Jaonli Attempt from the South. Although Jaonli (6632 meters, 21,760 feet) has been climbed several times from the Jaonli Bamak on the north, the whole east side above the Khatling Glacier was unvisited. Our Anglo-Irish veterans party, two in our mid-sixties (one with a coronary bypass) and two in their mid-fifties, decided to attempt the east ridge from the Khatling. We were Britons Mike Banks and Alan Blackshaw and Irishmen Paddy O’Leary, Don Roberts and me. After a five-day hike from Ghuttu, we reached Base Camp at Kachhotra at 4100 meters on May 19. Deep winter snow made the route up the Khatling icefall to Advanced Base at the foot of the east ridge impracticable. We worked out a route on snow-covered moraine and over subsidiary glaciers and ridges south of the main glacier. This took time and so it was not until June 3 that we had a fully stocked Camp III below the ridge at 4550 meters. Reconnaissance showed that the rock band on the east ridge was impossible in the prevailing snow conditions. We turned to the south ridge. On June 9, Banks, Blackshaw and O’Leary reached the south ridge at 5850 meters. They endured 48 hours of heavy snowfall in very unpleasant conditions. On June 12, they attempted to move further up the ridge, which appeared fairly straightforward, but they were frustrated by the fresh snow. With supplies exhausted, they descended with some difficulty and reached Base Camp on June 14. Meanwhile, on June 8, from Camp III Liaison Officer C.P Ravichandra and I made the first ascent of subsidiary P 5450 (17,881 feet) at the foot of the east ridge by the east face and southeast ridge.

Joss Lynam, Federation of Mountaineering Clubs of Ireland