British Sani Pakush 1998

The West Buttress of Sani Pakush, 6,885m, at the west end of the Batura Wall, is comparable in stature to the N Ridge of Latok: as the peak had only received one previous ascent (by a German party via the NW Ridge) it seemed an ideal objective for this big-wall team. From their base camp at 4,000m near the head of the Kukuay Glacier they established a camp at 5,200m, and did an acclimatisation trip to a col at 5,700m at the base of the NW Ridge. After four days on the intended route with climbing to E3, 5c, rockfall and an approaching storm forced a retreat from c. 5,600m. At one stage the 'climbers' were somewhat humbled when three ibex soloed past HVS pitches, and then ran down the cliff passing five abseil anchors in less than a minute.