The British Army China Expedition 1981 (Jade Venture)

Led by Major Henry Day (RE) with his Deputy Major Philip Neame (Parachute Regt), this team of 9 British and 4 Chinese aimed to explore the N part of the Daxue Shan. Having been pre-empted by the Japanese for Gongga Shan (Minya Konka) itself, they accepted the Chinese offer of Jiazi Peak (previously known as Riuchi Gongga), the second highest peak in the range; its height was variously given as 7,200m by Prof Imhof, and 6,540m by the Chinese. The team succeeded in making the 1st ascent of Rudshe Gongga (Tshiburongri-5,928m) but, despite 4 attempts on Jiazi Peak by different routes, on all of which they reached over 6,000m, the climbing parties were defeated by sugary snow on hard ice, which led to a couple of falls. Another party explored the South Gate of Heaven (Nan Men Guan Gou), obtaining full photographic coverage of the E face of Jiazi and some first-ever pictures of E Gongga.