Kusum Kanguru. Our original objective was the north face of Kusum Kanguru. Three days before our arrival at Base Camp, this 6000-foot-high wall was soloed by Hiroshi Aota. The bold Japanese persevered for two days through eight inches of heavy snow plastered to 75° ice. Not having Shinto ancestors to join if we failed, we attempted a rock route on the north ridge. Jim Traverso, Steve Ruoss and I began our alpine-style ascent on April 16. The rock was of poor quality and provided 5000 vertical feet of climbing up to 5.8 and short sections of A1. We were slowed by bad weather and having both our ropes chopped by rockfall. We reached the summit snow ridge on the fifth day, having used our last fuel cartridge that morning. In deteriorating weather, we turned back just short of the summit (6367 meters, 20,890 feet). With shortened ropes, we had an epic descent, reaching Base Camp thirty-six dehydrated hours later.

Geoffrey Tabin