Langtang Lirung, Ascent and Tragedy. The Trieste expedition was composed of Bruno Toscan, leader, Bruno Crepaz, Mauro Contento, Mauro Petronio, Giuliano Ravagnan, Adriano Tavernaro and Dr. Luisa Mestroni. Unfortunately my husband and I found at the last moment that we could not join the expedition. The objective was to climb the southwest ridge, which had been climbed only once before, by Japanese in 1981. The summit (7246 meters, 23,764 feet) was reached on October 17 by Petronio and Sherpa Nga Temba. The ascent had been tiring and dangerous because of bad weather. Some 3250 feet of rope were fixed. On October 18 Crepaz disappeared during the descent at about 20,000 feet, apparently having made a false move on the fixed ropes. He was one of the best climbers in the Dolomites, where he had made over 100 new routes.

Silvia Metzeltin Buscaini, Club Alpino Italiano