원정 개요

After the team had arrived at ABC on the Rongbuk Glacier on 5 September, they spent ten days looking at the possible lines of ascent on the North Face into and up the Japanese and Couloirs. Then, before attempting the face, the three climbing members, Inurrategi, Vallejo and Zabalza, went to acclimatize on the normal route and bivouacked at the normal ABC site at 6400m on the 16th of September. On the 17th they bivouacked at the North Col at 7100m, on the 18th at 7500m, still on the normal route, then down to the normal ABC site to bivouac again at 6400m. Now their acclimatization phase was over, and they returned to their North Face base at 5500m on the 20th.

On 24 September they moved up to 6200m at the bottom of the North Face. The route was in very good condition after having been cleared by wind. Next day, the 25th, they went up the face to 7200m. At 1:00 am (NST) on 26 September a small avalanche brushed their tent and 20 minutes later it was followed by a large avalanche which buried the tent. They emerged unscathed and, using their experience, immediately rappelled down 100m to shelter below overhanging rock at 100m. From there they descended later that to their base.

They waited for better weather. But snow began to fall and extremely strong wind came up: there was not much snowfall, but "I have never seen such strong wind," Vallejo said. It blew from the west at more than 100 km/hr, and the temperature now was a very cold minus 10 degrees Celsius inside their tent.

Weather reports said the strong jet stream wind would continue. They decided on 10 October to give up, and they left the mountain the same day.

Olasagasti, their base camp manager, never went above it. He did, however, go below: when the team arrived at their base on 5 September, he had a bad case of cerebral edema. He was taken down to Chinese BC and to the nearby village of Tashigaon, and stayed there for three days, then returned to the team's base. He had fully recovered.