Cho Oyu | 2008 NW side

A USA expedition to Cho Oyu in 2008 via NW side, led by Stuart Remensnyder. Summit reached on 2nd October 2008. 16 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6231
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOY08307
Peak ID CHOY
Year 2008
Season 3
Host Country 2
Route 1 NW side
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Stuart Remensnyder
Sponsor Field Touring Alpine Cho Oyu Expedition 2008
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, UK
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2008-09-12
Summit Date 2008-10-02
Summit Time 0815
Summit Days 20
Total Days 26
Termination Date 2008-10-08
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8188
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 600
Total Members 14
Summit Members 6
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 3
Summit Hired 1
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(12/09,4700m),C1(15/09,5700m),C2(23/09,7100m),C3(01/10,7600m),Smt(02/10)
Route Notes Field Touring Cho Oyu Expedition, led by Stuart Remensnyder - 11 Oct 2008 The summit party members Baker, Castel, Higgott, Kane, Leveille, Mazza, Moody, Remensnyder, Lhakpa Sherpa and Parsu Ram Rai. They left C3 for the top on 2 October at 2:00 am (all times are Chinese Time). At about 3:30 am at 7700m Kane and Parsu Ram turned back because they were too cold. Leveille reached 8160m at 2:45 pm; Remensnyder met him there as he, Remensnyder, was coming down from the summit, and told Leveille that it was too late to continue to the top. Leveille descended slowly with Remensnyder through the night; he was suffering from mild cerebra edema, hypothermia (it was very cold, and dehydration). At 6:00 am (3:45 NST) on the 3rd, when he was with Kane at a section where there was no fixed rope, about two or three meters above C3, he sat down, lunged to one side and fell to his death 500m down a vertical slope; his head was badly smashed. His body was buried in a small crevasse near C2. The summit was reached by Higgott, Mazza and Lhakpa at 10:30 am (8:15 am NST); Baker at noon (9:45 NST); Castel at 12:15 pm (10:00 NST); Moody at 12:30 pm (10:15 NST); and Remensnyder at 2:30 pm (12:15 NST). Baker, Higgot, Mazza and Lhakpa descended to C2; the others stayed in C3. Oxygen was used by Leveille from 150m above C3 till his death (from 2:00 to 6:00 am). Other non-summited members: Calzarossa's high point was 6900m. He had altitude sickness early in the climbing period, and he stopped climbing altogether when teammate Leveille fell to his death on 3 October. Dickson reached C3 on 1 October, but was too slow to go for the summit with other member on the 2nd. Haugen reached 6600m; had chest infection and retinal hemorrhage so went no higher. Hibbert got to only 6900m because altitude problems. Nystrom reached 7200m on 2 October, but had to turn back because of intestinal problem. When he was about 100 vertical meters (200 linear meters) above C2 at 6:00 pm, he fell into soft snow. He was not hurt, but he lost a lot of feathers and got slightly frostbitten toes. Sherpas: Lhakpa Sherpa, 1968-69 (2025), Tamku, Lokhim-9, Solu, no 8000ers Parsu Ram Rai, 39 yrs, Rakha-4, Khotang
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Su-Swagatam Treks
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460260
Year 2008
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) nw side

Members

16 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Robin Matthew (Rob) Baker M 1976 Australia Climber Adelaide, SA, Australia Alpine guide & engineer Details Other expeditions
Antonin Calzarossa M 1978 France Climber New York, New York Banker Details Other expeditions
Ryan Anthony Castel M 1980 Australia Climber Taringa, QLD, Australia Environmental scientist Details Other expeditions
Kit Harvey Rae Dickson M 1975 UK Climber Macclesfield, Cheshire, England International tax advisor Details Other expeditions
Erik Haugen M 1979 Norway Climber Oslo, Norway Medical student Details Other expeditions
Ian James Hibbert M 1951 Australia Climber Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina Retired technician Details Other expeditions
Guy Tristram Higgot M 1967 Canada Climber Thornton, Ontario Police officer Details Other expeditions
Benjamin James Kane M 1981 Australia Deputy Leader Cabarita Beach, NSW, Australia Tour guide Details Other expeditions
Guy Leveille M 1963 Canada Climber Winnipeg, Manitoba Police officer Details Other expeditions
Italo Mazza M 1949 Italy Climber Monia, Milano, Italy Executive of manufacturing company Details Other expeditions
Justin Robert Moody M 1975 UK Climber London, England Tax advisor Details Other expeditions
John Stefan Nystrom M 1975 UK Climber London, England Attorney Details Other expeditions
Stuart Wiley Remensnyder M 1962 USA Leader Amherst, Massachusetts Alpine guide, teacher & emergency medical technician Details Other expeditions
Lyngve Skrede M 1970 Norway Climber Stryn, Norway Web-design consultant Details Other expeditions
Lakpa/Lhakpa Sherpa M 1968 Nepal H-A Worker Tamku-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Parsu Ram (Tshering) Rai M 1969 Nepal H-A Worker Dhirtel, Rakha Bangdel-1, Khotang - Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHOY08307 - - http://www.fieldtouring.com/dispatches/cho_oyu_2008.php - - -
CHOY08307 - - http://distantpeak.com/cms/story/209/cho-oyu-2008-failure-and-tragedy - - -