Huandoy Sur, South Face Attempt. Stevie Docherty, Sam Crymble ...

H uandoy Sur, South Face A ttem p t. Stevie D ocherty, Sam Crymble, Ian Nicholson, D on Higgins, Ian Singleton and I as leader arrived in the Blanca on June 27. Cam p I on the easterly m oraine below the face was stocked by June 29. On the 30th we m ade an abortive sortie across the glacier, w hich was heavily crevassed and under deep snow. It was too slow and dangerous; I think m any new crevasses may have opened since the earthquake of 1970 since Bathgate reported easy going in 1968. F rom July 1 to 3 we moved Camp I onto the westerly m oraine ridge. We found a way through the still badly crevassed glacier, which needed ladders in parts. T hroughout this period nightly snowfalls added perhaps a foot of snow per day to the glacier. W inds to 50 to 60 m ph would have elim inated face climbing if we had been already installed on the top of the 1500-foot snow and ice ram p. O ur decision to ascend the west ridge while waiting was ruled out by continuous high winds. W hen in the third week of July there was no im provem ent in the conditions, we stripped the m ountain and began the long trip home. R o e l o f S c h i p p e r , Scotland