Burke Kang | 2017 S Face-SE Ridge

A USA expedition to Burke Kang in 2017 via S Face-SE Ridge, led by William Burke. Summit reached on 5th October 2017. 7 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9633
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID BURK17301
Peak ID BURK
Year 2017
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Face-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders William Burke
Sponsor Burke Khang First Ascent Expedition Autumn 2017
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 1st
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries France, Ireland
Approach By heli from Dhole (Hanna) and Gokyo
Basecamp Date 2017-09-27
Summit Date 2017-10-05
Summit Time 1205
Summit Days 8
Total Days 10
Termination Date 2017-10-07
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6942
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 2500
Total Members 4
Summit Members 1
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 4
Summit Hired 3
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(27/09,5300m),C1(01/10,6200m),C2(04/10,6600m),Smt(05/10)
Route Notes BC 27/09 5300m C1 01/10 6200m (29/09 1st time, but no sleeping) C2 04/10 6600m Smt 05/10 by Hanna, Naga Dorje, Sonam Samden, Pemba Tshering at 12:05 pm. From base camp at 5300m, the team crossed the glacier without a rope as it was mainly moraine. Once on the base of the mountain, they scrambled up a small couloir. On the top of the couloir they established crampon point at about 5700m. From there they went up the snow face to gain the ridge, where they established C1 at 6200m. From C1 to C2 they climbed up the SE Ridge. The ridge was about 50 degrees. At 6200m they came across a few crevasses, which they could negotiate via snow bridges. At about 6400m, the Sherpas did not want to carry on due to the crevasses, but Hanna pushed on. The Sherpas put him on belay and he fixed rope and took them across. They established C2 at 6600m right next to a big crevasse on the flat. On summit day, the summit team left C2 at 6 am. They had to cross the big crevasse and climbed the headwall with the Sherpas fixing the ropes. The headwall was about 70 degrees. The snow on the headwall was sugary and they had to break trails. Snow was up to their knees. Hanna left some ashes of his dog on the summit and they drank a bottle of Moet Champagne. After they spent about half an hour on the summit, they descended to BC, where they arrived at about 6:10 pm. Kershner reached C2 on 4 Oct. He was suffering from altitude sickeness and decided not to come on the summit push. He stayed at C2 and waited for the summit team to come back. Burke reached 6300m on 5 Oct. He was on his way to C2 to join the rest of the team for a summit attempt. However, as the weather forecast was bad for the following days, Hanna decided to push for the summit. When Burke found out that Hanna and the Sherpas reached the summit, it was clear to him that he would not carry on. It was important to him that someone of the team reached the summit. Team left BC by heli to Lukla on 7 Oct, and on to Ktm the same day. Fixed rope: 2500m starting from 5400m Sherpas: Nanda Dorje (Naga Dorje), Khumjung, 30/12/1966 Samden (Sonam) Bhote, Hungung, 25/07/1979 Pemba Tshering (Maila), Khumjung, 18/04/1979
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Asian Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2463649
Year 2017
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s face-se ridge

Members

7 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
William Mitchell (Bill) Burke M 1942 USA Leader Costa Mesa, California Retired attorney Details Other expeditions
Alexandre Francois Regis Buisse M 1985 France Cameraman Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France Photographer Details Other expeditions
Noel Richmond Hanna M 1967 Ireland Climber Johannesburg, S Africa Close protection officer Details Other expeditions
Micah John Kershner M 1978 USA Climber Jersey City, New Jersey Businessman (payments technology) Details Other expeditions
Samden (Sonam) Bhote M 1979 Nepal H-A Worker Hungung, Hatiya-1, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Nanda Dorje (Naga Dorje, Nanga) Sherpa M 1966 Nepal H-A Worker Khumjung, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pemba Tshering (Maila) Sherpa M 1986 Nepal H-A Worker Khumjung, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
BURK17301 - - http://eightsummits.com/bill-burke-blog/mountaineering/burke-khang-recap/ - - -
BURK17301 AAJ Burke, Bill Burke Khang, South Face and Southeast Ridge - 92:336-337 (2018) -
BURK17301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214494/Burke-Khang-South-Face-and-Southeast-Ridge - - -