten Sorenson on the 19th in Kathmandu. The following two weeks saw the piles of food and equipment building up in our hotel bedrooms amidst the usual pre-expedition chaos.

We finally made our escape for Dhuche, the starting point for the walk in, on 29 March. Seven anxious days followed during which there was a heavy snowfall and by 8 April we had established our base camp, high up on the side of the Langshisha glacier at around 4500 m.

From base camp we made a carry of equipment and food, dumping it at the site of Camp 1 and then returning to rest. We moved up to our high camp or Camp 1 on 12 April. The route between these two camps is relatively straight forward but can be somewhat dangerous if the mountain is holding a lot of snow. It was like this during early April.

The route between camps ascends 1000 m of snow-slope to gain a small col. From here another 200 m must be climbed to gain a large plateau below the final 727 m of face. This can be gained in two ways either by traversing west and then up around the edge of an icefall to gain the plateau, or by climbing directly up to the crest of a ridge and gaining the plateau from here. We used the latter for descent only.

From the plateau the remaining part of the face is quite spectacular. 400 m of sfeep snow-gully brought us to the final summit icefield. It was between 45°-60° and in perfect condition. Nine pitches of superb climbing on good ice bought us to the summit (14 April). We had left Camp 1 at 3.00 a.m. and reached the summit at midday being considerably slowed up by deep snow in the gully. After spending two hours on the summit enjoying the views, especially into Tibet and across to the Dorje Lakhpa group we descended. Five 50 m abseils brought us to the top of the snow-gully and then an unroped descent brought us back to the plateau. We returned to base camp the next day. Martin Hunter, Simon Cox, John Goulstone and $teve Upton all went to the summit. Kirsten remained at Camp 1, it not being her intention to go any further.

The expedition was very low budget, financed solely through our personal funds and as lightweight as we could make it. We were fortunate in that there were no accidents either amongst ourselves or our porters. A good time was had by all.

 

 

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AMA DABLAM is among the most striking peaks on earth; a sheer, glistening tooth reaching 6812 m (22,350 ft). My first view of the mountain was in April, 1980, as I struggled to the summit of nearby Baruntse. Of all the peaks I could see on the jagged Himalayan skyline, Ama Dablam stood out. Its modest size, by Himalayan standards, was more than compensated for by its matchless profile. In the spring of 1984, I submitted an application to Nepal's Ministry of Tourism for permission to climb the northeast face of Ama Dablam in the winter of 1985. I had no photographs of the face, nor any concrete evidence that a route could be pioneered between the north and east ridges, knowing only that the north ridge was a possible alternative if the face proved to be unclimbable. Deep down, what I really wanted was to explore a new winter route up this awe-inspiring mountain.

In October, 1984, Michael Kennedy agreed to join me on this two-person adventure. Within his comprehensive slide collection, we came up with our first and only photograph of the face. It was a view from five miles away and did not show the bottom third of the mountain. But with this photograph, and a tremendous spirit of adventure, we departed on 24 October 1985 for Kathmandu.

Accompanying us on the 120-mile approach march were Michael's wife, Julie, my mother, Julie Dougherty, and my brother, Roman. With such a closely-knit group, there could hardly have been a better way to prepare for the unknown.

Well looked after by our Sherpa staff, we arrived in base camp (14,500 ft) on 20 November. Our first view of the face was one we will never forget. We were sure there was a possible route to the summit; the paramount question, however, was whether the winter weather and snow conditions would allow for a safe ascent. We acclimatized as fully as possible by ascending Kala Pathar (18,100 ft) with all the family members and Island Peak (20,300 ft) accompanied by Michael's wife, Julie, before wishing them a safe return journey to Kathmandu. After two days, of rest, we moved up to an advanced camp at 16,400 ft beneath the north ridge of Ama Dablam.

Photo 32

 

Our exploration of the northeast face's lower gullies and slopes during the next two days convinced us that a route was, indeed, feasible. On 30 November we set off with seven days of food and fuel and bivouacked at a small cache we had left the day before, at the start of the steepening wall.

Over the next seven days we enjoyed only about four hours of sun each morning. The temperature dropped well below 0°F during the shaded afternoons, and we found ourselves straining to keep our body core temperatures high enough to climb.

The terrain was predominantly snow and ice, interspersed with short bands of thin, delicate ice over rock. Each afternoon we cut bivouac ledges into the steep snow ribs we followed in the center of the face. Good bivouacs were essential, allowing us to consume enough fluids and calories to ward off frostbite, high altitude illness, and general exhaustion.

At 10.30 a.m. 7 December, we reached the summit of Ama Dablam. Despite some scary winds early in the morning, it turned into a perfectly clear, calm day. We photographed the spectacular peaks surrounding us for 45 minutes, and then began our descent of the southwest ridge. Utilizing some fixed ropes that had been left in place during the fall season, as well as those of a New Zealand team attempting a winter ascent of that route, we reached 17,000 ft on the same day. The next morning, Ang Jangbu and his father, Norbu, met us with prayer scarves, food and walking shoes for the hike down to their home in the Sherpa village of Pangboche.

That night, sheltered in the cocoon of a warm Sherpa household, exhaustion from the past week's mental and physical pressure was overshadowed by an immense inner feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Slowly, the realization of our dreams began to dawn on us. We had done it: we had explored a new route, in winter, to the summit of Ama Dablam.

Photo 32

 

 

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OUR EXPEDITION belonged to the 'Naomi Uemura Story' Film Unit, which was permitted to enter Everest by the Indian Army Everest Expedition. We were 11 members including one cameraman and his assistant, both of them had good experience of high mountains.

We set up BC at 5350 m on 16 September and started climbing on the 25th. Shooting many spectacular scenes on the route, we sited CI at 6100 m, C2 at 6400 m and C3 at 7400 m. We reached South Col on 18 October. However, as the Indian team did not allow us to go ahead of them, all of us had to come down to BC and wait for their accomplishment.

After the unfortunate outcome of the Indian team, three of us rushed to South Col and set up C4 on 28 October.

We, including the cameraman and assistant and two Sherpas, left C4 at 1.30 a.m. on 30 October. However, on the way to the foot of South Summit, Yasuhira Saito, the assistant, and two Sherpas who carried camera equipment were compelled to turn back by some trouble with their oxygen cylinders. 7 members, therefore, Noboru Yamada, Hideji Nazuka, Teruo Saegusa, Mitsuyo-shi Sato, Satoshi Kimoto, Etsuo Akutsu (cameraman) and myself K. Yagihara, leader), pushed on without the movie camera and reached the summit between 9.50 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. Except for Yamada (who had also gained the summit of K2 without oxygen in July) the other 6 members made use of oxygen.

Unfortunately, Akutsu became snow-blind when he reached the summit and his oxygen was finished. Saegusa and Kimoto, therefore, supported him and were forced to bivouac at 8600 m. Tsutomu Miyazaki, the deputy leader who had remained at C2, declared a state of emergency. Kazunari Murakami, who had been compelled to abandon attempt by the trouble with his oxygen equipment waiting for them at C4, left the camp by himself carrying oxygen cylinders for the patient. Murakami reached them at 3.00 a.m. on next day. Akutsu was rescued from death. However, Kimoto was frostbitten and lost all ten toes of his feet.

 

 

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AFTER OUR SUCCESS on K2 last spring, I spent a month at home to prepare the two next projects. At the end of August, I left for new Himalayan adventures with Pierre-Alain Steiner.

The post monsoon weather was a disaster — a lot of rain and snow; so we could’nt realize our first project of our beautiful route on the West Face of Annapurna I. In autumn 1984, we had climbed this face till the shoulder at 7600 m from where we had escaped down the north face in a storm.

Erhard Loretan and Pierre Morand joined us for Dhaulagiri I in winter.

From the last town of Larjung, we reached base camp at 4100 m in one day with 18 porters.

After a couple of days of acclimatization, Pierre had to give up because of bad health.

At midnight of 6 December, Erhard, Pierre-Alain and myself left the base camp for 'the igloo' at 5700 m. We spent that day at 'the igloo' relaxing. The following midnight we traversed the big plateau to reach the bottom of the East Face. We climbed the English-French-Polish route; we had only one very difficult pitch of ten meters, then followed a long slope of 50° with hard snow and ice.

At 4.00 p.m. we reached the NE ridge at the top of the face at 7700 m where we looked for a place for an igloo, but we could excavate only a small platform — our legs were dangling out onto the face!

The night was very difficult with a temperature of —45°. Pierre-Alain and Erhard had only one over-bag of Goretex each and I was in a good sleeping bag. The poor boys froze all night.

The next morning at 9.00 a.m. with the sun up, we left for the summit. We were on the north face, it was very cold with gusty winds.

At 1.30 p.m. we reached the summit, the wind had calmed down and the view was fantastic and unbelievable! We had to go back down; we used the NE ridge. At mid-night we reached 'the igloo’ and the next day we enjoyed the comforts of our base camp, grass, sun, and the good food of our cook Nima.

