Baruntse | 2010 SE Ridge

A USA expedition to Baruntse in 2010 via SE Ridge, led by Melissa Arnot. Summit reached on 23rd October 2010. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6881
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID BARU10302
Peak ID BARU
Year 2010
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Melissa Arnot
Sponsor Independent on Baruntse
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 -
Basecamp Date 2010-10-20
Summit Date 2010-10-23
Summit Time -
Summit Days 3
Total Days 4
Termination Date 2010-10-24
Termination Reason 6
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7000m due to Sherpa's death
High Point (m) 7000
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 1
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 1
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 1
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(20/10,5400m),C2(20/10,5500m),Mbr.xxx(22/10,6500m),Sherpa.xxx(23/10,7000m)
Route Notes C2 below of SE Ridge. In a rapid ascent of Baruntse, Arnot and her highly experienced Sherpa, Chhewang Nima, skipped C1 and went directly to C2 from BC on 22 October, two days after arriving at BC. On the 23rd, Arnot rested in C2 while Chhewang Nima and a Sherpa with an Iranian expedition, Nima Gyalzen, decided to break trail above and left C2 at 10:30 am. At 2:00 pm, she saw them very near the so-called first summit at about 7000m. At 4:30 that afternoon, another team's Sherpa told her that he saw Chhewang and Nima Gyalzen coming down, and she should make tea for him. She brewed up some tea, and half an hour later Nima Gyalzen appeared, crying and screaming that there had been an avalanche and "Chhewang finished!" Melissa and a Sherpa with the Iranians tried to go up to the scene of the tragedy, but it was getting dark and quite windy; they climbed up about ten meters in 15 minutes, then retreated to C2. Nima Gyalzen turned up at 5:00 pm. He was using oxygen; in his hysterical condition, the supplementary oxygen helped him to be able to catch his breath and to walk. Nima Gyalzen told her with difficulty that just above 7000m, there was a crevasse with a cornice on its northwest side. Chhewang was on top of the cornice, hammering in a picket, when the ice beneath him collapsed onto the East Face of steep fluted snow and then rock. The cornice carried him downwards and a snow avalanche came down on top of him and buried him. Nima Gyalzen had been roped to Chhewang, but he said the ice sliced the rope in two and saved his life. He thought the incident had happened at 3:30-4:00 pm. At 7:10 pm, Arnot and Nima Gyalzen headed to down to BC, where they arrived at about 10:00 pm. The next morning a helicopter arrived at BC to make search for Chhewang, but there was a strong wind on the east side and a search was not possible. So she and Nima Gyalzen flew to Chhewang Nima's village, Tesho, near Thami in Khumbu and landed in a potato field close to his family's home to inform them of what had happened. The family was so angry with Arnot for taking him to Baruntse that she retreated to the nearby home of a cook, Ang Tshering, who had been with her on earlier expeditions. On the following morning, the 25th, Arnot and Nima Gyalzen trekked to Namche Bazar, where a helicopter picked them up and flew them to Kharikhola in Solu where Chhewang's brother Ngima Nuru lived. The helicopter, co-piloted by Simone Moro, a well-known Italian mountaineer who knows the region, carried them to a hilltop near Baruntse. After a 45-minute search, the two Nimas reported that there had been three huge avalanches on the northeast side of the mountain and there was no chance to find Chhewang Nima's body. The helicopter dropped Nima Gyalzen at Lukla to see the family, and it carried Arnot and Ngima Nuru to Namche, where they met Nepalese govenment officials for extensive interviews. 24 October was the day when Arnot and Chhewang had planned to summit Baruntse from C2 and return to BC the same day. Sherpa: Chhewang Nima (Chuwang Nima), 20/8/67, Tesho, Namche-4, Khumbu, Cho Oyu X2, Everest X18
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Sherpa Shangri-La Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460698
Year 2010
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se ridge

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Melissa Sue Arnot F 1983 USA Leader Ketchum, Idaho Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Chhuwang Nima Sherpa M 1967 Nepal H-A Worker Tesho, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.