Cho Oyu, West Side, Pre-Monsoon. A number of ascents of Cho Oyu were made in the pre-monsoon period on the western side of the peak. Spaniard Andrés Ruiz, of an expedition led by Eloy Sánchez, completed the 83rd ascent of the peak on May 8. Swiss Peter Stadler led a group of 29 Swiss, Germans and Austrians. On May 8, Swiss Alfred Beetschen and Mario Rizzi reached the summit, while the next day Germans Matthias Respondek, Wolfgang Maier, Austrians Ewald Eder, Theo Pichler and Swiss Frédéric Pantillon, Niklaus von Schumacher, Elizabeth and Peter Wullschleger also got to the top. The expedition was, however, marred by the death of a German member in a fall. Three of six Greeks climbed to the summit on May 8. They were leader Ioannis Kon- stantinou, Petros Kapsomenakis, Konstaninos Tsivelekas, accompanied by Nepalese Tirtha Tamang. South Tirolean Hermann Tauber was the leader of nine Germans and seven Italians (mostly South Tiroleans). On May 27, Germans Andi Wiedemann, Adelbert Albrecht, Ottmar Fangauer, Frau Monika Kumpf, Josef Weissenberger, Helmuth Bauer, Horst Conrad and Italians leader Tauber, Roland Erardi, Josef Pallhuber, Konrad Renzler, Frau Karoline Wolfsgruber and Robert Gasser reached the summit.

Elizabeth Hawley