Ganesh Himal IV (Pabil). Our members were Stanley Kent, Dr. Lawrence Dunn, Gordon Seibel and me. Our approach took eight days through an area new to Americans. We had planned to take twelve days on the approach, as had the Koreans and Japanese before us, but managed to cover significant ground on

the first four days. The weather was terrible. It rained every day on the approach and snowed on all but three or four days on the climb. We established Base Camp below the southeast ridge at 14,300 feet on October 6 and Camp I at 17,500 feet on October 8. We started to stock that camp but had to abandon it on the 10th because of heavy snowfall. When we returned on October 17, we found it buried by two avalanches. We placed Camp IA 500 feet higher. Camp II was made on the 19th on an ice formation, the “Ship’s Prow.” On October 21 Kent, Seibel, Ganesh Gurung and Nawang Sherpa planned to climb the ice and rock rib above the prow, ascend the icefall above the rib, bivouac at 22,000 feet and go for the summit. It took them six hours to climb the rib because of the snow and ice conditions. At 21,000 feet at the top of the rib, where the Koreans had exited last year over a large sérac, they found that the sérac had pitched over at least 45° and stopped any exit from the rib. All exits were barred by overhanging ice, crevasses or required climbing avalanche chutes. Because of the obvious danger and continued bad weather, we gave up the attempt.

Richard Ranson, Unaffiliated