Shivling Attempt, Direct North Buttress, Alpine-Style. Christoph Hainz and I arrived at Base Camp at 4150 meters below Shivling on May 22. We spent the next seven days acclimatizing. On May 30, we moved up to bivouac at 4700 meters. At four A.M. on May 31, we began the first ascent of the north buttress. We climbed to the right of the Japanese route and climbed 1100 vertical meters with UIAA difficulty up to VII. This wonderful climb was on solid granite. The buttress is very steep and offers no spot for a bivouac. It would have been sensible to descend the normal route, but because of a violent snowstorm which began 300 meters before we reached the summit (6543 meters, 21,467 feet) at four P.M., we could not locate it and descended the route we had ascended. We got back to Base Camp at 4:30 A.M. on June 1. Both of us were snow blind. We remained in our tent for two days and finally on the third were able to begin our journey back to Gangotri and home.

Hans Kammerlander, Alpinschule Südtirol