원정 개요

BC at road
C1 at Tilman's camp
C2 (ABC) on glacier at foot of steep climb start
C3 halfway up French spur
C4 just below top of shoulder
C5 at 1.5m east of C4
C6 at bottom of yellow band, halfway up Hornbein Couloir.

Climb to C3 quite technical on 60 degrees steep ice. C6 problem to establish and made lower than planned because of oxygen problems; actually properly established only on 8th May.

Summit group of 4 [Nicholls, Maxwell, Moore, McLeod] left C5 on 28th April and got only to 8100m. Next day 4 got only to 8300m because oxygen problems and camp not high enough, but weather good. They withdrew from mountain and 2nd bid mounted for 8 May with 2 summiters [Bell, Middleton] on 9th and 4 [Williams, Garratt, L. Hughes, Pelly] on 10th, but big snowfield 600m wide made getting into Hornbein dangerous and they withdrew at 8000m on 8th.

3rd bid for 18th May with 4 summiters [Nicholls, McLeod, Day, L. Hughes] and support party [Middleton, Moore]. C6 now placed at 8150m. Day withdrew because not well. Night of 17 May weather changed completely, spindrift and snow kept thundering down Hornbein and tent kept being squashed. Nicholls and McLeod set out at 8:30 am from C4 and kept on to 14:30 to top of Hornbein Couloir, but ferocious wind in storm to top of yellow band where summit snowfield began. Storm not abating and snow conditions getting worse and worse, making withdrawal increasingly dangerous. In withdrawal Middleton descending from C5 caught by slab avalanche and had leg injury (but not broken) so had to be carried down.