Himlung Himal Attempt. Our party consisted of Steve Tenney, Bob ...

H im lung H im al A ttem pt. O ur party consisted o f Steve T enney, Bob R osso, K irk B achm an and m e as leader. W e had little inform ation about the peak, know ing only that the sum m it had been reached once, by Japanese via the east ridge from the glacier above the Larkya La in 1984. Two other attem pts, one in w inter, w ere by the sam e route. O ur attem pt was by the south ridge. W e left K athm andu on A pril 3 and reached Base C am p at 13,700 feet on the H im lung G lacier on A pril 11. Fresh snow m ade m oving up the glacier to the foot o f the south face difficult. W e cached food and fuel at A dvance Base at 14,400 feet on A pril 15. W e then explored the R atna Icefall and left equipm ent and fuel at 16,400 feet. O n A pril 18, we clim bed back through the icefall and bivouacked at 17,000 feet on the south ridge. A fter a heavy snow fall we determ ined that the ridge w ould require more tim e and gear than we had and so we m oved left to the “W ishbone C o u lo ir.” A fter spending all day clim bing the couloir, at dark we still had not found a suitable bivouac site. W e clim bed a few pitches in the

dark to reach the w estern spur o f the south ridge and pitched cam p at 18,500 feet. April 20 was spent fixing lines over a very difficult traverse. W e spent a second night at a pinnacle bivouac and the follow ing day clim bed to the top o f the w estern spur. The clim bing on cold, brittle ice and steep rock was o f high standard. The next m orning we reached the actual south ridge. Because o f the difficulty and the condition o f one o f the m em bers, we descended from a high point of 20,050 feet. It took tw o days to get back to Base C am p on A pril 23. W e hope to return to finish this beautiful route next year. K e v in Sw ig e r t