 

 

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OUR EXPEDITION to the west ridge of Annapurna II in the spring of 1986 met with many frustrations. Deep winter snows and high winds seemed to be the rule for the Annapurna region this spring. This long route (6 miles and 14,000 ft gain from base camp) begins by following the northwest buttress of Annapurna IV to the west ridge. Once on the west ridge it traverses nearly a mile and a half at 24,000 ft to the final 2000 ft to the summit. The mountain has now been attempted 28 times with only 4 successful climbs among them. These ascents were: west ridge 1960 (British, Nepalese, Indian), 1969 (Yugoslav); north face 1973 (Japanese), south face 1983 (Australian).

We encountered 6 ft of snow at 12,000 ft and were thus forced to base camp 3000 ft short of our intended site. We fought through deep, sometimes unstable snow until 20,000 ft where we topped out on the dome. The dome sits on the Himalayan crest separating Mustang from the Indian Plains, predictably there were high winds. The winds were severe most of the three weeks we were high and as severe as those we encountered on Everest in October of 1983. After a month and a half of effort above base camp we abandoned the climb and returned to Kathmandu. Vansickle and Trainor reached a height of 24,000 ft on the west ridge.

We requested permission from the ministry via radio and through* our liaison officer to climb Annapurna IV when it became clear we would not summit Annapurna II. Unfortunately, our request was denied five days later. Historically expeditions climbed both peaks or at least Annapurna IV when turned back from Annapurna II. The two peaks are best described as separate high points of the same mountain. The ministry of tourism Nepal now permits them separately and imposes severe penalty for illegal ascents. In addition to forbidden temptation, expeditions to Annapurna II via the west ridge may find themselves sharing the route with an Annapurna IV expedition. A Nepal Police team (40) attempting Annapurna IV joined us 2 weeks after we began. Additionally, a Spanish (Basque) team of six shared the routes due to a misunderstanding during the permit process. Unusual circumstances, but it is quite possible similar events may be repeated given the nature of the routes and proximity of the two peaks.

Our camps were as follows: BC 12,400 ft 24 March; CI 15,500 ft 28 March; C2 17,200 ft 7 April; C3 19,300 ft 18 April, C4 21,200 ft 24 April; C5 22,200 ft 3 May.

Members: Lucy Smith and Shari Kearney (co-leaders), Sue Giller, George Vansickle, Julie Brugger, John Trainor, Kevin McGowen, Polly Fabion, and Craig Seasholes.

 

 

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THE HELLENIC HIMALAYA Expedition 1985 to Annapurna South comprised of: D. Karagianis, K. Tsatsaragos, C. Lahbris, D. Boun-tolas, D. Sotirakis, N. Brokos, G. Katrivanos, A. Tsilogiorgis, L. Gianakuus, D. Clorocostas (doctor) and M. Tsoukias (leader).

We set up BC on 19 September after a 6 day march from Pokhara during which time an accident occurred near Kuldi. D. Sotirakis slipped over an overhanging rock and as he broke his back he had to be evacuated by helicopter.

Camp 1 was placed at 4700 m at the end of a grassy ridge on the right side of the east face. We then traversed a very broken glacier to Camp 2 at 5400 m at the left end of the east face on the top of a big rock. In the icefall we had to place about 200 m of fixed rope.

Between the establishment of Camp 2 (3 October) and Camp 3 we had 8 days of very bad weather with heavy snowfall, that put 70 cm of snow at BC and more than 2 m at Camp 2. A big avalanche swept the vicinity of the BC (almost 10 m from the tents) and Camp 1 was completely buried by the snow.

From 13 October (end of bad weather) we started to re-fix the route and the camps. We decided to place Camp 3 and continue for the summit in alpine-style.

Camp 3 was established on 21 October at 6400 m on the SE face in the middle of the camp that leads to the summit ridge, after climbing a rock couloir and snow pitches of 50°. At this point we were joined by 6 Germans (led by Walter Fichter) that had abandoned the south face route because of avalanche danger.

On 22 October, 4 Greek and 4 Germans, after a rest at Camp 3, were making the summit attempt. Bountolas and Rufus were preparing the route (fixing rope) just above the camp. At noon the snow-slab on which the pair were working, broke and fell on the camp, carrying it away. Near the tents were Tsoukias, Lambris, Tsatsaragos and some metres to the left, were Walter, Martin and Thomas digging a tent platform. The three Germans were not even touched by the avalanche, but the others were swept down.

Tsoukias had a lucky escape after sliding 100 m, but the rest were carried way down. Walter, Martin and Thomas helped Tsoukias to get down (he had no shoes) and at the base of the camp they found Rufus dead, due to severe injuries. There was no sign of the other people. The 3 Germans continued their descent to the lower camp but Tsoukias remained, looking in the avalanche for his shoes and for signs of his companions. He found Bountolas alive, on the right side of the couloir at 6100 m and managed to get him into a sleeping bag. He then found Lambris about 100 m lower down on the left side of the couloir. He was also alive, so Tsoukias helped him into another sleeping bag and then into a tent and administered some medical treatment and food. He then went back to Bountolas to also put him in a tent. By that time it was dark (about 7 p.m.). Tragically a new avalanche swept the couloir carrying away Bountolas in the tent. Tsoukias escaped by jumping away in time. He then tried to get (to Camp 2 but he was forced to bivouac at 6100 m in a snow-cave. He arrived at Camp 2 at 6 a.m. next day where he found Karagianis, Clorocostas and Brokos who had come up after climbing all night. They had seen the accident from BC but they waited till the Germans came down to give them the full details. They immediately left Camp 2 and went into the avalanche zone where they found Bountolas dead, then Tsatsaragos was also found, dead. Fortunately Lambris was still alive and was promptly carried down to Camp 2, where in the meanwhile the Germans had come again to help.

Next day everybody rested, as they were all exhausted. On 24 October the rescue operation started again. We had to transport Lambris from Camp 2, through the icefall to the BC where the helicopter could land. This operation involved the five of us, the five Germans and 4 Spaniards who had arrived at BC the day before to climb Hiunchuli. It took us 17 hours of continuous work, but finally at 2 a.m. on 25 October, Lambris was brought to BC. The next day he was evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu. We left BC on 28 October.

 

 

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Objective

To try and ascend the unclimbed north face of Gangapurna (7455 m) in alpine style.

Because of the avalanche conditions, this was not feasible and the expedition attempted a line on the NE ridge.

Calendar of Events

4 October 1985: Base camp established at 4800 m. Allan and Spirig reconnoitre part of the glacier, leaving a cache at Moraine Bank.

Scott Woolums descended to Manang with altitude sickness.

6 October: Allan, Spirig, Morris reconnoitre glacier and route to near Camp 1. Left cache of equipment at 5000 m.

7 October: Dave Morris and Daria depart base camp for Kathmandu. Snow begins to fall.

8 October: Woolums returns to base camp, but still ill so descends again to Manang. Because of the large snowfall, he decides to return to Kathmandu.

Until 22 October: An accumulation of 5 m of snow. Days spent clearing snow from tents etc. and breaking trail in order to make some progress and maintain fitness.

On two separate occasions members had to be dug from their buried tents. First cache avalanched. Several days spent searching for the equipment to no avail. Harnesses, rope, ice axe/ hammer and some photographic equipment lost.

Became very obvious that the north face route would not be feasible so requested alternative route from liaison officer. Our Nepalese staff descended with this message to our LO and were not able to return for several days.

Ran short on kesosene.

22 October: Allan, Spirig and Teare break trail to near Camp 1.

23 October: Allan, Spirig and Teare break trail and carry to Camp 1 (5200 m). Return to base camp.

24 October: Allan, Spirig and Teare up to Camp 1; spend night there.

25 October: Allan, Spirig and Teare up to Camp 2 (5700 m) — a day of mostly strenuous trail breaking.

26 October: Remain at Camp 2, check conditions above Camp 2 and return to camp.

27 October: Allan, Spirig and Teare up to Camp 3 (6600 m). Roped up and moving together, pitching occasionally.

Pitched tent and proceeded to cook from 4.00 p.m. until 8.00 p.m.

Sleep, to be woken up by gale force winds battering the tent. While two of us supported the tent from the inside, the other dressed in full gear. Once we were all clothed, we all supported the tent.

By 11 p.m. the poles broke. Spirig evacuated, but could not stand in the strong wind, so we decided to remain within the tent as it was also difficult to dig a snow-cave.

We spent the remainder of the night lying on our backs on the ground sheet, holding the tent material around us as tightly as possible.

By 5 a.m. the seams of the tent had come apart and the zip door was damaged.

It was decided to climb down to Camp 1, where we had left a spare tent, but on arrival this tent was also damaged so we returned to Base Camp, arriving late on the night of the 28th.

1 November: Waiting at base camp. Intentions of returning to the ridge utilising snow-caves but clouds of spindrift indicated high winds still at 6000 m.

We made the decision to abandon.

Members: Sandy Allan and Scott Woolums (leaders), T. Spirig, P. Teare and D. Morris.

