Shishapangma : The Alpine-style First Ascent of the South-West Face

First published in 1984 as The Shishapangma Expedition, Shishapangma won the first ever Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. In 1982, following the relaxation of access restrictions to Tibet, six climbers set off from Britain to explore the little-known Shishapangma massif near the Nepalese border. Dealing with a chaotic build-up and bureaucratic obstacles so huge they verged on comical, the mountaineers gained access to Shishapangma's unclimbed South-West Face where Doug Scott, Alex MacIntyre and Roger Baxter-Jones made one of the most audacious and stylish ascents ever achiev.;Publisher's Note; Author's Note; Diary of Events; Chapter One -- Preparations; Chapter Two -- Peking to Nyalam; Chapter Three -- Nyalam to Base Camp; Chapter Four -- Trouble at Base Camp; Chapter Five -- Acclimatization Climb; Chapter Six -- Pungpa Ri; Chapter Seven -- The Climb -- Lower Half; Chapter Eight -- To the Summit; Chapter Nine -- Return; Appendix One -- Early Buddhism in Tibet and Milarepa; Appendix Two -- European Advances into Tibet; Appendix Three -- Early Expeditions to Shishapangma and its Vicinity; Appendix Four -- Chronology of Climbing Around Shishapangma. In 1982, following the relaxation of access restrictions to Tibet, six climbers set off for the Himalaya to explore the little-known Shishapangma massif in Tibet. Dealing with a chaotic build-up and bureaucratic obstacles so huge they verged on comical, the mountaineers gained access to Shishapangma's unclimbed South-West Face where Doug Scott, Alex MacIntyre and Roger Baxter-Jones made one of the most audacious and stylish Himalayan climbs ever. First published in 1984 as The Shishapangma Expedition, Shishapangma won the first ever Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. Told through a series of diary-style entries from all the climbers involved, Shishapangma reveals the difficult nature of Himalayan decision-making, mountaineering tacti and climbing relationships. Tense and candid, the six writers see every event differently, reacting in different ways and pulling no punches in their opinions of the other mountaineers – quite literally at one point. Nonetheless, the climbers, at the peak of their considerable powers and experience, completed an extremely committing enterprise. The example set by their fine climb survives and several new routes (all done in alpine style) have now been added to this magnificent face. For well-trained climbers, such ascents are fast and efficient, but the consequences of error, misjudgement or bad luck can be terminal and, sadly, soon afterwards two of the participants were struck down in mountaineering accidents – MacIntyre hit by stonefall on Annapurna's South Face and Baxter-Jones being caught by an ice avalanche on the Aiguille du Triolet. In addition their support climber, Nick Prescott, died in a Chamonix hospital from an altitude-induced ailment. Shishapangma is a gripping first-hand account of the intense reality of high-altitiude alpinism. Publisher's Note 7 Author's Note 11 Diary of Events 14 Chapter One – Preparations 24 Chapter Two – Peking to Nyalam 48 Chapter Three – Nyalam to Base Camp 83 Chapter Four – Trouble at Base Camp 104 Chapter Five – Acclimatization Climb 129 Chapter Six – Pungpa Ri 154 Chapter Seven – The Climb – Lower Half 185 Chapter Eight – To the Summit 224 Chapter Nine – Return 243 Appendix One – Early Buddhism in Tibet and Milarepa 258 Appendix Two – European Advances into Tibet 281 Appendix Three – Early Expeditions to Shishapangma and its Vicinity 303 Appendix Four – Chronology of Climbing Around Shishapangma 331 Appendix Five – Expedition Medicine – A Personal View 357 A Note on Mapping 367 Bibliography 370 Ascents on Shishapangma and Associated Peaks 376 Summit Climbs on Shishapangma 394 Fatalities on Shishapangma 405 Central Summit Ascents 407 Other Noteworthy Climbs 436 Photography 438 EBC,Converted