Everest | 1969 SW Face (recon)
A Japan expedition to Everest in 1969 via SW Face (recon), led by Yoshihiro Fujita. Summit reached on 24th May 1969. 4 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 2507 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | EVER69101 |
| Peak ID | EVER |
| Year | 1969 |
| Season | 1 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | SW Face (recon) |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Leaders | Yoshihiro Fujita |
| Sponsor | Japanese Alpine Club (JAC) |
| 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 |
| Basecamp Date | 1969-05-14 |
| Summit Date | 1969-05-24 |
| Summit Time | - |
| Summit Days | 10 |
| Total Days | 0 |
| Termination Date | - |
| Termination Reason | 4 |
| Termination Notes | Abandoned at 6500m due to approaching monsoon |
| High Point (m) | 6500 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 0 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 0 |
| Total Members | 4 |
| Summit Members | 0 |
| Member Deaths | 0 |
| Total Hired | 0 |
| 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(14/05,5400m),xxx(24/05,6500m) |
| Route Notes | 4 members Japanese Everest recon team 13 June 1969 Up Y. couloir - which did know - whole face 75 degrees 80 - branch at 8000m; starts 6500m in Western Cwm; will need 2 camps, can use tents on small terraces, all way up to summit and bivouac tents. Some stone fall, so must be careful. Carrying loads? maybe summit new day now and all down and col. Leave 16 or 17 June 2nd recce party 7-8 members arrive end Aug for further study and acclimatization. Possible ski down 7000m to 6100m South Cwm but still big crevasse, must take off skies. Everest climb expedition will use 30 Sherpas and 15-17 climbing members. Arrived base camp on 14th at 5350m just below icefall; from 15th planned to survey route through icefall and on 16th succeeded to reach point 5700m. On 17th succeeded to carry loads to 5700m and establish camp, written on 18th by Aizawa; [note] reached KTM ex-Lukla 24 May, addressed to Matsuzawa of Japanese embassy. Aizawa and Sugasawa reached base on 16th May. MFA - 19 May 69 ex-Namche Japanese expedition led Yoshihiro Fujita reached base C1 at 11:30 am. 1 member Toyozo Sugasawa taken ill and returned to Lobuche from Gorak Shep, accompanied by Fumi Aizawa. Katoyama tourist also reached base camp. Uemura - 28 April 69 Arrived 24 April in KTM - reconnaissance for years pre-monsoon Japan Alpine Club Everest expedition. 4 members in reconnaissance: Captain Y. Fujita H. Aizawa N. Uemura T. Sugasawa Was on Japan Himalayan expedition to Cho Oyu in 1965 (Meiji University expedition) and Uemura was summiter same expedition. Will fly Lukla - don't know yet when; hope get permission tomorrow before monsoon; want to go to 6500m and examine South Face; from there to decide where possible route will be again reconnaissance in past - monsoon 10 members and then test equipment and make route on lower portion of South Face - may be same people, may not. Fujita - 29 April 69 Will return from reconnaissance to KTM about June 10th; will send mailrunner to Uemura and Japanese embassy: every 10 days. Fujita will be members of 14-member expedition next spring. |
| Accidents | - |
| Achievement | - |
| Agency | - |
| Commercial Route | False |
| Standard Route | - |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | - |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2442425 |
| Year | 1969 |
| Summit Success | False |
| O2 Summary | None |
| Route (lowercase) | sw face (recon) |
Members
4 recorded members.
| Name | Sex | Year of Birth | Citizenship | Status | Residence | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshihiro Fujita | M | - | Japan | Leader | Sudachioya, Tokyo, Japan | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Hirofumi Aizawa | M | 1932 | Japan | Reporter | - | Journalist | Details Other expeditions |
| Naomi Uemura | M | 1941 | Japan | Climber | Kinosaki-gun, Hyogo, Japan | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Toyozo Sugasawa | M | 1943 | Japan | Climber | Japan | - | Details Other expeditions |
References
9 recorded references.
| Expedition ID | Journal | Author | Title | Publisher | Citation | Yak 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVER69101 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | Two Recon Parties of the Japan Everest Exped '70 in 1969 | - | 65:12-13 (1970) | - |
| EVER69101 | HJ | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969-1970 | - | 31:100-112 (1971) | - |
| EVER69101 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969-1970 | - | 66:1-13 (1971) | - |
| EVER69101 | MM | - | - | - | 8:7 (Mar 1970) | - |
| EVER69101 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | Two Recon Parties of the Japan Everest Exped '70 in 1969 | - | 65:130-137 (1970) | - |
| EVER69101 | - | Japanese Alpine Club | Accounts of 1st & 2nd Reconnaissance Expeditions | JAC, Tokyo | - | jN114 |
| EVER69101 | - | Aizawa, Hirofumi | Everest, An Account of the Japanese Ascent | Akane, Tokyo | - | jA01 |
| EVER69101 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969-1970 | - | 66:38-65 (1971) | - |
| EVER69101 | - | - | https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/8/the-japanese-mount-everest-expedition-1969-1970/ | - | - | - |