Kangchenjunga. On October 10, Australians Michael Groom and John Coulton went to the summit of Kangchenjunga by the southwest face in semi-alpine-style without Sherpas and artificial oxygen and with four bivouacs. However, on the descent their vision became blurred and their thinking ability badly affected, with the result that they could not mentally cope with the fact that an avalanche had wiped out their track and they could not see their tent at 7900 meters. Groom fell into a crevasse which they had not seen, but no harm came of it. Indeed it provided shelter for them from the wind that night. They bivouacked there at nearly 8000 meters. Their hands and feet were seriously frozen and both men will lose parts of fingers and toes.

Michael J. Cheney, Himalayan Club, and Elizabeth Hawley