Chobutse Attempt. All twelve members attempted Ramdung (5925 meters, 19,440 feet) unsuccessfully before going to Chobutse. Then seven of us tried to climb Chobutse (6685 meters, 21,932 feet) by a new route, the central southwest ridge. David Heath, Richard Susgin, Englishman David Franklin and I, on October 20, got to the apex of the southwest ridge, 500 feet below the summit, after twelve days of climbing, the last three above 20,000 feet. The weather had been very warm (in excess of 10° C) for the previous three days and it appeared we were in for another warm day. The warm weather was causing the entire mountain to avalanche almost continually from eleven A.M. to six P.M. Even though we were only three hours from the summit, we decided we could not complete the route and return to the safety of our snow cave, 400 feet lower. We waited there until midnight, when the snow was a little firmer, and continued back down to Camp II, where there was a cache of food and fuel.

Michael K. Badham, Alpine Club of Canada