Jannu | 1975 N Face

A New Zealand expedition to Jannu in 1975 via N Face, led by Peter Vincent Farrell. Summit reached on 20th October 1975. 16 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2287
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID JANU75301
Peak ID JANU
Year 1975
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 N Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality New Zealand
Leaders Peter Vincent Farrell
Sponsor 1975 New Zealand Himalaya Expedition
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, UK
Approach Dharan->Ghunsa->Jannu Glacier
Basecamp Date 1975-09-08
Summit Date 1975-10-20
Summit Time -
Summit Days 42
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7300m due to high winds
High Point (m) 7300
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 5
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 15
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 8
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(08/09,4420m),C1(5030m),C2(01/10,5450m),C3(6100m),C4(16/10,6700m),C4B(6800m),C5(6900m),xxx(20/10,7300m)
Route Notes Khanal, MFA - 10 Oct 75 Still trying, expected to make C2 yesterday at 22,000 ft. Weather fine. If all goes well, presume take 10 days to summit. MP Khanal, MFA - 29 Sept 75 Since weather was bad, members came down to Adv BC. MP Khanal, MFA - 23 Sept 75 C1 at 18,000 ft, maybe 20 Sept. So far weather not good previous week; making to more higher camp. MP Khanal, MFA - 11 Sept 75 BC at 14,800 ft 8 Sept by 13 members. One more member reached 9 Sept, one more still to arrive. All is well. Ed Hillary - 26 Aug 75 "Well on their way. They're in good health. 1st couple days was very hot and quite bit rain but now at higher altitudes and should be quite pleasant." 17 days to BC. Going to be terrifically dependent on weather, like any formidable climbs in post-monsoon. Lot very robust climbers, very strong blokes who can work hard. I think they will give it a good go, but they've got to have bit of luck with weather. Farrell - 7 Aug 75 Sirdar Sikku + 7 HA Sherpas + 1 for film crew + cook, runner, etc About 18 days march. BC 14,500 ft on Jannu Glacier or just above on moraine wall. Temp dump C1 18,000 ft in snow basin-neve camp 3 camps on face C5 1 on ridge 23,500-24,000 ft So 5 camps above base, possibly another on ridge above C5. Have to finish climbing in 6 weeks because their getting too cold. Should be coming off mountain by end Oct, but perhaps not same winds of Everest area. Route really westerly flow, Technically hardest getting onto face; steepest and maybe most dangerous - 19,000-19,500 ft. 2nd Deputy Leader of Japanese Jannu Spring 1974 thinks North Face direct of Jannu impossible, one of the big problems in Himalayas. Later Japanese expedition wants try that route. Letter from Limbo Thompson - Sept 13 Base camp was established on 8 Sept 1975 at 14,950 ft in the northern lateral moraine of the Jannu Glacier. I arrived on 10 Sept with my group of porters. We have not had any problems. Everyone is in base camp to day because of the weather. The route has been to above 16,500 ft up both the rock buttress and the icefall. It is likely that we will use the rock, and hope to have someone established at the dump 16,500 ft within 2 days to establish the route to the Neve. All climbers except Farrel and myself have been involved with this week. Weather has been hampering progress with fine till about 10:00 am; rain in afternoon and snow evening. Letter from Limbo (Keith Thompson) - 16 Oct 75 Today Jim, Geoff, Bryan and Peter finished climbing the very steep 1800 ft to the start of the ramp (at approximately 20,000 ft) the steep climbing on ice, on average 70 degrees and on places which has taken 5 days. Bryan, Geoff, Jim, Graeme and Ian have done the leading with the rest of us putting in double ropes. At present everyone is in new camp altitude (17,800 ft). All climbers, all Sherpas and the liaison officer. Tomorrow Roger Foley will take the mail to base camp for the mailrunner leaving on 9th October. Noel Sissons is the only one falling ill, and will go to BC tomorrow. The liaison officer will also return, two days being enough for him at this altitude. Once onto the camp the climbing is straight forward, and we are expecting very fast progress to the top of the face, then the summit ridge. Projections for our success are 5-10 days time. Perhaps before you receive this you may have heard good news. Letter from Limbo Thompson - 27 Sep 75 At present, BC is covered in 20 cm of snow - and its still snowing. This started 48 hours ago and although we worked Thursday in snow, yesterday we had off. We will need to wait a day or two for this to clear once it stops snowing as our route up the Bluffs will be dangerous from avalanche until snow on the rock has slid. Camped at Half-way House are Sissons, Strang, Pooley, Wayatt, 2 Sherpas, Hawke, Attewell who have been carrying from the Flying Fox. The camp in the Neve is unoccupied at present. This snow will mean that the route to the Neve will have to be reestablished. There are only twenty more loads and everything needed for the face and then Neve Camp would be above the Flying Fox. So we are ready to start work in earnest as soon as this clears. Letter from Roger Foley - 25 Sep 75 On Sept 12th Bryan Pooley, Geoff Wayatt, Jim Strang and myself climbed through chaotic icefall which falls from neve at 18,000 ft to the top of a prominent rock buttress. At the same time Graeme Dingle and Ian Jowett forced a route directly up the buttress itself to meet us late in the afternoon and in falling snow. On Sept 15th, after two days of heavy snow at base camp, Peter Farrell, Noel Sissons, Graeme Dingle and Ian Jowett fixed ropes high on the buttress while Jim Strang, Brian Fearnley and Keith Thompson began carrying loads onto the face with six Sherpas. On Sept 16th, Geoff Wayatt, Jim Strang and Bryan Pooley got to within 200 ft of the neve (18,000 ft). Graeme Dingle and Ian Jowett establish a small camp on September 17 on top of the prominent buttress and the following day climbed through to the neve and selected a site for large camp. They were replaced several days later by Geoff Wayatt, Jim Strang and Bryan Pooley who began hauling loads from the top of a Flying Fox (situated lower on the buttress) to their Half-way House (16,500 ft). Equipment has since been taken through to the neve where a large camp should be erected within five days. The team is confident that it can scale the remaining 7000 ft (above the neve camp) in the next four weeks as long as the weather improves. It snows or rains daily at base camp and snow is still deep higher on the mountain. Letter from Peter Foley - 8th October 1975 It seems that only now after lot of tremendously hardwork that we are making difficult progress on the north face of Jannu. To start with (first three weeks) we were not blessed with the best of weather a mixture of rain and snow. At one stage it snowed continuously for three days; this slowed us up somewhat. Anyway the whole show is looking much better now. We have not been able to approach the face directly at its base because of extreme avalanche danger. So the only alternative was 2000 feet of mixed snow, ice and rock - very steep, vertical in many places. We are now on the face, about a third the way up. We have not yet cramped on the face, again because of the avalanche danger. We have been working from one camp 1 in the snow basin at the foot of the face. (We have a safe camp), but now because of the distance we are committed to placing a camp on the face and we think we have a safe spot. We will know tonight which a recce party returns from the face. Letter from Limbo Thompson A route has been forced into the Neve 18,500 ft (to be confirmed) from BC 14,850 ft. Very steep bluffs at 16,000 ft are negotiated with which for 100 ft vertical rock and then a Flying Fox (aerial rope way) for a further 130 ft. Easy climbing up rock then proceeds to 16,600 ft, where a camp (know as the Dump) had established. Jowett and Dingle occupied this Camp 18/19 Sept and established a route into the Neve (18,500 ft approx). Strang, Pooley, Wayatt occupied the Dump today (20 Sept) and carried loads from Flying Fox to the Dump. At present we have 90 loads above the Flying Fox. At current progress should be establishing an advance base in the Neve about 26 Sept.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2445131
Year 1975
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) n face

