Jorge Cuadardo, Angel Salamanca, and Javi San Miguel arrived in Nepal in late April, and during their time in the Khumbu the weather was bad, with lots of snow and poor visibility. Prior to their arrival they had carried out some acclimatization in the Alps, and they added to this in the Khumbu by trekking and climbing to heights approaching 5,800m.

The Spanish climbers’ objective was Peak 6,071m (sometimes referred to as Kang Tari), which Salamanca had seen on his trip to Nepal in 2015, when he climbed Peak 6,420m from the Mingbo Valley (AAJ 2016). Peak 6,071m, for which Salamanca could find no information, lies at the head of the Milingo Valley (Minmo on the HMG-Finn map; sometimes designated Omaka on older maps). This valley rises more or less southeast from the village of the same name, immediately northeast of Tengboche. It is the first of the lower peaks on the ridge running northeast from Kangtega (6,783m), and climbing it from the north side was one of the goals of Rich Cross and Paul Ramsden in 2004, when illness prevented any attempt.

The team established base camp in the valley at 4,600m and then a high camp at 5,000m, all without the help of porters. The initial plan was that Cuardardo and Salamanca would climb the route while San Miguel manned base camp. However, Cuardardo was ill and it was San Miguel who accompanied Salamanca on the northwest face. Conditions for the ascent were poor, with continuous mist, wet snow, and cold temperatures. However, the pair reached the top of the face and then descended via rappels from snow mushrooms, Abalakov, and rock anchors, plus downclimbing, in a total of 14 hours. They have named their route to the ridge To Hell With Our Body (1,000m, MD+ M6 80° ice). This peak has no recorded ascent but is much easier from the Hinku Nup Glacier to the south.

Lindsay Griffin, with information from Angel Salamanca, Spain