Zanser Kangri. Our joint Japanese-Tibetan expedition had Gonbu as Tibetan commander-in-chief and me as chief leader. It was a long way to Zanser Kangri which lies in northwest Tibet and we covered 3000 kilometers round-trip. We left Lhasa with seven vehicles on May 3 and traveled through Xigaze, Ngamring, Coqen and over a 5982-meter-high pass over the Transhimalaya. We got to Base Camp at 5200 meters on May 12. The mountain looked easy but the glacier was very badly crevassed. We set up Camps I and II at 5700 and 6000 meters on May 16 and 18. Thirteen climbers assembled at Camp II. Heavy snow fell during the night but a high wind blew the snow away. On May 19, Tibetans Sanzu, Akabu, Tsering Dorje, Lhapka, Tashi Tsering and Tansing Dorje and Japanese Tohru Komatsu, Hitoshi Nisida, Yoshito Yamamoto, Kimio Simizu, Takashi Itoh, Tomoaki Asayama and I reached the summit (6460 meters, 21,195 feet). After an hour on top, we all descended to Base Camp. The caravan took a different way back through Nyima, Baingoan, Nagqu and Damxung to Lhasa.

Nobuyoshi Tamura, Nagano Mountaineering Association, Japan