Cheo Himal | 1990 SE Ridge-S Face

A UK expedition to Cheo Himal in 1990 via SE Ridge-S Face, led by Alan Burgess. Summit reached on 30th October 1990. 6 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 674
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHEO90301
Peak ID CHEO
Year 1990
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Ridge-S Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Alan Burgess
Sponsor British Cheo Himal 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 -
Approach From Tanbuche (SW of Mtn)
Basecamp Date 1990-10-22
Summit Date 1990-10-30
Summit Time -
Summit Days 8
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 6
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6250m due to Sherpa's death
High Point (m) 6250
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 5
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 4
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(22/10,5000m),C1(28/10,5600m),xxx(30/10,6250m)
Route Notes BC on west side of Larkya La (1 hour walk from pass) C1 directly above (due north of) Larkya La High point on SE Ridge. First tried to get into S Face directly but found huge icefall a big as Khumbu Icefall and very active (icefall should have been crossed going to face directly at 19,500 ft, but make no attempt to do so). 28th Oct decided to get to S Face via SE Ridge, which leads onto S Face and made C1 on 28th; 29th Burgess and Dawa Wangchu (Kharte near Kharikhola) went on recce to see if feasible to SE Ridge and decided it was and back to C1. 30th set out for ridge (and summit if possible, but this a "long shot"). Burgess, Golden, Whiteley, Nobles and Dawa Wangchu left C1 at 4:00 am; Nobles turned back after an hour (trouble with crampons and not entirely well) while other 4 continued. At 11:00 am were about 200 ft below SE Ridge and here Whiteley and Golden 300 ft behind Burgess and Dawa Wangchu. Dawa Wangchu was now leading and put in ice stake and Burgess climbed up to him and from there Dawa was to go on up and put in ice stake that would be better anchored. Dawa anchored rope and came down his fixed line and tied on another rope to fixed rope but became disconnected from fixed rope (probably rope broke after he had untied a knot Burgess had put there to tie off a flaw in the rope). Dawa fell 800 vertical feet (1000 ft in distance) but was still alive having ended at bottom of a section of very dangerous ice cliffs landing in deep snow. Burgess reached him in 30 minutes: he had massive head injuries (fractured skull) and bleeding from skull profusely and coughing blood. Burgess stayed with him 3 hrs, got him standing, could see but couldn't speak; tried to pull him down steep snow slope and got him down 60 ft and then Dawa disconnected his harness and took off gloves and turned away from Burgess and lay down signaling Burgess to go. Burgess left him. Now ice and ice cliffs will soon take him all the way down (he probably would have died in next half hour). Now did not consider any more climbing. Don't know whether SE Ridge would "go" - couldn't see how steep its sides are.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Highland Sherpa
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453470
Year 1990
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se ridge-s face

Members

6 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Alan Burgess M 1948 UK Leader Huddersfield, W Yorkshire, England Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Ivan Conroy M 1944 UK Climber Huddersfield, W Yorkshire, England Building contractor Details Other expeditions
Mathew Golden M 1963 UK Climber Huddersfield, W Yorkshire, England Director of motor-vehicle dealership Details Other expeditions
Derek Nobles M 1936 UK Climber Holmfirth, W Yorkshire, England Photographer Details Other expeditions
Charles John Whiteley M 1946 UK Climber Huddersfield, W Yorkshire, England Textile fabric manufacturer Details Other expeditions
Dawa Wangchu Sherpa M 1958 Nepal H-A Worker Kharte, Kharikhola, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHEO90301 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth - - 65:238 (1991) -
CHEO90301 MM - - - 137:9 (Jan 1991) -
CHEO90301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199123804/Asia-Nepal-Cheo-Himal-Attempt-and-Tragedy - - -