Ama Dablam | 2022 SW Ridge
A UK expedition to Ama Dablam in 2022 via SW Ridge, led by Christopher Pope. Summit reached on 11th April 2022. 13 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 10753 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | AMAD22104 |
| Peak ID | AMAD |
| Year | 2022 |
| Season | 1 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | SW Ridge |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | UK |
| Leaders | Christopher Pope |
| Sponsor | Snowy Horizon Ama Dablam Expedition 2022 |
| 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 | Austria, Canada, Chile, India, Iran, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, USA |
| Approach | - |
| Basecamp Date | - |
| Summit Date | 2022-04-11 |
| Summit Time | - |
| Summit Days | 0 |
| Total Days | 0 |
| Termination Date | - |
| Termination Reason | 1 |
| Termination Notes | - |
| High Point (m) | 6814 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 2 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 0 |
| Total Members | 12 |
| Summit Members | 1 |
| Member Deaths | 0 |
| Total Hired | 8 |
| Summit Hired | 1 |
| Hired Deaths | 0 |
| No Hired | False |
| O2 Used | False |
| O2 None | True |
| O2 Climb | False |
| O2 Descent | False |
| O2 Sleep | False |
| O2 Medical | False |
| O2 Taken | False |
| O2 Unknown | False |
| Other Summits | - |
| Campsites | BC,C1,C2,Smt(11/04) |
| Route Notes | Blog from Victor Zavala (Chilean-Polish team of Zavala and Sebastien Janus): APPROACH TO THE CB To reach the base camp (BC) of this hill, I had to go through different villages along the route for 5 days: Phakding (2610m), Namche Bazaar (3440m) and Pangboche (3985m) respectively, making a great part of the same route as the BC of Everest. I was staying in hostels, known locally as tea houses. Along the route I was discovering the Nepalese culture and its customs: for example, the porters carry 30 kg or more of load only using their head as a supporting force; suspension bridges are filled with colorful flags; buddha eyes in the "stupas" they are always watching you; yaks are typical on the route and every morning the alarm clock is given by some monk reciting his prayers at the top of his lungs. The first few days it was difficult to get used to the food, which stands out for its multiple spices and spicy flavor. When I thought that everything was in order, the meat of some momos (similar to dumplings) played a trick on me. I got sick to my stomach for several days, staying in the CB and thinking that the promotion would have to be left for another opportunity. HILL UP! Before setting off, Phura Sonam Sherpa did a short traditional ceremony with fire and Nepali chants while we threw rice into the air, hoping that the mountain would give me permission to access such a noble place that gives everything and asks for nothing in return. Once I started the walk, I had little energy and my backpack was around 33 kg: I was carrying a lot of weight, since I had to carry water, because I understood that in both camps (C1 and C2) there was none. Then I realized that I was not going to make it to C1: my physical conditions were far from optimal, so I set up a makeshift camp at 5050m where there was a patch of snow. After setting up the tent, I saw someone coming down: it was a local Sherpa Ongchhu Tamang, who told me that in C1 and C2 there was some snow and ice; I would no longer have to carry all the water. In addition, he added: “No summit this season, no one”. The next day I arrived at C1 just in time: a Canadian team was leaving and I managed to chat with their 2 Sherpas and the team leader. In this way I understood a little more about the route, its difficulties and the state of the ropes. This team was the one that had gone the farthest in the season (more than the Americans and English), close to 6600m, surpassing the Dablam serac, but they returned because many already had serious symptoms due to the altitude, in addition to the considerable physical fatigue. The path from C1 to C2 is a very narrow ridge; you constantly had to traverse very carefully and then the vertical climb began. The crux of the route was the famous "Yellow Tower" which was a grade 5.9 rock climb of approximately 15 meters. It sounded very easy when I read it months ago, but at the time it was very different, not because of its exposure (which was undoubtedly considerable), but because everything changes when you have a backpack weighing 20 kg, double boots and you are at 6000 meters tall trying to breathe. Once I got to C2, I kept repeating to Seb the following: "Drink, eat, sleep". It was around 2:00 pm and he had to be asleep as soon as possible; the next day would come the long-awaited attack on the summit, where we planned to leave at 00:00 on April 18. HEADING TO THE SUMMIT Day 14: the clock read 00:00 and I was ready to go. My breakfast? A little juice and 1 peanut-white triton cookie, a nutritional disaster. The first challenge was the Grey Tower: a mass of approximately 250m of altitude that had to be