Shizi, east face; Fenghuang, southeast face; Xiao Peak; Eagle Rock, southwest face, Hagoroamo

China, Sichuan, Qionglai Shan, Siguniang National Park
Author: Tamotsu Nakamura, AAC Honorary Member. Climb Year: 2013. Publication Year: 2014.

In August and September, two teams from Keio University Alpine Club climbed three possibly new peaks from the Shuangqiao Valley; they also did one second ascent and completed the fourth ascent of Eagle Rock via a new route.

The first team, Yusuke Kimura, Takaaki Morikami, Kengo Nagamo, and Kengo Tagai, operated from August 3–22. Morikami and Nagamo set up base camp at 4,000m near the entrance to the Dagou Valley and then spent two days attempting unclimbed Peak 5,120m, which lies on the west rim of the valley, on the ridge south of Dayantianwo. They gave up due to rockfall, and instead climbed Peak 4,970m to the east, on the Dagou-Changping divide. They named this Haobangah, unaware that it had been climbed in August 2011 by Chinese He Chuan, Ye Feng and Zang Yunping. (These three took three hours to gain the southeast ridge, which they climbed in six pitches up to 5.9+, AAJ 2013. The Japanese appear to have climbed the same ridge.) On August 9 they slanted right across the southern aspect to reach the southeast ridge, and thence to the summit (275m, eight pitches total, of which six on the ridge, 5.8).

Their next target was Shizi on the ridge immediately south of Peak 5,120m. Kimura, Morikami, and Tagai made the first ascent on the 15th, climbing the 570m east flank in 13 pitches at 5.10c.

The ridge running southwest from Shizi crosses Ohuchi Peak, and then a second summit of map height 4,901m. Morikami and Tagai climbed this on the 19th via the 340m southeast aspect (seven pitches, generally 5.7-5.8 with one pitch of 5.10a). They named the summit Fenghuang. On the 21st, the same pair also climbed Xiao Peak, a summit midway between Haobangah and Dagou West, discovered during reconnaissance from the Changping Valley.

When climbing Haobangah and Fenghuang the climbers used only trad gear. However, on Shizi bolt belays were placed on 10 of the 13 pitches, primarily for the rappel descent.

Keita Kanehara and Kenji Onodera arrived on August 31, but it rained for two weeks. On September 13 they climbed the east face of Niuxin Shan for acclimatization. On the 15th they camped at Baihaizi, and set off on the 16th for a new line on the lower southwest wall of Eagle Rock. They climbed this in eight pitches following flakes, cracks, and corners. There was a little rain and some rockfall, but the line is steep enough that they were not affected. In the middle they had to climb a wet crack, and in the upper section a grassy slab.

The upper wall is ca 700m high, and they made a rising rightward traverse up it on easy broken ground to reach the headwall, where they joined the original 2005 Swiss Route. They then connected with the Chinese route, 353 Years Old Dreaming, climbed the previous month, and followed this, using existing bolt belays, to the summit. The route on the initial wall was named Hagoroamo (eight pitches, 5.11) and the whole route gave ca 1,100m of climbing.



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