Asia, India—Garhwal, Kedar Dome

Publication Year: 1989.

Kedar Dome. Our 16-person international expedition established Base Camp at Tapovan on September 2. Our plans were to climb the northwest ridge of Kedar Dome and Shivling’s south buttress. Advance Base was established below the south face of Shivling at 15,700 feet. Americans Mike Goff and I set off for an attempt on Kedar Dome, leaving Advance Base on September 6. At 20,500 feet, during the third night’s bivouac, five inches of snow fell and forced us to retreat the following morning to Camp I at 16,075 feet. A team set out from Camp I under clear skies and followed our route. Australians Dave Gardner and Warwick Baird, American John Porter who lives in England, Tasmanians Sue Duff, Ann Wessing and Russell Taylor arrived on the summit on September 12. Nick Deka soloed the same route the next day. Tasmanian leader Jim Duff, Australian Andy Henderson, Englishman Trevor Jones, Goff and I set out from Camp I on the 15th. In two days we pushed our camp to 21,500 feet. Snow continued to fall all night, which made progress the next day slow and precarious. We set off a small avalanche when we were within 200 feet of the summit and decided to retreat. We arrived back at Base Camp on September 19 after five days of continuous snowfall to find our tents collapsed under wet snow. Hopes for an attempt on Shivling were abandoned.

Angela Hawse*

*Recipient of a Vera Watson-Alison Chadwick Onyszkiewicz Fellowship grant.