Cho Oyu | 1987 W Ridge-W Face (Tichy) from S

A USA expedition to Cho Oyu in 1987 via W Ridge-W Face (Tichy) from S, led by Robert Watters. Summit reached on 30th April 1987. 6 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 250
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOY87103
Peak ID CHOY
Year 1987
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Ridge-W Face (Tichy) from S
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Robert Watters
Sponsor 1987 Nevada 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 Khumbu Valley->Nangpa La
Basecamp Date 1987-04-12
Summit Date 1987-04-30
Summit Time -
Summit Days 18
Total Days 22
Termination Date 1987-05-04
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7600m due to bad weather, disappearance of supplies
High Point (m) 7600
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 5
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 6
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 2
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
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(12/04,5200m),C1(15/04,5400m),C2(19/04,5685m),ABC(21/04,5920m),C4(25/04,6400m),C5(27/04,6800m),C6(29/04,7200m),C7(30/04,7600m),xxx(30/04,7600m)
Route Notes BC at Kangchung (as far as yaks could go in deep snow) C1 at Nangpa Glacier edge near "g" of Nangpa C2 at Gyabrag Glacier moraine between "a" "g" Gyabrag C3 (ABC) at upper part of Gyabrag Glacier near "c" of Glacier C4 just east of point 6446m on ridge C5 just below icefall C6 above icefall C7 above rock band south of point 7530m. At high point stayed 2 nights because of wind and snow. On 2 May down to C5 and down to ABC site on 3rd. Found ABC stripped clean presumably by Chinese, so down to secret Chilean BC2 at 5700m. 4th May to USA C1 and now climb over because of loss of all supplies at USA ABC. An easy peak: hardest section was scree slope 35-degree to C4 but high mountain with winds and storms. Watters - 13 May 1987 April 25, Watters 15 minutes behind other 3 headed to C4, heard shouting and waving arms below at ABC turned back and found there 2 Chinese officials who asked for climbing permit. Watters went for it (and told to other 3 to go on up); then was asked for trekking permit and as he got it out, Chinese saw passport and took it and both permit (also took Chilean documents but not passports). Chinese wanted him to come down with them to Chinese army camp near Austrian's BC. Pretended to follow Chinese but actually suddenly went south and left Chinese. Other 3 kept on up: Baker, Grant and Swanson. When they came down, were not caught by Chinese (Baker very early in morning, other 2 in storm). See AAJ (1988) for further details of confrontation with Chinese officials.
Accidents Tent fire at C5 burned Baker's hands slightly; Gerhauser ill (chest cold) and left expedition early when didn't recover (reached C1 once, was down below BC couple of times, finally left May 2)
Achievement -
Agency Mountain Adventure
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2452593
Year 1987
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w ridge-w face (tichy) from s

Members

6 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Matthew Baker M 1956 USA Climber Carson City, Nevada Engineer Details Other expeditions
Richard Gerhauser M 1953 USA Exp Doctor Reno, Nevada Physician Details Other expeditions
Robert (Ney) Grant M 1958 USA Climber Davis, California Engineer Details Other expeditions
Ronald Reno M 1953 USA Climber Sparks, Nevada Archeologist Details Other expeditions
Kirk Swanson M 1961 USA Climber Anchorage, Alaska Student, geology Details Other expeditions
Robert Watters M 1946 USA Leader Reno, Nevada Professor of geological engineering Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHOY87103 AAJ Watters, Robert - - 62:209-210 (1988) -
CHOY87103 MM - - - 118:5 (Nov 1987) -
CHOY87103 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198820900/Asia-Nepal-Cho-Oyu-Attempt - - -