Ama Dablam | 2014 SW Ridge

A UK expedition to Ama Dablam in 2014 via SW Ridge, led by Kenneth Applegate. Summit reached on 14th November 2014. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 8759
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID AMAD14356
Peak ID AMAD
Year 2014
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Kenneth Applegate
Sponsor Apple Mountaineering Ama Dablam Expedition 2014
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2014-11-09
Summit Date 2014-11-14
Summit Time 0830
Summit Days 5
Total Days 8
Termination Date 2014-11-17
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6814
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown True
Other Summits Summited Island Peak
Campsites BC(09/11,4700m),ABC(10/11/5200m),C1(11/11/5700m),C2(13/11,6000m),Smt(14/11)
Route Notes From blog at www.applemountaineering.co.uk: The main event! As we arrived at Ama Dablam Base Camp, at 4700m, there was a lot of talk (some factual, some undoubtedly less so) regarding the stability of the Dablam, which had developed a large crack on its right hand side and shed some ice just over a week earlier, unfortunately killing a Sherpa and injuring three others at Camp 3 (which since 2006 is no longer deemed a safe camp) whilst they were descending the Normal Route, the SW Ridge. This event in turn had immediately, and understandably, led to a number of commercial expeditions pulling out of their summit bids on Ama Dablam, so that on our arrival, no one had summited since the incident. Other commercial expeditions were being extremely cautious and not making any firm commitments to summit and it didn't take us long or much convincing to adopt a cautious approach, settling on the decision to go as far as Camp 2, at 6000m, which is objectively quite safe and a brilliant adventure in its own right and to see the conditions of the Dablam for ourselves. In fact we were so cautious that we purposefully set off from base camp the following day without our winter boots or any gear required for summit day, as it is feasible to reach camp 2 wearing just approach shoes. We spent a night at advanced base camp, at 5200m, before negotiating the boulder field and rocky slabs leading to camp 1 at 5700m. Space at camp 1 and more so at camp 2 is one of the limiting factors on the mountain and can prove to be a logistical barrier, with space for only 15-20 tents at camp 1 and 8-10 tents at camp 2, so we were extremely lucky to be able to liaise with Danny, expedition leader for SummitClimb, who kindly offered us space in his tents, of which he had a few at both camps and that had been put in place early in the climbing season by his Sherpa team. Danny was still waiting for his clients to arrive at base camp and so wouldn't need the tents for a few days. It was whilst en-route to camp 1 that we spotted three tiny figures on the upper snow slopes of the mountain, one of whom had summited and was on his way down with the other two, who had turned around 200m or so from the summit. It turned out to be an Italian pair plus Sherpa, all of whom had set off for the summit from Camp 1 earlier that morning. Just because they had passed the Dablam unscathed, it doesn't necessarily make it safe we told ourselves, but the fact that they had was a positive sign. That evening, with multiple thoughts going through our minds, we both decided that we should venture up to Camp 2 with the gear necessary to summit, in the event that we felt it safe enough to attempt, albeit with the thought that if for any reason either of us felt uneasy, that we would turn round. This meant a quick hit back to base camp for me in order to haul up enough food, both of our boots, axes etc, and the following morning, we had our first proper taste of Himalayan fixed rope climbing up to camp 2. Even before setting foot on the mountain, we had come to the conclusion that to climb it alpine-style, i.e., with using the fixed lines as little as possible and moving together, would be impractical and potentially unsafe due to the fact that everyone else climbing around us would be jumaring up the fixed line, and so to do anything different to the norm could and would in fact pose a danger to ourselves and be a perceived danger to others, so for others reading this with hopes of climbing the mountain alpine-style, peak season on Ama Dablam, which is October through to mid-November probably isn't the time. The journey from camp 1 to 2 only ascends 300m or so, but with plenty of airy traverses and with one of the main cruxes of the entire SW Ridge right beneath camp 2, the exposed and steep Yellow Tower, this section of the mountain proved to be good fun and thoroughly absorbing throughout, and took about 3 hrs. On arrival to one of the wildest camping spots on the planet, we picked our way carefully through the cat's cradles of ropes, guy lines and Sherpas and found an empty SummitClimb's tent, just around the corner from the main pinnacle, just beneath the Grey Tower. During the course of the day, 15 climbers had set off at 2:30 am from Camp 2, but were turned around by their Sherpas, who claimed that the ropes and anchors on the Grey Tower were in poor condition, however, we were able to quiz a strong and well acclimatised team of six Swiss climbers as they passed our tent en-route back to Camp 1, who had started a few hours later and been successful in reaching the summit. As they passed us at varying intervals, they all reported that the ropes and anchors were solid enough on the Grey Tower and beyond that conditions on the route were good, with no ice peeling off the Dablam. For us, it was crunch time. We had as much information as we were going to gather and the big questions in our minds were: whose reports could we trust and what our tolerance to the risks were, given that we were a small team of two, who could potentially move quite quickly, especially if we were to start earlier than anyone else the following morning. After deliberating for some time that day, and having kept a close eye with our binoculars on the section of the route in question, between camp 3 and the top right hand corner of the Dablam, we decided that we should attempt the route early the following morning, get to Camp 3, and make a decision from there as to whether we felt it to be safe enough to continue. So at 1:20 am, having forced down breakfast, we set off with only the beams from our head torches to light up our individual worlds. On arrival at the Grey Tower, I carefully ascended the best of the fixed lines, but was also clipped into numerous other ropes for back-up, and was pleased to find that the first anchor was far better than I had expected. I