West Nainqentanglha Expedition

The initial objective was the North Buttress of Naiqentanglha Feng (7162m) in the West Nyainqentanglha range, to the North West of Lhasa. Their approach was from a roadhead between Damshung and Guangbajian, and involved a one day walk in to base camp at 5000m using ponies. Although the original objective was on the main peak, exploration along the north Face revealed a hidden face with a huge North buttress on the North side of Naiqentanglha South East, which only became visible when they were directly below it, and they decided to make this their target instead. Their first attempt was halted by a big snow dump, when their tent almost blew away. Returning after a few days, they started ploughing through really deep snow to a very uncomfortable bivouac. This was followed by a steep rock band with enough ice runnels to allow progress to a bivouac in a ‘snow hammock’. Further progress up a ridge led to more deep snow, finally summiting on day 5. They started their descent down the East ridge with difficulty in poor conditions, but these improved the following day.