Ama Dablam | 1987 SW Ridge

A USA expedition to Ama Dablam in 1987 via SW Ridge, led by Annie Whitehouse. Summit reached on 23rd November 1987. 6 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 317
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID AMAD87401
Peak ID AMAD
Year 1987
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Annie Whitehouse
Sponsor American Ama Dablam Tawoche Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 55th-57th
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Mingbo La
Basecamp Date 1987-11-18
Summit Date 1987-11-23
Summit Time 1200
Summit Days 5
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6814
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 6
Summit Members 5
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 Had permit for Tawoche (TAWO-874-01)
Campsites BC(18/11,4570m),C1(20/11,5490m),C2(21/11,5790m),C3(22/11,6250m),Smt(23,26/11)
Route Notes BC at Mingbo BC. Tawoche was to have been attempted before Ama Dablam but was not because of deep snow at base of mountain and no ice in couloir which had planned to climb (all bare rock). All summiters banned from Nepal climbing for 5 years because they climbed before winter season began. Final Expedition Report - Dec 4, 1987 Report of Safety Conditions and Reports from other Post Monsoon Expeditions. Chronology of Approach - Sept 29 Clay Wadman flew KTM to Lukla. Nov 3 Todd Bibler, Eric Reynolds, Sandy Stewart and Michael Dimitri flew to Lukla. On Nov 6 these five members banded together in Namche Bazar. Meanwhile, on Nov 6 Annie Whitehouse left KTM to Jiri by bus with 11 trekkers. She was leading a trek to Kalapattar. The group of five climbers proceded to Pheriche on the 10th of Nov. Our original plan and permit called for an attempt on Tawoche (6542m). Several days routes and conditions on Tawache made, on Nov 14-16. Plans for an ascent of Tawoche were abandoned as it was clearly unsafe. On Nov 17 the team decided to move on to our second objective, the ascent of Ama Dablam (6856m). First, we moved to Mingbo base camp on Nov 18-19. Then our intention was to conduct a reconnaissance of the route on Ama Dablam, in the hope of discovering safer conditions than on Taweche. Since we had already at this point forfeited our Tawoche permit and it looked like a similar situation was on Ama Dablam, all members were discouraged. Immediately upon arrival in Nepal we heard about the huge 2-meter snowstorm of late October. Enroute to Pheriche we had the chance to meet and talk first hand to members of five expeditions to peaks in the near vicinity of our objectives. (South Face of Nuptse, South Face of Lhotse Shar, Ama Dablam North Ridge, Ama Dablam NW Ridge and Ama Dablam SW Ridge). All these expeditions had failed and had retreated in the face of many avalanches, deep unconsolidated snow, and the belief and these were among the most serious and dangerous conditions they had encountered. We also, of course, were very discouraged and saddened to hear of the deaths of twelve climbers and trekkers in the Khumbu and an additional ten in nearby Tibet - all as a result of the big storm and resulting conditions. Todd Bibler and Sandy Stewart on the 14th to 16 on Nov found several approaches to Tawoche to have deep unconsolidated granular snow. This type of snowpack is familiar to us as being a particularly dangerous condition, know as temperature gradient snow. Several of the expedition members have Professional Avalanche Forecasting experience in Colorado. We have seen these type of conditions there frequently associated with major avalanches and also know that it is a condition that can take many weeks, even months, to stablize. To make conditions for climbing even more hazardous in our opinion was a period of sunny weather which causes a thin melted smooth glaze to appear on the surface of the snowpack. In this case, even a snowfall from a new storm or windblown snow, can cause avalanche as it is such a smooth sliding surface. Summary of Ascent Details - Because of the above conditions we approached the mountain with great care, respect and even fear. On Nov 20 Sandy Stewart and Eric Reynolds as one party and Todd Bibler and Michael Dimitri as a second party left Mingbo base camp (15,000 ft) with full loads to break a trail through deep snow to C1. As our BC was lower than that used by many, we were faced about 10 km of hard trudging. We intended to cache loads and prepare the route for a later ascent. On the 21st of Nov, Michael and Todd descended because of Michael's feeling of illness. Stewart and Reynolds continued route preparation from C1 to C2. Upon reaching C2 they observing high winds blowing off the summits of the Thamserku and Kangtega, as well as "meretails" and large lenticular clouds building on the summit of Mt. Everest. Both knew from previous Nepal and MT Everest experience that this almost always meant a storm approaching. Believing that this strong wind would destroy any possibility of a safe ascent they decided to go for the summit as quickly as possible. C3 was established by Stewart and Reynolds at 20,500 ft on Nov 22. They climbed to the summit and returned for another night at C3 on Nov 23. (It is important to say that the summit day of climbing is very steep and that there is no chance to belay or use safety anchors. Because of this it is especially vulnerable to the surface glaze avalanche conditions we described). Meanwhile, Annie Whitehouse had arrived at Mingbo BC, having been delayed by poor road conditions to Jiri and the evacuation of an ill trekker. On Nov 23 Wadman and Whitehouse left BC and acclimatized a night on open snowfields at 17,000 ft. On the 24th Stewart and Reynolds met Wadman to immediately go on towards the summit because of the continuing threatening weather conditions. Ropes were in place, camp platforms dug, and key supplies left behind (tent, stove, food) to aid them. On Nov 25 Whitehouse and Wadman made their camp 3 at 20,000 ft. On 26th they summited at noon in very cold, windy extreme conditions. Their descent to BC was made on the 27th. Todd Bibler seeing the deteriorating weather conditions made a bold quick solo ascent on the 25th and 26th. All members assembled together at BC for celebration to a safe ascent on the 28th. BC was abandoned on the 30th of Nov.
Accidents Dimitri sick; no other problems
Achievement -
Agency Mountain Travel
Commercial Route True
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2451945
Year 1987
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw ridge

Members

6 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Todd Douglas Bibler M 1952 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Tent designer Details Other expeditions
Michael Dimitri M 1958 USA Climber Ridgefield, Connecticut Building contractor Details Other expeditions
Eric Reynolds M 1952 USA Climber Grand Junction, Colorado Mountaineering equipment designer Details Other expeditions
Alexander (Sandy) Stewart M 1952 USA Climber Golden, Colorado Photographer Details Other expeditions
Clay Wadman M 1965 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Architectural draftsman Details Other expeditions
Ann (Annie) Whitehouse F 1956 USA Leader Boulder, Colorado Nurse & trekking guide Details Other expeditions

References

5 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
AMAD87401 AAJ Cheney, Michael J. & Hawley, Elizabeth - - 62:199 (1988) -
AMAD87401 HJ Whitehouse, Annie & Langley, Steve Ama Dablam Expeditions - 45:163-167 (1987-1988) -
AMAD87401 MM - - - 121:11 (May 1988) -
AMAD87401 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198819903/Asia-Nepal-Ama-Dablam - - -
AMAD87401 - - https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/45/22/expeditions-and-notes-45/ - - -