Shivling and Bhagirathi III Attempts. Fabrizio Defrancesco, Stefano Nicolussi and I hoped to climb the Indo-Tibetan Border Police route on the west ridge of Shivling and the southwest buttress of Bhagirathi III. We got to Base Camp at the foot of Bhagirathi III on August 27. The weather was unsettled and it snowed every night. On September 8, we decided to attempt Shivling alpine-style and climbed to bivouac at 5050 meters. In beautiful weather, we climbed the next day to 5450 meters. We set out at four A.M. on the 10th, passed the usual Camp III and got to the base of the great sérac, the key to the route. We climbed 70 meters of very difficult ice which varied from 50° to 90° and had only ten meters left. However, the condition of the ice became terrible and sloughed off dangerously. After some attempts, we gave up and returned to Base Camp. On September 14, we started up the Scottish route on Bhagirathi III. On the morning of the 15th, as we were preparing breakfast, the stove exploded, burning the tent and destroying equipment. With morale at a low point, we descended and abandoned the expedition.

Mario Manicà, Club Alpino Italiano