Dhaulagiri. The Argentines made a second attempt on Dhaulagiri, (26,795 feet.) Under the leadership of Lt. Col. Emiliano Huerta were Mario Bertone, Sergeant Felipe Godoy (who was on the first expedition), Sergeant Humberto Vassalla, Vicente Cichitti, Benjamin Soria, Orlando Bravo, and Jaime Femenías. On April 6, 1956, the first four were at Base Camp at the foot of the mountain, at 14,750 feet. This had been Camp I on the previous Argentine Expedition. On the same day the second four were still only at Pokhara. By following the Mayandi Khola, three of the latter joined the expedition only on April 29, after the first group had already established Camp I at 16,400 feet and an intermediate camp at 18,000 feet. I, on the other hand, arrived at base camp April 20 ahead of the rest to inform the party of our whereabouts. On April 25, with our sirdar, Ayiwa [Probably Ajeeba, H. C. No. 10— Ed.] I climbed Manapati in the Dhaulagiri Himal.

The first attempt on the summit was made, starting May 8, by the leader Huerta, with Godoy, Vassalla, and the Sherpas Karma (also of the previous Argentine Expedition) and Pasang. They began from Camp II, at 20,000 feet, and climbed the “Pear,” to establish their Camp V at 25,000 feet at the same spot that Ibáñez’s expedition had had its Camp VII. Supplies and equipment had been badly organized and ran out at that point, halting their ascent.

The second attempt was organized in Camp II, and the following participated: Godoy, Vassalla, Cichitti, Ayiwa (who had been with Herzog on Annapurna and was for the third time on Dhaulagiri), Karma, Pasang, and I. We started May 22 and reached Camp V May 26. Again, supplies ran out, and we had to return, evacuating the mountain May 29. We crossed French Col to Tukucha and returned thence to Pokhara. Typical of our unfortunate organization was the fact that we had oxygen equipment, but no oxygen in our cylinders. We also tragically lost one porter, Bal Bahadur, who died in an avalanche at 17,400 feet, just below the intermediate camp.

Jaime Femenias, Asociación Tucamana de Andinismo