원정 개요

On 25 Oct summit team climbed from BC to C2 in about 5 hours. On 26 Oct they moved on to C3 in 3 hours. Rested there on 27 Oct. On 28 Oct they left C3 at 5 am. Snow conditions good, but very cold. Climb straightforward; firm snow, no rope required. Great views of Manaslu from summit. They descended to C3. Buckner and Byrne arrived at 7:45 pm, Corless at 5:45 pm.

Campbell reached 5200m (just below C1) on 17 Oct. He did not make it all the way to C1 as he was feeling very exhausted. He descended to BC, same day. He rested the next day. On 18 Oct he felt very sick and was coughing blood. He took Dexamethasone and Nipfedin. On 19 Oct he tried to walk out but was incapable of doing so. Group called helicopter to pick him up the next day. Group watched him all night to make sure he was Ok. Evacuation on 20 Oct to Kathmandu. Went to CIWEC for check up. A week later he went to Besisahar and trekked the Annapurna circuit without problems.

They walked to Jomsom together and took a jeep from there.


From Kern Buckner - 11 Aug 2009

Nepal, Western Manaslu Region, Himlung Himal (7126m)

Himlung Himal (7126m), West Ridge. In October Keith Campbell, David Byrne, Preston Corless and I set out to climb Himlung Himal by way of the West Ridge. The remote area around Himlung was recently opened up from being a restricted area and has started to see more ascents, with our team being the first American team to summit Himlung. We took 9 days to walk to BC (4663m), arriving on Oct 15. Moving up the mountain Keith developed HAPE and, after attempting self rescue, was flown via helicopter from BC to Kathmandu where he recovered. The three of us went on to establish camps at 5334m and 6096m prior to making a push up the long ridge for the summit by passing C1 and spending one night at C2 and then establishing C3 (6218m) on Oct 26. We summited on Oct 28th. During the fall season the mountain was in good shape and produced cold (below -17C) and windy weather up high. The lower ice fall around C1 had little activity and was very accessible and the upper ice fall, below C2, was mostly filled in with snow.
Kern Buckner; AAC Member, Portland OR