Asia, Pakistan, Nanga Parbat Attempt
Nanga Parbat Attempt. Our expedition was composed of Walter Ruppert, leader, Lili Alfrid Ruppert, Walter Knezicek, Herbert Jesenko, Naz Gruber, Walter Snehotta, my brother Gerhard Neumayer and me. We attempted the 10,000-foot-high Diamir Face of Nanga Parbat. We were delayed 12 days in Rawalpindi waiting for baggage and only got to the Bunar Bridge on July 26. We set out from there to Base Camp with 70 porters. Base Camp was on the right moraine of the Diamir Glacier at 13,400 feet. On August 3 we set up Camp I at 15,425 feet at the beginning of a 60° rockfall-threatened ice couloir. We had to retire to Base Camp in the face of snowfall and subsequent avalanche danger. On August 14 we set up Camp II at 19,700 feet but were driven back down by bad weather. On August 17 we set out again. My brother and I reached 22,300 feet on the 19th but were again driven back by snowfall. This time the mountain was plastered with six feet of snow and we abandoned the attempt. Close to Camp I at about 16,000 feet we found the remains of Bob Broughton, the American lost on July 31, 1977. We buried him in a crevasse.
Franz Neumayer, Österreichischer Alpenverein