K angchenjunga, N orth F ace A ttem pt. W e arrived at Base Cam p at Pangpem a on A pril 6 after a 13-day trek. The team consisted o f John R oskelley, leader, Dr. R obin H ouston, G regg C ronn, K im M om b, C anadian Laurie Skreslet and me as assistant leader. W e reached the N orth Col (23,500 feet) on April 22 after 27 pitches o f m ixed ice and rock. The route was to the right o f the British route and partially the same as that follow ed by M essner and the New Z ea landers. The leading and fixing o f the headw all to the ridge was done over a period o f seven days by the entire team . W e shared the north side o f the m oun tain with the Y ugoslav Y alung K ang team , w hich had been in Base C am p two w eeks before us. From April 22 when we reached the col until M ay 13 when John R oskelley and Kim M om b got to the high point o f 25,6 0 0 feet, we carried loads and established cam ps on the col and at the base of the su g arlo af. Early on the m orning o f M ay 15 G regg C ronn began to suffer sym ptom s o f cerebral edem a at Cam p III. Laurie Skreslet assisted him in the descent to Cam p II on the col, w here R oskelley and M om b were. O xygen was given and Skreslet and M om b helped C ronn to descend the fixed lines to C am p I, w here R obin H ouston and I met them and aided him in getting to Base Cam p in about 14 hours from C am p III. His recovery was com plete. W e decided to abandon the m ountain on M ay 16. T here were many reasons. W e were exhausted both from the rescue and the 45 days on the m ountain. Supplies were low in all cam ps, particularly those on the ridge and the prospect o f resupply and a chance at the top were rem ote. Sherpa porters w ere not used above A dvance Base at 17,000 feet and we used no artificial oxygen for clim b in g . Lines were fixed on the route to the N orth C o l. O bjective danger both from rock- and icefall is significant on all routes on the north o f K angchenjunga. The route we did was clearly the safest. Jeff D u enw ald