Shisha Pangma Ascent, Attempts and Tragedies in ... AWS
Shisha P angm a Ascent, A ttem pts a n d Tragedies in the P ost-M onsoon. Only one clim ber reached the highest sum m it o f Shisha Pangm a in the post-m onsoon
w hen Briton N ikola K ekus com pleted his climb. All others stopped at the low er central sum m it. Som e 11 expeditions were on the m ountain. Led by Kekus, 6 Britons, 3 A m ericans, 2 Canadians, 1 A ustralian, 1 Norw egian, 1 A rgentine an d 1 Spaniard w ere on the norm al route. On O ctober 4, Kekus clim bed to the true top and on the 8th A rgentine D aniel A lessio and Briton Richard Forsyth made it to the central sum m it. [See below.] On Septem ber 20, Frenchm en JeanC hristophe Lafaille and D om inique C aillat clim bed from C am p II to 7300 m eters to rescue a French clim ber o f another expedition who had been avalanched, saving his life. Lafaille m ade a quick solo o f the norm al route to the central sum m it on O ctober 7 and stopped there because the w inds m ade it too dangerous to continue on to the true sum m it. Two days later, he set out alone to pioneer a new route on the right side o f the north face to the w est ridge, which joined the K ukuczka route o f 1987 on the ridge top. He m ade it to w estern sum m it but turned back because he had no m ore tim e left. [See below.] An expedition o f 7 A m ericans, led by D avid M cN ally, clim bed the norm al route. On O ctober 9, Larry Hall, Ted H andw erk and Bruce H ennessey m ade it to the central sum m it. Tragically, Tod G assen died in a crevasse fall on Septem ber 18. [See below.] On the sam e day as the above A m ericans, O ctober 9, A ustralian D avid H um e w ent to 7990 m eters. H um e w as w ith an expedition o f 6 A m ericans a n d 1 A ustralian led by M ichael Sinclair. [See below.] Led by Um H ong-G il, 13 South K oreans w ere also on the norm al route. On O ctober 11, Cha Jin-C hol, H an H wang-Y ong, Kim H un-Sang, Lee D ong-H eon and leader Um got to the central sum m it. This expedition had clim bed Cho Oyu in Septem ber. U nsuccessful w ere 6 C zechs led by L eopold Suslovsky, w ho clim bed on two lines on the southw est face. They clim bed a new route betw een the Loretan and the Slovene route to 6900 m eters on Septem ber 24. On Septem ber 30, they then attem pted a line to the left o f this first route at the w estern end o f the southw est face to reach the w est ridge at 7200 m eters. W hile descending the next day from the ridge, they were caught in an avalanche and Z dendek Slachta was killed. The expedition w as im m ediately abandoned. Erik D ecam p and C atherine D estivelle, 2 noted French clim bers, clim bed the Loretan route to jo in the northw est ridge at 7950 m eters on S eptem ber 20 and then turned back because o f serious avalanche danger. [See above.] They went next to A nnapurna. Two m em bers o f a team o f 9 Frenchm en led by Jean-M ichel B rick reached 7800 m eters on Septem ber 24 but were avalanched dow n to 7300 m eters. One struggled back and the other was rescued the next day by Jean-C hristophe Lafaille. They gave up the clim b. O f 9 Italians led by A gostino De Polenza, two m em bers got to 7500 m eters on the norm al route on S eptem ber 8 and quit because o f deep snow. They then w ent to Lhotse. Led by G rigorio N espoli, 8 Italians got to 7300 m eters on S eptem ber 21 and gave up because o f bad snow conditions. 6 Slovaks led by Peter Č aplický got to 6800 m eters on Septem ber 22 and then abandoned their alpine-style attem pt because of a snow storm. E
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w hen Briton N ikola K ekus com pleted his climb. All others stopped at the low er central sum m it. Som e 11 expeditions were on the m ountain. Led by Kekus, 6 Britons, 3 A m ericans, 2 Canadians, 1 A ustralian, 1 Norw egian, 1 A rgentine an d 1 Spaniard w ere on the norm al route. On O ctober 4, Kekus clim bed to the true top and on the 8th A rgentine D aniel A lessio and Briton Richard Forsyth made it to the central sum m it. [See below.] On Septem ber 20, Frenchm en JeanC hristophe Lafaille and D om inique C aillat clim bed from C am p II to 7300 m eters to rescue a French clim ber o f another expedition who had been avalanched, saving his life. Lafaille m ade a quick solo o f the norm al route to the central sum m it on O ctober 7 and stopped there because the w inds m ade it too dangerous to continue on to the true sum m it. Two days later, he set out alone to pioneer a new route on the right side o f the north face to the w est ridge, which joined the K ukuczka route o f 1987 on the ridge top. He m ade it to w estern sum m it but turned back because he had no m ore tim e left. [See below.] An expedition o f 7 A m ericans, led by D avid M cN ally, clim bed the norm al route. On O ctober 9, Larry Hall, Ted H andw erk and Bruce H ennessey m ade it to the central sum m it. Tragically, Tod G assen died in a crevasse fall on Septem ber 18. [See below.] On the sam e day as the above A m ericans, O ctober 9, A ustralian D avid H um e w ent to 7990 m eters. H um e w as w ith an expedition o f 6 A m ericans a n d 1 A ustralian led by M ichael Sinclair. [See below.] Led by Um H ong-G il, 13 South K oreans w ere also on the norm al route. On O ctober 11, Cha Jin-C hol, H an H wang-Y ong, Kim H un-Sang, Lee D ong-H eon and leader Um got to the central sum m it. This expedition had clim bed Cho Oyu in Septem ber. U nsuccessful w ere 6 C zechs led by L eopold Suslovsky, w ho clim bed on two lines on the southw est face. They clim bed a new route betw een the Loretan and the Slovene route to 6900 m eters on Septem ber 24. On Septem ber 30, they then attem pted a line to the left o f this first route at the w estern end o f the southw est face to reach the w est ridge at 7200 m eters. W hile descending the next day from the ridge, they were caught in an avalanche and Z dendek Slachta was killed. The expedition w as im m ediately abandoned. Erik D ecam p and C atherine D estivelle, 2 noted French clim bers, clim bed the Loretan route to jo in the northw est ridge at 7950 m eters on S eptem ber 20 and then turned back because o f serious avalanche danger. [See above.] They went next to A nnapurna. Two m em bers o f a team o f 9 Frenchm en led by Jean-M ichel B rick reached 7800 m eters on Septem ber 24 but were avalanched dow n to 7300 m eters. One struggled back and the other was rescued the next day by Jean-C hristophe Lafaille. They gave up the clim b. O f 9 Italians led by A gostino De Polenza, two m em bers got to 7500 m eters on the norm al route on S eptem ber 8 and quit because o f deep snow. They then w ent to Lhotse. Led by G rigorio N espoli, 8 Italians got to 7300 m eters on S eptem ber 21 and gave up because o f bad snow conditions. 6 Slovaks led by Peter Č aplický got to 6800 m eters on Septem ber 22 and then abandoned their alpine-style attem pt because of a snow storm. E
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