Annapurna II | 1981 S Ridge/SE Face

A Japan expedition to Annapurna II in 1981 via S Ridge/SE Face, led by Nobuo Kuwahara. Summit reached on 11th October 1981. 9 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID ANN281301
Peak ID ANN2
Year 1981
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Ridge/SE Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Japan
Leaders Nobuo Kuwahara
Sponsor Osaka Annapurna II Expedition 1981 (Osaka Climbers Club)
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 Madi Khola->Hogagoth
Basecamp Date 1981-09-04
Summit Date 1981-10-11
Summit Time -
Summit Days 37
Total Days 43
Termination Date 1981-10-17
Termination Reason 6
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7400m due to fatal accident
High Point (m) 7400
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 5
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 9
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 3
Summit Hired 0
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 True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(04/09,2600m),Dep(08/09,3400m),ABC(11/09,4000m),C1(16/09,4700m),C2(20/09,5300m),C3(23/09,5900m),C4(30/09,6400m),C5(07/10,7090m),xxx(11/10,7400m)
Route Notes Asada & Kuwahara - 23 Oct 81 BC - 2600m - 4 Sept Deposit - 3400m - 8 Sept ABC - 4000m - 11 Sept C1 - 4700m - 16 Sept C2 - 5300m - 20 Sept C3 - 5900m - 23 Sept C4 - 6400m - 30 Sept C5 - 7090m - 7 Oct Storm in late Sept drops 2m snow at C3, 1m at C1 = 1 week between C3 and C4, one week between C4 and C5 for rest. One party of 3 members made route above C5 for 2 days and then tired and parties changed - 7350m reached. Next party arrived C5 10 Oct (Asada, Kondo and Ichikawa). Next day fixing rope making route to 7400m. Ichikawa last man, in very strong wind at noon after 4 hours climbing and little altitude rock, separated from main fixed rope, started slipping and fell at 12:30 500m bouncing 10 times - body all broken. Asada and Kondo went to where body stopped, saw he was dead and brought back ice axe, personal backpack (no watch or camera) and hair. Next day 3 members from C4 go up to C5 and 5 together carried body to crevasse near C5 at about 7000m and buried there. Then expedition finished: "some members tired, some praying to God, so cannot continue" - leader. Summit would have been reached 12 Oct if no accident. All very strong, weather fine if windy. Route via South Ridge: ridge difficult so 100 meters to right of it on face. Route actually on South Face. C5 a little down and little right as marked on postcard before climb. Sharma, Tourism - 16 Oct 81 Dead Kyoichi Ichikawa slipped from 24,278 feet/7400m for 500m. Body seen by 2 friends Tsuneo Kondo and Takayuki Asada on same day, 11 Oct. Fell at 12:30. Three men were climbing above C5 (7000m) to summit. Body seen at 6900m at 2:00 pm and was in steep snow and rock ridge so not possible to bring it down - not possible to reach it that day. On 12 Oct buried body at place where fell; buried by 2 friends. Watch, camera and hair were removed and are being taken to Japan. Expedition abandoned and all leave BC 17 Oct. 11 Oct leader was in C3 (5800m) with other member and 3 others in C4 (6300m); very windy 11 Oct. Kuwahara - 23 Aug 81 Route Southwest Ridge = virgin route. Approach via Siklis via Madi Khola to Hoga and then 3 hours climb to BC. 1st BC 3200m 2nd BC 3600m ABC 4020m C1 4700m C2 5400m C3 6000m C4 6587m C5 7000m end of snowfield 1 or 2 bivouacs above C5. South (SW) Ridge very steep. 3000m fixed rope required: 1000m to ABC, 500m between C1 and C2 and 1500m C5 to top. 9 members: 7 now here and more arrived after 4 days. Leave together 28 Aug by road to Pokhara. 5 days summit caravan to 1st BC and establish ABC 10 days after arrival 1st BC. Summit 1 month after ABC. 3 Sherpas will go above to C3, but not above C3 because very dangerous. Oxygen medical only.
Accidents Icikawa killed by 500m fall at 7400m
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2449930
Year 1981
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s ridge/se face

Members

9 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Nobuo Kuwahara M 1932 Japan Leader Hasumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan Restaurant manager Details Other expeditions
Kozo Sakai M 1949 Japan Climber Minato, Osaka, Japan Sales engineer Details Other expeditions
Norio Nakanishi M 1956 Japan Climber Ikuno, Osaka, Japan Worker in plastics factory Details Other expeditions
Nobuhiko Arita M 1947 Japan Climber Senriyama, Osaka, Japan Ski instructor Details Other expeditions
Tsuneo Kondo M 1947 Japan Climber Higashi, Osaka, Japan Metallurgical engineer Details Other expeditions
Hiroshi Okazoe M 1955 Japan Climber Ishizu, Sakai, Japan Chemical engineer Details Other expeditions
Takayuki Asada M 1953 Japan Climber Senriyama, Osaka, Japan Sales manager Details Other expeditions
Kyoichi Ichikawa M 1952 Japan Climber Horai, Daito, Japan Metallurgical engineer Details Other expeditions
Toshiyasu Sawai M 1943 Japan Exp Doctor Higashi, Osaka, Japan Surgeon Details Other expeditions

References

5 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
ANN281301 AAJ Kuwahara, Nobuo - - 56:230-231 (1982) -
ANN281301 MM - - - 83:9 (Jan 1982) -
ANN281301 IWA - - - 88:189 (1982) -
ANN281301 IWA - - - 88:49 (1982) -
ANN281301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198223003/Asia-Nepal-Annapurna-II-Tragedy - - -