 

 

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THE POLISH Himalaya Expedition, from Wroclaw, had as its aim the first ascent of the unclimbed peak of Himalchuli North (7371 m), in the Manaslu group in Nepal, during the post-monsoon season of 1985. Twelve members of the expedition, after 8 days of trek, established base camp near Meme Pokhari lakes (4200 m) on 30 September. The advance base camp was set up at 4600 m on 3 October and Camp 1 the next day at 5100 m. We spent 51 days in the mountains and during this time the weather was very bad. We started to climb, from the southwest side in alpine style (without camps) in three-man teams: Wieslaw Panejko — leader of the expedition, Jacek EUincewick and Tadeusz Brys. On 29 October we had our first bivuoac at 5850 m. Next day Zdzislaw Jaku* bowski exchanged places with T. Brys and after passing the first and second serac barrier (difficult climbing on vertical ice —80 m) we bivuoacked for the second time, at 6600 m. From here we started our summit attempt on 1 November, but after 3 hours I had to turn back because of frozen feet. At 10.25 a.m. J. Klincewicz and Z. Jakubowski reached the summit of Himalchuli N, but they didn't find any signs of the S. Korean Expedition on the top. Two days later we heard on Nepal radio that this Korean team climbed Himalchuli N from northeast side on 26 October (5 days before us), and therefore ours was the second ascent of Himalchuli North.
Photos 33 to 36

 

 

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WE ARRIVED at Kathmandu on 14 September, and after two days of procedures, we were ready for our departure. After the expedition and once back at Kathmandu, we complained to the Ministry of Tourism, regarding the behaviour of our liaison officer who having collected his equipment and obtained part of his salary just disappeared!

On the 17th, we left Kathmandu for Dumre in a hired bus with 37 porters, a Sirdar, a cook and a mail-runner. We arrived at Manang (3500 m) after 7 days.
Photos 33-36

On the 26th, we left the Marsyandi khola and started up the Khansgar valley. There were some difficult slopes and rather dangerous terrain for the porters. Some of them, threw their loads and ran away when we arrived at the Tilicho pass (5150 m). On 27 September, we set up a provisional base camp on the east shore of Tilicho lake (4950 m). One more day was required to reach the place where we wanted to establish the BC but the remaining porters refused to go ahead, due to the heavy snow.

One week was required for setting up the BC, by ourselves, being obliged to carry the loads through a pass of 5350 m. The weather was fine and the BC was finally occupied on 5 October.

On 6 October, the weather changes and starts snowing intensely. Within three days, the snow level in the BC reached 1.5 m, and avalanches are continuously falling from the Grand Barrier. One of them, reaches the BC destroying a tent and some equipment.

On the 20th, the weather changed and we started equiping the NE spur of Tilicho. We were planning to equip only one high camp on the top part of the spur (6200 m). We began to climb to the summit on the 22nd in alpine-style. The four summiters abandoned the attempt at 6000 m, due to deep snow and strong winds. On 24 October we reach the top of the spur having equiped it in its more difficult parts and dumped a storage of materials and food at 6000 m. The following day, 6 of them, make the second attempt to the summit, but when they reach the site of the dump they find all the food being attacked by ravens. Some of the equipment is also damaged, amongst which were our precious gas burners. Two of the members descend to BC and the rest stay all night under very bad conditions since they cannot eat or drink anything hot.

At 3 a.m. on 26 October, with the temperature at — 25°C and a strong wind, two members are indisposed, but the rest two decide to try for the top. The wind had cleared the snow off the higher part of the mountain, leaving a very hard surface of ice that required more attention and effort. They reached upto 6750 m, but, due to their poor physical condition and strong wind, they had to give up the attempt.

On 28 October we packed BC and decided to return via Messo Kanto pass. It's 5200 m high with a lot of snow. After reaching Jomosom on the 30th, we came down the Kali Gandaki valley to Pokhara in only 3 days.

Members: J. Sanchez, (leader), J. Santamaria, J. Gasco, G. Egea, J. Maldonado, D. Coll. J. Riu and J. Maroto.
Photo 37

 

 

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OUR CHIEF AIM was to scale the two peaks, Rajrambha (21,446 ft) and Chaudhara (21,360 ft). This was our third venture in the Kumaon region. We recruited two Sherpas from Darjeeling; Pasang Sherpa and Karma Sherpa. We also recruited three high altitude porters from the Nainital Mountaineering Club.

As far as we know Rajrambha has been climbed once; by the I.T.B.P. on 11 June 1971, led by J. C. Ojha, Chaudhara was climbed on 2 June 1973 by the west face, by a Bombay team led by A. R. Chandekar.

12 September: The start was delayed by rain and poor weather. We crossed Ghori Ganga over a wooden bridge and about two hours later we reached a beautiful little village, Paton.

13 September: The rain continued, but we pressed on to Pilthi which in fact was the previous day's destination. We arrived there in 2 hours and rested awhile. All our bags and rucksacks were soaking wet. We finally reached our goal at 5.30 p.m. — the Sapo Cave which can accommodate about 25 persons for the night.

14th: We were immobilized by heavy wind and rain compounded by fevers and injuries amongst the porters.

15th: From Sapo Cave we took the path to the right along the Rambha glacier (leaving the left fork which leads to Ralam village). It started to rain again and after much effort managed to persuade the porters to carry on to our base camp (14 km from Sapo) at a height of 13,500 ft.

16th: We released our porters and sorted our equipment and food. Since the special weather bulletins predicted continuing bad weather, we decided to take advantage of the current dry spell in pushing towards Camp 1. This was established on the Rambha glacier at 15,500 ft (by which time it had started to rain). Ray, Ramaswamy, Dhenki, and an HAP stayed in Camp 1 that night whilst the rest of the members returned to BC.

17th: The weather was terrible, some of us at Camp 1 tried to recce for Camp 2, but with poor visibility and worsening conditions returned to the camp. Ganguly with Sherpas Karma and Pasang joined us in Camp 1, from base camp.

18th: The terrible weather conditions had us bound to our tents in the camps. There was no climbing activity.

19th: It was cloudy and windy, but at least there was no precipitation, so we moved northwestwards towards Chaudhara. Soon there was a white-out and snow started to fall. We established Camp 2 at about 17,000 ft.

20th: The weather was still bad with some snowfall. Debasis along with Sherpas Karma and Pasang recceed for a site for Camp 3, but after several hours found themselves making slow progress through an icefall. They returned to Camp 2.

21st: Continuous snowfall throughout the night and this day had us stuck in our tents.

22nd: The weather was less bad than the previous day. Time was running short and both Rajrambha and Chaudhara were beyond the possibilities of ascent in the period we had left on the mountain. So we attempted and reached a subsidiary (unnamed) summit (c. 18,300 ft) on a ridge coming down Chaudhara, at 11.30 a.m. Having spent about 20 minutes on the summit we returned to Camp 2 by 2.00 p.m.

We were back in Calcutta on 30 September.

Members: Arun Gupta (leader), Chitta Kundu (deputy leader), Debasis Ray, Pratapaditya Ganguly, G. Ramaswamy, Arindam Chatterjee, Bijay Chakraborty, Ranjan Mukherjee, Manju Bikash Biswas, Pratap Dhenki and Sanjay Ghosh (doctor).

 

 

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WE SELECTED NANDA KHAT (21,690 ft) and Bauljuri (19,543 ft) as our objective for 1986. An advanced party of two members Dixit and Phatak left for Almora for liaison work and preparatory work like transport, porters, mules, etc. Ten days afterwards on 28 July, seven other members and myself, with 2.5 tons of load left Bombay for Almora. We reached Bharadi on 1 August, the last place on the motorable road. The load was distributed on thirty mules and our caravan proceeded to Song and then to Khati village on 5 August.

We then experienced our first uncertainty in the mountains. The bridge on the Pindari river had been washed out by heavy rainfall. We had to take a longer route, marching along the right bank of Pindari. We left the mules of Khati and added eighty porters for the next 25 kms.

We crossed the Kafni river, tributary to Pindari near Dwali and crossed Pindari river 6 kms away from Phurkia. Thus on 8 August we were at our base camp, 13,80.0 ft with all members and loads. This route had given us a pleasant experience of trekking. All members, six HAPs and 1 cook were in cheerful mood. We could see Bauljuri, Changuch, Nanda Kot, Nandakhani, Nandabhanar around the BC.

We were forced to take ten days to establish Camp 1 due to heavy rain and murky weather. However 15 August gave us lot of hopes. We were able to set up Camp 1 on 20 August on a grassy field to the south of Traill's pass. These 8 km were again enchanting for us. We were at a height of 15,780 ft. The vegetation was showing it's last traces.

Sanghi and myself occupied Camp 2 on 23 August at an attitude of 18,100 ft on a rocky ridge north of the Camp 1. Dr Kulkarni (deputy leader), Phatak, Chavan and four HAPs did the load ferry for two days. We could see Nanda Devi to our north. The thundering sound of avalanches accompanied us in the nights.

Our climb proceeded as Sanghi and myself opened the route to Camp 3 at a height of 19,300 ft just below the ice-wall; we selected our route avoiding dangerous avalanche zones. Camp 3 was occupied by Phatak, Tashi, Sanghi and myself on 28 August.

On 30 August morning we were anxiously waiting for the moment to leave the campsite for the summit. The sky was absolutely clear. I looked at my watch. It was 4.00 a.m. I called Sanghi, Phatak and Tashi. They were ready. We set out for the summit. After half an hour's walk we were at the base of the ice-wall. We had 1100 ft of rope and climbing gear. We divided ourselves into two groups.

