Cho Oyu | 1988 N Face up; W Ridge-W Face down

A Yugoslavia expedition to Cho Oyu in 1988 via N Face up; W Ridge-W Face down, led by Roman Robas. Summit reached on 2nd November 1988. 8 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 852
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID CHOY88307
Peak ID CHOY
Year 1988
Season 3
Host Country 2
Route 1 N Face up; W Ridge-W Face down
Route 2 N Face-W side
Route 3 N Face
Route 4 -
Nationality Yugoslavia
Leaders Roman Robas
Sponsor -
Success 1 True
Success 2 True
Success 3 True
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 56th
Ascent 2 57th,60th
Ascent 3 59th
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Via Khasa->Tingri->Kyetrak
Basecamp Date 1988-10-17
Summit Date 1988-11-02
Summit Time -
Summit Days 16
Total Days 28
Termination Date 1988-11-14
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8188
Traverse True
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 1700
Total Members 8
Summit Members 7
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 1
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(17/10,5750m),C1(19/10,5850m),C2(20/10,6200m),C3(30/10,7200m),C4(04/11,7550m),Smt(02,05,08-09/11)
Route Notes BC at moraine near junction Gyabrag and Palung Glacier C1 at Palung Glacier C2 at bottom of N Face (bergschrund, ice hole) C3 on North Face C4 on North Face. Long approach and difficult from BC to C1. C2 to C3 and above C4 to top most difficult with no place to put C3 lower. Some parts 55-60 degrees, avalanche 45+ degrees. Mostly snow and ice face. C3 to C4 very bad snow condition (powder snow with thin ice crust). Couloir from 7800m to 8150m of rock slabs covered with ice and snow - no avalanching. Some seracs between C3 to C4 but did not fall in very cold weather (C1 -25 degrees early morning) with 1 hour direct sun on face. Very windy on top but generally no wind on face. Fixed rope from C2 to C3; 1700m fixed. On 2 Nov Tomazin alone from C3 to top and down Tichy route in unprepared descent to 6000m where met Skarja at 2:00 am on 3 Nov. All 3 returned to BC 7 am. 3 Nov Groselj and Rozman made C4 4 Nov wind and snowfall kept them in C4 and 5 Nov to top via small traverse to Tichy route and descended same way. 8 Nov Nadvesnik and Prezelj from C4 direct to top via couloir and descended couloir to C1 and C2, respectively. 9 Nov Jereb and Robas from C4 to top via small traverse of 5 Nov and down to C2. Left BC 14th Nov. 5th degree average difficulty (French TD - tres difficult like classical north face route in Alps). One of last great Himalayan faces. Couloir is about vertical 300m high, starting from 7850m; last 10m is 90-degree rock.
Accidents Some frostbite but all will heal
Achievement 1st attempt of N Face; 1st ascent of face; 1st traverse
Agency -
Commercial Route False
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453146
Year 1988
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) n face up; w ridge-w face down

Members

8 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Viktor (Viki) Groselj M 1952 Yugoslavia Climber Ljubljana, Slovenia, Yugoslavia Sports school teacher Details Other expeditions
Blaz Jereb M 1960 Yugoslavia Climber Slovenia, Yugoslavia Sports teacher Details Other expeditions
Radivoj Nadvesnik M 1965 Yugoslavia Climber Slovenia, Yugoslavia Locksmith Details Other expeditions
Marko Prezelj M 1965 Yugoslavia Climber Kamnik, Slovenia, Yugoslavia Student of chemical engineering Details Other expeditions
Roman Robas M 1942 Yugoslavia Leader Ljubljana, Slovenia, Yugoslavia Mechanical engineer Details Other expeditions
Joze Rozman M 1955 Yugoslavia Climber Slovenia, Yugoslavia Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Anton (Tone) Skarja M 1937 Yugoslavia Climber Menges, Slovenia, Yugoslavia Electrical technician Details Other expeditions
Iztok Tomazin M 1960 Yugoslavia Climber Krize, Slovenia, Yugoslavia Physician Details Other expeditions

References

6 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
CHOY88307 AAJ Robas, Roman - - 63:283-284 (1989) -
CHOY88307 HJ Robas, Roman North Face of Cho Oyu, 1988 - 46:158 (1988-1989) -
CHOY88307 MM - - - 125:10 (Jan 1989) -
CHOY88307 - Groselj, Viki Stirikrat Osem Tisoc Presernova, Ljubljana - G383
CHOY88307 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198928302/Asia-Tibet-Cho-Oyu-North-Face - - -
CHOY88307 - - https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/46/22/expeditions-and-notes-46/ - - -