Ama Dablam | 1985 SW Ridge

A New Zealand expedition to Ama Dablam in 1985 via SW Ridge, led by Geoffrey Gabites. Summit reached on 11th December 1985. 5 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 239
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID AMAD85402
Peak ID AMAD
Year 1985
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality New Zealand
Leaders Geoffrey Gabites
Sponsor New Zealand Ama Dablam Expedition
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Australia, UK
Approach Khumbu Valley
Basecamp Date 1985-11-27
Summit Date 1985-12-11
Summit Time -
Summit Days 14
Total Days 17
Termination Date 1985-12-14
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6100m due to wind, impending storm, bad health of members
High Point (m) 6100
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 5
Summit Members 0
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 False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(27/11,4570m),C1(01/12,5430m),C2(05/12,6100m),xxx(11/12,6100m)
Route Notes BC at Mingbo (English went more slowly to BC on 30 Dec) C1 at normal site east of South Ridge C2 at end of horizontal section High point at yellow step. 6 Dec Gabites and Staszewski were to go to top but had moved up too fast and Staszewski clearly sick from altitude and Gabites spent rest of day bringing Staszewski from C2 to 19,000 ft on horizontal section. Next day English and Perry joined in getting him to BC in bad condition. 8 Dec English to C1 and on 9th Perry and Gabites joined him there. 10 Dec the three got to 19,000 ft on horizontal section when strong wind forced them to camp there at 11:00 am; 2:00 pm Perry decided to descend with chest infection while other two stayed all night in continued strong wind. 11 Dec big clouds plus up high strong wind, went along ridge to just below yellow step when winds struck and appeared storm coming up so English opposed to going on (were without sleeping bags and it appeared would have to spend 2 nights out) so turned back and by 4:00 pm English blown off ridge, fortunately clipped to fixed rope and camped again. 12th Dec carried gear to C1 and to BC 13th Dec. English - 22 Dec 85 English feels that Gabites and others rushed too fast to and on the mountain. They had rigid pre-set time table that required them to climb mountain very quickly (like Nairz's party in aut '85) and be finished by the time the wives, girlfriends and children arrived. Time table did not take into consideration the health of individuals the health of individuals and their time requirements for acclimatizing. English had booked return LUK/KTM for 4 Jan and was astonished to learn on 11 Dec when he and Gabites debated whether to continue push for top or go down in face of storm brewing up that yaks had been ordered to come to BC on 17 Dec.
Accidents Staszewski edema (could never have been gotten down if had been no fixed ropes on horizontal section)
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route True
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2451231
Year 1985
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw ridge

Members

5 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Mervyn (Merv) English M 1954 New Zealand Climber Christchurch, New Zealand Social worker Details Other expeditions
Malcolm Fry M 1947 New Zealand BC Manager Christchurch, New Zealand Computer sales manager Details Other expeditions
Geoffrey Vernon (Geoff) Gabites M 1952 New Zealand Leader Christchurch, New Zealand Sales manager Details Other expeditions
Nigel Perry M 1956 UK Climber Christchurch, New Zealand Research chemist at Univ Cant Details Other expeditions
Robert Staszewski M 1953 Australia Climber Ipswich, QLD, Australia Helicopter pilot Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
AMAD85402 AAJ Guha, Kamal K. - - 60:221 (1986) -
AMAD85402 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198622103/Asia-Nepal-Ama-Dablam-Winter-Attempt - - -