Sanghi and myself took the lead and climbed up 800 ft. The route was again going through avalanche-prone zone and 5 to 7 inch deep snow. Now it was 11.00 am., we were 700 ft below the summit. Now, on our left hand the route was going below an ice-bulge and there was an overhanging patch of about 150 ft. On the right side of the route was a straight wall which appeared to be avalanche-ridden. It was best to take the left route. After climbing the overhanging part, we reached a snow-plateau just below the summit. We had to climb another 200 ft. The next 50 ft climb was in knee deep snow. We were now under a rectangular part of the summit. We pushed further ahead and we found some typical ice formation. One was of oval shape and another was like a pyramid. The summit was still a 100 ft away. The route was between a pyramid-shaped formation and rectangular looking summit. There were also some crevices but not so dangerous. The summit was like a long knife-edge ridge of about 250 ft. The four of us stepped on this at 2.40 p-m.¹

The return journey upto Camp 3 took us nine hours. We had to rappel down the wall. As the sun was going down very fast we hurried to the camp. A signaling fire at Camp 3 was a great help in finding the route while descending. We returned to Camp.

 

3 at 9.50 p.m. A second attempt was made by Dr Kulkarni but he had to retreat due to avalanche and bad weather. We returned to CI on 3 September.

On 5 September we pushed up Bauljuri in order to establish Camp 1, Dr Mate, Dr Rokade and Chavan took the lead for opening the route to a height of 16,020 ft. Chavan, Kunte, Kelkar and Dixit established Camp 2. Then on 7th, 10 members and 6 HAPs occupied Camp 2. On 8th we were ready early in the morning by 3.30 a.m. However tremendous wind forced us to postpone our attempt. The temperature dropped to -10°C. At 4.45 a.m. the weather improved. The final summit climb was on easier gradient. We reached the peak at 7.40 a.m. All except Jambot-kar, who was suffering from headache were on the summit of Bauljuri.

Jambotkar stayed at Camp 2 with Dr Kulkarni and Dixit. We all returned to the base camp the same day. On 9th Dr Kulkarni and Jambotkar attempted to reach the summit but couldn't succeed and returned safely the same day to the base camp late in the night.

On 12 September we left base camp with porters and reached Song. We took the bus to Bageshwar and then to Delhi.

Members: Prajapati Bodhane (leader), Dr Deepak Kulkarni (deputy leader), Milind Phatak, Dr Suhas Mate, Dr Deepak Rokade, Vishwas Kune, Anil Chavan, Vishwash Dixit, Ulhas Kelkar and Shyam Jambotkar.

Editor's Note: Nanda Khat has had a long history which was far from clear. After studying the various photographs and reports of the past attempts and climbs the following records are made:

Photos 38 to 42

H.J. - Himalayan Journal.
HCNL - The Himalayan Club Newsletter.

 

 

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IN 1984, success on Chandra Parbat (6739 m)¹ was followed by disaster on Matri (6721 m). It had been a mixed year. Most of our experienced climbers were not available for a mountaineering venture in 1985 — two were indisposed, some had personal commitments, while others did not have the inclination. Circumstances dictated that we attempt pk 6181 m on the Kalindi-Arwa divide of Garhwal Himalaya. The peak appeared to present no technical hurdle but there was a long and arduous approach to and beyond Kalindi Khal. We had a tough but feasible prospect before us.

 

We know of at least two occasions when Pk 6181 m has been climbed — once by a team from Calcutta in 1975 and again in 1978 by the advance training course of NIM, Uttarkashi.

The team comprising Satyajit Kanjilal, Sankar Makhal, 3umit Saha, Asit Chakraborty, Gautam Sengupta, Provas Adak, Sankar Chatterjee, Dr Arijit Sarkar and Mridul Bose as leader left Calcutta on 15 September 1985 and reached Rishikesh two days later. The following day we took the morning bus to Uttarkashi and after transhipment en route (due to a landslide at Bachrati) reached there in the late afternoon.

19 September: A local bandh in Uttarkashi made shopping difficult. We obtained the inner line and photographic permission.

20 September: The team with sixteen porters boarded the bus for Gangotri. A landslide near Sukhi necessitated load carrying and then another truck took us to Gangotri (c. 3000 m) in the evening.

21 September: Reached Bhujbas (c. 3750 m) after a five hour trek.

22 September: We were on the Gangotri glacier amidst spectacular mountain surroundings. We crossed the Raktvarn nala and the Chaturangi glacier and set up a camp at Nandanban (c. 4350 m).

23 September: We walked east along the left lateral moraine of the Chaturangi glacier. Towards mid day it started snowing, at times quite heavily. This caused delays and at 4.00 p.m. we reached the southwest shore of Vasuki Tal (c. 4900 m) where base camp was established.

24 September: It was a day of rest. Snowfall continued throughout the morning but the weather improved later. We re-arranged loads for upper camps and discussed plans.

25 September: Provas who had been ailing for the past 2 days went down to a lower altitude as per doctor's advice. Satyajit, Sankar Chatterjee, Sumit Sana, Gautam, two HAP's and Bose started for the Suralaya glacier. We traversed the lower northern slope of Vasuki Parbat and crossed the Sunder glacier from west to east. We chose a camp site below Pk 5801 m and on the left lateral moraine of Suralaya glacier near its confluence with Chaturangi glacier. We dumped loads and went back to base camp.

26 September: Sankar Makhal, Satyajit, Naginder, Dham, Bipin and Bose established the Suralaya camp (c. 5200 m). It had taken four hours from base camp. We could see the Khalipet glacier across the Chaturangi glacier. Avalanche Peak (6443 m) was seen to the northeast. Naginder and Dham returned to BC.

27 September: Bipin ferried loads to a spot near the Seta glacier. Sumit, Naginder and Dham joined us at the Suralaya camp.

28 September: We had a steep and tough trek across the Suralaya glacier and the northern flank of Chandra Parbat. Advance base camp (c. 5400 m) was sited on the true left lateral moraine of Seta glacier near its junction with Chaturangi glacier. Water was not easily available at this camp.

29 September: We decided on a day of rest. Dham and Naginder were sent to base camp to bring up more supplies. We could see Kalindi (6102 m) in the northeast and to its north was our goal pk 6181 m.

30 September: We traversed the Seta glacier and gradually ascended the extreme left lateral moraine of Kalindi glacier, Many snow-clad peaks were seen in the north. Camp 1 (c. 5600 m) was established on this moraine below Avalanche Peak.

1 October: Dham joined us at Camp 1. He had brought vital provisions. We set off along the Kalindi glacier. It was a strenuous snow plod. We carefully skirted the open crevasses. After quite some time we had before us a steep crevassed slope which led to Kalindi Khal (5947 m). It was very nearly sunset when we completed the exhausting ascent to Kalindi Khal. Camp 2 (5947 m) was set up on the northern limit of the pass. Kalindi Khal is a depression between Kalindi Peak (6102 m) in the north and Avalanche Peak (6443 m) in the south. It is the most accessible west-east link between the glacial upper reaches of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda valleys. Thus from the pass we saw Kamet and its surroundings peaks in the far east. More close to us was the Arwa valley with many snow peaks. We saw the eastern aspect of the ridge connecting Kalindi Peak (6102 m) and Pk 6181 m.

2 October: We started for the summit in perfect weather. To descend towards the Arwa valley there are two ways. The easier approach is close to Avalanche Peak while the alternate path is a very steep descent but would shorten our journey by quite a disance. As we had envisaged a return to Camp 2 the same after noon, we chose the difficult but direct route. After getting down to less steep ground we traversed the eastern face of Kalindi Peak; we were now below Pk 6181 m and to its southeast. We gained a col between the southeast slope of Pk 6181 m and the northwest ridge of Pk 5817 m. We then started on the southeast slope. It was moderately steep and most of it was snow-covered with scattered rocks. We did not encounter any difficult obstacle. At 1.05 p.m. we reached the summit of Pk 6181 m, grateful to Nature for tolerating our intrusion. As we overcame the initial spell of awe and amazement, we looked around. To our south-southwest was Kalindi Khal and Avalanche Peak. From our summit Kalindi Peak was dwarfed in the southwest foreground. The Kalindi glacier looked like a vast unmetalled road. Chandra Parbat was majestic in the southwest and beyond it towered JSatopanth (7075 m). To our west were the snow peaks of the Chaturangi — Raktavarn divide. To the near northwest was Pk 6236 m beyond which were the twin peaks of Mana Parbat (6794 m and 6770 m). The Arwa glacier was to our immediate north flowing northwest to southeast. Many unnamed snow peaks stood on the northern horizon, the near peaks forming the northern limit of Arwa glacier. Of the many summits to the east, Kamet was dominant. In the distant southeast we could identify Nanda Devi. We stayed on the summit for about an hour and took photographs all around. We retraced our steps and reached Camp 2 at 5.00 p.m.

3 October: We went down to advance base camp.

4 October: We reached base camp.

5-12 October: The retreat continued over the next couple of days and we were home on the 12th. It had been a memorable experience.

