Anye Maqin IX. On September 5, Martin Hampar, Michael and Catherine Pettipher, Ben Williams and I established Base Camp at 4200 meters in the main valley about a quarter mile beyond the large stream descending from the east face of Anye Maqin I. On the 7th, we placed Camp I at 4800 meters on the highest end of the north moraine of the Harlon II Glacier. Our attempt to find a route up the right bay, recommended by the Chinese, was halted by a series of complex icefalls. A reconnaissance of the Japanese route of 1981 via a spur between the two bays revealed why they had fixed 1000 feet of rope. Having neither the resources nor the time for this, we switched our attention to the relatively straightforward unclimbed summit of Anye Maqin III (6090 meters). Williams and I reached 5200 meters on the east ridge before running out of steam. On September 18, Williams and Mike Pettipher established a camp at 4700 meters on the east side of the northern glacier of Anye Maqin IX, the prominent southern outlier of the range clearly seen from Snow Mountain Commune. On September 20, after having been turned back the previous day by snow squalls, they made the first ascent of this peak (5690 meters, 18,668 feet) by the northern glacier and the col on its west side. Like the Australians in 1981, we deplore the environmental damage left by the 1981 Japanese Joetsu expedition.

John Tower, Alpine Club