Lhotse, South Face Attempt. A very strong Italian national expedi tion ...

Lhotse, South Face A ttem p t. A very strong Italian national expedi­ tion failed to climb the south face of Lhotse. The leader was Riccardo Cassin and members were Ignazio Piussi, Reinhold M essner, F ranco Gugiatti, Gigi Alippi, Sereno Barbacetto, Aldo Leviti, M ario Curnis, G iuseppe Alippi, M ario Conti, A lessandro G ogna, G ianni A rcari, Fausto Lorenzi, Dr. F ranco Chierego and Aldino Anghileri. Before the end of the attem pt Dr. Chierego had to be evacuated w ith cerebral edem a and Anghileri left for personal reasons. A lm ost imm ediately after arrival at their 17,400-foot Base Cam p in late M arch, they decided against the avalanche-swept direct route and followed the route attem pted by the Japanese in 1973 on the far left of the face. T he route to Cam p I (19,350 feet) was mixed snow and ice of not very great difficulty. F rom Cam p I to Cam p II, established on A pril 11 at 21,650 feet, the climbing was extraordinarily hard with vertical rock and 70° ice. The route to Cam p III was som ew hat easier, principally ice. This cam p was established at 23,625 feet on A pril 16. On M ay 6 B arbacetto and G ogna slabbed diagonally left and reached a spot just below the southwest ridge at 24,600 feet, a site for Cam p IV. This highest point reached was still m ore than 3300 feet short of the summ it. The rest of the route would have followed just below the ridge and up the Swiss route of 1956. The expedition was plagued by bad w eather and avalanches. On A pril 20 two avalanches partially destroyed Base Cam p, injuring four Sherpas. Barbacetto and Leviti were nearly buried by an avalanche in Cam p III.