Cheru (Queer), Sichuan, 1988. A joint Japanese-Chinese expedition of Kobe University and the China College of Geology at Wuhan made the first ascent of Cheru (6168 meters, 20,237 feet; 31° 30' N, 99° E). There were 8 Japanese and 12 Chinese. It took them three hours on September 11 with 27 yaks to reach Base Camp at 3800 meters below the northeast face. On the 12th, they carried to Advance Base at 4150 meters. It took them two days to find the way to the glacier. Camps I and II at 4500 and 5200 meters were occupied on September 16 and 19. On September 21, Camp 11 was moved to 5250 meters and ropes were fixed on the snow slopes above. The first summit bid was cancelled by a heavy snowstorm. On September 23, four Japanese and four Chinese left Camp II and reached the west col. Very strong winds drove them back from the steep summit ridge. That same day other members made another camp at 5400 meters, where 14 spent the night. On September 24, Japanese Hironori Kitaguchi, Hisatake Funabara, Tetsuji Takeuchi, Ms. Naoko Sugimoto and Chinese Dong Fang, Zhang Zhijiang, Zhang Wei and Zheng Chao reached the summit. That same day, Japanese Mitsuru Kawabata and Chinese Ma Xinxiang, Meng Xinguo and Zhang Jun also got to the top. On the 25th two more Japanese, Daisuke Takechi and Hiroshi Hori, made it to the top. The route seems to have been mostly glacial with rock sections around icefalls. The honorary leaders were Yan Weiran and Kazumasa Hirai; overall leader was Chinese Hu Yansheng; climbing leaders were Japanese Hironori Kitaguchi and Chinese Zhu Sarong.

Tsunemichi Ikeda, Editor, Iwa To Yuki