Khunyang Chhish, South Ridge, attempt. Kazuo Tobita, 60, returned to the Karakoram to attempt an ascent of Khunyang Chhish (7,852m), a mountain he has inspected six times and tried to climb four times. From May to July, with five other Japanese, he attempted the unrepeated south ridge. The south ridge was climbed in August 1971, for the first ascent of the mountain, by Andrzej Heinrich, Jan Stryczynski, Ryszard Szafirski, and the doyen of Polish climbing, Andrej Zawada. This very long ascent is considered to have marked the start of Polish domination of high-altitude climbing in the Karakoram and Hindu Kush during the 1970s and early 1980s. The Japanese placed an upper base camp at 4,800m at the start of the south ridge, Camp 1 on June 27 at 5,600m, and reached 5,900m before giving up in bad weather. Avalanche danger was high, due to the potential for cornice collapse on the ridge.

Tobita has now attempted the mountain from the Yazghil glacier to the north, from the northwest via the upper Yazghil glacier twice, and via the long and technically demanding west ridge.

Tamotsu Nakamura and the Japanese Alpine News