E verest A ttem p t via the G reat C ouloir. O ur expedition was com posed of Jack A llsup, leader, Ann Sm ith, Bob E ast, Bob A llison, G eorge D unn, G reg W ilson, C raig V an H oy, Ed V iesturs, Bonnie N obori, Dr. John B aum eister, Travis Cannon and me as clim bing leader. Four went via B eijing and Lhasa. The rest traveled via K athm andu, w here w e were join ed by five N epalese Sherpas and a cook. W e m et at X igare, T ibet, and reached the R ongbuk Base C am p at 16,800 feet on M arch 17. V ery good w eather prevailed for the next few w eeks. A dvance Base was established on the Central R ongbuk G lacier at 18,300 feet on M arch 23. Y aks carried 90 loads there in nine days. A t this point A llison and Dr. B aum eister becam e ill and returned to the U nited States. The rem aining A m ericans and the Sherpas m ade rapid progress, establishing C am p I at 20,400 feet at the base o f the north face on M arch 26 and C am p II
at 22,000 feet at the foot o f the technical clim bing on M arch 31. Instead o f a direct approach up the face, we continued eastw ard betw een the flanks o f C hangtse and the north face to 23,000 feet. On A pril 17 C am p III was placed at 25,000 feet at the bottom o f the G reat C ouloir. S torm s, high w inds and illness prevented C am p IV from being established at 26,800 feet until M ay 14. Betw een C am ps II and IV we fixed 9500 feet o f rope because o f icy spring conditions. C am p IV was stocked for four sum m it attem pts. On M ay 17 Dunn and W ilson m ade the first try, using oxygen, but were slow ed by difficult rock in the Y ellow B and, w here they fixed 500 feet o f rope. W hile descending from their high point o f 27,500 feet, W ilson fell 40 feet w hen his rappel piton pulled out but was held by D unn. O n M ay 21 V iesturs and I ascended rapidly through the Y ellow Band on the previous team ’s rope and then fixed 500 more feet in the G rey Band above on 50° to 60° ice and m ixed ground. W e clim bed straight out o f the top o f the G reat C ouloir rather than traversing right above the Y ellow B and, the route follow ed by the A ustralians and Ershler in the post-m onsoon period of 1984, w hen there was m ore snow . U pon reaching the final sum m it snow field, we traversed to the w est ridge. U sing oxygen, I reached 28,700 feet stopping below a steep rock step. W ithout a rope and unsure o f getting down w ithout a rappel, I turned back. V iesturs, who was clim bing w ithout oxygen, descended w ith me from 28,6 0 0 feet. That sam e day, a Sw ede, who had traversed across from the northeast ridge, turned back below the G rey B and, and R oger M arshall fell to his death from the Japanese C ouloir during his solo attem pt. The third sum m it attem pt was to take place on M ay 27, but after spending the night at Cam p IV , they did not leave because Dunn was not feeling well. A fourth attem pt on M ay 29 by A llsup, Sm ith and Sherpas Nuru and Pasang T sering failed to get higher than 25,5 0 0 feet. E r ic S im o n s o n