Baruntse | 2009 SE Ridge

A Australia expedition to Baruntse in 2009 via SE Ridge, led by Soren Ledet. Summit reached on 24th May 2009. 11 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6332
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID BARU09102
Peak ID BARU
Year 2009
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Australia
Leaders Soren Ledet
Sponsor World Expeditions 2009 Baruntse 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 Denmark
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2009-05-20
Summit Date 2009-05-24
Summit Time -
Summit Days 4
Total Days 10
Termination Date 2009-05-30
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6420m due to bad weather
High Point (m) 6420
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 130
Total Members 8
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
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 False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Attempted Mera Peak
Campsites BC(20/05,5440m),C1(22/05,6120m),C2(24/05,6420m),xxx(24/05,6420m)
Route Notes ABC just over West Col C2 just below start of SE Ridge High point at C2. World Expeditions 2009 Baruntse Expedition, Soren Ledet - 3 June 2009 For preliminary acclimatization, the team went first to Mera Peak. All members and Nepalese climbers attempted to reach its summit on 18 May, but very strong wind turned them back before the top. The eight members and three Nepalese climbers arrived at BC on 20 May, C1 on the 22nd and set out from C1 to C2 on 24 May. In the crevasse field halfway between the two camps, Ms. Skirka became very tired and decided to turn back; her partner, Thomas, descended with her to C1, where they stayed, unable to move farther down because of the onset of a snowstorm. The remaining six members continued to C2 on the 24th and reached there at 1:00 pm. The weather was good that morning and early afternoon, but very soon it started snowing and by 2:00 pm the wind was strengthening and there was a whiteout. They were pinned down in C2 by strong winds and constant snowfall; it was impossible for them to go higher. By the morning of the 26th, a meter and half of fresh snow had fallen on C2. On the morning of the 26th, they decided that the weather could get only worse, and they started down at 9:00 am, abandoning their tents. It was snowing and quite windy, and it took them 11 hours to descend to C1 and join Skirka and Thomas. They all left C1 at 10:00-10:30 am on the 27th after recovering from the previous day's 11 hour descent and after digging out the tents from the newly fallen snow. It was extremely slow work breaking trail; by 10:00 pm, they had covered one and a half km sto reach 5900m, only halfway to BC. They stopped here. Everyone was cold and tired, and Barton discovered that all his toes had become slightly frostbitten. They "crashed out" here in the tents they set up. Finally by the morning of the 28th, it had stopped snowing and they could leave this temporary camp. While they were moving slowly, breaking trail again, the kitchen staff was coming up from BC with hot soup. The two parties met at noon, and all were safely back in BC (5440m) about 2:00-2:30 pm. The next day they rested at BC, and on the 30th they left BC at 8:00 am. They descended through more deep snow and arrived at Seto Pokhari at 5200m at 2:00-2:35 pm. It would be impossible for them to cross Mera La to get to Lukla, so Ledet called for a helicopter and the team camped here. On the 31st there was white-out and the helicopter couldn't land at Seto Pokhari. It night-stopped at Lukla while the climbers spent another night here. At 6:30 am the helicopter reached them and took all the climbers to Rumjitar in half an hour. It went back later for their baggage and kitchen staff, then carried all of them to Kathmandu, where they landed at about 9:00-9:30 am. Hired: Balram Rana Magar, 25/5/69 (12/2/2026), Tharpu, Gorkhali-8, Gorkha, no 8000ers Kami Sherpa, 14/4/47 (1/1/2004), Mopung, Beni-5, no 8000ers Lhakpa Tamang, 4-5/77 (?/1/2034), Lura, Salleri-9, Solu, no 8000ers
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Guiding Institute
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460135
Year 2009
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se ridge

Members

11 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Colin Neil Barton M 1969 Australia Climber Kirrawee, NSW, Australia Aircraft avionics engineer Details Other expeditions
Trevor Bennett M 1952 Australia Climber Hallidays Point, NSW, Australia Landscape gardener Details Other expeditions
Soren Kruse Ledet M 1967 Denmark Leader Bellevue Hill, NSW, Australia Alpine guide & photographer Details Other expeditions
Geoffrey John (Geoff) Robb M 1953 Australia Climber Killara, NSW, Australia Bank manager Details Other expeditions
Annette (Neddy) Skirka F 1966 Australia Climber Magpie, Victoria, Australia Revenue officer Details Other expeditions
Raymond Alfred (Ray) Smith M 1958 Australia Climber Tamworth, NSW, Australia Helicopter rescue crewman Details Other expeditions
Warren James Townsden M 1962 Australia Climber Coogee, NSW, Australia Zoo horticultural technician Details Other expeditions
Neil Frances Thomas M 1961 Australia Climber Magpie, Victoria, Australia Mechanic (auto) Details Other expeditions
Bal Bahadur (Balram) Rana Magar M 1969 Nepal H-A Worker Tharphu, Gorkhali-8, Gorkha - Details Other expeditions
Kami Sherpa M 1947 Nepal H-A Worker Mopung, Beni-5, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Lhakpa Tamang M 1977 Nepal H-A Worker Lura, Salleri-9, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.