Jannu | 2007 W Pillar-SW Ridge from north
A Russia expedition to Jannu in 2007 via W Pillar-SW Ridge from north, led by Valeri Babanov. Summit reached on 21st October 2007. 3 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 5891 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | JANU07302 |
| Peak ID | JANU |
| Year | 2007 |
| Season | 3 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | W Pillar-SW Ridge from north |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | Russia |
| Leaders | Valeri Babanov |
| Sponsor | Russian Jannu Expedition |
| Success 1 | True |
| Success 2 | False |
| Success 3 | False |
| Success 4 | False |
| Ascent 1 | 24th |
| Ascent 2 | - |
| Ascent 3 | - |
| Ascent 4 | - |
| Claimed | False |
| Disputed | False |
| Countries | - |
| Approach | Ghunsa->Ghunsa Khola->Khumbhakarna Glacier |
| Basecamp Date | 2007-09-28 |
| Summit Date | 2007-10-21 |
| Summit Time | 0930 |
| Summit Days | 23 |
| Total Days | 26 |
| Termination Date | 2007-10-24 |
| Termination Reason | 1 |
| Termination Notes | - |
| High Point (m) | 7711 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 0 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 0 |
| Total Members | 3 |
| 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 | Climbed Merra Peak (MERR-073-01) |
| Campsites | BC(28/09,4700m),Biv1(14/10,5500m),Biv2(15/10,5950m),Biv3(16/10,6400m),Biv4(17/10,6700m),Biv5(18/10,7000m),Biv6(19/10,7300m),Biv7(20/10,7600m),Smt(21/10),Biv8(21/10,7300m) |
| Route Notes | Russian Jannu and Merra led by Valeri Babanov - 2 Nov 2007 Babanov and Kofanov arrived at BC on 28 September with a group of high-altitude trekkers, hoping the party could climb Merra Peak with them since Babanov's trekking agent had told him it was just a trekking peak. They found that it wasn't that easy, so he and Kofanov waited until the trekkers left before they made their own climb of Merra. The purpose of this climb was to acclimatize for Jannu. On 5 October the two climbers began their ascent of Merra via its SE Face to ENE Ridge, probably the same route as the Danish route in autumn 2006. There was a lot of snow on this southern side and it snowed evey afternoon. They bivouacked at 5700m that night and next day went for the summit. Their plan had been to sleep on the summit of Merra, but that was not possible because there was not enough flat space to pitch their tent. On 6 Oct, they climbed the SE Face to the small shoulder at 6200m, put a tent there, continued to the summit, and bivouacked at the shoulder in their descent. The final 300-400 meters on the ESE Ridge is very sharp-edged and one needs to climb very carefully here. Babanov and Kofanov fixed no rope, but if one wanted to fix this section, one would need snowbars. The day's climb had taken them only nine hours despite their having moved slowly up the ridge. They returned to BC on the 7th and now turned their attention to Jannu. After a few days of snowfall, on the 11th they crossed the glacier where they had BC to find a way up a narrow sloping glacier, which Babanov called the upper glacier, to reach a large plateau. The upper glacier was heavily crevassed in the center and its left side was exposed to falling ice; they kept to the right side of this glacier on rock and snow, across the glacier from the North Face. It took them all day to explore this access to the plateau. They returned to BC and rested for two days. On 14th October they began their ascent of Jannu. They took only a small tent, a light sleeping bag for two, two short ropes, five gas cyclinders, a stove, food for eight or nine days, seven nuts, 12 snow pitons, seven or eight "friends" and four snowbars. Their packs weighed 20 kgs each. On the 14th October they climbed the upper glacier to 5500m at the entrance to the plateau and made their first bivouac there. Their next objective was the Yamatari La at 6350m at the far end of the plateau (re Yamatari La, see Jan Kielkowski's "Kangchenjunga Himal and Khumbhakarna Himal," pg 136). But the line they took the next day was not direct across the plateau but a much safer route on its side in a small gullly. On the 15th they climbed from 5500m to only 5950m in the gully because there was deep snow. On the 16th they reached the Yamatari La despite a lot of spindrift and bivouacked at 6400m, slightly above the pass because the wind was too strong at the pass. On the 17th they were now on the West Pillar. The weather was bad, windy and snowfalling, but they managed to ascend to 6700m and their next bivouac, which was under a serac. They moved up the West Pillar on the 18th to 7000m, and on the the 19th they gained the SW Ridge and bivouacked just 100m below the West Shoulder at 7300m. Finally on the 20th they took the absolute minimum of equipment for the last part of their ascent. They joined the 1983 French route (route 65, Kielkowski, pg 138). Here some of the pitches were very technical on mixed rock and ice. They slept at 7600m. On the 21st they woke very early at 4:30 am because they were very cold after having spent the night without a sleeping bag. At 9:30 am they were on a snow tower, the summit, slightly beyond a false summit (20m lower) which they thought at first was the top. It was like climbing to the top of a skyscraper, Babanov said. The weather was windy by sunny when they reached the true summit, and they got good pictures of all sides of Jannu. Babanov described their route as "a very logical line, a beautiful" line. The French in 1994 had been on the same summit ridge to 6700m after fixing rope but could go no further because it was too difficult for them and there was strong wind. Babanov's ascent in autumn 2003 of a pillar on the South Face of Nuptse to Nuptse East I summit was more technical than this Jannu climb, but Jannu was "more demanding:" on Nuptse he had fixed 1000m of rope, but on Jannu none. Jannu was "a great challenge altogether." In their descent from the summit, they had to sleep the night of the 21st in a bergschrund at 7300m because the wind was so strong they couldn't pitch their tent. On the 22nd they descended their ascent route all through the day and night -- no sleep, "just rappel, rappel, rappel" -- and reached BC at 2:00 am on the 23rd "very, very tired, moving very slowly." Both climbers had gotten slgiht frostbite on their toes; Babanov's three toes were slightly black, but Kofanov's toes and fingers were merely numb. |
| Accidents | Both members frostbite |
| Achievement | - |
| Agency | Windhorse Trekking |
| Commercial Route | False |
| Standard Route | False |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | False |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2456852 |
| Year | 2007 |
| Summit Success | True |
| O2 Summary | None |
| Route (lowercase) | w pillar-sw ridge from north |
Members
3 recorded members.
| Name | Sex | Year of Birth | Citizenship | Status | Residence | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valeri Babanov | M | 1964 | Russia | Leader | Calgary, Alberta | Alpine guide | Details Other expeditions |
| Olga Babanova | F | 1964 | Russia | Climber | Calgary, Alberta | Seamstress | Details Other expeditions |
| Sergei Kofanov | M | 1978 | Russia | Climber | Moscow, Russia | Teacher | Details Other expeditions |
References
13 recorded references.