Members

16 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Warrick Basil Attewell M 1955 New Zealand Climber Wellington, New Zealand Cameraman Details Other expeditions
George Donald (Don) Cowie M 1929 UK Climber Christchurch, New Zealand Reserves ranger, Land & Survey Department Details Other expeditions
Lynn Stewart Crawford M 1937 New Zealand Climber Dunedin, New Zealand Manager of travel company Details Other expeditions
Graeme Dingle M 1945 New Zealand Climber Turangi, New Zealand Director, Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand Details Other expeditions
Peter Vincent Farrell M 1938 New Zealand Leader Christchurch, New Zealand Electrician currently employed as systems operator Details Other expeditions
Harry Brian Fearnley M 1933 UK Exp Doctor Rotorua, New Zealand Physician Details Other expeditions
Roger Deane Foley M 1950 New Zealand Journalist Rotorua, New Zealand Senior journalist with the New Zealand Herald Details Other expeditions
Keith James Hawke M - New Zealand Climber Christchurch, New Zealand Cameraman Details Other expeditions
Ian Robert John M 1947 UK Climber Auckland, New Zealand Film editor and director Details Other expeditions
Ian Jowett M 1946 New Zealand Climber Lower Hutt, New Zealand Civil engineer specializing in hydrology Details Other expeditions
Bryan Pooley M 1947 New Zealand Climber Wellington, New Zealand Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Noel Edward Sissons M 1950 New Zealand Climber Wellington, New Zealand Solicitor in Justice Department Details Other expeditions
James Michael Strang M 1945 New Zealand Climber Dunedin, New Zealand Student counselor, Kajkorai Valley High School Details Other expeditions
Keith Forsyth (Limbo) Thompson M 1945 New Zealand Climber Dunedin, New Zealand Animal husbandry adviser, Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries Details Other expeditions
Geoff Wayatt M 1946 Australia Climber Christchurch, New Zealand Director of mountaineering school Details Other expeditions
Siku Sherpa M - Nepal Sirdar Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

7 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
JANU75301 AAJ Guha, Kamal K. - - 50:512 (1976) -
JANU75301 AAJ - - - 51:236-237 (1977) -
JANU75301 CLMB - - - May-Jun 1976, 27-31 -
JANU75301 - Dingle, Graeme Wall of Shadows Hodder & Stoughton, Auckland, NZ - D247
JANU75301 MM - - - 48:9 (Mar 1976) -
JANU75301 NZAJ Thompson, Keith, et al The New Zealand Himalayan Expedition 1975 - 29:9-20 (1976) -
JANU75301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197651202/Asia-Nepal-Jannu - - -