Dhaulagiri Attempts, Ascents and Tragedy. Nine teams attempted Dhaulagiri (8167 meters) this autumn, all via the Northeast Ridge. The climbers came from Georgia, Belarussia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Japan, Spain, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Nepal. Twenty eight of them reached the summit. Anatoli Bukreev, who joined a predominantly Georgian expedition at the last moment in Katmandu, specializes in speed climbing, and he made the fastest recorded ascent from the 4600 meter base-camp to the summit: 17 hours. Of the 17 other western Europeans only two Austrians were successful, but 26 men and women from eastern Europe and Asia, including Bukreev and eight Japanese, reached the top. The only person to lose his life on the mountain was the leader of one of the three Japanese teams, Hisayoshi Tawaraya, who tragically disappeared after having been to the summit.

Elizabeth Hawley