Annapurna IV | 1981 N Face-NW Ridge

A Canada expedition to Annapurna IV in 1981 via N Face-NW Ridge, led by Gordon Smith. Summit reached on 22nd December 1981. 10 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 38
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID ANN481401
Peak ID ANN4
Year 1981
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 N Face-NW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Canada
Leaders Gordon Smith
Sponsor Canadian Annapurna IV Winter Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 15th
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries UK
Approach Marshyangdi->Hongde->Sabje Khola
Basecamp Date 1981-11-23
Summit Date 1981-12-22
Summit Time 1500
Summit Days 29
Total Days 35
Termination Date 1981-12-28
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 7525
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 8
Summit Members 3
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 2
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 False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(23/11,4665m),C1(03/12,5580m),C2(06/12,6020m),C3(21/12,6420m),Smt(22/12)
Route Notes C1, C2, C3 were ice caves; temp was -30 C on summit day in high winds; 2nd attempt aborted at 7375m. Training climb for Canadian Everest Expedition (1982). Langley, Smith and Serl still to come to KTM; rest arrived yesterday. 2nd summit team: Sherpa blown over twice and Smith got dysentery. Langley got to about 24,200 feet (top of shoulder), Smith to 23,500 ft, Sherpa to 23,000. Would have taken another 10 days to put in a C4 by digging snow cave which is essential winter wind. 3rd team got to C3 but made no attempt for summit; were actually in support of 2nd team it turned out. Serl didn't acclimatize. Route = North Face to NW Ridge, not technically difficult except a bit on buttress low on face. Adrian Burgess ran up a slab avalanche coming down, no damage done to him. No accidents or frostbite. Sharma, Tourism - 31 Dec 81 26 Dec - first Smith and Langley attempted summit from C3 and reached 24,000 ft except too much exhaustion and high wind; rest to C3 same day. 27 Dec - 3 to C3 at 4:00 pm and Serl now unable to climb and high winds, so 2nd group left C3 to go down. Made no attempt to above C3. 28 Dec - all left BC for KTM. A Canadian team battling 100 mph winds and -30 degrees and cold has won a height record for winter mountaineering in the world's highest mountain range. Three days before Xmas, Alan and Adrian Burgess and Roger Marshall reached the ice summit of Annapurna IV at 24,688 feet, the highest peak yet climbed in the Nepalese winter climbing season. Commented Expedition Leader, Gordon Smith of Golden, BC: "This is a major step forward for recognition of Canada in international mountaineering." The 3 summit climbers are members of a training climb for Everest. Sharma, Tourism - 27 Dec 81 Planned summit attack 23 Dec but weather very good on 22nd. Left C3 6500m at 7:00 am and reached top at 3:00 pm: Aid Burgess Alan Burgess Roger Marshall Stayed on top 5 minutes and placed Nepal and Canada flags. Weather clear but wind 80 mph. Returned to C3 17:15 hours. 2nd group: Leader Gorden Smith Stephen Langley Sirdar Sana Gyau Sherpa If weather good would make summit bid 25 Dec 3rd group: Carl Hannigan Dan Serl Dawa Dorje Sherpa would go for top 27 Dec In climbing did not use tents except at BC all ice caves at C1, C2, and C3. Ad Burgess and Smith - 28 Oct 81 Route = NW Ridge 8 members and 2 Sherpas above BC other 4 or 3 Nov and leave KTM 5 Nov and 2 fews days later. Will do acclimatization climb of Pisang in Nov and start on Annapurna IV on 1 Dec. Summit before end Dec. Fixed camps in ice caves, 4 camps BC at 16,500 ft C4 23,000 ft or slightly lower No oxygen. Are at Ambassador Hotel now, move to KTM Guest House when space available. Burgess - 25 Nov 1981 We set out base camp on 23rd Nov after many problems because of deep snow. We met the first snows at Chame and it showed up a bit. There is 3 feet of snow at BC and last night at 8 pm it was -20 degrees. Everybody is fit and well. Canadian Annapurna IV Expedition At 3:00 pm on Dec 22nd 1981 Allan and Adrian Burgess of Calgary Alberta and Roger Marshall of golden BC reached the 24,688 ft high summit of Annapurna IV in the Nepalese Himalaya. This ascent is the