Ama Dablam in the Post-Monsoon. A total of 50 men and women summited Ama Dablam this season. Two expeditions each put 11 of their members on the top, bringing to 388 the grand total of foreigners to the summit of this 6812-meter (22,349-foot) peak. Two teams had 14 and 18 members, a size that one of the leaders said “was much too large.” All climbed the normal southwest ridge except where specially noted. An expedition of 11 South Koreans led by Son Moon-Kyu completed the 136th ascent of the peak on September 10 when Kim Young-Jeoung and Park Byoung-Sun got to the summit. Members of this expedition also simultaneously climbed Tawoche and Cholatse. [See below.] Swiss Bruno Jelk led 13 Swiss and 1 Austrian, who placed the following on the summit: Richard Lchner, Thomas Zumtaugwald, Manfred Graven, Jean-Louis Mazzone on October 5; Rudolf Steindl (Austrian), Klaus Tsherrig, Bernhard Imboden, Prem Lhakpa Sherpa on October 6; and Kurt Lauber, Willi Taugwalder, Urs Lerjen, Bruno Marchetto on October 7. Climbing the north ridge, 9 Japanese led by Hidehiko Tajiri all completed the ascent: Kanji Saito, Yasuo Matsumoto, Tomayasu Sano, Hiroshi Doke on October 19 and leader Tajiri, Jiro Kurisima, Mizuho Tamaru, Tsutomu Yanagisawa and Kumihiro Kumagai on October 21. Scot Rob Fairley led 12 Britons, 2 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Irishman, 1 German, 1 Pole. The following made it to the top: Pole Ryszard Pawlowski, Americans Keith Boskoff and Mrs. Chris Boskoff. Briton Simon Yates on October 25; Britons Andy Collins, Peter Williams on October 26; Britons Ken Balfour, Ian Pomeroy, Miss Peta Watts on October 27 and Britons Nigel Porter, John Walmsley on October 30. On October 26, all 6 Frenchmen led by René Tomio climbed the mountain: Pierre Blanc, Bernard Favre, Gérard Girod, Thierry Lombard, Cédrik Tomio and leader Tomio. Led by Takao Miyashita, 5 Japanese put onto the summit on October 27 leader Miyashita, Hisao Onami, Shiro Niwa and Tuyoshi Oizumi. An international expedition consisting of 4 Australians, 1 American and 1 Briton, led by Australian Armando Corvini, climbed up the south ridge and descended the southwest ridge. On November 8, Australians Andrew McAuley, Miss Vera Wong, American Rod Willard completed the climb, followed on November 10 by Australians Corvini, Andrew Burns, Briton David Smith. Two expeditions were unsuccessful. American Ed Webster and Canadian Paul Teare first tried the northwest ridge, getting to 5790 meters on October 23 and then the north face of the west col, where their high point was 5750 meters on November 7. Jean-Jacques Couton led 6 Frenchmen, who got to 6400 meters on the southwest ridge on November 7.

Elizabeth Hawley