KATHMANDU, APRIL 28
Two American alpinists made the first ever successful ascent of Tengkangpoche peak from the north face route this spring season, expedition organisers said.
Patrick Perry Johnson and Patrick Michael Gephart stood atop the peak on April 23 at around 3:30pm as they scaled the mountain from its north face route without using climbing guides, according to Sonam Sherpa, Managing Director at Itrek Everest Pvt. Ltd.
"This is the first ever ascent of Tengkangpoche made in an alpine style from the north face route," he said.
"Upon arriving at the Sunshine Lodge in Thame, we were greeted with the north face of Tengkangpoche in rather dry conditions," team leader Perry Johnson said, adding that after studying the face from several angles, they chose a route which linked several sections of ice and mixed terrain through passages they deemed safe. The team embarked on the expedition on April 5.
"After a bivouac at around 15,000 ft, we began the climb at 4:30 AM, navigating easy ice to the base of a smear of ice on a clean rock face," he described adding, "Almost certain it would be too thin for safe travel based on our reconnaissance from afar, we were pleasantly surprised to climb it in two fantastic pitches at WI3+. We then continued to climb directly up the north face, linking excellent sections of easy ice and mixed terrain separated by long sections of steep snow. A final pitch of WI3 led us to the east ridge. We bivouacked at 6000 meters and endured a sleepless night with never ending wind."
Clear weather allowed them to continue along the east toward Tengkangpoche's summit, navigating the steep and narrow ridge with long sections of ice and neve. "Several seracs and crevasses guarded the final ridge, but were able to pass with careful route finding. We summited in the clouds at 3:30 PM, overjoyed with our success," the team leader said.
A long descent through the night put them back at 15,000 ft and home towards Thame. "We believe it to be unique in its conditions, calling it Sunshine Spring Roll, WI3+/M3 Steep Snow, 1500 meters," he said.
