Cho Oyu | 2009 NW side

A India expedition to Cho Oyu in 2009 via NW side, led by Ramesh Chandra Tripathi. Summit reached on 8th May 2009. 14 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6338
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOY09101
Peak ID CHOY
Year 2009
Season 1
Host Country 2
Route 1 NW side
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality India
Leaders Ramesh Chandra Tripathi
Sponsor Indian Air Force Cho Oyu 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 -
Basecamp Date 2009-04-21
Summit Date 2009-05-08
Summit Time -
Summit Days 17
Total Days 24
Termination Date 2009-05-15
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7700m due to very bad weather
High Point (m) 7700
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 700
Total Members 9
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 6
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(21/04,5120m),ABC(22/04,5639m),C1(30/04,6248m),C2(7200m),xxx.Mbrs(11/05,7300m),xxx.Shrpas(08/05,7700m)
Route Notes IAF Cho Oyu Expedition, Ramesh Chandra Tripathi - 17 May 2009 Tripathi's policy for the summit push that once they had left C1 to go for the top, not to descend till the end, and to spend just one nigth in each successively higher camp. The weather forced him to modify it and to stay longer in the camps. Two climbing members were not fully fit and could not climb high. Nizamuddin and Rawat went with others to establish C1 on 30 April and down with them to ABC on 1 May, but then remained in ABC for the rest of the climb. In their place, two members who had been in reserve, G. P. Kumar and Singh, came up and joined the push for the summit. The team's six Sherpas were the only people engaged in fixing ropes. They fixed 700m from C1 to the site for their C3, and route to the summit. Four of the Sherpas, Lhakpa Dorje, Norbu, Pem Chhiri and Sonam Chering, on 8 May climbed to the site for C3 at 7700m, fixing the route and leaving the gear for making the camp, but they did not sleep there. The summit push began on 5 May, when Bharmoria, Choudhary, Jaikishan, Kumar, Singh and Tripathi moved from ABC to C1. But already the bad weather was forcing delays in their progress. Because of snowfall, strong wind and low temperatures they spent five nights, instead of just one, at C1. They left C1 on the 10th and reached C2. The plan now was to spend two hours in C2 resting, drinking tea and water, and for the members to breathe oxygen, then go for the top during the night. The four Sherpas went ahead of them to C3's site and prepared hot drinks for them. But winds of 40-50 knots and near white-out conditions prevented the members from leaving C2, and the Sherpas gave up waiting for them and rejoined them in C2 at 7:00 pm NST. All these members and Sherpas spent the night in C2 (the members used oxygen for two hours, then switched off, Sherpas used none.) On the 11th, the weather was still very bad. They tried to go to the summit, but were forced to abandon the attempt at only 7300m by 60-knot and stronger winds, blizzard and total white-out. They were pinned down in C1 for another night, but still hoping to be able to summit on the 12th. But the weather was unchanged the next morning, and the team's bid for the summit was abandoned. Instead of going any higher, they descended. Jaikishan and Tripathi stopped in C1; they were tired and they needed to pack up the camp. The others continued on down to ABC for the night. During his descent to C1, the wind was so fierce that it lifted Tripathi, who is not a big man, off his feet. The climb was over. There was no more time for a second summit push. The only health problems were the two frostbitten fingers each of G. P. Kumar and sirdar Pasang Gombu in C2. Their frostbite was not serious. Sherpas: Lhakpa Dorje, 1/10/65, Chitre, Sotang-6, Solu, Everest X5, Lhotse X1 Norbu Sherpa, 2/5/68, Beding, Everest X9, Lhotse X1, Cho Oyu X7, Gasherbrum II X1, Broad Peak X1 Pasang Gombu, team's sirdar, 22/4/61 (according to passport), Lokhim-9, Solu, Cho Oyu X4 Pem Chhiri, 9/11/75, Lokhim, Kurima-9, Solu, no 8000ers Sonam Chering, 29/5/64, Solukhumbu, no 8000ers Note: Colonel Ashok Abbey joined this team on 29 April as a guest visitor. He went to C2 site with Rawat on May 6, then retreated to C1 the same day (see HJ 66).
Accidents G. P. Kumar and Sirdar Pasang Gombu had 2 frostbitten fingers
Achievement -
Agency Himalaya Expeditions
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460479
Year 2009
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) nw side

Members

14 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Amit Kumar Bharmoria M 1983 India Climber Gowalla, Mandi, HP, India Alpinist with rank of master warrant officer Details Other expeditions
Nikku Ram Choudhary M 1971 India Climber Purana Bazar, Mandi, HP, India Alpinist with rank of warrant officer Details Other expeditions
Jaikishan M 1972 India Climber New Delhi, India Alpinist with rank of squadron leader Details Other expeditions
Gangeyula Pawan Kumar M 1976 India Climber Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India Alpinist with rank of squadron leader Details Other expeditions
Nizamuddin M 1960 India Climber New Delhi, India Alpinist with rank of squadron leader Details Other expeditions
Namit Rawat M 1973 India Climber New Delhi, India Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Jasbir Singh M 1973 India Climber New Delhi, India Alpinist with rank of sergeant Details Other expeditions
Ramesh Chandra Tripathi M 1965 India Leader New Delhi, India Sky diving instructor & alpinist with rank of wing commander Details Other expeditions
Lhakpa Dorje Sherpa M 1965 Nepal H-A Worker Chitre, Sotang, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Norbu/Nurbu (Nuru) Sherpa M 1968 Nepal H-A Worker Beding, Dolakha - Details Other expeditions
Pem Chhiri Sherpa M 1975 Nepal H-A Worker Kurima, Lokhim-9, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Sonam Chering Sherpa M 1964 Nepal H-A Worker Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Gombu Sherpa M 1962 Nepal H-A Worker Sakpharma, Lokhim-9, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Ashok Abbey M 1961 India Climber (Guest) Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India Army officer Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHOY09101 HJ Abbey, Colonel Ashok Cho Oyu, The Mountain Beyond Reach - 66:260-265 (2010) -