Just what have the BMC/MEF trips been up to this year? Time for a round up of who's gone where and what's been ticked.
Alaska
Dusk till Dawn
Stuart McAleese, Dai Lampard and Twid Turner headed to the Kichatna Spires area hoping for the first ascent of Middle Triple Peak (2693m). A continuous rain of car sized boulders at the glacier snout put paid to that though, so it was off to the east wall of Mt. Nevermore (2469m) for a new 1000m route, Perfect Storm - the name reflecting the conditions encountered.
Mount Bradley
The steep granite south face of Mt. Bradley (2775m) rises sharply from the Ruth Glacier in Central Alaska So far the only winter route on it is The Gift by Mark Twight, one of the hardest technical routes in Alaska. Sam Chinnery and Andy Sharpe originally intended to climb a mixed couloir on the face, but excess snow stopped that, so it was time for plan B. This was an amazing 1600m line on the SE Buttress of Mt. Dickey (2909m), which they succeeded in climbing after three days of sustained hard ice. The result was Snowpatrol at VI, WI5+.
Mount Dickey
Guy Willett and Owen Samuel planned a new laser-line 1600m route on the east face of Mt. Dickey (2909m) in the Ruth Gorge of Central Alaska. Unfortunately, before even setting foot on the mountain, the Guy injured his back, and had to return home. Fortunately, two Americans took pity on Owen, and they teamed up to repeat the new line of Snowpatrol.
Mount Kennedy NW Face
Mt Kennedy (4234m) is a beautiful mountain in the Yukon, with Himalayan sized walls and ridges. Although Jack Tackle and Jack Roberts attempted its 1800m North Face in 1995, they had to abort due to a dropped crampon. The team of Rich Cross and Jon Bracey were luckier; slick organisation and good weather saw them achieve their objective within a week of leaving UK.
Free Knowledge
Ian Parnell and John Varco had two objectives in mind when they headed for Alaska; to make the first free ascent of The Knowledge on the North Buttress of Mt. Hunter (4437m), and a new route on the SE Face of Mt Foraker (5300m). Unfortunately, they experienced unusually warm weather and achieved almost no climbing.
South America
Four Go Free
Despite previous experience of Patagonian weather, a team of stalwarts led by Twid Turner returned hoping to make the first ascent of a 1300m free climb on the massive East face of Cerro Fitz Roy (3405m). A base camp was soon established however during the next four weeks they only had eight hours of good weather.
Return to Cerro Torre
Whether Maestri and Egger did climb Cerro Torre (3102m) in 1959 is a question that continues to haunt climbers, and this was another team hoping to find the answer. However, with warmer than usual weather, on both occasions that they went to the bottom of the north face, Leo Houlding, Kevin Thaw and Cedar Wright were greeted with falling ice, so they looked elsewhere. This resulted in the first ascent of Cerro Pereyara and a new route on the west face of De La Ese which they cunningly named The Thaws not Houlding Wright .
Chacraraju Este, en Los Andes
The original plan of this expedition was to make the first ascent of the East Face of Chacraraju Este (6001m) in the Cordillera Blanca. However, on arriving in Peru, they learned that the route had already been climbed in 2000 by two Slovenians, who had then both been killed in Nepal before reporting their success. The SE Ridge was apparently still unclimbed, but when two very scary days on loose rock and wobbly overhanging ice had only got them two-thirds of the way up, retreat was deemed preferable to death. Al Powell then returned to UK so Nick Bullock decided on a solo attempt of the Jaeger line on the South Face of the mountain. At Pisco base camp he met Adam Kovach from Sweden who had exactly the same aim, so they agreed to simu-solo side by side to make the best use of the very limited gear that they both carried; 40m of 5mm cord, 50m of 7mm cord plus a limited collection of pegs, wires, krabs and tat. They made good progress, and climbed the route in a 20 hour single push, adding a three pitch direct finish to the ridge called Running on Empty.
Cordillera Blanca 2004
The Cordillera Blanca of Peru is one of the most popular areas of the Andes chain, but still offers scope for keen explorers. Tony Barton's team set out with several objectives in mind in the Quebradas Santa Cruz, but experienced bad weather for much of the time. However, they did succeed in the first ascent of the North Face of Nevada Parón (5600m).
