Cholatse | 2023 SW Ridge

A Czech Republic expedition to Cholatse in 2023 via SW Ridge, led by Zdenek Hak. Summit reached on 3rd November 2023. 6 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 11224
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOL23301
Peak ID CHOL
Year 2023
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Ridge
Route 2 W Face (Up), SW Ridge (down)
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Czech Republic
Leaders Zdenek Hak
Sponsor Czech Cholatse Expedition 2023
Success 1 False
Success 2 True
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Namche Bazar->Phortse->Cholatse BC
Basecamp Date 2023-11-01
Summit Date 2023-11-03
Summit Time 1730
Summit Days 2
Total Days 3
Termination Date 2023-11-04
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6423
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 6
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
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(01/11,49800m),C1(02/11,5400m),Smt(03/11)
Route Notes Approach: Namche Bazar, Phortse, Cholatse BC BC 01/11 4900m C1 02/11 5400m Smt 03/11 by both members at 5:30 pm Route; Direct West Face up, SW Ridge down Oxygen: not taken, not used Records: 1st ascent of the West Face direct Other peaks: LOBE, CHOL (attempt normal route, not recorded), KGRI (no climb) Guides: Zdenek Hak Radoslav Groh Clients: Lenka Erlebachova Miroslav Joudal Radek Pacner Jan Ros Lobuche East, first acclimatization peak guiding: Both Hak and Groh guided a 4 clients group, summiting on 20 Oct. Cholatse, second acclimatization peak guiding: Same guides led 4-client group for Cholatse normal route (SW Ridge). No summit, because on the 25 Oct, one member (Jan Ros) died by a fall. Once the evacuation of the body was done, the group was back to KTM for 5 days. Here both guides decided to cancel their expedition for Khangri Shar, head goal of the expedition, but after a while they decided spontaneously to go back for Cholatse. New route on Cholatse: Both Zdenek Hak and Radoslav Groh used no porters, carrying just a backpack each of them, walking and climbing all on their own. 31 Oct: KTM to Lukla to Namche by helicopter. Duet walked to Phortse. 01 Nov: Phortse to Cholatse BC (circa 4750m), then a bit further up to their 4900m BC. 02 Nov: from their BC at 4900m, duet climbed the first 6 pitches, then slept below a great serac at circa 5400m. 03 Nov: the team started early at 2 am, climbed during all night and day, reached the summit of the face at 5 pm (a circa 15 hr continuous one-push). Then it continued to the summit, reached at 5:30 pm. The same day it went down to C1 (5600m) of the normal route (SW Ridge) for sleeping. 04 Nov: duet went back to its BC then continued to Phortse. Route difficulties and key descriptions: Consists mainly in ice difficulties (WI4+), with 60 to 80° slopes generally (a little bit more, at 90° sometimes). Some mixed climbing difficulties up to M4/M5. Difficulty: ED. No name given to the route, yet it could be named “JUST one solution”! In fact, there’s no possibility for bivouac or rest on the face, because of falling stones and seracs risk. Thus, one needs to climb the line in a day push. Kangri Shar: head goal abandoned after the accident. No climb there.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency 14 Summits
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2462410
Year 2023
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw ridge

Members

6 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Zdenek Hak M 1980 Czech Republic Leader Mala Skala, Czech Republic Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Lenka Erlebachova F 1987 Czech Republic Climber Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic - Details Other expeditions
Radoslav Groh M 1989 Czech Republic Climbing Guide Vrchlabi, Czech Republic - Details Other expeditions
Miroslav Joudal M 1977 Czech Republic Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Radek Pacner M 1977 Czech Republic Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Jan Ros M - Czech Republic Climber Straznice, Czech Republic - Details Other expeditions

References

5 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHOL23301 - - https://explorersweb.com/czech-climber-dies-cholatse/ - - -
CHOL23301 - - https://explorersweb.com/hak-groh-cholatse/ - - -
CHOL23301 - - https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/alpinism/cholatse-west-face-climbed-radoslav-groh-zdenek-hak.html - - -
CHOL23301 AAJ Hak, Zdenek Cholatse, West Face - 98:319-320 (2024) -
CHOL23301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201216834 - - -