Z3, Zanskar Group. Our expedition consisted of Gianni Pasinetti, Giacomo Cenini, Piero Favalli, Rina Gentilini, Tullio Rocco, Massimo Sanavio and me as leader. We had as objectives Z3 and Z8. We placed Base Camp on August 7 near the Pensi La at 14,100 feet below the Durung Drung Glacier. On the 9th we established Camp I on the right moraine of Z3 at 14,750 feet. On the 10th, after an ascent exposed to rockfall, we reached the col below the beginning of the southwest ridge. There we placed Camp II at 17,625 feet. That same day we were informed of a crevasse accident to a two-man Japanese party on the high Durung Drung. Guided by Tamaki Narisawa, friend of the unlucky Miki Masazumi Kashi, we tried to recover the body but we could not find it. The body was finally rescued by a 21-man Indian military team. On the 14th we returned to Camp II in fresh snow. On the following day Favalli, Pasinetti and I proceeded through the new snow with difficulty and, keeping on the south flank of the ridge to the final snow knife-edge, we reached the summit (6270 meters, 20,571 feet). This appears to be the second ascent, the first having been made in 1913 by Italians led by Mario Piacenza, who named it “Cima Italia.” The sickness of one member and a serious infection of our cook obliged us to renounce the attempt of Z8. Base Camp was evacuated on August 19.

Agostino Gentilini, Club Alpino Italiano