direct finish, La ...
Kangchenjunga, southwest face, p artial new route/direct finish, La Luce del N irvana. O f th e five expeditions attem pting 8,586m K angchenjunga, tw o were successful w ith all sum m iteers reach ing th e to p on the sam e day. F our o f these team s were attem p tin g th e S tan d ard R oute up the southw est face, w hile th e fifth, a m u lti-n a tio n a l ex p ed itio n led by R alf D jum ovits, in clu d in g experienced high-altitude clim bers such as Veikka G ustafsson and M ichi W ärthl, was trying the n o rth face-north ridge via the 1979 British Route. However, they failed to get above their C am p III at 7,200m, having fixed ropes on the difficult m ixed face leading up to the col on the n o rth ridge. Heavy snowfall in the region thw arted m ost climbers and those w ho succeeded had simply p ositioned them selves for a su m m it atte m p t at th e right tim e. S u m m iting on M ay 20 fro m a h igh cam p at 7,600m were Italians C h ristian K untner, M ario M erelli, and Silvio M ondinelli w ith th e Spaniard C arlos Pauner, all from a five-person expedition led by the 8,000m collector, K untner, and Kobi Reichen from a Swiss expedition.
This five-person grou p reached C am p 2 at 7,000m on M ay 17 an d C am p 3 (7,600m ) on the 18th. They had a rest day on the 19th before leaving early on the 20th to continue their climb up the glaciated slopes above to the start o f the Gangway at ca 7,950m. Here, instead o f following the N orm al Route up the Gangway and then o u t right across a series o f ram ps to reach the west ridge above a large tower, they broke o u t right on new g round and climbed directly up the mixed rocky face to the sum m it. This gave betw een 450-500m o f quite difficult clim bing, starting w ith a 150m gully from 45-65°, a 20m rock wall o f UIAA IV+, and then a h o rizontal traverse to the right to gain a deep couloir th a t splits the m iddle o f th e face. This was clim bed for 200m (4550°), above which they were forced to clim b a difficult rock buttress on the right to reach easier ground. The buttress had a system o f corners at III-IV, w ith one little section, th o u g h t possibly to w arrant V, at an altitude above 8,400m. A nother 100-150m o f relatively straightforw ard mixed g ro u n d led to the top, w hich u n d erstan d ab ly was n o t reached u ntil quite late in th e day, at approxim ately 4:30 p.m . T his is re p o rted to be M o n d in elli’s 10th 8,000m peak an d K u n tn er’s 12th. The new finish has been christened La Luce del N irvana. D uring the descent and as night fell, they separated. The Italians and Swiss were quicker o n this difficult g ro u n d an d alth o u g h for m u ch o f th e tim e they could see P au n e r’s headlight above them , they h ad lost contact in p o o r w eather by th e tim e they h ad regained C am p 3 (7,600m ) at 1 a.m . on the 21st. N o ropes had been fixed o n the u p p er section o f the climb an d M ondinelli, having spent the w inter in the K arakoram attem p tin g Broad Peak, m u st have been very well-acclimatized. The three left lights outside the ten t du rin g the night and also w ent o u t o n several occasions to shou t for P auner b u t at 9 a.m. on th e 21st, w ith no sight o f the Spanish m ountaineer, they continued th eir descent, reaching base cam p at 7 p.m. Fortunately, late on the 22nd the feeble light from a headlam p was seen on the lower p art o f the face and two Sherpas were im m ediately dispatched. They fo u n d Pauner alive an d able to walk unaided b u t badly frostbitten in the fingers. He was escorted safely to base cam p th at night. Unable to regain the tents at C am p 3 on the night o f the 20th-21st, he had been forced to bivouac in the open after reaching the base o f the Gangway at a ro u n d 8,000m. The following day he had descended slowly, reportedly taking a 100m fall at one p o in t an d eventually bivouacking for a second tim e betw een 7,400m -7,500m . Back in Spain he was later to loose two fingers an d toes. L in d s a y G
r if f in ,
High M ountain INFO
This five-person grou p reached C am p 2 at 7,000m on M ay 17 an d C am p 3 (7,600m ) on the 18th. They had a rest day on the 19th before leaving early on the 20th to continue their climb up the glaciated slopes above to the start o f the Gangway at ca 7,950m. Here, instead o f following the N orm al Route up the Gangway and then o u t right across a series o f ram ps to reach the west ridge above a large tower, they broke o u t right on new g round and climbed directly up the mixed rocky face to the sum m it. This gave betw een 450-500m o f quite difficult clim bing, starting w ith a 150m gully from 45-65°, a 20m rock wall o f UIAA IV+, and then a h o rizontal traverse to the right to gain a deep couloir th a t splits the m iddle o f th e face. This was clim bed for 200m (4550°), above which they were forced to clim b a difficult rock buttress on the right to reach easier ground. The buttress had a system o f corners at III-IV, w ith one little section, th o u g h t possibly to w arrant V, at an altitude above 8,400m. A nother 100-150m o f relatively straightforw ard mixed g ro u n d led to the top, w hich u n d erstan d ab ly was n o t reached u ntil quite late in th e day, at approxim ately 4:30 p.m . T his is re p o rted to be M o n d in elli’s 10th 8,000m peak an d K u n tn er’s 12th. The new finish has been christened La Luce del N irvana. D uring the descent and as night fell, they separated. The Italians and Swiss were quicker o n this difficult g ro u n d an d alth o u g h for m u ch o f th e tim e they could see P au n e r’s headlight above them , they h ad lost contact in p o o r w eather by th e tim e they h ad regained C am p 3 (7,600m ) at 1 a.m . on the 21st. N o ropes had been fixed o n the u p p er section o f the climb an d M ondinelli, having spent the w inter in the K arakoram attem p tin g Broad Peak, m u st have been very well-acclimatized. The three left lights outside the ten t du rin g the night and also w ent o u t o n several occasions to shou t for P auner b u t at 9 a.m. on th e 21st, w ith no sight o f the Spanish m ountaineer, they continued th eir descent, reaching base cam p at 7 p.m. Fortunately, late on the 22nd the feeble light from a headlam p was seen on the lower p art o f the face and two Sherpas were im m ediately dispatched. They fo u n d Pauner alive an d able to walk unaided b u t badly frostbitten in the fingers. He was escorted safely to base cam p th at night. Unable to regain the tents at C am p 3 on the night o f the 20th-21st, he had been forced to bivouac in the open after reaching the base o f the Gangway at a ro u n d 8,000m. The following day he had descended slowly, reportedly taking a 100m fall at one p o in t an d eventually bivouacking for a second tim e betw een 7,400m -7,500m . Back in Spain he was later to loose two fingers an d toes. L in d s a y G
r if f in ,
High M ountain INFO
