Annapurna Attempt. Swiss Jean Troillet and Pierre-Alain Steiner attempted a new route on the northwest face of Annapurna to the left of the attempted French route of the pre-monsoon and on the face itself. They made an alpine-style attempt without camps, fixed ropes, porters or artificial oxygen. They left Base Camp on October 6 and reached 7600 meters on the west face at the shoulder of the northwest ridge. They saw bad weather coming from the west and with only one gas bottle left, they descended. During their descent down the north face, they fell 200 meters and Steiner lost his pack. They later attempted to go up to retrieve the pack, but by now Steiner’s fingers were frostbitten and they abandoned the attempt. They said that their main problem was fierce wind, plus some nearly nil visibility. The route was up steep ice of 55° to 90°.

Michael J. Cheney, Himalayan Club, and Elizabeth Hawley