highest recorded during the official Nepalese winter season of December through January. The 3 summit climbers are members of a training expedition in preparation for 1982 Canadian Mt Everest expedition. Other team members include leader Gordon Smith of Golden, BC, Stephen Langley, Carl Hannigan and Jay Straith of Calgary, Alberta and Don Serl of Vancouver, British Columbia. A second summit team consisting of Gordon Smith, Stephen Langley and one Sherpa set out from Base Camp on Dec 23rd and was followed by a 3rd summit team of Don Serl, Carl Hannigan and another Sherpa on Dec 24th. Leader Gordon Smith commented that the success of the Canadian Annapurna IV team demonstrated the strength of a well united team of mountaineers prepared to work together for a common goal and hoped that this combination would be utilized in next years Canadian attempt on Mountain Everest. The expedition started from Kathmandu on November 6th with a day's journey by bus to the village of Dumre. From Dumre the group started walking up the Marshyangdi River valley with all their equipment and food carried by 110 porters. On November 13th, after 7 days walking the village of Chame at 9000 ft. was reached in an unreasonably early and heavy snowfall. As most porters were unshod they abanodned the group and returned to warmer climes. Twenty stalwart porters remained and along with the aid of horses and yaks hired locally the expedition continued for several days up the valley past the village of Ingre until the side valley leading to Annapurna IV was reached. Several days of ferrying loads of 70 lbs up the glacial morraines resulted in the establishing of base camp at 15,700 ft by Nov 26th. Local regulations did not permit the climb to start until the beginning of the official winter season on Dec 1. On that date the team started breaking trail through deep snow on the lower slopes. Adrian Burgess was in front and accidentally started a slab avalanche which, to everyone's amazement he outran, indicating an incredible level of fitness at that altitude. Fixed ropes were placed up the rocks and snow of the 1st buttress and by Dec 5th the ice cave which was Camp I was established at 18,700 ft. From here further ropes were fixed through tumbling ice cliffs to the site of Camp II at 20,000 ft. At this point a tent was placed temporarily to shelter expedition memebers while they dug the Camp II ice cave. On December 7th a severe snow storm with gale force winds hit the Annapurna range. This resulted in the route being obliterated by the fresh snow. The next day the following high winds ripped apart and blew away the C2 tent in a 80-100 mph gust. Left without shelter the two members who were digging C2 were forced to descend. This event reaffirmed the team's conviction that, as in Canada, the only sure way to weather a severe winter storm was to live in ice caves. The next two days were spent re-establishing the route from base to C2. Working from C1 two Sherpas, Sona Gyau and Dawa Dorje managed to complete the excavation of C2 by Dec 14th, allowing members to stock it with food and equipment. Once C2 was established progress was rapid and the Burgess twins together with Marshall and Langley fixed rope through the crevasses at the rim of the summit ridge maing the route safe to the site of C3 1 km along the 4 km ridge. The digging of C3 was completed by Dec 1th however it required 3 more days of carrying loads to supply the camp with food, survival and climbing equipment. After returning to base camp for a few days rest the 1st summit party left base camp early on Dec 20th and moving rapidly up the fixed ropes were ensconced in C3 by the night of Dec 2/12 Ready for the summit attempt. It is appropriate that Roger Marshall should be a member of the first party to reach the summit as he instigated the 1982 Canadian Mt Everest Expedition 6 years ago Canadian Mount Everest Society Report 1981/82 At the end of October 1981, the 1981 Canadian Winter Annapurna IV Expedition left Canada bound for Kathmandu, Nepal, to attempt to make the first winter ascent of Annapurna IV via the northwest buttress. The team was led by Gordon Smith, and consisted of Roger Marshall, twins Alan and Adrian Burges, Carl Hannigan, Steve Langley, Don Serl and Jay Straith. Leaving Kathmandu on November 6, 1981, with 5 