Yalungkang Attempt, Winter, 1988-9. Our expedition was led by Józef Stepien of Wroclaw and had as members Aleksander Lwow, Ewa Panejko- Pankiewicz, Bogdan Stefko, Zdzislaw Jakubowski, Dr. Kazimierz Pichlak and me. We left Kathmandu on December 17, 1988 and ran into snow at 2000 meters. Further snowfall, especially above 4000 meters, slowed the approach and forced us on January 10 to make a Lower Base Camp, three days’s march below actual Base Camp, which was established at 5600 meters finally on January 27. Only a few porters helped us carry from one Base Camp to the other. Above 5000 meters snow conditions were favorable but above 6500 meters was the zone of storms. We used the normal southeast-side route. Camps I and II were placed at 6200 and 6900 meters on February 1 and 7. We fixed 400 meters of rope. On February 12, the high point of 7150 meters was reached by Lwow and Jakubowski, who had to crawl on hands and knees in the high winds. More heavy snowfall in the next days forced abandoning the expedition.

Wanda RutKiewicz, Klub Wysokogórski Warszawa, Poland