UCL Quimsa Cruz
Sarah Griffin and co headed to the Cordillera Quimsa Cruz to clear up some confusion over peak names and ascents in the area, as well as bagging some new lines themselves.
Anglo-Scottish Vilcanota
Dave Wilkinson's team experienced "the best weather ever seen" but were still stumped by an unseasonably heavy fall of snow in June. Original objectives had to be abandoned but several other first ascents were made.
Fin del Mundo
The mountains of Tierra del Fuego, although easily accessible have not received much attention from climbers until recently. Colin Wells with Christine Goulding planned to make up for that by visiting the hinterland to explore and climb new winter and mixed routes including the unclimbed South Face of Monte Vinciguerra (1450m). However a late slimming of the team down to two made this impractical, so they turned to the first ascent of the NE Ridge of Cerro Bonete (1118m).
Greenland
Karabiner MC 60th Anniversary Pamiagdluk Island
A monster club team headed to an inlet on the western side of Kangerdluarssuak Fjord on Pamiagdluk Island where they established basecamp. Weather conditions were unsettled with only two wholly fine days, but the team established a number of mountaineering routes up to AD+ and rock routes up to E3.
Rucksack Club Watkins Mountains
A stripped down club expedition visited the Watkins Mountains of East Greenland aiming to climb the country’s highest peak, Gunnbjørn Fjeld (3693m) and make first ascents of other nearby peaks. However, on arrival, they were disappointed to find that a Royal Navy team had just scooped most of their identified objectives! Nevertheless, they cleaned up on a few peaks.
Torssukatak Fjord
Leanne Callaghan and others headed to Pamiagdluk Island hoping to make the first ascent of The Baron (Pt 1340m) by several new free routes and possibly attempt the unclimbed Pt 1303m on the western shore of Torssuakatak Fjord. Six new routes were climbed, with grades ranging from E2 to E4.
India
Miyar
Possibly the first time that local politics has come to the aid of an expedition! To reach the Miyar Glacier in Western Lahul this team had to cross the Rotang La, blocked by the heaviest snow in 25 years. Fortunately the pass had to be opened for the delivery of election papers to a number of remote settlements, so the game was still on. To avoid getting tied up in bureaucracy the expedition aims were simply ‘exploration and rock-climbing’. Concentrating on the Jangpar Glacier, not previously visited, Graham Little and Jim Lowther climbed a minor top - Christina Peak (5420m) - from which they were able to survey the surrounding mountain complex with its vast rock walls. They also climbed Lammergeier Spire on excellent rock at D. Meanwhile Brian Davison and Kevin Kelly attempted a mixed route but had to abort due to a dropped sack.
Kalanka North Face
The squad of Sandy Allan and John Lyall (UK) and Carlos Buhler (US) trotted off to the North Face of Kalanka (6991m) in the Garhwal Himalaya. Unfortunately bureaucracy and heavy snow delayed them by seven days. The snow continued after they had established their camp which was promptly destroyed by a sérac fall. At this stage Buhler left the expedition, but the two Brits continued heading up, and found a site for Camp 2 at 6180m. Then the snow hit them again, with avalanches making further progress impossible.
China and Tibet
British Qionglai
Mick Fowler’s success on Siguniang (6250m) in 2002 alerted other British mountaineers to the scope offered by the Qionglai Range of Sichuan Province, and Tom Chamberlain, David Evans, Dave Hollinger and Andy Sharpe hoped to climb a new route on the N Spur or the W Ridge of Siguniang itself. However, bad weather intervened, and their attempt on the former was terminated when they met wet loose snow at 5200m. Similar conditions thwarted attempts on nearby peaks, but they did tick both Camel Peaks (c5510m) – snowy mountains with easy mixed ground.