Panorama F

 

 

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THE TEAM of eight members from the Botany department, Burdwan University left Burdwan on 2 May and reached Uttar-kashi on 5 May. Having made the final arrangements there they pressed on and reached Gangotri on the 7th, Bhujbas on the 8th, from where they trekked to and established base camp at Nandan-ban (13,200 ft) on 9 May.

After organising the stores and acclimatizing, Bidyut, Golam and Ajoy left to establish Camp 1 at Vasuki Tal (16,100 ft). Though the initial plan was to form a four-member team to attempt two unnamed peaks on Seta glacier supported by three HAPs, and the remaining four to trek to Kalindi Khal, four members got high altitude sickness and another was recalled home by an urgent telegram. So the three fit members moved forward, leaving the others to recover and to move up as and when fit.

Camp 1 was established at Vasuki Tal (16,100 ft) on 11 May. Next day Ajoy and Bidyut made a ferry to the proposed site of Camp 2 in a basin across the Sunder glacier. On the 13th Bidyut, Ajoy, Golam and two Haps established Camp 2 leaving Dilip at Camp 1 to look after the supply line. {Snow started to fall as soon as they reached Camp 2, and after a few minutes visibility became minimum. This spell of snowfall persisted upto the afternoon of the 15th with a total deposit of 18 inches of snow.

Dilip, along with two HAPs, reached Camp 2 in the evening of 15th. One of the HAPs was seriously ill and had to be sent back to Uttarkashi and the doctor Soumitra fell on the Vasuki Tal slope while coming up to Camp 1. He was also back at base camp though his injury was not serious.

On 16 May four members and four HAPs started for Camp 3 on the Seta glacier but freshly accumulated snow which was knee to thigh deep, even sometimes waist deep, made their progress very slow. After seven hours of exhausting walk through such conditions, they decided that their destination was still two kilometres further and since by now a blizzard had developed they thought it best to camp where they were in the middle of the Chaturangi glacier just by the side of the satellite peak of Chandra Parbat. Next day they were able to establish Camp 3 (18,000 ft) on Seta glacier between the satellite peak of Chandra Parbat (6739 m) and Pk 6035 m.

The two proposed peaks now became visible at the head of Seta glacier. These two peaks were first attempted by a Ladies Expedition from West Bengal in the pre-monsoon period of 1984, and pk 6166 m was climbed by Dola Sarkar and one HAP. Our expedition was the second attempt on those peaks.

On 18 May Bidyut, Ajoy, Dilip and two HAPs established Camp 4 (18,500 ft).

19 May dawned fine, an ideal dawn for a summit bid. But it was a bad morning for Dilip who woke up with a severe headache and nausea. After a short discussion Bidyut and Ajoy left for the Pk 20,840 ft (6352 m) with two HAPs at 5.30 a.m. They negotiated the hump ahead in intense cold weather and surprisingly the two HAPs, who were eager to make a summit bid before, now declined to go any higher. The weather become warmer and they climbed the slopes through the broken hanging ice-blocks barring the view to the top. They reached just below the N face to see the snow deposited on it was not at all easy and an attempt to climb could result in an avalanche of the slope. So they continued to traverse towards the NW face. They reached the NW shoulder at about noon. A clear assessment was possible. It seemed that the bergschrund could be negotiated but the NW face which was at 70°-75° needed fixed rope right up to the summit because of its bluish-green coloured hard ice. They did not have enough time to do so. They decided to traverse through the lower part of the NW face covered with packed snow to reach the West col and to try the west ridge. They reached the west col at about 2.00 p.m. From there the west ridge looked straight-forward but the condition of the route and the insufficient time required to reach the top, was enough to force them to give up the attempt, rather than face benightment.

Meanwhile, Golam Mustafa along with two other HAPs had joined the summit camp from Camp 3.

On 20 May, Bidyut, Golam, Ajoy and two HAPs left their camp at 7,00 a.m. They climbed the hump and crossed the snowfield to reach below 33W ridge of the Pk 20,230 ft (6166 m). To get to the top of the ridge they had to climb an ice-wall of about 100 ft at steep gradient covered with only 8-10 inches of soft avalanche-prone snow. As there was no alternative, they climbed the wall quickly. The ridge above was much more easy to climb. They slowly moved up and reached a crevasse 80-90 ft below the summit. A push up with crampons and two axes Bidyut somehow managed to reach a safe stance and belayed Mangal Singh (HAP). Then they proceeded towards the summit and reached it at 11 a.m. They stayed on the summit for about 30 minutes and then decended through the south face and SSW ridge, to reach the summit camp at about 2.30 p.m. which they packed up and descended to Camp 3 at about 5.30 p.m. on the same day.

The team returned to base camp on 22 May. One of the members Ajoy Koner got frostbitten toes on both his legs and which had to be amputated later on.

Members: Bidyut Roy (leader), Ajoy Koner (deputy leader), Golam Mustafa, Dilip Chakrabarty, Jayanta Choudhury, Dr {Sou-mitra Roy, Prasanta Choudhury and Syamal Prasad Mukherjee.

 

 

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THIS IS AN account of a two-man alpine-style ascent of Kedar Dome, 6831 m, in the Garhwal Himalaya (18-20 September 1986).

Our friend Sanjeev arrived at Gangotri on the 12th night and found us, looking for him. The three of us had planned to climb 'something-anything' that could be done with minimal preparation.

The walk up the river was pleasant with Sanjeev bombing up all the way and showing the others how disgustingly fit he was.

On the 15th at Tapovan we heard a couple of avalanches and Teji remarked 'some poor sod's had it’ quite prophetically; Mugs and Lylle trying the central pillar on Meru were in that one. Mugs dislocated his shoulder and Lylle put it back, quite remarkable under the circumstances. The 16th saw us ferry some stuff for them off their ABC and also help us acclimatize.

On the 17th Sanjeev decided to trek to Dodital. So Bajaj and Teji settled for Kedar Dome (6831 m). They made an 'early start* (leaving Tapovan at 1230 hrs) end proceeded to cross the Kirti glacier up-valley to get to the base of the NW ridge by 1830 hrs to camp on damp moraine at about 16,000 ft.

The 18th dawned and after some scree scrambling saw them climb up to where the snow started (18,500 ft) and put up a camp there.

The next day they actually got up at 0200 hrs and got moving by 0400 hrs. The snow slopes, gentle, were a real slog and even the magnificent views of Thalay Sagar, Bhrigupanth and Meru could not compensate for the tedious snow plod. Bajaj climbed strongly and hit the summit at 1500 hrs on 19 September and was soon joined by Teji. Coincidently it was Bajaj's birthday so we had a party on top and instead of a chocolate cake made do with a chocolate!

Bajaj chose this moment to get carried away by his own eloquence and parapharased Brenzins. 'I was 21 and over 21,000 ft high. The world lay stretched out below me and I felt invincible’ Teji chose, for sake of brevity, a simpler method; he just passed out. The obligatory summit photographs took some time and the views were marvellous. We started moving down cautiously and got to camp at about 1900 hrs. We had been on our feet for about 17 hours and were knackered enough to crash out without supper.

The next day saw the two of us struggle out of our bags and start walking down. Visions of food, glorious food swam before our eyes and salvation came in the form of 2 Japanese climbers, who handed us some chocolates. Tapovan looked a bit deserted but we found the Japanese expedition cook boy and cajoled him into getting us some food and drink.

Sitting in the cookhouse with a bellyfull of chips and Saki we stared not into the distant mountains, that we had come out of, but at the pin-ups out of Japanese 'Playboys’ and later slept easy.

Conclusion: Kedar Dome has absolutely nothing to recommend in the pure climbing sense, since it's a Cakewalk. But its worth it to go up just for the view and take some photographs from a good height.

Members: Tejvir S. Khurana, Ajeet Bajaj and Sanjeev Gupta.

 

 

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'WE WILL GO IN HURRY hurry and come back quickly' Monesh was urging to take advantage of the nearness of Himalaya and a short vacation. It was difficult to resist against such youthful exuberance.

We were off to Lahul on 7 November 1986. A short flight from Delhi landed us at Kulu (Manali) and next day we reached Rohthang Pass, the gateway to Lahul.

Kulti must be the most visible valley of Lahul. Scores of travellers crossing Rohthang could see its peaks rising across the Chandra river. They all look beautiful, challenging and so near that a fly-over could be built from the pass. But the dream sequence ends here. The valley is not much frequented; certainly not by the mountaineers; not much observed and recorded; and there is no fly-over. We descended to Khoksar and proceeded on the northern bank of Chandra. The entrance to the Kulti valley is 6 km to the southeast. We reached here in three days from home, with not much expense. BC is just a day away, which was reached over a well-trodden path suitable for mules.

I got up at the 'Sara Flats', our site of BC at 12,500 ft with shouts of 'It's solid cold' as Monesh changed clothes in —10 °C. He had slipped into the Kulti early in the morning. But that seemed to give him ideas. With Milind, he left to try a small peak of c. 16,500 ft opposite our camp. Ashwin and myself trekked to the head of the valley to the northern edge of the Sara Flats. A steep and vicious icefall cut off the route. Huge reddish rock, called Laldhang, was on the right while a narrow trek over the scree and rock on the left allowed a possible access above the icefall to Losa. By evening we gathered around — the first party with the satisfaction of a good acclimatizing climb and we with our knowledge of the valley.

