Gurja Himal, Northwest Spur and North Ridge. Our expedition was ...
Gurja Himal, N orthw est Spur and N orth Ridge. O ur expedition was organized by the Lyon Section of the French A lpine Club and supported by the F éderation Française de la M ontagne. The members were Pierre Buttin, leader, Mlle N. Brocard, M me Y. Buttin, T Dietz, J.P. Frésafond, R. Gillot, J. Leroudier, Mme Ch. Leroudier, B. M athieu, S. Sarthou, J. Soubis, R. Thom as and I. A fter being refused permission for Nilgiri, we heard only two weeks before departure that we had obtained permission for G urja H imal. Wishing to climb a route different from that of the Japanese in 1969, we had the choice of the south face or the north ridge. We had no inform ation on these and so after an aerial reconnaissance, we chose the north ridge. The south face would have required more equipm ent and time than we had available. Thom as and M athieu drove a truck with our equipm ent from Lyon to Pokhara. We others arrived at K athm andu by plane on Septem ber 16. F rom there, with sirdar M ingm a Tsering, Sherpa Pasang Phouroua, cook D aw a Tondu, kitchen boy D a Tenzing and liaison officer T.B. G urung, we reached by plane
first Pokhara and then D orpathan. We left the latter on Septem ber 29 with 70 porters. In four days, after crossing the 15,425-foot “Italian C ol”, which had a difficult snowy couloir requiring fixed ropes, we got to the “Japanese Base C am p” at the foot of Churen Him al, high in the K aphe (o r G ustung) K hola at about 13,000 feet. The next day we placed our Base Cam p 1000 feet and an hour higher tow ards the D haulagiri V I glacial basin. From O ctober 3 to 17 we established three camps, helped in the early part by ropes fixed by the Japanese expedition to D haulagiri IV. Cam p I was at 16,400 feet at the foot of a rock band which gave access to the glacial plateau between G u rja H im al and G ustang; Cam p II at 18,700 feet on the plateau at the foot of the n o rth west spur; and Cam p III at 21,325 feet on the spur. On O ctober 21 Sarthou and M athieu left Cam p III at seven A .M ., climbed to the top of the spur, gained the north ridge, crossed the “Lyonnais Col” at 23,000 feet and reached the sum m it (23,600 feet) at three P.M . M eanwhile the Buttins, Soubis and the two Sherpas placed Cam p III bis on the norm al (west face) route at about 21,650 feet, ready to receive Sarthou and M athieu. The latter cam e through Cam p III bis to Cam p II, thanks to the track. On O ctober 22 all those in Cam p III bis reached the summ it by the Japanese route. H igh winds and the lack of acclim atization am ong some prevented the other four from reaching the sum m it on O ctober 23. Cam ps w ere evacuated on the 24th. B ernard A
my,
Club A lp in Français
first Pokhara and then D orpathan. We left the latter on Septem ber 29 with 70 porters. In four days, after crossing the 15,425-foot “Italian C ol”, which had a difficult snowy couloir requiring fixed ropes, we got to the “Japanese Base C am p” at the foot of Churen Him al, high in the K aphe (o r G ustung) K hola at about 13,000 feet. The next day we placed our Base Cam p 1000 feet and an hour higher tow ards the D haulagiri V I glacial basin. From O ctober 3 to 17 we established three camps, helped in the early part by ropes fixed by the Japanese expedition to D haulagiri IV. Cam p I was at 16,400 feet at the foot of a rock band which gave access to the glacial plateau between G u rja H im al and G ustang; Cam p II at 18,700 feet on the plateau at the foot of the n o rth west spur; and Cam p III at 21,325 feet on the spur. On O ctober 21 Sarthou and M athieu left Cam p III at seven A .M ., climbed to the top of the spur, gained the north ridge, crossed the “Lyonnais Col” at 23,000 feet and reached the sum m it (23,600 feet) at three P.M . M eanwhile the Buttins, Soubis and the two Sherpas placed Cam p III bis on the norm al (west face) route at about 21,650 feet, ready to receive Sarthou and M athieu. The latter cam e through Cam p III bis to Cam p II, thanks to the track. On O ctober 22 all those in Cam p III bis reached the summ it by the Japanese route. H igh winds and the lack of acclim atization am ong some prevented the other four from reaching the sum m it on O ctober 23. Cam ps w ere evacuated on the 24th. B ernard A
my,
Club A lp in Français