Gongga East
Another team to Sichuan. Angela Benham, Chris Drinkwater, Titch Kavanagh and Andrew Phillips planned to explore glaciers in the Daxue Shan mountains and make the first ascent of the highest peak, Gongga East (6618m). However, shortly before leaving UK they learned that although never officially reported, a Korean team had climbed the peak in 2000. Nevertheless, they decided to continue with it as their primary aim, and try a first ascent from the north. Several attempts were made but weather and rotten conditions forced them to abandon the climb at 5400m.
British West Sichuan
The objective of Martin Scott's team was Haizi Shan (5820m), in an area of West Sichuan, never officially attempted by anyone. Starting at the far left of the NW Face, their route led via a long ridge to the North summit (c.5710m). Although much of the long traverse to the main summit was climbed, time ran out with 250m still to go.
Qomo Lhari
Qomo Lhari (7326m) in Yadong County, South Tibet was first climbed in 1937 by Spencer Chapman, but did not receive its second ascent until 1970 and its third in 1996. Julie-Ann Clyma and Roger Payne's application to climb it was rejected in 2002, and although offered in 2003 was rescinded at the eleventh hour. But it was third time lucky. Their plan was to make the first ascent of the NW Ridge, but they were forced to abandon it at 6000m due to extremely strong winds. However, in their few remaining days, they managed to make a very rapid ascent to the summit via the S Ridge, the peak’s first ascent in alpine style.
Big-Wall of China
John and Anne Arran were also attracted to the delights of Sichuan, but their aim being to explore and make first ascents of big walls and rock spires in the Mt Siguniang National Park. Unfortunately, July and August are the wettest months of the year. Nevertheless, they were successful in making first ascents of two peaks – Niuxim Shan or Heart of Cow Peak, (4942m) and Mi Mi Shan, (5016m) - from the Suang Qiao Gou Valley with technical climbing up to E5. Future visitors should be aware that the best months for rock are March and October, and January for ice.
Central Asia
Zaalaiskiy Ridge
Once again, Paul Hudson's team selected a relatively unfrequented area for this exploratory expedition - the Zaalaiskiy range in the far south of Kyrgyzstan. They had originally planned to operate from the Nura Glacier, but went to the even less visited western end of the range, close to the Tajikistan border, where they climbed ten snow peaks up to 5513m. Although nothing was known about previous ascents, several summits were adorned with "piles of stones that did not look natural" so probably only three were first ascents.
Scottish Kyzyl Asker
Es Tresidder, Pete Benson, Matt Halls, Guy Robertson and Robin Thomas returned, hoping to make the first ascent of the SE Face of Kyzyl Asker (5842m). However, an extreme thaw had virtually eliminated the dramatic central ice line, so they turned their attention to climbing five new routes on other peaks in the area.
Kyrgystan - Djungart
With several previous visits to Kyrgyzstan behind her, Ingrid Crossland returned with Graham Sutton for the first climbing expedition to visit the Djungart area of the Kokshaal Too. Access to the area has only recently become a realistic possibility with the establishment of a seasonal helicopter base at Maida Adyr. However the weather was exceptionally warm for the time of year, with rain falling as high as 4000m, so little climbing was possible.
British Western Hajar Traverse 2003/4
Although small groups of British enthusiasts have been visiting the mountains of Oman since Sir Wilfred Thesiger in 1947, this was the first application for support submitted to the MEF. Encouraged by Sir Wilfred shortly before he died, this team of Geoff Hornby with Susie Sammut, Mark Turnbull and David Wallis planned to make a continuous SW to NW 600 km traverse of the Western Hajar range from the base of the Wahiba Sands to Al Dawadi on the Indian Ocean by camel, foot and bike, climbing new routes on each of the major rock faces along the way. Wallis had to leave the team part way, but despite continuous new rules imposed by Omani government officials and ‘more foot blisters than you could throw a stick at’, the other three managed to achieve their goal.
Cancelled
Spaghetti Mountain Miyar Nala
Teng Kang Poche North Pillar
British Xiashe North Face
Lobsang 2004
Still away
British Hispar Sar
British Aguilera
Greenland Challenge
Teng Kangpoche NW Face
Eigerwand of the Khumbu
Jankuth
Scottish Cordillera Huayhuash
British Artesonaraju
Greenland White Sea
Nganglong Kangri
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