Drohmo East, first ascent; Pathibhara Chuli, southwest face
J o n g s a n g H im a l
Drohmo south pillar, m ajor variation; Drohmo East, first ascent; Pathibhara Chuli, southwest face; Kirat C huli west face and Chang H im al north face, attempts. The Slovenian A lpine A ssociation organized an expedition to the K angchenjunga region, situated in the rem ote n ortheastern p art o f N epal. L eadership was given to veteran exped itio n leader Tone Skarja, a m an w ith m uch H im alayan experience. T he team also co m p rised alpinists T ine C uder, M atej K ladnik, Ales Kozelj, Boris Lorencic, M itja Sorn, and I, accom panying by expedition d o cto r D am ijan Mesko. The m ain objective was an ascent o f K angbachen, at 7,902m th e fifth highest su m m it in
the K angchenjunga Massif. H ow ever, the m o rain e o f th e R am tang Glacier was so shattered th at it was not possible for porters to reach the p ro po sed base cam p. Instead, we established base cam p farth er n o rth at P angpem a (4,940m ) an d attem pted nearby peaks. To acclim atize for attem p ts on the difficult n orth face o f Chang H im al (W edge Peak o r R am tang C hang, 6,802m ) an d an ascent o f K irat C huli (Tent Peak, 7,362m ), Kozelj an d Sorn m ade an ascent o f the so u th pillar o f D ro h m o ’s cen tral su m m it. T hey fo u n d good snow co n d itio n s an d clim bed largely to th e right o f th e crest o f the pillar, jo in in g the 1998 route, clim bed by Roger M ear an d D oug Scott, in only a few places. T hey took tw o days from the 6,000m col at the foot o f the pillar, reaching the sm all su m m it at the to p o f the crest on O ctober 16. [E ditor’s note: M ear an d Scott c o n tin u ed a sh o rt distance west along th e su m m it ridge to reach a possibly higher corniced top, w hich they registered as 6,855m . T he m ain su m m it o f D ro h m o is 6,881m an d situ ated a considerable d is tance to th e west. It rem ain s unclim b ed .] From the col the 800m -high route averaged a ro u n d 60°, w ith steeper sections up to 80°. D ue to good snow c o n d i tions, the tw o were able to descend a largely in d e p en d en t route, com pletely on snow, to th e east o f their line o f ascent. T hey th en tried the n o rth face o f C hang H im al, b u t were forced to bail after one bivouac, at a p o in t less th a n h alf way up the face, because o f terrible conditions: considerable am o u n ts of soft snow over rock. An attem p t on the unclim bed w est face o f K irat C huli was ab an d o n ed at the b o t tom , w hen they found it to be deep in snow and ava lanche p ron e. [This face had been clim bed to 6,700m , seem ingly above all technical difficulties, in 2002, by an o th er Slovenian team — Ed.]
C uder, K ladnik, an d Kozelj then m ad e a n o th e r ascent o f the so u th face o f D rohm o (Sorn staying at base cam p w ith a to o th a c h e ), this tim e to th e previously unclim bed east su m m it (ca 6,695m ). After a bivouac at th e foot o f the face, th e three clim bed th eir new ro u te in eight hours, largely on snow an d ice, reaching the su m m it ridge ju st left o f th e highest p o in t. Again, they fo u n d good c o n d itio n s and w ere able to su m m it a n d descend to base cam p th e sam e day, O cto b er 25th. They called th e 900m ro u te Sm rdljiva Sled (S tinking Trail) an d rated th e difficulties T D + , V I/4+, M4. Lorencic an d Valic acclim atizated w ith an ascent o f Pangpem a Peak (6,068m ) and th en clim bed Pk. 6,630m on th e so u th east ridge o f P ath ib h ara C huli (P y ram id Peak, 7,140m ). T he ro u te fol lowed snow slopes up to 45° on the so u th w est ridge, the su m m it being reached on the 16th [m ost likely the first ascent o f this su m m it— Ed.]. T hey retu rn e d to base cam p after th ree days, well acclim atized. However, they were unable to exam ine the southw est face o f P ath ib h ara C huli, th eir next objective, because it was obscured by cloud each afternoon. A fter they rested a few days, the w eather stabilized, and they set o u t for the rem ote basin beneath the virgin southw est face o f P ath ib h ara C huli. T he next day they clim bed to th e glacier plateau below th e wall and exam ined th eir pro p o sed ro u te, spen d in g th e nig h t at 5,900m . The day after they clim bed 50-60° snow slopes to a narrow shelf below a rock band, where th ey sp en t the n ig h t at 6,900m . T he fol low ing m o rn in g , th e 24th, th ey clim bed th ro u g h the rock b an d (UIAA IV, 20m ) and reached the sum m it. This was the first ascent o f the m o u n ta in from N epal and only the second overall ascent. [Pathibhara C huli was first clim bed in th e sp rin g o f
1993 from Sikkim by an Indo-Japanese expedition via the northeast ridge, over the Sphinx. The 7,090m north east su m m it has been reached twice from Nepal: in 1949 by Swiss and in 2006 by Slovenians— Ed.] They descended th e sam e route, reaching base cam p in a ro u n d trip o f five days. The team found w alking on the convoluted shattered glaciers o f the area very strenuous, b u t the w eather and clim bing conditions were good. M iha V a l ic , Slovenia
