Trango Tower North Face 1995

The NE face of Trango Nameless Tower (6,239m) has resisted all comers to date, so it came as a shock to this team when they arrived to find that one route had just been climbed by some Spaniards, and an American party was busy on another. No safe alternative was apparent, so Pritchard and Wainwright decided to attempt the first British ascent of the Slovene route on the S face, the other two retreating to the UK after Craine injured ribs falling into a crevasse. They were successful, but the leader contracted pulmonary oedema on summit day, which resulted in major problems on the descent: fortunately this cleared up after a week at Base Camp.