Nanga Parbat, Rupal Buttress Attempt. Our expedition was composed of Yannick Seigneur, leader, Jean Afanassieff, Bernard Prud’homme, French, Bernd Neubaur, Michael Hoffmann, Rainier Pickl, Siegfried Wirth, Thomas Nuber, Germans and me, Swiss. We took two days from Rampur to Base Camp at the foot of the east face of Nanga Parbat, aided by 120 porters. On May 9 Seigneur and I placed Base Camp at 13,775 feet at the very foot of the Rupal buttress. We placed Camp I at 17,400 feet above a zone of rock and snow slopes, made more difficult because of the enormous amount of snow and avalanches. Camp II at 19,525 feet was above a great sérac barrier, which increased the danger of this difficult route. A big 1650-foot-high ice gully of 50° to 60° led to Camp III at 21,000 feet. On June 12 we lost Sheikh Ali, one of our two high-altitude porters who was killed while carrying a load and apparently slipped off a fixed rope; this caused the other one to withdraw. On June 13 Seigneur and I reached 23,300 feet, having overcome great difficulties. As we descended, a windslab broke and carried away seven lengths of fixed rope. After some bad weather, on June 20 two rope pairs left for a summit attempt. We replaced the fixed rope. Just as we finished this, a snow-and-ice avalanche struck Seigneur. He had several broken ribs, a cracked pelvis and many bruises, but he was still alive! It took three days to get him down. This ended our attempt. A month later the Herrligkoffer expedition was able to use our ropes from 19,000 feet up.

Stéfane Schaffter, Club Alpin Suisse