Gurja Himal Attempt. On October 7, my wife Danielle Fioggiaroli-Gendey, Dr. Dominique Oilier, Jacques Henry, Patrick Huard, Jean-Luc Le Floch and I left Pokhara with 60 porters, hoping to climb the 1969 Japanese route on Gurja Himal (7193 meters, 23,600 feet). After having gone around the Dhaulagiri massif, we got to Base Camp at 4100 meters on the Kaphe Glacier on October 18. We placed Camps I and II at 4700 and 5000 meters on October 20 and 23. A thousand meters of steep but easy rock led to the hanging plateau of the Kaphe Glacier. This part of the route was entirely fixed with rope by Chuck Evans’ expedition to Churen Himal and by us. We placed Camp III at 5950 meters on the 28th. A big snowfall prevented placing Camp IV on the far side of the plateau until the 30th. The next day, Le Floch, Pemba Norbu Sherpa and Sonam Sherpa bivouacked on the ramp that leads to the shoulder at 6300 meters. On November 1, they made a summit try but had to give up because of high winds and avalanche danger.

Patrick Gendey, Club Alpin Français