Gangapurna Attempt. We had the last of the monsoon rains on the first day of our march in, followed by a long stretch of good weather. During this time we set up and stocked Advance Base at 14,500 feet and placed two camps on the mountain. We and Australians attempting Annapurna III from the same side originally had our first camps at the same site at 15,800 feet. However, we moved our camp to 16,500 feet atop the first step of a large rock buttress which lies in the center of the cirque formed by the southern sides of Gangapurna and Annapurna III. On October 10 this camp was occupied by five people. A storm hit that day and on the morning of the 11th an avalanche buried them. Luckily, all were able to get out. The last man to be found was nearly unconscious and turning blue. After finding what gear they could, these five descended to the unoccupied Australian Camp and spent the next two nights there. This incident destroyed the morale of a couple of the climbers, as well as all but one of our remaining high-altitude tents. After a day of discussion, we elected to quit. The members were Susan Coons, Brian Cox, Henry Hazebrouck, John Herb, Frank King, William Robinson, Erik Simpson, Hal Tompkins and I.

Charles K. Sinclair, Unaffiliated