Cho Oyu | 1982 W Ridge-W Face

A W Germany expedition to Cho Oyu in 1982 via W Ridge-W Face, led by Hans Dieter Sauer. Summit reached on 26th October 1982. 1 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2683
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOY82301
Peak ID CHOY
Year 1982
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Ridge-W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality W Germany
Leaders Hans Dieter Sauer
Sponsor -
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 Kirantichap->Namche->Gokyo->Nangpa La
Basecamp Date 1982-10-16
Summit Date 1982-10-26
Summit Time -
Summit Days 10
Total Days 14
Termination Date 1982-10-30
Termination Reason 9
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8100m due to lateness of the day
High Point (m) 8100
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 90
Total Members 1
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
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 True
Other Summits -
Campsites ABC(16/10,600m),C1(18/10,6350m),C2(24/10,6600m),C3(25/10,6900m),xxx(26/10,8100m)
Route Notes Hans Dieter Sauer - 17,28 Nov 2017 ABC 6000m 16/10 C1 6350m 18/10 C2 6600m 24/10 C3 6900m 25/10 HPt 8100m 26/10 by Sauer at 5:30 pm. Sauer walked from Kirantichap (on the Jiri road, then under construction) to Namche, arrived 25 Sept, spent seven days around Namche acclimatizing, left Namche 3 Oct. Having noticed during a visit to Thame that the surveillance was now strict he decided to go again via Gokyo. Up to Gokyo he had the help of two porters, but then he was alone; he did it on his own again. Crossed over to Nangpa La glacier like in 1978 and reached the mountain, on the base of the scree ridge, on 16 Oct. He established himself at 6350m on 18 Oct, fixed ropes at the ice cliff (6700m) and stayed for two nights at 6350m. Being very windy he decided to descend to ABC on 21 Oct. On 22 Oct, it started snowing heavily and Sauer was worried that an avalanche would come down. He decided to abandon his climb and left. But like in 1978 the storm was so strong that he could not pass the Nangpa La and he had to pitch his tent while still on the Tibetan side. The snow storm continued during the next day, but calmed down in the following night. On 24 Oct the weather was brilliant. So Sauer ascended again the same day. He reached 6600m where he spent the night and on 25 Oct he continued to 6900m. Summit attempt on 26 Oct. He left C3 at 5:30 am. He tried to take a direct line right off the normal route as the conditions were good. Nice firm snow. However, it was constantly steep and exhausting making him very slow. After about 12 hours on steep terrain, he finally reached the summit plateau just as it was getting dark. He saw a big snow drift near the summit and spontaneously decided to turn back from his high point. He descended the normal route (he remembered the route from Tichy’s description in his book). On his descent at about 7600m he skidded into a crevasse overturning several times landing headover in a steep snow slope. Luckily he remained unscathed. He decided to spend the night on the very spot where he had landed fearing that he would slip further down into the crevasse in the darkness. His headlamp was of no use because the air in the crevasse was filled with fine snow like a dense fog and he lacked orientation. Trying not to fall asleep, he ate a piece of his chocolate every half hour and managed to stay awake until dawn. He stayed calm the whole night and concentrated on the situation. He managed to crawl out of the crevasse; however, when the metal frame of his rucksack got stuck in a narrow bit he suddenly was overwhelmed by panic. He got rid of the rucksack, stuffed his camera and some utensils into the pockets of his anorak and continued to crawl out of the crevasse. He had lost his ice axe right at the beginning of the fall, but found it again when he got out of the crevasse. From his climb back to the surface Sauer estimates that he skidded down about 12 metres. He then started to descend slowly to his camp at 6900m. He stayed the night there (27 Oct). On 28 Oct, he packed up his tent and sleeping bag (difficult without a rucksack) and descended to 6000m. He stayed one night, made a rucksack out of the duffle bag he had left there and moved closer to the Nangpa La. On 30 Oct, he crossed the Nangpa La back into Nepal and reached Namche on 2 Nov, passing the sentry in Thame at dawn. During the night in the crevasse he had contracted frostbite on his finger tips and on his right toe. In Namche the afflicted parts had turned black. He continued immediately to Lukla to get a flight next morning. But in spite of his injuries Sauer was not given a seat on several planes leaving for Kathmandu. Fortunately he met William (Bill) Denz, his friend Vivienne Pincott, and the doctor Mike Sim, all from New Zealand, who took care of him and managed to get him a seat next morning on 4 Nov. They flew out to Kathmandu together (see Paul Maxim: Bill Denz – New Zealand's Mountain Warrior, p241-242). Sauer managed to get a flight the same evening to Delhi and from there onwards via Paris with Air France to Munich, arriving 5 Nov. He was treated for his frostbite for two weeks in a Munich hospital. One year after his return from Cho Oyu he received a letter from Vivienne Pincott telling him the sad news that Bill Denz had been killed in an avalanche on Makalu. Dr. Hermann Warth - Nov 1983 When Warth was in Germany last Nov, Hans-Dieter Sauer told him that Sauer succeeded in reaching Cho Oyu summit in Oct 1982. Sauer had frostbitten toes and fingers as result. Messner - 8 Apr 1983 Sauer met Messner in Munich last month. Sauer claims solo ascent of Cho Oyu, but he's not a top climber and Messner does not believe claim. Dr. Hermann Warth - 26 March 1981 Hans Dieter Sauer of Munich made 2 attempts on Cho Oyu via Tichy route: 1978 reached 7700m. 1980 reached 7800m - very cold, retreated, fell and broke nose (Sauer visited Warth in his office just after last year's [1980] attempt). Mischa Saleki - 31 Dec 1982 A German, Hans Dieter Sauer from Munich, attempted Cho Oyu via Saleki's route and used same equipment Saleki had left. Attempt in autumn 1982. Saleki there after Sauer, saw Sauer's track to 7000m only although Sauer claimed he got higher (but not to summit). Sauer's fingers badly frostbitten. [Frank] Wells, an American mountaineer, was on Cho Oyu apparently with Sauer. Gurley is writing Wells for same information about the climb and should bring me the answer in May. 8 May 1983 - Gurley leaves KTM tomorrow; received no reply from Wells, but will keep after him to write me.
Accidents Frostbite on finger tips, which he contracted during his climb out of the crevasse (he was treated in Munich hospital for two weeks).
Achievement -
Agency None
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450896
Year 1982
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w ridge-w face

Members

1 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Hans Dieter Sauer M 1941 W Germany Leader Pahl, Bavaria, W Germany Natural science journalist Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHOY82301 - Sauer, Hans Dieter Die Herausforderung, Im Alleingang auf den Cho Oyu Bruckmann, Munich - -