called Han on up, as I continued up the 70 degree mixed slope. Now, there is no question that some of the anchors were questionable, but in virtually every case, the questionable anchors were well backed up by something far sturdier a few meters higher, so had an anchor failed, the one above would have been loaded and limited any fall. That said, we were able to minimise any excessive loading of the anchors by keeping our weight over our feet. Beyond the Grey Tower, the ground eased for a bit, before a narrow and exposed traverse on a foot wide ledge brought us to snow slopes that lead up to the 'Mushroom Ridge'. I wonder whether the Sherpa's turned the 15 climbers round simply because they would have been climbing the lower sections together, and potentially on top of each other, therefore exerting excessive loads on the anchors (some of which I wouldn't really want to trust with any more than a single climber's body weight alone). The section between the Mushroom Ridge and the small plateau of camp 3 went smoothly and was quite straight forward despite tackling some of the steepest steps of snow on the entire route. Well, I say smoothly, just as dawn was about to break, Hannah’s head torch slipped out of the clips on her helmet, and into her hood, and as she attempted with her mitted hands to reach for the head torch, it dropped out, and disappeared into the dark void beneath. It's a shame that in this day and age that something so simple yet crucial, such as a helmet's capability to hold a head torch in place is flawed, this happened only a few hours after the adjustment dial on her helmet broke. Not a one off either, as I've had the same problems with my identical helmet… By now a lone Polish Climber had caught up with us, and fortunately, with the ground being straight forward, the light cast by both mine and his head torches were enough to assist Hannah for the next 30 minutes or so until dawn broke. Guess where our spare head torch was? Yep, basecamp. The ground levelled out as we approached the now hardly used camp 3 at 6300m (here's why it’s hardly used as a camp anymore), we knew that we were fast approaching the point beyond which the next section of the route is threatened by ice fall from the Dablam and had to make a decision as to whether we felt it safe enough to continue. From a safe distance, we attempted to gauge whether there had been any recent ice fall, what the terrain ahead was like, it’s distance and how long it would take before we were beyond the objective dangers presented by the Dablam. By starting early, we were the first climbers of the day to reach this point, which gave us a clear run without having to overtake anybody else and the sun still had a while before reaching the Dablam. The lone Polish climber was content to stay behind us for the remainder of the climb. Things appeared to be safe enough, and so we continued. An hour of hard work and fast moving later, we were beyond the Dablam, and on the upper snow slopes, which seemed endless, broken up by a rocky step about halfway up. We both got into our own rhythms, and so a gap of about an hour opened up between myself and Hannah, with me finally topping out into sunshine at 7:30 am and her an hour later. We both found reaching the summit an overwhelming experience, probably brought on by all the time, effort and unknowns that had been an integral part of the planning and execution right up to this one single moment in time. The lone Polish climber also topped out right behind Hannah, and so with huge congratulations passed around, we snapped a few summit pics before preparing our descent. One thing I always remind myself, and my clients when I'm working, is that reaching the summit is only half of the journey, and that the descent from any mountain can often be as serious, if not more so, than the ascent, and with that in mind, we couldn't afford to let our guard down. The descent followed our steps back down the SW Ridge, so we knew exactly where we were going, and that the ropes were all in good condition. It was a matter of double checking the anchors, and in particular those that relied on the integrity of the snow, which by this point had received a bit of sunlight, and again, moving quickly past the Dablam. As we made our descent, we passed a further four climbers, who also all went on to summit, but it turned out to be a far quieter day than the previous day, and than we had expected. The descent passed quickly, and we found ourselves stepping back into our tent at camp 2 by 1:20 pm, ready for a well-earned lunch, as we had barely eaten whilst climbing that morning. It had taken us 12 hours in total, including an hour or so on the summit, which was about the average time taken. We had met a chap earlier in our trip who had taken 20 hours from camp 2 to camp 2, that level of determination and hard grit deserves commending! Following a more relaxed night at camp 2 (mentally relaxed that is, as sleeping wasn't overly comfortable with our body positions being akin to that of bananas, being entirely dictated by the scooped profile of the ledge on which we were perched!) we packed up, made our way via camp 1, to pick up a few bits that we had left there, and then hauled our fully laden packs back down to base camp. The rest of our trip was quite easy going, with a rest day at base camp the following day, during which we caught up with friend and fellow mountaineering instructor Di Gilbert who was out leading a trip for Adventure Peaks, and thanked Tim Mosedale & Jon Gupta, who were also leading trips, for their valuable advice. We somehow managed to catch earlier flights back to Kathmandu, I'm still not quite sure as to how the kind folk at Paradise Lodge in Lukla managed to arrange for us and all of our kit to end back up in Kathmandu in amongst numerous flight delays and cancellations (made worse by the upcoming 18th Saarc Conference in Kathmandu, which meant that airspace priority was given to VIPs arriving at Kathmandu Airport, not tired and shower needing hikers with onward international flights to catch).
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Guides
Commercial Route True
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2461780
Year 2014
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw ridge

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Kenneth Eita Applegate M 1981 UK Leader Fort William, Scotland Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Hannah Joyce Evans F 1981 UK Climber Fort William, Scotland Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
AMAD14356 - - http://www.applemountaineering.co.uk/2015/01/11/success-island-peak-ama-dablam/ - - -