Annapurna, Northwest Buttress Attempt. Annapurna’s still unclimbed northwest buttress is very dangerous. My friends and I are still alive, but we were in the wind from many avalanches in Camp I. An avalanche in Camp II killed a member of the Korean expedition and two of their porters on September 24. The Korean climbing leader, Carlo Besana and I rescued Kim Chung-Hwan below Camp II four hours later. Our group was made up of Besana, Giuseppe Lafranconi, Achille Pasini, Claudio Cavenago, Fabio Nicoli, Giulano Maresi, Lino Tagliabue, Paolo Lietti, Remigio Bonacina, Sante Armuzzi and me as leader. We had only ten days of good weather out of 38. We established Base Camp at 13,300 feet on September 12 and Camps I and II at 16,400 and 17,400 feet on September 14 and 20. On September 24 Camp II disappeared and Camp I was destroyed. We placed a new Camp II at 17,550 feet on the 28th but the weather was bad until October 5. On October 8 Besana and I placed Camp III at 20,350 feet, but heavy snow from October 9 to 12 made Camps II and III disappear from sight. We got back down on the 14th and 15th.

Paolo Panzeri, Club Alpino Italiano