원정 개요

BC at west bank of Lungsampa Glacier east of Gyazumpa
C1 at Ngozumba Glacier in bank of ENE of point 5720m on Schneider map
C2 at glacier above and north of point 5695m
C3 in crevasse on open glacier below U
High point at lower part of West Face.

Lost lot of rope gear and trying to force route through first icefall, so went up eastern side of rock buttress on loose scree with hard bedrock and fixed these; then 200 ft steep sort of chimney to grassy meadow and snow gully just to east of Pt 5695m and traversed up on to glacier where put C2. Then encountered 5 km-wide second icefall constantly having seracs falling. 29th April to 10th May walked searching for route through second icefall acceptably safe and had people missed by 50m by massive falls.

10th May 6 men went up from C2 to rock buttress-island just east of Pt 6515 and crossed this and dumped gear there for C3 which was established where wanted to put up a new route. 15th may onto 60 degrees ice just above bergschrund (rotten ice) trying to put camp at about 7400m on W Face. Night of 17th May 4 days of snowfall and generally bad weather with tremendous avalanching in area - trails wiped out, fixed ropes covered; temperature now rose considerably and snow became very sticky. 21st May 5 men up from C3 planning to go to high point of fixed ropes already there at 7100m, established C4 at 7300-7400m and 2 for top from there, but 5 men early in morning were avalanched at bottom of bergschrund at 6850m. One man got completely buried but dug out by Kenny who was on same ropes; then down to C3. Other 3 tried to reorganize on this slab avalanche they been "absorbed into" but they too down to C3 later same day. Now with unstable weather, avalanche danger and manpower scattered, decided to abandon climb.

SW Ridge too dangerously corniced to attempt.

Antolik wants to return to Gyachung Kang and its W Face.


BC established on 24th April

After the excitement of KTM and the problems of our hasty departure from the troubles here we are now safely set up in the BC, just a few miles from the mountain. We arrived here together, having met up with Major Kit Spencer, his two Gurkha soldiers, Sarah Arathoon and Mick Kenny at Namche Bazar on the morning of Sunday 22nd April. We saved two days on the walk in from KTM by extending the usual trekking legs and by making use of the excellent weather Nepal is currently enjoying. Further time was made up by reaching BC, from Namche in 2 days instead of 5, the cost of this inevitably was a day of sore heads as we struggled to acclimatise. Fortunately the pain did not last long, except for the leader who was involved in a clinical trial for Boots Pharmaceuticals and obviously drew a very short straw in the selection of painkillers.

Base Camp is sited at 5120m on the moraine above the junction of the Lungsampa and Ngozumba Glaciers. We have spectacular views of Cho Oyu which is 8 kms to the north but can only see the top 800 feet of Gyachung Kang which is hidden by a ridge coming down from Cho Oyu.

Work on the 25th centred on organising our stores and food and on making BC as comfortable as possible for our month-long stay. Kit Spencer, Sarkey (our Sirdar) and Lalit reconnoitered the route from BC across the Lungsampa Glacier and along the moraines on the north side of the Ngozumpa Glacier to find a safe way to the first icefall which guards the route to Gyachung Kang. On the 26th we all ferried our first loads along this route. Glacier travel is always tortuous and although the distance from BC to the first icefall is less than 6 kms it took us 3-1/2 hours to comlete the journey. We carried loads of between 20 and 25 kgs and have established a temporary camp at the foot of the 600m high wall of rock and ice. Last night Andy Hughes and Greg Hill stayed at the camp and today are beginning to find a route through the crazy mass of towering rock and ice blocks. The route will then be marked using fixed ropes so we can carry equipment and food further up the mountain to the base of the second icefall and ultimately to the base of the southwest ridge. I hope that C1 will be established tomorrow and in preparation for this Dave Orange and Chris Barnes are joining Andy and Greg this afternoon to help them secure the route. The rest of the team are carrying more loads to the temporary camp.

The fine weather enjoyed on the trek has changed since our arrival and a pattern of fine, sunny mornings to about 11 am followed by wind and light snow showers in the afternoons and evenings seems to be the norm. Temperatures during the day vary between O degrees C and 28 degrees C and at night fall to -10 degrees C.

Everyone on the team is well and working hard. The food is good and our Nepalese staff are supporting us well - long may it last.