Shiva, Himachal Pradesh. Our Japanese all-women’s expedition climbed Shiva (6142 meters, 20,150 feet). Base Camp was at 4200 meters south of Shiva. We placed Camp I at 4700 meters at the end of the south glacier on August 10. To reach Camp II at 5600 meters on the west ridge we had to cross the ridge between the south and west glaciers and climb the south face. On August 14, Ryuko Matsuda, Toyo Kurai, Kakuko Bizen, three porters and I climbed two hours on rock on the west ridge and then up steep difficult snow and ice for six hours. We reached the summit at four P.M.

Junko Tabei, Japanese Alpine Club