Asia, Nepal, Damodar Himal, Bhrikuti Sail (6,361m), Probable Second Ascent

Publication Year: 2009.

Bhrikuti Sail (6,361m), probable second ascent. On May 14 Mick Chapman, Bryan Fruish, and I (all U.K.), Bett Koch, Liz Armitage, and Peter Allen (all Australia), with Pasang Sherpa, Mingba Sherpa, and Lhakpa Sherpa, made what is probably the second ascent of Bhrikuti Sail. We climbed from the south via the south face and west ridge, the route first ascended by Paulo Gro- bel’s French expedition in 2005. After establishing a base camp at 5,400m, four days walk north of Phu, we put in a high camp at 5,700m on a loose, rocky ridge slightly left of and above the ice bosse first climbed by Grobel’s expedition. From high camp we fixed ropes on 200m of 40° ice immediately above, then followed easy snow slopes of approximately Alpine PD to the upper west ridge and the summit. We then likely made the first complete crossing of the Saribung Pass (ca 6,042m) from the south, exiting the region via Damodar Lakes and South Mustang.

Lindsay Abbotts, U.K.