Our arrival at base camp in the Rangtik Tokpo was followed by three days of heavy snowfall. When this cleared, an obvious choice was the northwest face of Little Jamyang Ri (a.k.a. Torre Fanni, ca 5,600m), which had stayed dry due to its steepness.

On July 11, Elisabeth (Lisi) Lardschneider and I made our first attempt, aiming for a diagonal crack 100m above the ground. This crack line snaked all the way to the summit. We only managed three pitches over the first two days, mainly due to our inexperience at opening new routes. On the fourth pitch, a compact slab separated us from the eagerly awaited crack. Laboriously, we placed a few bolts with a hand drill, but after several attempts we still couldn’t free the pitch. On our fourth day we reached the crack, climbed one pitch, and returned to camp.

On the 17th, we returned to our high point with a portaledge. Next day we were highly motivated to climb the beautiful crack above our heads. We made good progress, and the crack was easily protected with natural gear, but the rock never lay back, and we ran out of energy just before meeting the ridge. The following day we returned to base camp to recharge our own batteries.

On the 21st, Lisi and I were back at the base of the wall, ready for one last attempt. Our initial plan had been to reclimb every pitch, but it had rained overnight, so we jumared to the portaledge. Except for a few short sections, we then free climbed to our high point. One more pitch got us to the ridge, from where the summit was visible. Success seemed imminent, and we danced along the crest for three pitches until we were shouting with joy and relief. All the hard work had finally paid off. As the route created many precious memories, we named it Norbu Duk Lam, which means “Very Precious Line” (560m of climbing, 18 pitches, VIII A1).

— Markus Ranalter, Italy

CHANRASRIK RI, ATTEMPT AND TRAGEDY: On July 27, soon after completing the route described above, the same two climbers set off to repeat the 2018 route on Peak 6,080m (H2, as designated on the Sakamoto sketch maps). The 2018 team named this rock peak Chareze Ri (see AAJ 2020), but locals state the peak is correctly called Chanrasrik Ri.

The start of the route on the east-northeast ridge of Chanrasrik Ri is reached by ascending a steep snow slope. While climbing this slope, Elisabeth Lardschneider slipped, fell around 150m, and died instantly. She was a member of the Italian National Sport Climbing Team and had led her first 8b when only 14 years of age.