The first record of a visit to the Kulti valley was from the Royal Air Force Mountaineering Association Expedition in 1955.1 After many struggles elsewhere they had reached the Sara Flats and established camps above the icefall. On the west lies Sri Latta, 18,200 ft, an easy giant mass. Straight on is the shapely 'Tambu' (or Tent peak), c. 19,000 ft, with Jori (Twins) c. 19,000 ft, next to it. The head wall is rounded off by the steep and difficult Akela Killa (Lonely Fort), 19,700 ft. Once on the upper moraine all these are possible in a few days. A passage between the Tambu and Jori (nicknamed 'Belvedere') leads to the north, onto the central Lahul plateau.

The RAFMA expedition had climbed and named all the above peaks. They passed through the passage to climb Tila-ka-Lahr (waves), 19,567 ft, and finally M7 (Taragiri), 20,800 ft, from the south ridge. Thus Kulti is a possible gateway to the higher horizons. In the recent years few parties have climbed in the area and only the climbs of Tambu and Jori were repeated. In the adjoining valley in the west above the village of Khoksar a disused path leads over Tempo la (c. 17,000 ft) to Milang glacier and Darcha. On the east lies the CB group of peaks and its peaks can be attempted by their western reaches from here. We had aims of spending a week in the valley, observing and studying the above peaks at close quarters. We hoped to attempt 'Sara Pahar¹ a shapely peak of 18,445 ft on the east of the valley above the Sara Flats.

After photographing and recording the peaks, we started off on 14 November. Crossing Kulti nala was a cold but not a difficult affair. We entered a steep nala and then followed a moraine ridge. A camp was made at 15,500 ft. Next day Monesh and myself pushed up. Our idea was to establish another high camp at foot of the summit pyramid. The other two went down. We promised to join them in a day for our second stove had failed and they could not have been comfortable for long. In the event we reached about 17,500 ft by late afternoon and saw huge black clouds swirling over from the northwest. Altimeter jumped steeply and we had a strong inclination of an approaching storm. We decided to rush down to our BC, which we did so by night. And it was a terrible night; the storm raged unabated and left about 3 ft of snow. Late afternoon next day we packed up and the only thing to do was to rush down. Radio was warning of further storms. In two days we retraced back to Khoksar in very deep soft snow. Hard work indeed.

Next day we had a lift in an open truck as a snow-cutter removed snow like a giant dinosaur. But we shivered in the wind on Rohthang and were comforted by that man's best friend — arrack, from a local co-passenger who knew how to look after himself. Back at Manali we realised how lucky we were, for this storm had left about 80 persons dead on Zozi la in the west, few trekkers were reported missing and many villages were buried.

 

Though we came back 'quickly quickly', it was enough to record the impressions of the enormous climbing possibilities of Kulti valley. In a short time one can climb peaks of various difficulties in the unspoilt and unfrequented area within a ten day holiday and at great economy one can have a feel of real mountains, if under 20,000 ft is your choice. As my young friend would put it; 'There is solid climbing around'!

Members: Harish Kapadia, Monesh Devjani, Milind Pansare and Ashwin Joglekar.

Photos 43-44 Panorama E

 

 

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IN EARLY 1985 the members of the Institute of Exploration, Calcutta, decided to organise an expedition to Peak D 41 during August-September 1985.

Peak D 41 (5945 m) is one of the interesting and attractive peak in the Zanskar range of the Kashmir Himalaya, situated in the Nun-Kun massif about 120 km due east of Srinagar, rising to 5945 m. It is distinctly visible as a magnificent pyramid of rocks and snow, a perfect cone rising from a mass of satellite peaks.

The team moved from Calcutta to Jammu by train. Thereafter the journey was carried out from Jammu upto the road-head village Tongul, via Srinagar, Sonmarg, Zoji la, Drass, Kargil, Umba, Sanko, Chanta and Panikhar along the river Suru. We reached Tongul (3400 m) on 21 August.

We established base camp on 23 August at 4200 m after four hours journey, with one high altitude porter and a cook following, on the left bank of Sentik river.

From base camp we climbed up, following the course of the Sentik river and Sentik glacier; for about four hours. We established advance base camp at 4750 m on the right bank of Sentik glacier. All equipments and foodstuffs were ferried up from base camp to advance base camp in two days.

On 27 and 28 August we fixed 320 m of rope on the icefall and made a recce and ferried the load to Camp 1 and on 29 August, we established Camp 1 just on the top of open flat icefield of Kangriz glacier at the height of 5450 m.

We established our Camp 2 at the height of 5600 m, on 30 August just below the neck of the peak D 41 on the western side of the same icefield after one and half hour's continuous climbing.

At 5.15 a.m, on 31 August, we moved off, the morning was not clear. First we had to traverse a snowfield towards the SE where the risk from crevasses made progress unsafe. However we were able to follow the south ridge connecting Nun. After a while we followed an angle by the side of a rocky ridge where rocks met ice joining at about 20 m below the summit and after crossing that angle, we removed our crampons to climb the unsafe rocky ridge. S. G. I. Haider got hit by a rock. With much care the four of us, Dilip Kr. Das, D. D, Bandopadhyay, S. G. I. Haider and myself reached the top at 8.45 a.m. without our companion Md. Ali Taqui as he was unwilling to step on the summit because of the local religious belief.

The wind was bitterly cold and masses of cloud concealed a good view of many peaks and valleys. However Nanga Parbat, K2 and other Karakoram peaks could just be seen above the clouds some 200 km away. Nun and White Needle close at hand and the famous Kun was also peeping through. On the top of D 41 we found an old nylon tape around a rock, obviously used by a previous expedition for safeguarding their descent. After properly testing the tape we also used it for the same purpose.

The top of the D 41 is beautiful and it looks like a dining table. Some rocks lying on the western side of the summit look like a flower vase!

With reference to previous expedition reports, the original ice-fall formation in between advance base camp and Camp 1 has changed. In some places of that icefall, the slope varies from 45°-70° and more than has been observed by previous expeditions. Fixed rope of length 400 m may be used on this icefall. It may be feasible to enter into the icefield by avoiding the icefall which is situated between advance base camp to Camp 1.

One probable route from the base camp may be to establish a camp on the Sentik glacier just below Sentik la and after crossing the pass there is a route along the Branktan glacier which leads to the western side of the icefield to Camp 2 directly after crossing the southeast ridge of D 41.

Members: Shawkat Ali Mondal (leader), B. Sengupta, Dilip Kr. Das, Sarkar, Saha, Bagchi, Dey, D. D. Bandopadhay, S. G. I. Haider and Dr A. K. Hati.

 

 

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SICKLE MOON (6574 m) is located in the Brammah massif in Kishtwar.

We reached the roadhead at Putimahal (1680 m) by bus and here made our arrangements to shift our loads upto Sattarchin (3550 m) — along the Nanth nala and upto the foot of the Brammah glacier.

Although Sattarchin was a comfortable site, it was too far from the face of the mountain, so we hired some porters to carry up the glacier to our base camp at 4080 m — a day's march away. The base camp was established on 17 July and the following day we reconnoitred the icefall which would enable us to get up to the pass at the base of the ridge. We established Camp 1 at 4700 m at the foot of the face.

We climbed through the seracs in the middle of the icefall and negotiated the ice- slopes — all this required 200 m of fixed rope.

Camp 2 was sited at 5400 m on 21 July in the middle of the icefall. It started snowing on 24 July so we all returned to base camp. The weather was still uncertain when we set out again on the 26th and reached Camp 2 in two days. On 29 July we reached the pass (5820 m) through a crevasse-ridden traverse and set up a camp.

On the 31st, all seven team members ascended the steep ridge towards the summit; they bivouacked at 6230 m. The next day they continued up the 60°—70° slopes criss-crossing the crumbling ridge and camped at 6350 m on the plateau at the foot of the summit.

On 2 August, they left camp at 8.30 a.m. and all seven reached the summit at noon. They stayed two hours on the top as the weather was clear. They returned to base camp in three days, finding the icefall having changed considerably and they had to change this route. The weather had broken by then and they experienced 30 cms of snowfall on the pass.

They returned to Putimahal on 10 August after a four-day walk. This was also the first ladies ascent of Sickle Moon by two lady members of the team.

Members: Jean Francois Grandidier (leader), Corinne Pesenti, Verouique Laplane, Felix Brunod, Claude Vard, Bernard Teiller and Herve Spruytte.

Photo 46

 

 

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UNFORTUNATELY the information about the Durung Drung glacier in H.J. 42 seems to have created more confusion. The sketch map on page 193 of H.J, 42 is not the one we submitted and contains some of the inaccuracies we were trying to rectify. Also the peak named as Rahamo in the article on page 186 (sketch p. 187, photo 60) is in fact the same mountain as Viewpoint peak (5557 m). It is hoped that the accompanying sketch map and photographs will finally clarify the topography of this area. No names other than the accepted Z3 and Z8 are given. Three small peaks for which we have no spot heights are labelled A, B and C.

