원정 개요

This was Scott's fourth expedition to attempt to climb Makalu's SE Ridge all the way from the start of the ridge to the summit, staying on the ridge all the way. If successful, this would be the first ascent of the entire length of this narrow, difficult ridge.

They had good weather almost all the time they were on the mountain and were able to establish successively higher camps along the ridge in good order. There was one brief spell of bad weather with heavy snowfall, but mild winds; they retreated to BC on 8-9 October, but established C3 at 7200m on the 12th and proceeded to stock C3 for carries to their final camp, C4. But by now they had the help of only one Sherpa to fix the line to C4. Two members, Scott and Steel, plus Pechhumbe Sherpa, climbed to the site for C4 at 7800m on the 22nd and pitched a tent there, but returned to sleep in C3; Scott and Steel hoped to occupy C4 the next day.

The plan was to occupy C4 and finally make their summit bid from there, but the tent was never occupied and the summit bid never launched. They were not defeated as so many teams on other mountains were by bad weather. What defeated them was the failure of their team of Makalu-area Sherpas to stay the course. Their Sherpas came from one family, but they were busy now with what appeared to be a squabble for power within the family involving Pechhumbe and his brother Nima Dorje, the sirdar. (Scott believed Nima Dorje was "not completely honest" with the other Sherpas about their individual earnings.)

The brothers were no longer willing to go up to the highest camp with supplies -- to continue the climb. Scott and Steel wanted them to stay just one more day to stock C4, but they refused to do so. The weather forecast was for the period of good weather to end when fierce winds would blow up from the 25th making it impossible to mount another summit bid. It was now or never. It was never; the climb was abandoned on the 25th because of the "breakdown in Sherpa cooperation." The team left BC on the 29th.

Oxygen was used from C3 to C4 site and back to C3 by members and Sherpa.

The team's only casualty was a cousin of Pechhumbe, also named Nima Dorje, who twisted his knee on his way to C2 on 2 October. He left BC by helicopter to Kathmandu.

Sherpas:
Nima Dorje (sirdar), 17/3/81, Tashigaon, Makalu, Everest X3
Pechhumbe, 22/9/87, Tashigaon, Makalu, Everest X3, Annapurna X1, Makalu X2,
Manaslu X1