Rakaposhi, Attempt on North Ridge. It was obvious that an ascent to ...

Rakaposhi, A tte m p t on N orth Ridge. It was obvious th at an ascent to the north ridge from M inapin or Pisan would be too dangerous for a porter colum n b u t th a t a steep glacial valley led up from Jul-G hulm at directly to our north ridge. O n Septem ber 10 Base Cam p was placed on a m oraine hill a t the u pper end of this valley. The route to Cam p I was alm ost entirely on broken icefall and a 1000-foot ice wall. O ur advance party fixed ropes for the porters on the six-hour ascent to 15,425 feet. The route from there to Cam p II at 16,750 feet over a num ber of d a n ­ gerous gendarm es was difficult to secure and too risky for the porters. It was obvious th a t the route would require four cam ps. A sharp rock ridge was extrem ely difficult and on one day the advance party gained only 350 feet. O n Septem ber 21, when they got up only two rope-lengths up a 70° ice slope, they established Cam p III and reached the junction with the m ain ridge. The route up the north ridge was open and Camp IV would be a t about 21,325 feet. However some of the team were sick; porters could not be used above Cam p I . I decided to call the attem pt off and retu rn at the proper tim e to the gigantic north ridge of this lovely peak with a bigger team . (Included in the group were Michl A nderl, W olf B itterling, G erd M ändl, Heinz Reiter, Leo Glasl, W olf Schw arzbauer, Jürgen Vogt and Willi H erm ann.) K A R L M . H E R R L IG K O FFE R , D eutsches In stitu t fü r A uslandsforschung