Returning from an ascent of Putha Hiunchuli, where on May 7 all our expedition members reached the 7,246m summit in progression douce—snail-style—I escaped to the arêtes of Putha Himal, a long ridge between Putha Hiunchuli and Churen Himal. Leaving our 4,910m base camp at 4:30 p.m. on the 9th, I re-ascended the Chandau Glacier and a long slope on the northwest flank to reach a foresummit at 5,906m. From here, a finely chiselled snow and ice ridge led to the first summit, which I named Aiguille Joséphine (6,156m), before continuing northeast to the main summit, which I named Peak Hawley, in homage to Elizabeth Hawley for her fabulous journalistic work on Nepal Himalaya activity, spanning more than 30 years. I descended northeast, past rocky barriers and ice slopes, to reach base camp via the Kag Glacier, 12 hours after leaving. The traverse, which was comparable with the classic crossing of the Aiguille de Bionnassay in the Mont Blanc massif, merited a Himalayan grade of III/AD. More photographs are on www.paulo-grobel.com.

François Damilano, France