Dhaulagiri Ascent and Tragedy. An expedition of five Russians and five Germans was officially led jointly by Vladimir Musienko and Erwin Beyerlein. They climbed the northeast ridge of Dhaulagiri. On April 30, Russians Alexei Guliayev, Valeri Kokhanov, Peter Kuznetsov, Nikolai Smetanin and Nikolai Zakharov reached the summit from Camp V at 7700 meters. Tragically, well- known German climber Hubert Weinzierle died on May 2 of heart failure at Camp III at 7000 meters. Smetanin was not on the official list of climbers and so both he and the official leader Musienko are banned from entering Nepal for the next five years. The strange thing is that Musienko was only the formal leader and was not present in the Himalaya.

Elizabeth Hawley