Annapurna I | 2008 N Face

A USA expedition to Annapurna I in 2008 via N Face, led by Tonya Riggs. Summit reached on 19th October 2008. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6216
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID ANN108303
Peak ID ANN1
Year 2008
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 N Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Tonya Riggs
Sponsor Dare to Dream 2008
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 -
Approach Thorong Pass->Jomsom->Kali Gandaki->Marpha
Basecamp Date 2008-10-17
Summit Date 2008-10-19
Summit Time -
Summit Days 2
Total Days 11
Termination Date 2008-10-28
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 4500m due to dangerous avalanching
High Point (m) 4500
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 3
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 True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Attempted Annapurna IV (ANN4-083-02)
Campsites BC(17/10,4176m),ABC(19/10,4500m),xxx(19,21/10,4500m)
Route Notes Two members, Riggs and Clement, went first to Annapurna IV and made BC at 4573m on 16 September. They were confined to BC by one week of snowfall and occupied C1 only on the 23rd. On 1 October, Riggs and Clement established C3 at 6555m on the southeast side of the Dome. From there they saw ahead of them a small face and walked over to it, gaining no altitude but discovered the impossibility of their surmounting it. They were only two climbers; their two Sherpas did not go above C2, which had already meant that they had taken a long time to move up the mountain. There was no way around this face: its south side was a vertical drop of blue ice, and its north side was heavily corniced. They went back to C3 and decded their climb of Annapurna IV was over. On the 4th they returned to C2, on the 5th were in BC, and on the 7th left BC for their bid to scale Annapurna I. It took them ten days to make their way through a difficult gorge to their Annapurna I North Face BC, which they pitched at 4176m, lower than most teams' BC site. Here they were joined by the team's third member, Graves, and two days later, on 19 October, the three Americans started up. They established ABC at 4500m, but they were unable to go higher because they discovered that there had been a massive landslide which blocked the route between BC and C1. Furthermore big rocks were still falling from avalanche debris. They searched for an alternative but found none and went back to BC on the 20th. A small team of two Czechs and a Slovak led by Martin Minarik, after failing to scale the NW Face, asked to join forces with the Americans on the North Face. The American responded by visiting Minarik's BC; they explained the problem of finding a route, and returned to their own BC. On the 21st the Americans returned to ABC, but they still could not find an alternative route above it. They were back next day in BC, from where they saw a wind plume of snow blowing off the summit. The weather forecast they received said that the strong winds would last for five more days. From ABC they had seen a small avalanches come down from the the Sickle. They decided they should abandon this attempt also. On the 23rd Minarik's team arrived at the Americans' BC. At 11:30 am huge avalanche came off the Sickle and wiped out the route to about 4900m. That convinced everyone to leave. The Americans had to stay in BC until the 28th waiting for their porter to arrive. Fixed rope: 400m (BC->C1)
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Wilderness Experience
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route True
Primary Member True
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2459737
Year 2008
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) n face

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Bradley Charles (Brad) Clement M 1971 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Film-maker Details Other expeditions
John S. Graves M 1957 USA BC Manager Simpsonville, South Carolina Environmental engineer Details Other expeditions
Tonya Rae Riggs F 1963 USA Leader Boulder, Colorado Sales & marketing staff member for climbing gear & clothing wholesaler Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.