원정 개요

Approach: Namche Bazar, Phortse, Cholatse BC

BC 01/11 4900m
C1 02/11 5400m
Smt 03/11 by both members at 5:30 pm

Route; Direct West Face up, SW Ridge down

Oxygen: not taken, not used

Records: 1st ascent of the West Face direct

Other peaks: LOBE, CHOL (attempt normal route, not recorded), KGRI (no climb)

Guides:
Zdenek Hak
Radoslav Groh
Clients:
Lenka Erlebachova
Miroslav Joudal
Radek Pacner
Jan Ros

Lobuche East, first acclimatization peak guiding:
Both Hak and Groh guided a 4 clients group, summiting on 20 Oct.

Cholatse, second acclimatization peak guiding:
Same guides led 4-client group for Cholatse normal route (SW Ridge).

No summit, because on the 25 Oct, one member (Jan Ros) died by a fall. Once the evacuation of the body was done, the group was back to KTM for 5 days. Here both guides decided to cancel their expedition for Khangri Shar, head goal of the expedition, but after a while they decided spontaneously to go back for Cholatse.

New route on Cholatse:

Both Zdenek Hak and Radoslav Groh used no porters, carrying just a backpack each of them, walking and climbing all on their own.

31 Oct: KTM to Lukla to Namche by helicopter. Duet walked to Phortse.

01 Nov: Phortse to Cholatse BC (circa 4750m), then a bit further up to their 4900m BC.

02 Nov: from their BC at 4900m, duet climbed the first 6 pitches, then slept below a great serac at circa 5400m.

03 Nov: the team started early at 2 am, climbed during all night and day, reached the summit of the face at 5 pm (a circa 15 hr continuous one-push). Then it continued to the summit, reached at 5:30 pm. The same day it went down to C1 (5600m) of the normal route (SW Ridge) for sleeping.

04 Nov: duet went back to its BC then continued to Phortse.

Route difficulties and key descriptions:

Consists mainly in ice difficulties (WI4+), with 60 to 80° slopes generally (a little bit more, at 90° sometimes). Some mixed climbing difficulties up to M4/M5.
Difficulty: ED.

No name given to the route, yet it could be named “JUST one solution”! In fact, there’s no possibility for bivouac or rest on the face, because of falling stones and seracs risk. Thus, one needs to climb the line in a day push.

Kangri Shar: head goal abandoned after the accident. No climb there.