Annapurna, South Face Attempt. [The Bulgarian expedition failed to climb Annapurna’s south face by the Polish route in the winter, as described briefly in A.A.J., 1986 on p. 293.] Their ambitious plan for climbing both Annapurna and Dhaulagiri in the spring soon fell through. Frequent heavy snowfall meant lengthy periods of unfavorable climbing conditions. The team, now reduced to nine Bulgarians including their Base Camp-bound leader, Boian Atanasov, and three Sherpas reoccupied Base Camp at 4300 meters only on March 25. Camps I, II, III and IV were established at 5400, 6100, 6500 and 6850 meters on April 5, 17, 19 and 23. New ropes were fixed. Their high point was 7550 meters, to which deputy leader Ivan Valtchev and Vesseldev Tschaushev climbed on May 9. During that day’s ascent, Valtchev counted ten places where the ropes had been seriously damaged by falling stones. He therefore called off the entire effort.

Michael J. Cheney, Himalayan Club, and Elizabeth Hawley