Nanga Parbat Attempt. Our expedition reached Base Camp in the high meadow, Lathebow, in the Rupal valley at 12,000 feet on May 15, hoping to climb the southeast buttress of Nanga Parbat. The buttress was, however, snow-covered and avalanche-swept and so I changed our objective to the southwest ridge, the Kinshofer route. The weather was wintery with daily snowfalls. Camp I was placed at 16,400 feet. We had to fix ropes past the Red Cliffs on the way to Camp II. This stood at 19,700 feet at the bottom of the Kuen Icefield, which was particularly difficult because of the new snow. Camp III was placed in the middle of the icefield at 23,000 feet two weeks later. On June 15 Michel Dacher, Valentin Demmel, Lenz Spiegler, Giri Göbi and Sepp Gloggner set out from Camp III in knee-deep snow and set Camp IV at 24,450 feet. The next day they descended 50 meters into the Diamir Face, but despite beautiful weather, none of them wanted to continue because of extreme avalanche danger. They withdrew exhausted to Base Camp. Time ran out and avalanche danger was too great. On June 21, in beautiful weather, the expedition was given up.

Karl Maria Herrligkoffer, Deutsches Institut für Auslandsforschung