Drohmo south pillar, m ajor variation; Drohmo East, first ascent; Pathibhara Chuli, southwest face; Kirat C huli west face and Chang H im al north face, attempts. The Slovenian A lpine A ssociation organized an expedition to the K angchenjunga region, situated in the rem ote n ortheastern p art o f N epal. L eadership was given to veteran exped itio n leader Tone Skarja, a m an w ith m uch H im alayan experience. T he team also co m p rised alpinists T ine C uder, M atej K ladnik, Ales Kozelj, Boris Lorencic, M itja Sorn, and I, accom panying by expedition d o cto r D am ijan Mesko. The m ain objective was an ascent o f K angbachen, at 7,902m th e fifth highest su m m it in
the K angchenjunga Massif. H ow ever, the m o rain e o f th e R am tang Glacier was so shattered th at it was not possible for porters to reach the p ro po sed base cam p. Instead, we established base cam p farth er n o rth at P angpem a (4,940m ) an d attem pted nearby peaks. To acclim atize for attem p ts on the difficult n orth face o f Chang H im al (W edge Peak o r R am tang C hang, 6,802m ) an d an ascent o f K irat C huli (Tent Peak, 7,362m ), Kozelj an d Sorn m ade an ascent o f the so u th pillar o f D ro h m o ’s cen tral su m m it. T hey fo u n d good snow co n d itio n s an d clim bed largely to th e right o f th e crest o f the pillar, jo in in g the 1998 route, clim bed by Roger M ear an d D oug Scott, in only a few places. T hey took tw o days from the 6,000m col at the foot o f the pillar, reaching the sm all su m m it at the to p o f the crest on O ctober 16. [E ditor’s note: M ear an d Scott c o n tin u ed a sh o rt distance west along th e su m m it ridge to reach a possibly higher corniced top, w hich they registered as 6,855m . T he m ain su m m it o f D ro h m o is 6,881m an d situ ated a considerable d is tance to th e west. It rem ain s unclim b ed .] From the col the 800m -high route averaged a ro u n d 60°, w ith steeper sections up to 80°. D ue to good snow c o n d i tions, the tw o were able to descend a largely in d e p en d en t route, com pletely on snow, to th e east o f their line o f ascent. T hey th en tried the n o rth face o f C hang H im al, b u t were forced to bail after one bivouac, at a p o in t less th a n h alf way up the face, because o f terrible conditions: considerable am o u n ts of soft snow over rock. An attem p t on the unclim bed w est face o f K irat C huli was ab an d o n ed at the b o t tom , w hen they found it to be deep in snow and ava lanche p ron e. [This face had been clim bed to 6,700m , seem ingly above all technical difficulties, in 2002, by an o th er Slovenian team — Ed.]
C uder, K ladnik, an d Kozelj then m ad e a n o th e r ascent o f the so u th face o f D rohm o (Sorn staying at base cam p w ith a to o th a c h e ), this tim e to th e previously unclim bed east su m m it (ca 6,695m ). After a bivouac at th e foot o f the face, th e three clim bed th eir new ro u te in eight hours, largely on snow an d ice, reaching the su m m it ridge ju st left o f th e highest p o in t. Again, they fo u n d good c o n d itio n s and w ere able to su m m it a n d descend to base cam p th e sam e day, O cto b er 25th. They called th e 900m ro u te Sm rdljiva Sled (S tinking Trail) an d rated th e difficulties T D + , V I/4+, M4. Lorencic an d Valic acclim atizated w ith an ascent o f Pangpem a Peak (6,068m ) and th en clim bed Pk. 6,630m on th e so u th east ridge o f P ath ib h ara C huli (P y ram id Peak, 7,140m ). T he ro u te fol lowed snow slopes up to 45° on the so u th w est ridge, the su m m it being reached on the 16th [m ost likely the first ascent o f this su m m it— Ed.]. T hey retu rn e d to base cam p after th ree days, well acclim atized. However, they were unable to exam ine the southw est face o f P ath ib h ara C huli, th eir next objective, because it was obscured by cloud each afternoon. A fter they rested a few days, the w eather stabilized, and they set o u t for the rem ote basin beneath the virgin southw est face o f P ath ib h ara C huli. T he next day they clim bed to th e glacier plateau below th e wall and exam ined th eir pro p o sed ro u te, spen d in g th e nig h t at 5,900m . The day after they clim bed 50-60° snow slopes to a narrow shelf below a rock band, where th ey sp en t the n ig h t at 6,900m . T he fol low ing m o rn in g , th e 24th, th ey clim bed th ro u g h the rock b an d (UIAA IV, 20m ) and reached the sum m it. This was the first ascent o f the m o u n ta in from N epal and only the second overall ascent. [Pathibhara C huli was first clim bed in th e sp rin g o f
1993 from Sikkim by an Indo-Japanese expedition via the northeast ridge, over the Sphinx. The 7,090m north east su m m it has been reached twice from Nepal: in 1949 by Swiss and in 2006 by Slovenians— Ed.] They descended th e sam e route, reaching base cam p in a ro u n d trip o f five days. The team found w alking on the convoluted shattered glaciers o f the area very strenuous, b u t the w eather and clim bing conditions were good. M iha V a l ic , Slovenia
