Syn Qing Feng or Buka Daban. The members of our expedition were Toshiaki Sakaue, Takashi Masuda, Kazuyoshi Nakata, Akira Hayashimoto, Yoichiro Shirota and I as leader. On May 4, we placed Base Camp at 4900 meters and on May 7, Advance Base at 5600 meters on the plateau below Syn Qing XVIII, avoiding séracs and crevasses along the glacier. After a snowstorm, on May 12 we traversed the eastern slope of Syn Qing XVIII and set up Camp I at 6000 meters at the head of the glacier before being forced back to Base by another snowstorm. On May 17, Masuda, Hayashimoto and Shirota finally placed Camp II at 6350 meters, and placed fixed ropes to 6500 meters on Syn Qing II’s west ridge. Shirota had to drop out because of frostbite. On May 18, Masuda and Hayashimoto climbed a knife-edge which rose up to 60° and reached the summit (6860 meters, 22,507 feet). The mountain lies on the border of Qinghai and Xinjiang provinces. It is a compact group of some 20 peaks. It was attempted by Japanese in 1988 and Syn Xing II was tried by Americans. (.AAJ, 1989, pages 289-290.) The name is also transliterated as Xin Qing Feng. Its name in Mongolian is Buka Daban.

Tadashi Fukuyama, Himalayan Association of Japan