Sherpa porters, 1 government liasion officer and 105 local porters to carry the 3000 kilos of food and equipment, the expedition travelled in two buses to the small town of Dumre, a distance of only 120 kms, but taking most of one day to cover. The Marshyangdi Khola valley was then followed for 7 days to the town of Chame where shelter was taken for three days during an unseasonably early winter storm. At this point, 75 of the local porter left, not relishing the thought of wading through wet snow in bare feet and clad only in a blanket. Eventually the equipment was moved up the Base Camp valley using yaks and the few hardy porters who had remained. On November 23rd, Base Camp was occupied at 4660 metres and the rest of the month spent tramping out a trail across the glacier to the foot of the northwest buttress. December 1st saw the start of the official winter climbing season in Nepal, and hectic activity on the lower part of the mountain. Camp I was occupied by the Burgess twins on December 3rd and C2 on December 6th by Marshall and Smith. A snowstorm the following day forestalled the digging of a permanent ice-cave at this site. Eventually, the gale force wind blew away the C2 tent and a decision was reached not to use any further tents during the climb. From this point, all camps were located in ice-caves dug into the mountain side. Finally, on December 12 & 13th, the cave at C2 was completed and ready for use. During the next week, the twins, Marshall and Langley established, C3 at 6416m while Smith, Hannigan, Serl, Straith and the two Sherpas stocked all the ice-caves with food and equipment ready for an attempt to reach the summit. Finally, on December 22nd (the shortest day of the year), Al and Ad Burgess and Roger Marshall reached the summit of Annapurna IV climbing an incredible 1109 metres vertical height in a single day from C3. The whole trip up and down from the top ice-cave was accomplished in daylight, despite wind gusts up to 100 kmph and a Camp III starting temperature of -30 degree C. A second summit bid on December 26th, by Smith, Langley and the Sherpa Sirdar was abandoned shortly below the summit due to increasingly severe winds. All the camps were cleared on the descent and Base Camp evacuated on December 28th. By January 2, 1982 all the team was back in Kathmandu, having climbed the highest mountain in the world to date during the official Nepalese winter climbing season of December-January. This does not, of course, include the Polish winter ascent of Everest which was accomplished in February 1980 and is unrecognised in Nepal.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450002
Year 1981
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) n face-nw ridge

Members

10 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Gordon Smith M 1945 Canada Leader Golden, British Columbia Manager of veterinary clinic Details Other expeditions
Alan Burgess M 1948 UK Climber Calgary, Alberta Professional alpinist Details Other expeditions
Adrian (Aid) Burgess M 1948 UK Climber Boulder, Colorado Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Carl Hannigan M 1942 Canada Exp Doctor Calgary, Alberta Veterinarian Details Other expeditions
Roger Gough Marshall M 1941 Canada Climber Golden, British Columbia Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Donald (Don) Serl M 1947 Canada Climber Vancouver, British Colombia Sporting goods buyer Details Other expeditions
Stephen Robert (Steve) Langley M 1948 UK Climber Calgary, Alberta Computer analyst Details Other expeditions
James (Jay) Straith M 1950 Canada Deputy Leader Calgary, Alberta Attorney Details Other expeditions
Sana Gyau Sherpa M - Nepal Sirdar - - Details Other expeditions
Dawa Dorje Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker Thami, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

5 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
ANN481401 AAJ Burgess, Adrian - - 56:231-232 (1982) -
ANN481401 AJ Hannigan, Carl Winter on Annapurna IV - 88:177-178 (1983) -
ANN481401 MM - - - 84:11 (Mar 1982) -
ANN481401 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198223103/Asia-Nepal-Annapurna-IV-Winter-Ascent - - -
ANN481401 - - https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1983_files/AJ%201983%20177-178%20Hannigan%20Annapurna%20IV.pdf - - -