Urkinmang, Langtang Himal. On November 8 Bill Roos, Judy Rearick, Larry Derby and I made the second ascent of Urkinmang (20,100 feet) by its west ridge. The day before the summit was reached, ropes were fixed on 600 feet of rock band which began at 18,000 feet. These aided a very early start and assisted the descent in darkness. The ridge was corniced and composed on the southern exposure of hard snow and ice and on the northern side of loose, granular snow. This was almost the exact opposite of conditions encountered by the South African first-ascent team in 1972. Two days later, Bobby Campbell, Chuck Beyrensmeyer and Frances Butt were forced by high winds from their summit camp at 19,000 feet and were unable to gain the top.

Matthew Wells, High Altitude Observatory, Climax, Colorado