원정 개요

High point on 17 May at 6400m on NNW Pillar by Bernasconi and Corona.

At first, the team lost time waiting for the porters and loads first 10 days in Ramche, then 5 days in mid-camp (halfway between Ramche and their BC located 600m below Kangchenunga BC - which is more difficult to reach).

Eventually, from 16 May when they could reach BC with porters, the trio began their climb, doing day trips to fix rope higher and higher (did so 11 to 12 times) on the mountain. Their precise itiniery followed the same route as the Czechs on the North Face at the beginning (attack at 5600m) in 60-degree steep snow. Then from 6000m and the only comfortable bivouac place, on top of the serac (same used by the Czechs as Bivouac 1 in 2013), they continued up to the right by steep ice pitches (80 degrees in old ice hard as rock, difficult to put ice screws - some beats 90 degrees) to reach at 6300m the proper NNW Pillar at the rock band, this latter sizing 400m high.

In their ultimate attempt, on 16 May Bernasconi and Corona could begin to fix few pitches to the rock band, finding no bivouac places up there coming back to sleep at Bivouac 1. On 17 May they tried again to force the rock band up to 6400m, then had to stop because of the difficulty to put in protection (impossible to put friends or rock pitons). Corona reports that on before their last pitch he had to climb 40m roped without protection in boots. Overall grade difficulty for the climbed part of the rock band.

The trio thinks they underestimated the steepness of the face. They climbed and fixed in total 31 pitches on the route.

BERNASCONI, Daniele (high point 6400m)
CORONA,Giampaolo (high point 6400m)
PANZERI, Mario (Leader) (high point 6200m)