Makalu, West Face. After leaving Kathmandu on August 28, Sergio Petrini, Claudio Regheschi and I reached the Hillary Base Camp on September 10. We had to leave our desperately ill liaison officer with an Italian expedition there, where he died of edema on the 13th. Most of our expedition had continued to North Base Camp under the west face at 5350 meters on September 11. Formalities and then bad weather held things up until September 20. We planned to climb the route we had started in 1982 on the left edge of the west face, to the left of the Polish route. On September 22 we occupied Camp I at 6100 meters. We prepared the route on September 23 and 24, fixing 250 meters of rope up to 6850 meters on the most difficult parts of the buttress. Camp II was placed at 6400 meters. After a rest at Base Camp, on September 27 Regheschi and I went to Camp II. He kept on with my pack to 6850 meters before we both spent the night at Camp II. On September 28,1 left at three A.M., was at 6850 meters at dawn and reached 7800 meters under the final rock band at five P.M. Wind kept me from starting before 10:30 on September 29. I reached the summit ridge at 2:30, the last step at 6:30 and was on the summit at seven P.M. I descended with a headlamp and moonlight to bivouac at 7500 meters at midnight. On September 30, I continued the descent. I was met by Regheschi on the central glacier below the west face at 6000 meters and got to Base Camp at nine P.M.

Romolo Nottaris, Club Alpino Svizzero