Everest | 1969 SW Face (recon)
A Japan expedition to Everest in 1969 via SW Face (recon), led by Hideki Miyashita. Summit reached on 31st October 1969. 12 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 2497 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | EVER69301 |
| Peak ID | EVER |
| Year | 1969 |
| Season | 3 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | SW Face (recon) |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Leaders | Hideki Miyashita |
| 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 | - |
| Basecamp Date | 1969-09-16 |
| Summit Date | 1969-10-31 |
| Summit Time | - |
| Summit Days | 45 |
| Total Days | 49 |
| Termination Date | 1969-11-04 |
| Termination Reason | 12 |
| Termination Notes | Abandoned at 8000m (did not intend to try for summit) |
| High Point (m) | 8000 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 4 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 0 |
| Total Members | 12 |
| Summit Members | 0 |
| Member Deaths | 0 |
| Total Hired | 0 |
| Summit Hired | 0 |
| Hired Deaths | 0 |
| No Hired | False |
| O2 Used | True |
| O2 None | False |
| O2 Climb | True |
| O2 Descent | False |
| O2 Sleep | False |
| O2 Medical | False |
| O2 Taken | False |
| O2 Unknown | False |
| Other Summits | - |
| Campsites | BC(16/09,5400m),C1(28/09,6050m),C2(15/10,6600m),C3(18/10,7000m),C4(29/10,7500m),xxx(31/10,01/11,8000m) |
| Route Notes | Sato - 12 Nov 69 (ex-Lukla) 2 today - leader and Sato 8 more tomorrow including 4 journalists 2 Friday (5 & 7) Could go up SW Face up central ice couloir to snow traverse onto South Ridge; traverse starts at 8000m. In recon reached this 8000m point. Recon was to experience rock climbing at high altitude On last day, 2 members went to highest point reached by expedition at 7970m: 31 Oct - Konishi and Uemura 1 Nov - Sato and Nakajima Sato proceeded one more pitch to 8000m rock climbing for 1st time; not so steep but much trouble with oxygen equipment. Was 5:30 pm and suffered slight frostbite in toes. At 5:00 oxygen finished; at 5:30 also could find no good belaying point; another time if had ice pitons, Ok. South Ridge some danger of rock falls - also space for camp. Sato reached beginning of snow traverse. Directissima from this point forbidding: some overhang and very smooth rock walls. If can make big station including oxygen hut at base thus rock buttress might be possible to do directissima, so expect will do traverse. |
| Accidents | - |
| Achievement | - |
| Agency | - |
| Commercial Route | False |
| Standard Route | - |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | - |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2442585 |
| Year | 1969 |
| Summit Success | False |
| O2 Summary | Used |
| Route (lowercase) | sw face (recon) |
Members
12 recorded members.
| Name | Sex | Year of Birth | Citizenship | Status | Residence | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hideki Miyashita | M | 1931 | Japan | Leader | - | Vice President Construction Company, Shinsei Shokai Co. | Details Other expeditions |
| Hisashi Tanabe | M | - | Japan | Deputy Leader | Tokyo, Japan | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Hiroshi Nakajima | M | 1938 | Japan | Climber | Urawa, Saitama, Japan | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Masatsugu Konishi | M | 1938 | Japan | Climber | - | Works in Hosocawa printing office | Details Other expeditions |
| Naomi Uemura | M | 1941 | Japan | Climber | Kinosaki-gun, Hyogo, Japan | Agriculture graduate, Kyoshin Iron Foundary Co. | Details Other expeditions |
| Yukitoshi Sato | M | 1942 | Japan | Climber | Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan | Member of Mitsui Bank | Details Other expeditions |
| Jiro Inoue | M | 1945 | Japan | Climber | Kobe, Hyogo, Japan | Post graduate student of Kyoto University | Details Other expeditions |
| Shigeo Omori | M | 1933 | Japan | Exp Doctor | Kitatama, Tokyo, Japan | Physician | Details Other expeditions |
| Katsuhisa Kimura | M | - | Japan | Cameraman | Japan | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Shigeru Sato | M | - | Japan | Reporter | - | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Tokutaro Noguchi | M | - | Japan | TV Cameraman | - | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Hisao Shirai | M | 1933 | Japan | TV Director | - | - | Details Other expeditions |
References
11 recorded references.
| Expedition ID | Journal | Author | Title | Publisher | Citation | Yak 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVER69301 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | Two Recon Parties of the Japan Everest Exped '70 in 1969 | - | 65:12-13 (1970) | - |
| EVER69301 | AJ | - | - | - | 75:199 (1970) | - |
| EVER69301 | HJ | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969-1970 | - | 31:100-112 (1971) | - |
| EVER69301 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969-1970 | - | 66:1-13 (1971) | - |
| EVER69301 | MM | - | Everest - Direttissima | - | 12:25 (Nov 1970) | - |
| EVER69301 | MM | - | - | - | 7:2 (Jan 1970) | - |
| EVER69301 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | Two Recon Parties of the Japan Everest Exped '70 in 1969 | - | 65:130-147 (1970) | - |
| EVER69301 | JAC | Ohtsuka, Hiromi | The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969-1970 | - | 66:38-65 (1971) | - |
| EVER69301 | - | Japanese Alpine Club | Accounts of 1st & 2nd Reconnaissance Expeditions | JAC, Tokyo | - | jN114 |
| EVER69301 | - | - | https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/31/8/the-japanese-mount-everest-expedition-1969-1970/ | - | - | - |
| EVER69301 | - | - | https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1970_files/AJ%201970%20196-202%20Nepal.pdf | - | - | - |