Talented Japanese and Polish alpinists have climbed two notable ice faces in the Khumbu.
Fumitaka Ichimura and Genki Narumi, part of a group of young Japanese alpinists who refer to themselves as the Giri-Giri Boys, have climbed the North Face of Tawoche (6,495m).
This much talked about, but rarely attempted, 1,500m ice wall was accomplished in winter conditions during late November with two uncomfortable sitting bivouacs at 5,600m and 6,100m.
On the first day the pair had to climb through a steep, mixed rock barrier threatened by ice fall from a serac above, before enduring a spindrift-battering bivouac.
The following day they were forced to continue to 9pm before finding a suitable place to rest for the night.
The two encountered pitches of AI 5 that were sometimes very badly protected.
They made a third bivouac (lying down) on the far side of the North Peak, then moved south before rappelling a couloir on the East Face and completing an elegant traverse of the mountain.
While making the first ascent of the highly technical North East Pillar in 1995, Mick Fowler and Pat Littlejohn had gazed across at the sombre North Face and thought it looked steep and very hard.
A similar route at a similar altitude was completed a few weeks earlier when Wojtek Kozub, Marcin Michalek and Krzysztof Starek from Poland climbed the North Face of Melanphulan (6,573m) at the head of the Nare Valley.
This elegant snow and ice pyramid lies about six kilometres south of Ama Dablam and has only one known ascent: by two Americans in 2000 via the West Face from the Hinku Nup Glacier.
From an advanced base below the face at 5,100m, the Poles climbed the initial 300m and set up camp on a narrow snow fin.
Next day they tried to climb through the 300m crux section above but after three long pitches saw that they would be unable to bivouac before reaching the top of the face, as the ice was hard and uniformly steep.
However, they estimated that they could climb the face from their camp in a continuous push, so decided to return for the night and begin climbing again the following afternoon.
At 11pm on their fourth day on the 1,400m face, having climbed continuously for 32 hours above camp, the three Poles reached the cornices of the summit ridge. Unable to find any stable stance or safe belay, the leader stopped a metre or two below.
From this point they were only 100m distant from the summit, but the ridge was narrow and dangerously festooned with almost see-through cornices. Although very unhappy about not continuing to the highest point, they realized the only safe option was to descend.
During the climb they had constructed Abalakovs at each belay, so were able to make an efficient rappel descent to their camp in just seven hours. Here, they rested before continuing to advanced base.
Due to the low temperatures on the wall and the prolonged time on front points, all three suffered frostbite to the toes.
Above their one camp on the face the Poles climbed 18 pitches of often very poorly protected ice at a grade of ED2/3, AI 4/5 (85°), completing an ascent of the North Face but unfortunately not reaching the summit. They were supported by grants from the Polish Alpine Association (www.pza.org.pl) and the Andrezj Zawada Award (www.fundacjakukuczki.pl).
The photograph shows the upper section (in shadow) of the North Face of Melanphulan rising above the foreground ridge in the Nare Valley.
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