Nanda Devi, South Ridge. On June 21 David Hambly, David Mc- Clung, William Fryberger, Bruce Byers, Steve Casebold and Glenn Brindeiro of the 1978 Seattle-Garhwal Himalaya Expedition made the seventh recorded ascent of Nanda Devi (25,645 feet) by the normal route. The above, Jan Balut, Dr. Gerald Casebold, David Seman and I left the bridge at Reni on May 13 with 48 porters and over 100 goats and came up the lower gorge which made an interesting and practical variation from the usual Dharansi Pass route since it avoided the winter snow on the latter. On the second day we had to spend about seven hours rebuilding a bridge across the Rishi Ganga. We had trouble with our porters in spite of the best efforts of our excellent liaison officer, Captain S. S. Dhillon. However, Base Camp (16,200 feet) was reached in about 11 days of trekking in superb weather. Soon after reaching Base Camp a storm hit with snow and high winds. Great banners of snow were blown off the peak. Apart from this storm, and a two day storm while at Camp I, we had good weather. Since we had no porters above Base Camp, we spent an arduous eight or nine days carrying loads to Camp I which was established at 19,000 feet. Camp II was at 20,200 feet and the fixed rope from previous expeditions proved useful. Unfortunately, a tragedy hit us when Captain Dhillon fell to his death while descending from Camp II after taking up a load. It was found that the fixed rope was nearly continuous from Camp I all the way to Camp V at 24,100 feet, although, in several areas, it was buried in the snow and had to be refixed or replaced. Camp III was established on June 12 at 21,600 feet on the snow slope above the snow arete. The remains of the 1977 British-American camp and equipment was found buried in the snow. Camp IV was placed just at the top of the steep rock face above the snow slope. Some harder climbing above this camp led to a 40-foot vertical rock wall, which had to be surmounted before the site of Camp V was reached on June 20. The summit was attained on June 21 via easy snow slopes although there was one tricky pitch where belaying was welcome. Clouds prevented a good view from the summit. We took four days to return to Reni, including a very long day from Sarson Patal down the upper gorge to the Trisul Nala in monsoon weather. After returning to Joshimath we spent three days at an Indian army inquiry into the death of our liaison officer.

Michael D. Clarke