원정 개요

Got to 7900m on both Yugoslavian ridge and Hornbein Couloir then Roskelley got very ill and had to take 2 others (Momb and Houston) to get him down. Then making progress on Hornbein Couloir when mountain got plastered with snow. Snow on 8th May and snow stayed. Schmitz and Rowell tried to do fast push for summit but failed. Quit 15th May.

Realized how much work Sherpas do on an expedition.


Himalayan Letter newsletter Feb 81:

An American expedition attempted Everest via the west ridge from Tibet, without oxygen or porters. Robert Craig was the leader and Galen Rowell the climbing leader. They had nine lead climbers and eight support climbers, all of whom were equally involved in load carrying to the high camps. Up to 7300m they followed an entirely new route on the north rib of the west shoulder, both easier and safer than the 1979 Yugoslav route via the Lho La. This had 2150m of fixed rope up 45-degree to 70-degree slopes of hard snow with occasional ice. On May 3 John Roskelley and Kim Momb prepared the route to 7925m on the Yugoslav route. The next morning Roskelley down to the next camp where Dr. Robin Houston and others cooperated to get him down without a major rescue. Despite this another summit bid was made within a few days. Efforts were switched to the Hornbein Couloir, where they reached 8000m but they were stopped by the first monsoon storm on May 8. Despite further efforts they had to give up as the monsoon closed in.