Changabang North Wall 1997

Some of this party had to abort on this mountain in 1996 owing to the sickness of one member. This year, Clyma and Payne spent 10 days on the face, reaching the Ice Tongue just above the second icefield. They sat out terrible storms before abseiling off without incident. Meanwhile, Cave and Murphy reached the summit on 1st June, having made the first ascent of the North Face. Following a day behind, Fowler and Sustad reached the summit ridge but Sustad slipped on 'balled up' crampons and the pair fell 200ft. Sustad sustained chest injuries and the four climbers teamed up to descend on the S side of the mountain. At around 6,000m an avalanche tragically hit Murphy while he was setting up an abseil and he was swept down the face. It was not possible either to locate or recover his body. Our sympathy goes out to Brendan's family and friends. Julie-Ann Clyma, as an individual, was the recipient of half the Alison Chadwick Memorial Grant for 1997.