Cho Oyu Tragedy. The expedition to Cho Oyu which I led was composed of three Swiss: Pierre-Alain Steiner, Christian Dupré and me. After having arrived on October 8 at Base Camp at 5300 meters near the Nangpa La, we climbed to 6300 meters for acclimatization. We left on October 19 for an Advance Base at the foot of the west face at 6000 meters. That same day we started up a new route on the face and joined the Polish route at 7300 meters. The wind was so strong that we stopped for several hours. On the morning of the 20th the wind was the same and we decided to descend to wait for several days. Unfortunately, while descending, Steiner fell some 600 meters, which put an end to his life and the expedition.

Erhard Loretan, Club Alpin Suisse