원정 개요

BC at west side of Nuptse Glacier
High point on the Glacier.

Richards and Kennedy flew to Lukla on 12 November and Zimmerman on the 13th. They trekked via Phakding, Namche Bazaar, Phortse, Dingboche and Chhukung villages and up the Nuptse Glacier. They made their BC on 19 November at 5302m (according to the Schneider Khumbu map) on the west side of the glacier on grass which had grown over moraine.

On the 21st they took all their gear to 5600m in the middle of the glacier, where the surface was rock covering ice. From there, they took pictures of the line on the South Face that they proposed to climb. They left their gear, returned to BC and studied the photos. Now they saw that the face was "completely out of condition:" it was all bare slab rock, shattered granite, and there was evidence of rock fall.

On the 22nd they went back to 5600m to bring their gear to BC, and they talked together: Richards and Kennedy spoke with Zimmerman about how he irritated them. He apologized, but the "team dynamics" was a real problem, Richards and Kennedy felt. A big challenge, which the South Face of Nuptse is, needs everyone to feel comfortable with each other and not constantly being irritated by another of the members.

On 23 November there was light snowfall, too light to cover the face. They decided to quit and left BC for Namche the next day, trekked to Lukla on the 25th, and flew to Kathmandu on the 26th.

Richards wants to go back to the South Face a bit earlier in the season (in October-early November), when there should be more snow on the face without wind having blown it all away. He prefers a three-member team for this challenge.