Dhaulagiri I | 2008 W Face (to 4900m)

A Russia expedition to Dhaulagiri I in 2008 via W Face (to 4900m), led by Valeri Babanov. Summit reached on 1st May 2008. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 5963
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID DHA108107
Peak ID DHA1
Year 2008
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face (to 4900m)
Route 2 NE Ridge
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Russia
Leaders Valeri Babanov
Sponsor Russian Dhaulagiri Expedition
Success 1 False
Success 2 True
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 134
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2008-03-22
Summit Date 2008-05-01
Summit Time 1230
Summit Days 40
Total Days 45
Termination Date 2008-05-06
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8167
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
Summit Members 2
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 False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(22/03,3400m),Biv1(28/04,5800m),Biv2(29/04,6850m),Biv3(30/04,7400m),Smt(01/05)
Route Notes BC at Italian BC C1 at series of bivouacs. Russian Dhaulagiri Expedition led by Valeri Babanov - 11 May 2008 The team made their BC on 22 March at 3400m at the low (northern) BC site known as the Italian base camp with the plan to acclimatize on the normal, NE Ridge route and then make a new route up the left side of the huge West Face via the West Buttress. On the next day they went to 5000m at the bottom of SW Pillar to see the best line up the face. They spent the night in a bivouac there, then down to their BC and rested. On 26 March they took some gear and went to the normal base camp site (the site for expeditions on the normal NE Ridge route) at 4700m. On the 30th, with Czech climber Martin Minarik they climbed the ridge to acclimatize and bivouacked at 5600m and on the 31st they bivouacked at 6000m on the ridge. Now there was a lot of snow, and they descended to normal base camp on 1 April. On 2 April, they went to the Italian base camp, where they had most of their supplies. They left their BC on 7 April and returned to normal base camp. Again they went up the NE Ridge. On the 9th they bivouacked at the normal C1 site at 5800m; on the 10th to 6700-6800m, normal C2 site; on the 11th to a low C3 site, 7100m. On the 12th they were back in normal base camp, and on the 13th back in Italian base camp. Now they wanted to tackle the West Face. However, the weather was windy and snow was falling, so they had to wait for better weather. On 18 April they tried to make their route up the West Face starting with the West Buttress. They started from 3700m at the bottom of the face and climbed the buttress on rock and grass to 4400m, where they bivouacked. The next day they found an impassable barrier: a huge canyon barred their way. They got up to 4900m in their search for a way around the canyon, but could find none. "We were very disappointed," Babanov said. They descended to their BC that day. Babanov said they should have taken a different line to the west of the buttress and thus avoided the canyon. But they could not see the canyon from BC. On the 20th they decided to abandon the face and climb to the summit via the NE Ridge. They rested in Italian base camp for two days, then went back to normal base camp on the 23rd. (This was the day Minarik went to the summit -- Babanov has no doubt he summited: Babanov saw his summit pictures.) Weather forecasts said they would have good conditions on 1 May, so they joined other teams on the 28th to start for the summit. They bivouacked at 5800m on the 28th at the NE Col, at 6800-6900m on the 29th on the NE Ridge, at 7400m on the 30th on the ridge, and on the 1st of May went to the top. The two men left their last bivouac at 6:30 am -- later than the other teams because it was windy and they had time to wait for the sun to take some of the chill off the wind. Totmyanin reached the summit at 12:30 pm while Babanov went to the top with Carlos Pauner at 1:30 pm. Totmyanin was back in their tent at 4:00 pm, and Babanov joined him half an hour later. They returned to normal base camp on the 2nd and to Italian base camp on the 3rd. They left their BC on the 6th to trek to Beni and were back in Kathmandu on the 8th. The team had no Sherpas or oxygen with them, fixed no rope. They had no health problems. Babanov would like one day to make another attempt on the West Face, where there is a good, logical line.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Windhorse Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460421
Year 2008
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w face (to 4900m)

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Valeri Babanov M 1964 Russia Leader Calgary, Alberta Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Nikolai Totmyanin M 1958 Russia Climber St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia Engineer Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
DHA108107 - - http://www.babanov.com - - -