climbed in its different modalities. After several vertical sections of 15m and 2 hours without resting, I was half-way up the Grey Tower. From then on the rock was dressed in a layer of frozen water, starting ice climbing, with a lot of sections that were between 80-90 degrees. Once I got around the Grey Tower, I got to C3. Finally, a plain and the first break to drink and eat something while looking up: a large gutter of snow and ice at 60-70 degrees, where you had to go around the “Dablam” serac on the right. Once we passed the serac, we were close to 6600m. The clock read close to 10:00 and Seb said "I have 2 kids at home, I'm worried I won't be able to make it back". So I replied that there was little left and that everything was in the mind, that he should not give up. After a couple of minutes, Seb made the final decision: "I'm going down". From this moment I continued my ascent and there was no longer any trace, in a couple of meters the ropes disappeared and I continued in "free solo". Everything was going well until suddenly I had to stop abruptly: there was a huge crack. I looked to the left, to the right and saw no way to face it; the ropes were meters below the crack, something strange had happened here. Skip? Impossible, it was too wide (about 6m) and, furthermore, it was completely uneven. I thought of all these options in a couple of seconds and I knew that the correct answer destroyed me inside: "there is nothing to do, this is my summit", I did everything humanly possible, I was 19 meters away, I think it is at the discretion of each one whether it is a summit or not, for me the hill was already done. After composing myself a bit, I thought: "I am the only one who has managed to get here this season, not even the gringos, English or Canadians could". After 11 hours at full speed I was very tired; I had to de-climb 200 meters to be able to reach the ropes and rappel the remaining 600m. I looked up at the sky and saw my greatest fear: a sea of clouds rapidly approaching that would take away all my visibility for the descent; I had to get to the fixed ropes as quickly as possible. In 1 hour I was in C3, I couldn't see anything around me and I was exhausted, I just thought: "follow the ropes and in a couple of hours you will be safe in C2, hold on". In the middle of the endless rappels, I saw the C2 on the horizon. I zombie-walked the remaining traverse and saw Kami outside the tent he greeted me with a smile. "I'm destroyed", I told him. It didn't give more. He laughed and we talked for a while. I reported that he was fine via Inreach; I got into the sack and forgot everything. THE MEETING Once I got back to the BC, the lead Sherpa from the 8K Expeditions agency showed up: he was looking for me. He told me to take a tour of the BC tomorrow to meet with the Sherpas from the other agencies and see what measures could be taken regarding the crack, while he repeated to me "coffee, food, whatever you need just tell us". Then I asked him directly if he considered that I had reached the summit, despite the fact that I was a few meters away from the crack, to which he replied: "You summit, no one could make it better, don't worry", leaving me a little more calm and revitalizing my confidence. The next day, I entered a tent and in a couple of minutes I was surrounded by the leading Sherpas from each of the agencies, 8K Expeditions, Seven Summits, Friends Adventure, among others. I managed to transmit all the information about the route about 6600m, the absence of ropes, the state of the snow/ice and the crack that prevented the summit, to which we came to the conclusion that in the best case a helicopter would fly over the area, seeing if there was any pass more to the left or right of the sector. However, the weather was not good, so the only thing left was to look from below with binoculars. We also evaluated the option of carrying a ladder; of course, the portage would be complex and would take time, the problem being that the expeditions would start their ascents soon. Regardless of this, the only thing that was clear to us was that, if they wanted to carry their customers safely, there was at least 200 meters of rope missing from the route. A couple of Nepali words came and went; Then someone grabbed the radio giving a couple of orders and everything was resolved: all the necessary rope would arrive tomorrow. |
| Accidents | - |
| Achievement | - |
| Agency | Snowy Horizon Treks |
| Commercial Route | True |
| Standard Route | False |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | False |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2462513 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Summit Success | True |
| O2 Summary | None |
| Route (lowercase) | sw ridge |
Members
13 recorded members.
References
1 recorded references.
| Expedition ID | Journal | Author | Title | Publisher | Citation | Yak 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMAD22104 | - | - | https://www.andesgear.cl/blog/ama-dablam-una-aventura-en-solitario/ | - | - | - |