International Sichuan

When his planned expedition to Tibet (MEF Ref 10/22) was refused permission by the local authorities, this leader managed to organise an alternative trip to the Minya Konka area of Sichuan in record time. He had three objectives in mind: the West Face of Mt Grosvenor (aka Riwuqie Feng, 6376m), the East Face of Mt Edgar (6618m) and any route on the unclimbed San Lian Feng (6684m). In a 24 hour push on Grosvenor, Dempster & Normand succeeded in making its second ascent by climbing the Central Couloir on its West Face, while the French pair reached 5700m on a route further to the right before high winds forced them to abandon the attempt. In an 8-day marathon of highly technical climbing on Mt Edgar, Dempster & Normand climbed the L side of the E Face to the S Ridge (M6 and ice to W15) to what in the current white-out appeared to be its highest point: once again, this was the second ascent of the peak. Meanwhile the Chinese climbers attempted a route on the N Face, but were forced to cancel due to cold weather and inadequate equipment. Although the mountains of Sichuan are no longer ‘unexplored’, the team reported that the Minya Konka range still contains about a dozen 6000m peaks which are either unclimbed or have only have had one ascent.