Summary of known ascents of peaks shown

Editor's Note: The sketch map published in HJ. Vol. 42, p. 193 was based on the Japanese book Mountaineering Maps of the World. The Japanese parties who climbed in the area gave different heights and locations. ('Rahamo' at 6000 m, while here it is 'Viewpoint Peak' at 5557 m a difference of 443 m, who is correct?). The sketch reproduced here presents locations and heights as per this team and by no means final. An accurate Survey of India map can clear the position (and is available!) but it is 'restricted'!—Ed.

Photos 47 to 51

 

 

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THE EXPEDITION left Munich on 10 May. The base camp was established on 7 June on the Godwin-Austen glacier at the foot of Broad Peak. The ascent was made from the west and followed the route of first ascent. Three high altitude camps were erected — the third one at an altitude of 7300 m. On 21 June, the mountain was climbed by Beda Fuster, Rolf Zemp, Diego Wellig, Peter Worgotter and Markus Prechtl.—Two days later the Broad Peak, (Falchen Kangri, 8047 m) was climbed by Joachim Labisch and Heinrich Koch.

Two weeks later, on 7 July, Toni Freudig and Manfred Heinrich also set foot on the lower summit (8030 m). The weather was deteriorating, and half a metre of fresh snow was lying on the ground. It took them 12 hours for the climb starting from the high altitude Camp 3 up to the summit. The high altitude porter Karim was laying the course. The roped party reached the summit at 18.00 hrs and arried back at Camp 3 at about 21.00 hrs.

One day before, on 5 July, Beda Fuster and Rolf Zemp reached the summit of K2 via the normal route (Abruzzi ridge).

The permit for K2 (8611 m) allowed the ascent via the South Spur. We chose the left line to the cracked ice which means a direttissima leading up left (westwards) from the cracked ice and directly into the Sickle Couloir.

The two Poles Tadeusz ('Teddy') Piotrowski and Jerzy Kukuczka attacked K2 for the first time in the middle of June and reached half way up. They were assisted by Toni Freudig and the high altitude porter Karim up to Camp 2 (6500 m). During the second attempt they reached the rock tower at the end of the Sickle Couloir and were held up by bad weather. Finally on 6 July, they were able to ascend the whole of the east face and successfully negotiated the last 233 m up to the summit of K2, which was covered in mist and snowfall. They reached the summit on 8 July. As they left their tent behind in the couloir, they had to bivouac twice during their descent via the Abruzzi ridge, at a height of 8300 m and 7700 m. Finally the two Polish mountaineers were close enough to see the tents of the high altitude Camp 3 which was established by the Korean party. At an altitude of 7345 m Teddy Piotrowski was completely exhausted — he lost both crampons and fell 2000 m down to his death. The weather was very bad and consequently also the view, therefore Kukuczka did not realize his friend's accident. The body of Teddy Piotrowski has not yet been found. This happened on 10 July.

Exhausted and helpless Kukuczka finally reached the well-equipped Korean Camp 3 and slept for the next 24 hours. On 11 July the exhausted Polish mountaineer was found by the Koreans and they accompanied him back to the base camp. An arrangement was made by the expedition leader and the liaison officer Captain Anwar and Kukuczka was brought back to Skardu by helicopter.

Members: Karl M. Herrligkoffer (leader), Heinrich Koch (deputy leader), Toni Freudig, Manfred Heinrich, Doris Kuster-mann, Joachim Labisch, Markus Prechtl, Dr Irene Simon-Schnass (Germans), Hans Hirschbichler, Peter Worgotter (Austrians), Norman Dyhrenfurth (cameraman), Beda Fuster, Diego Wellig, Rolf Zemp (Swiss), Jerzy Kukuczka, Tadeusz Piotrowski (Polish).

 

 

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IT WAS A LONG-STANDING idea, that of climbing an eight-thousander together, Goretta and I. It had to be a project just for the two of us, so we wanted to do things quietly, feeling no obligations, without the usual pressure of promises to be satisfied at any price.

We had never been to the Gasherbrum valley. We had, however, a good knowledge of the Baltoro, and we had been on the road to those mountains on several trips; certainly our idea could not be realized elsewhere. Karakoram would be the scene for our mini-expedition.

Adventure behind the corner

The humid, suffocating heat in Rawalpindi, the tedious bureaucratic routine, Skardu, the Braldu canyon: even before leaving we knew exactly what we would do, how we would act. However, sometimes — as many times before — even in the most obvious programmes, in the most predictable situations, the sharp, vivid colours of adventure appear. As one afternoon, fifty kilometers from Skardu, when the driver of our truck went full speed into a huge hole in the road, and the truck headed straight towards the swirling flow of the Indus, ready to plunge into its muddy water; luckily it turned upside down before doing that, thus avoiding a tragic end of the trip.

Then the approach march, strenuous as always, but at times also relaxing, psychologically at least. And finally the Gasherbrum valley, surrounded by imposing peaks, all beautiful and elegant. During the first days in base camp the weather was always uncertain, and only every now and then, according to the fancy of the clouds, we were able to see the shape of Gasherbrum II, and the profile of the southwest spur, which follows the Austrian route, our projected way to the summit.

On the last fifteen days of June, I only remember the long hikes to the small advanced base camp, under the sun, with heavy loads; then the descent, from the 6000 m level, almost running, so as to acclimatize and get in shape sooner. The true story of the climb, after the first attempts frustrated by bad weather, started early in the morning of 6 July, when we climbed the first slopes leading to the spur, steep and covered by fresh snow from the storms of the previous days. Higher on, the shape of the mountains around us took a clearer relief as we slowly gained height, until they clearly emerged from the glaciers covering the southern side of the mountain.

In the morning, we packed our tent in the frozen air of the dawn, and headed on to a new camp. Our expedition was deliberately planned as a light one, with no oxygen, no porters, no fixed camps. We met no special obstacles up to 7400 m, at the base of the summit rock pyramid. But the morning of 10 July the weather conditions deteriorated to the point that we had to halt, quickly crawling into our sleeping bags, waiting for the weather to improve. All day a violent storm swept the mountain side, threatening to break the tent sheet, but above, the sunshone, and this gave us hope for the following day.

In fact, next morning the daybreak announced splendid weather; not a cloud in sight and relative lack of wind. We roped up and, without saying a word, we started a long traverse to the east, to take the southeast ridge and then reach directly the summit (8035 m).

The following hours, the thousand steps we did together, the pauses to regain breath, the dialogues, the effort, now up here, are mainly Goretta's story, a piece of our personal story after ten years of marriage, a picture of her and my life. There is no glory up here, only much joy and a great light. It's all so wonderful.

And then, in many years of mountaineering, of peaks, of storms, of bad weather, I had seldom seen such a beautiful view, such an incredibly clear sky: I am happy to share these moments with Goretta.*

Regrettably, Renato Casarotto died shortly after he wrote this article. He fell into a crevasse whilst returning from a solo attempt on the SW ridge of K2, not fa* from the base camp where his wife was waiting.—Ed.

 

 

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THE AIM of this expedition was to attempt the previously unclimbed peak of Shani (5800 m)¹ in the Naltar valley of the Karakoram range in the Gilgit region of Pakistan, and also to explore some nearby lesser, peaks, passes and valleys. After flying from London to Rawalpindi on 28 July, 1986, and travelling by bus and jeep to Gilgit and Naltar, base camp was established on a pleasant meadow below the east side of Shani at 3750 m on 1 August. After two days of initial exploration, the weather turned bad and remained unstable until 11 August. Due to fresh snow and uncertainties about the weather, the original intention of attempting a rock and mixed line on the south buttress was discarded in favour of a glacier approach, skirting the north face, to the west ridge on the far side of the mountain. On 13 August, Everett and Muhlemann reached 5100 m in a glacier bowl below the west ridge and then unexpectedly discovered easy snow slopes close to the west ridge on its north side. The summit was reached on 14 August, and base camp regained the next day.

Meanwhile, Gaffney and Macintyre crossed the Phakor pass and descended to Phakor in the Ishkuman valley via a glacier followed by a steep-sided gorge. After reaching Chatorakand by jeep, they ascended the Hayul valley to the Hayul pass and then crossed a glacier to reach the Phakor pass again. They returned to base camp on 17 August.

All the members of the expedition then climbed to a bivouac below Sentinel peak on 18 August, and reached the main summit of this mountain the following day (via the northeast ridge from the col between the two summits) in rapidly worsening weather. Descent to base camp was completed the same day. The weather continued poor, so we packed up camp on 21 August, and after a tourist visit to Hunza, arrived back in London on 28 August. During the course of the expedition, regular altimeter readings were taken (after calibration at Gilgit), and several discrepancies were found with the Wala (but not the 1955 US Army) map. The most important of these are as follows: Naltar Officers Mess — 2800 m; Naltar Lakes 3200 m; Lower Shani village 3600 m; Sentinel (main summit) 5260 m; Shani main summit 5800 m.

Members: Roger Everett, Dairena Gaffney, Guy Muhlemann and Sally Macintyre.

 

 

 

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THE BENELUX NANGA PARBAT Expedition 1986 was an unique co-operation between climbers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg.

