Everest | 1987 S Pillar (USA 1981 rte)

A New Zealand expedition to Everest in 1987 via S Pillar (USA 1981 rte), led by Peter Hillary. Summit reached on 27th September 1987. 4 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 455
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER87304
Peak ID EVER
Year 1987
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Pillar (USA 1981 rte)
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality New Zealand
Leaders Peter Hillary
Sponsor Everest 1987
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 Australia
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1987-08-23
Summit Date 1987-09-27
Summit Time -
Summit Days 35
Total Days 70
Termination Date 1987-11-01
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8080m due to winds
High Point (m) 8080
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
Summit Members 0
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 Flanks of Lobuche East
Campsites BC(23/08,5360m),C1(06/09,6000m),C2(10/09,6550m),C3(26/09,7560m),C4(27/09,8080m),xxx(27/09,8080m)
Route Notes C1 not quite top of Icefall C2 in Western Cwm C3 on South Pillar route C4 above S Col High point above South Col. C1 only on 6th Sept because Hanns Schell didn't have his Sherpas make route early (disorganized there). Then snow until 12 Sept and then after that perfect weather until terrible winds of end month and winds never stopped. Michel Dacher made weird route in cwm which was more dangerous than icefall (was right beneath W Shoulder and thence through high crevasse and back under W Shoulder). Then Hillary's team went up Lhotse Face for acclimatization and fixed rope in process. Then down to BC and summit push: Kim and Michael on 25th Sept and Peter and John on 26th from BC. Kim and Michael had bad time making C3 space (were too close to pillar's rock) on 26th and bad night with clouds building up and wind starting - should have turned back but carried on and 27th were up higher in very strong tent which was battered by strong winds. They managed to survive (cut hole in floor to get snow to melt) and descended terribly slowly via col, unrelated to reality (talked of going back up in 2 days) and extremely dehydrated - "extremely lucky men" to have survived. Peter and John very angry at their stupidity at not having turned back in 26th. Before seeing Kim and Michael depart from BC (Michael returned to BC later but did no more climbing), Peter and John went up to cwm 30th Sept and stayed there a week then down and up and down rest of time because saw no point: high winds, clouds and falling barometer showed useless, left cwm 30th Oct for last time. Left BC 1 Nov while going through icefall huge area of it (10 acres) moved like waves; high crevasse opened up; by now no one keeping icefall open. Peter reached 24,500 ft (about 7500m) on Lhotse Face. Mullar - 8 Nov 87 Peter and John spent much time in C2 and some to C3 on Europeans. Peter and John never seriously tried pillar because in bad weather and no oxggen can get into very bad condition. Decided finally to quit 30th from C2 (said on walkie-talkie). Must have reached BC safely since no report to the contrary from Sherpas with Snowbird team who stayed later. Schell - 19 Oct 87 Peter in evening 13th down to BC after 8 days in C2. Planned to go up again via Lhotse Face, but waiting for wind change first; will wait for sometime. British women runner - 12 Oct 87 British were at Everest BC night of 6/7 Oct. Peter and Muir left BC at 8:00-9:00 pm to go to C2, spend a day resting at C2 and then push for top if weather good. Not sure whether Mike went up with them or not, probably not. Logan - 9 Oct 87 C3 26 Sept Pillar 24,800 ft by Kim and Mike. Had acclimatization on Lhotse Face. C4 26,500 ft on SE Ridge on 27th with C3's tent. Storm came 5:00 pm very fast. Wind unstable (wind took slab on Lhotse Shar). Stayed there that night and tent poles broke and wind and wind blown snow through fabric - start of frostbite. 28th down to Col and to C2 biv rope Sherpas ahd fixed on 26th. No fixed rope on pillar, so descent has to be via Col. Others will stay 2 more weeks on mountain. Logan left BC 1 Oct. Mike Reinberger has slightly frostbitten fingers and will have serious frostbite if he returned to mountain as he is determined to do, preferably up Lhotse Face to Col. Peter and John well and going again to Pillar. Two New Zealanders and two Australians attempted without Sherpas or bottled oxygen to repeat the American autumn 1981 route up the South Pillar to the SE Ridge, but terrible winds, perhaps as strong as 200 mph, defeated them. Logan and Rheinberger had considerable difficulty on 26th Sept making camp C3 at 7560m because they were too close to the rock of the pillar, and they had a bad night that night when clouds built up and the winds began to blow. In Hillary's view the pair should have gone down from C3 but instead on 27th they moved on up to make camp C4 at 8080m, the team's highest point reached. Their strong tent was severely battered by the wind, and they had to cut a hole in its floor to obtain snow to melt to drink, but they managed to survive. "They were extremely lucky men!" to have done so, Hillary said, and on 28th Sept they descended the mountain via the South Col. They were frostbitten and seriously dehydrated, and their climb was over, but Hillary and Muir continued to hope for a break in the weather; it never came, and they finally abandoned hope on 30th Oct. As they descended the icefall for the last time on the 30th, a huge area of it moved like waves.
Accidents Logan and Rheinberger frostbite only
Achievement -
Agency Mountain Travel
Commercial Route False
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2449188
Year 1987
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s pillar (usa 1981 rte)

Members

4 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Peter Edmund Hillary M 1954 New Zealand Leader Carlton, Victoria, Australia Author & alpinist Details Other expeditions
Kim Logan M 1952 New Zealand Climber Queenstown, New Zealand Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
John Robert Muir M 1961 Australia Climber Natimuk, Victoria, Australia Alpine instructor & photographer Details Other expeditions
Michael Anthony Rheinberger M 1940 Australia Climber Parkville, Victoria, Australia Electrical engineer Details Other expeditions

References

4 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER87304 AAJ Hillary, Peter - - 62:205-206 (1988) -
EVER87304 MM - - - 120:10 (Mar 1988) -
EVER87304 NZAJ Hillary, Peter Everest South Pillar - 41:34-35 (1988) -
EVER87304 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198820500/Asia-Nepal-Everest-Attempt - - -