Himalchuli East | 1985 SW Ridge
A Hungary expedition to Himalchuli East in 1985 via SW Ridge, led by Pal Orban. Summit reached on 23rd May 1985. 13 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 163 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | HIME85101 |
| Peak ID | HIME |
| Year | 1985 |
| Season | 1 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | SW Ridge |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | Hungary |
| Leaders | Pal Orban |
| Sponsor | Hungarian Himalayan Expedition 1985 |
| Success 1 | True |
| Success 2 | False |
| Success 3 | False |
| Success 4 | False |
| Ascent 1 | 5th |
| Ascent 2 | - |
| Ascent 3 | - |
| Ascent 4 | - |
| Claimed | False |
| Disputed | False |
| Countries | - |
| Approach | Dordi Khola |
| Basecamp Date | 1985-04-25 |
| Summit Date | 1985-05-23 |
| Summit Time | - |
| Summit Days | 28 |
| Total Days | 31 |
| Termination Date | 1985-05-26 |
| Termination Reason | 1 |
| Termination Notes | - |
| High Point (m) | 7893 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 4 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 0 |
| Total Members | 12 |
| Summit Members | 2 |
| Member Deaths | 2 |
| Total Hired | 3 |
| Summit Hired | 1 |
| 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(25/04,4550m),C1(30/04,5450m),C2(04/05,6480m),C3(11/05,7000m),C4(22/05,7200m),Smt(23/05) |
| Route Notes | BC near Dordi Khola SSW of peak C1 above icefall and dangerous couloir on ice ridge C2 on ridge above icewall, seracs and icefall C3 on ridge above another icewall (100m) C4 north of West Peak (only 1 tent). 2 technical problems: 1st 200-300m rock at about 5000m and here will fix rope; big serac area and ice overhang at 6200m and again here will fix rope. Daily constant rocks, ice and water down 12m high, 1m wide couloir below C1. Everyday new snow (6 days excepted). Was difficult to find route above C2 up icewall and seracs and took 3 days to get up ice wall and fix ropes on it halfway between C2 and C3. In meantime 2 Sherpas deserted after very small carries and many rest days; left expedition BC 4 May. From C3 three summiters went around West Peak to its east up another icewall, down and again up in poor decision regarding route (in descent followed Japanese route to its west) to C4. Returned to BC 25 May and turned back in strong wind and new snow; they were tired. 16 May Csanadi and Greskovits carrying supplies to C3 in supply build-up at C3 in clear weather. Above ice wall met Tolnai at 2:30 pm (Tolnai coming alone) and extremely strong storm came up damaging BC tents. On 17 May members went up from C2 and found backpacks of Csanadi and Greskovits were they they left them a short way above meeting point on easy way from there to C3 and ski-stick of Csanadi at top of ice wall and his ice axe at bottom of ice wall. After 2 days search no trace and no hope. Believe probably blown of ridge. No other serious health problems. Shrestha, Tourism - 24 May 85 After establishing C2, 6 members were ferrying loads from C2 to C3 site with view of establishing C3. On 16 May Sandor Csanadi (born '49, engineer Budapest) and Peter Greskovits ('52 pharmacist, Budapest) carried loads to C3 but did not return to C2 to stay overnight. Then BC and C2 tried to contact them by walkie-talkie but no contact, consequently in moving of 17 May other members and sirdar started to search for them from C2 to C3, but they were not traced. Search continued next 2 days May 18 and 19 from C2 to C3 and when had reached near C3 at 4:30 pm, the wind was blowing at 130 km/hr and might have been blown away by the wind. On May 20 2 members, Jozsef Csikos ('54, engineer Miskola) and Laszlo Voros and sirdar Pemba Norbu Sherpa established C3 at 7100m on north side of mountain. Expedition planned to make summit bid on May 22 or 25. Csanadi & Kallo - 15 April 85 Have been planning expedition for 3 yrs. Problem to get it organized since had no official backing, only climbing officials do not know what is mountaineering (Hungary has no mountains). Only 500 climbers in Hungary - 10 years ago only 100. Himalchuli is forerunner to '87 Makalu attempt by Czech on SE Buttress. East Germans had best rock climbers in the world. Difficult to get vacation time to come on climb in Nepal. |
| Accidents | Death of two members (probably swept away by high winds between C2 and C3) |
| Achievement | 1st Hungarian ascent of any Nepalese mountain |
| Agency | - |
| Commercial Route | - |
| Standard Route | - |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | - |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2448599 |
| Year | 1985 |
| Summit Success | True |
| O2 Summary | None |
| Route (lowercase) | sw ridge |
Members
13 recorded members.
| Name | Sex | Year of Birth | Citizenship | Status | Residence | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istvan Szabo | M | 1939 | Hungary | Climber | Dorog, Hungary | Mechanic | Details Other expeditions |
| Laszlo Berzi | M | 1950 | Hungary | Climber | Budapest, Hungary | Engineer, railway | Details Other expeditions |
| Sandor Csanadi | M | 1949 | Hungary | Climber | Budapest, Hungary | Engineer, computer development | Details Other expeditions |
| Jozsef Csikos | M | 1954 | Hungary | Climber | Miskolac, Hungary | Engineer, geophysical | Details Other expeditions |
| Peter Greskovits | M | 1952 | Hungary | Climber | Szentes, Hungary | Pharmacist | Details Other expeditions |
| Antal Kallo | M | 1935 | Hungary | Exp Doctor | Budapest, Hungary | Surgeon | Details Other expeditions |
| Laszlo Katona | M | 1954 | Hungary | Climber | Budapest, Hungary | Instructor, sports | Details Other expeditions |
| Pal Geza Orban | M | 1922 | Hungary | Leader | Budapest, Hungary | Technician | Details Other expeditions |
| Pemba Norbu Sherpa | M | - | Nepal | Sirdar | - | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Gyorgy Toldi | M | 1956 | Hungary | Climber | Budakalsz, Hungary | Engineer, agricultural | Details Other expeditions |
| Istvan Tolnai | M | 1961 | Hungary | Climber | Dorog, Hungary | Mechanic | Details Other expeditions |
| Csaba Toth | M | 1958 | Hungary | Climber | Budapest, Hungary | Engineer, agricultural | Details Other expeditions |
| Laszlo Voros | M | 1951 | Hungary | Climber | Szentendre, Hungary | Mechanic | Details Other expeditions |
References
3 recorded references.
| Expedition ID | Journal | Author | Title | Publisher | Citation | Yak 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIME85101 | AAJ | Orban, Pal Geza | - | - | 60:240 (1986) | - |
| HIME85101 | MM | - | - | - | 105:11 (Sep 1985) | - |
| HIME85101 | - | - | http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198624002/Asia-Nepal-Himalchuli-Ascent-and-Tragedy | - | - | - |