On 2 June Vanhees, Vivijs and Lanters departed for Islamabad to look after the preparations before leaving for the mountains. Their work was completed by 9 June. Some days later Vanhees, Vivijs and Lanters travelled to the Swat valley where they made arrangements to climb Falak Sar (5918) m). This mountain is situated at the far end of the Swat valley, above the village of Kalam. It's a solitary mountain with a beautiful triangle shape. Only a few ascents were made thus far! (upto June 1986, probably 4-5 ascents). Arrangements to organise a trip to Falak Sar proved to be very difficult, mainly due to the very aggressive attitude of the local people. To avoid trouble we had to ask permission and police protection at the police-station of Madyan, situated some 50-60 km lower in the valley. After obtaining the permission and protection we went up on 15 June. We made BC at 3300 m, half-way up the narrow Falak Sar valley.

We planned to climb the north ridge, the same way taken by our predecessors. On 16 June we climbed up to 4300 m and descended the same day to BC. Next day was a rest day. On 8 June we were ready to leave for the final attempt. We went up to 4450 m and made our first camp. Next day we continued up to 5000 m where Camp 2 was installed. Although the weather was excellent, snow conditions were very bad (soft, deep snow up to our hips). On 20 June we left all our gear at Camp 2 to make a final push to the summit. At a height of 5250 m, we were stopped by a badly corniced ridge. Alternatives (both sides of the ridge) proved to be impossible to climb (hard ice plus 60 cm of powder snow on top of it). We did not want to take any risks, so we decided not to try this tricky and very dangerous ridge.

We returned to our camp and the same day saw us back at BC. Tired, disillusioned but happy to be safe and alive, we returned to Kalam.

Although there is the usual problems with the local people of this area, there are plenty of possibilities on mountains below 6000 m. There are also interesting prospects around Mankial above Kalam.

On 2 July, the other members of our expedition reached Islamabad and the very next day we were on our way to Nanga Parbat.

We reached BC (4150 m) on 7 July. It was situated at the far end of the Diamir valley. The weather was quite good during this period although we very often had some rain at the end of a hot day.

From 13 to 15 July we made our first acclimatization trip to about 5000 m on the Mazeno ridges. From 17 to 21 July we went up for a second acclimatization trip. The ascent of the Ganalo peak (6606 m) was to be a test of our fitness to climb Nanga Parbat. Already on the first day the weather deteriorated. We stayed on the mountain. Acclimatization is more important than sitting out bad weather in BC. On 17 July we reached 5300 m. The next day we were able to continue up to 5550 m. Then snow storms kept us in our tent for two days. At last on 20 July it cleared for a few hours. We used this to continue up to 5750 m. In the evening another storm started, and with no sign of improvement the next day we thought it best to descend to BC. The weather stayed bad up to 26 July!

On 28 July, we installed Camp 1 on Nanga Parbat. We intended to inspect the couloir climbed by the Japanese and the French (Barrard) expeditions in 1984. Due to the bad weather and dry conditions this year, the above mentioned variant didn't look so good. On 29 July we climbed the Low couloir and traversed into the variant. Conditions indeed proved to be very bad. We could see many fixed ropes used in 1984. After some discussion we decided not to take this route and returned to the Low couloir and climbed to Camp 2. The next day we returned to BC.

The weather gods didnt have mercy on us, so we had to wait till 2 August before we could start our real attempt on Nanga Parbat: 2 August to Camp 1. 3 August to Camp 2. 4 August to Camp 3. 5 August bad weather in Camp 3. 6 August to Camp 4, still bad weather. 7 August we had heavy snowfalls so we decided to go back to BC. We stopped at Camp 2. 8 August back to BC.

Bad weather for another 3 days. 11 August, we start climbing up again. Everything went well so that on 14 August we were back again at Camp 4 at about 7200 m. On Friday 15 August, 11 climbers (note: at the sane time an Italian and Spanish expedition were also active on the mountain) went for the summit. Due to severe cold and sickness Hans Lanters, Jan Vanhees, Lut Vivijs and Pascale Noel returned. Eugene Berger continued with two Italians and three Spaniards but returned to Camp 4, from very close to the summit. The Italians and Spaniards were successful.

In the meantime Vanrees, Vivijs and Lanters made up their minds and decided to mjke another attempt. Late in the afternoon clouds and strong wnds were announcing a new spell of bad weather. We were afraic to lose our summit chance, so we left Camp 4 at 10.30 p.m. on 15 August. Luckily the weather cleared-up and under a bright moon we climbed up the summit pyramid. The snow conditions were very bad and it was very cold. After 12 hours of continuous climbing Vanhees, Vivijs and Lanters reached the summit at 10.30 a.m. on 16 August. After half an hour we descended to Camp 4, and managed to reach BC the next day. On 20 August we were back in Islamabad.

Summary: Account of the Benelux Nanga Parbat Expedition 1986. Acclimatization trip to Falak Sar (5918 m) in the Swat valley.

Ascent of Nanga Parbat (8125 m) by the Kinshofer route on the Diamir face. Jan Vanhees (Belgium), Ms Lut Vivijs (Belgium) and Hans Lanters (Holland) reach the top on 16 August 1986.

Members: Jan Vanhees, Ms Lut Vivijs and Pascale Noel from Belgium, Hans Lanters from Holland and Eugene Berger from Luxemburg.

 

 

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Diran is a mountain of 7273 m. It is situated in the region of Rakaposhi, in the Western Karakoram, across the deep valley of Hunza.¹

 

Our objective was to open a new route on the northern ridge, which two other expeditions attempted but had to give up because of its difficulties and for not having enough time. The highest point reached was 5650 m (Japanese expedition in 1981).

We arrived in Rawalpindi on 20 May 1985. We spent a week there because of all the bureaucratic papers. After completion of formalities we started on our journey to Gilgit and the valley of Hunza.

On 30 May, we contracted for 41 porters in the town of Minapin to carry 1200 kg of material.

The route we followed was: Minapin — Hapacun (3000 m) — Taghafari (3400 m) — base camp (3615 m). It took us three days to tfot there. The base camp was installed on the left lateral mor-Vftlne. It was 200 m lower than that of the Swiss expedition of 1984.

On 5 June, Camp 1 was established at 4395 m at a spot which was free from avalanches and looking towards the mountain pass. Our difficulties started here. The temperature was intolerably warm — the snow melted so quickly that sometimes it forced us to make long journeys in the middle of the night. At midday the snow was in such bad conditions that you could not take a single step. The slope was also getting steeper.

On 10 June, the route to the pass (5020 m) was opened with fixed ropes. It traversed through the central corridor on slopes of 45°-50° at the beginning, but getting steeper along a 240 m stretch reaching almost 75°-80°.

From that point, the ridge up to 5300 m is straight-forward, although there are some bits at inclinations of 60°-65°. There are also some stretches of decomposed rock and cornices on the east side.

From 5300 m up to 6100 m, the ridge is uneven with thick overhanging seracs. The ridge offered us little possibility to set up a second camp below 5400 m, which made it a fairly long distance from the first to the second camp.

Eleven days later, we were sleeping in a very comfortable Camp 2 at 5400 m. It was made up of two tents inside a hole between two walls. We were immobilized in that camp for five days because of the weather.

Taking advantage of clear periods, we were able to climb a 100 m higher. That was the highest point reached by the Japanese expedition in 1981. It was situated below a great serac. We found some of their material covered under snow.

We climbed past that point diagonally on the left, digging a short corridor with our axes.

After that point, we found an easy stretch which led us 100 m higher, until we got to a 60 m high serac, after which the slope increases to 65° until about the 6000 m mark. We set our third camp there, on an area, cut in the snow below what we would call 'The Stairs'. It is a part of the ridge which flattens out somewhat and when viewed from below it has the appearance of a staircase. We had noted front the photographs that from The Stairs' to the summit of Diran the route is over a rounded ramp.

That night was a restless one in all the camps. My friends in the first camp were woken up by a bear. That was not the first time that the bear had appeared. It came in the camp at one o'clock in the morning. To their luck, they managed to shoo it away with the help of lights and the camping gas, but not before it showed them its claws and rearing up on its feet. After that no one could sleep.
In Camp 3 the climbers were ready to progress towards 'The Stairs' which was only a 100 m from the camp. But after a few steps there suddenly appeared a fissure covered by thick, soft snow. They somehow managed to cross it. Now the ridge turned sharper and because of that and the thick, soft snow, they were obliged to zig-zag their way up over the inconsistent snow. They arrived at the top of the first 'stair* after a hard fight for five hours.

What seemed to be smooth from down below, turned out to be a stretch of 300 to 400 m, at an inclination of 75°-80°, and heavily corniced.

An abyss of 2000 m was down below. We did not have enough ropes to equip 'the Stairs* and the high altitude food supplies were insufficient, for the bear had eaten our provision for 30 man-days. Time was also running out.

We turned back and on the same day we evacuated the Camps 1, 2 and 3.

Members: A. S. Jubany (leader), J. A. Dordal, M. S. Callis* J. S. Crivilles, X. R. Robiro, J. R. Pares, X. R. Alemany and John C Vila.

 

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