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Stuart - 26 Oct 77
Press conference

1st Dutch high climbing in 50's with great help from French especially Terray.

Sickle area extremely dangerous because of avalanches. Went up one of ribs as knife-edge ridge.

30th Sept very serious snowstorm halted most progress and nothing much resumed till 10 Oct.

Last few days: 6 people in C4 who took equipment to C5 and left Mingma and Mathieu Van Rijswick with all equipment to go to summit on 12 Oct; reached 200m below summit; back to C5; Mathieu strong and joined 2nd team of Sonam and Hopster.

13th 3 set out and Hopster down because of oxygen equipment problems while Mathieu and Sonam to top at 14:15 hours.

Of members oldest 2 to C3, all to C4 or C5 or top.

Mathieu on top: afternoon bright weather but summit gale and little snow and poor visibility to south. When reached top tired and happy; on top 1/2 hour, made movie film. Left C5 8:00 am. On mixed snow and rock. Mathieu used oxygen from 7600m and Sonam from dump at 7850m.


Stuart - 25 Oct 77

Arrived KTM last night; all well.

Mathieu and Mingma were 1st summit team - started late and started use of oxygen late.

2nd team: Mingma tired out. Mathieu, Sonam and Hopster. Hopster went up one hour and oxygen failed and went down for new apparatus which was not in C5 so he was there for summiters to help them on their return.

Exhausted for a 3rd assault; would have needed 1 more week to mount it; team too tired for this quickly. Also weather unsettled.

Very little acclimatization trouble; same frostnip including Hopster.

Avalanching all night but never hit by them becasue of route chosen.

Leave 28 Oct together to Delhi on RNAC.


Stuart - 23 Aug 77

Variation of route depending state of crevasses, etc. Want to try ice pillars end of cycle as recommended by Henry Day, but time pressed; 10 weeks only for same members.

75th Jubilee of Alpine Club. 1st 8000m attempted by Club or all Dutch expedition.

5 high camps
Summit should be 28th day after arrive BC
11 days to base from Pokhara
1 sirdar and 5 HA Sherpas, Mingma Tenzing sirdar
3 local porters to C2
To Pokhara Friday 26th by road, Stuart hopes.

BC slightly lower than British Army BC probably. Mingma Tenzing was there a month ago and recommends lower site. BC will be about due east of Thulobugin on Harka Gurung's map.


Stuart - 24 Aug 77

C5 7400m; oxygen for climbing from here to top and for sleeping and medicine.
About 150 porters to BC.

All members Dutch citizens.


Letter from Xander Verrijn-Stuart

After my previous report it looked as if rapid progress would be possible, but a heavy snowstorm prevented exploitation of the break through.

From the 10th October however a series of successes were booked: Camp 4 at 6850m was established on that day, Camp 5 at 7350m the following day and the first summit attempt was made on the subsequent day. A point was reached at about 200 meters below the summit, when time ran out and the party was forced back to Camp, The next day Matieu van Rijswick and Sherpa Sonam resumed the attack and the summit at 14.15 hours. Weather was reasonable but visability poor.

All camps above C2 were evacuated on the 14th October and the expedition expects to leave BC on the 16th.


Letter from Expedition Leader - BC 27 Sept 77

After Camp 2 had been established on 14th Sept and a few reconnaissance trips had been made, it looked as if a decision regarding the route might be taken within a short time; none of the options considered, however turned out to be sufficiently safe from avalanches or feasible from a technical point of view; hence reconnaissance continued for a week. Only on 23rd Sept the final choice was made: to follow a characteristic rib, which rises steeply from the glacier plateau above C2 to the serac field left of the Sickle.

On 24th and 25th fixed rope was put up to about the mid-point of the rib, which is covered by a layer of loose powder snow, varying in thickness between two and five feet; making a way was very heavy but on that second day Camp 3 was established and first occupied by Jan van Banning and Sardar Mingma Tenzing, at an altitude of about 6300m.

On 26th Sept the end of the rib was reached, thus opening the way to the gentler top slopes; although the distance yet to be covered are considerable, there appears to be a reasonable chance of success.


Dutch Annapurna I Expedition
Letter from Alexander Verrijn-Stuart

From the day BC was established (6th Sept) weather conditions steadily worsened, but regular progress was made in establishing and building up C1.

Camp I was reached on 8th Sept and established the next day by Hopster, Jansen, Dijk, Bonhomme and Sherpa Ang Pasang.

C2 was reached on 13th Sept after a number of reconnaisance trips, which were troubled by an almost total lack of visibility, and on one day by a fallen serac. The camp was established on the 13th by Hopster, Dijk and Bonhomme in a place we consider very safe from avalanches, after Jansen, Van Banning and Van Rijswick had viewed possible higher positions, at an altitude of approx 5800m.

On 15th Sept the weather suddenly turned for the better and under almost perfect conditions the possible approach to the summit plateau was reconnoitered. Two routes are considered:

- One of the ribs to the northwest (left) of the Sickle.
- Bypassing the Sickle gully on the right, going up to about 6700m
and then cutting across to the left, i.e., the Owens-Day route.