Kangchenjunga | 2001 SW Face

A Poland expedition to Kangchenjunga in 2001 via SW Face, led by Piotr Pustelnik. Summit reached on 15th May 2001. 9 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 3829
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID KANG01101
Peak ID KANG
Year 2001
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Poland
Leaders Piotr Pustelnik
Sponsor -
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 57th
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed True
Countries Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, USA
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2001-04-11
Summit Date 2001-05-15
Summit Time 1400
Summit Days 34
Total Days 40
Termination Date 2001-05-21
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8586
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 1200
Total Members 9
Summit Members 4
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
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(11/04,5150m),C1(21/04,6300m),C2(10/05,7100m),C3(13/05,7600m),C4(14/05,7800m),Smt(15/05)
Route Notes BC at Yalung Glacier C3 at top left of Great Shelf. Were two teams of climbers who cooperated but had separate food, tents, etc. Had very much snow on mountain, so deep had to fix lots of rope and have intermediate bivouacs. Summit push team A left C3 (Ponce de Leon, Schmidt and Segarra) at 11:00 pm of 14 May and other team B (Duthiers, Pustelnik and Velez) left C3 at 1:00 am in extremely bad snow with periods of bad weather. Team A at top, Schmidt 2:00 pm except Velez at 2:15 pm; Ponce de Leon and Segarra turned around at 3:30 am at 7900m because cold and Ponce de Leon tired. All to C2 except for Duthiers and Velez stopped at 7200m biv because too late to see properly. Team B never used C4, set out from C3 for top at 1:00 am. Climbers of same team had different accounts of summit day weather - clearly not a team. Were 2 teams: team A Pustelnik, Duthiers and Velez; team B Ponce de Leon, Segarra and Schmidt. 16 July 2001: Segarra, in fax to me about maybe returning to Kangchenjung next year, wrote "The upper section of the first ascent route (in 1955) was full of snow, so they (this expedition's summiters) kept climbing to the West Col (8380m), through the South Ridge to the Main Summit. They did the ridge (8380m to 8586m) in 2 hours." Kangchenjunga a 2001 Climb by Marty Schmidt (taken from "The Climber" (NZAC) May 2002) My team members were Hector Ponce de Leon from Mexico and Araceli Segarra from Spain. The leader of the other team, with which we shared BC only, was Piotr Pustelnik from Poland. Piotr had four climbers with him, two from Switzerland, one from Portugal, and American climber RD Caughron, who unfortunately passed away on Makalu this May. The plan was to work independently from Piotr's team upon the mountain but help each other with route finding and fixing lines. Like Norman's team in 1955, we were the only expedition on Kangchenjunga. Unlike Norman's team, in which they all knew each other and had worked with each other many months before setting foot onto Kangchenjunga, our two teams were pulled together through emails, and most members had never climbed together. The modern ways of Himalayan climbing were upon us. On the 2nd of April we flew by helicopter from Jiri to Ramche. The altitude was around 4500m and we were jumping into this height with no acclimatization, but we were saving 14 days by not walking in. We saw from the air our 16 Sherpas who had left 10 days before us with the remaining food and gear for our 40 days on the mountain. Our goal was the same as Norman's team: find a way up the Yalung glacier so that the Sherpas could follow us and help establish BC. Once BC was in, the goal was to find a way to the Great Shelf via the first ice face, the Hump and the second ice face. Our small teams of three and five people had a few issues with communication. For the most part, we did everything separately. Hector and I would lead up the first ice face, fixing about 100m of 6mm to establish C1 at 6300m. The snow was one meter deep all the way to this camp. There was the constant risk of avalanches with so much fresh snow. The next goal was to rappel 80m onto the narrow shelf that ran in to the hanging glacier below the second ice face, and fix 500m of lines to C2 at 7100m. I remember seeing old lines in these places and I thought about the expeditions that had travelled this way in the past 46 years. Although Hector and I did 90 percent of the work with fixing lines, trail breaking and establishing camps, we felt good inside to be able to do this for the other members. Everyday it snowed after midday. This meant the entire trail was covered over by the next day. Talk about being frustrated. We were a three person team, trying to work with five other climbers who had their own agendas. Hector and I would look at each other many times and not say a word to each other, we just got on with the work and pushed the route. On May 8th we departed BC for our summit bid. We were only at a height of 7100m and the Great Shelf was still unknown to us, but time was running out. We were hoping to establish C3 at around 7600m and head for the summit the next day. We moved quickly to C1, got stuck by a huge storm and rested for two days. We went to C2 under heavy snow conditions. From here we managed to make it to just below the Great Shelf, seeing a 40-50m high seracs blocking the way. The next day Hector was able to secure a new route to the far right hand side of the Great Shelf. Knowing that we were able to make it through now we went went back to C2 for a rest. On May 13th we took off for C3. It was a warm day with a lot of sunshine, and we were hoping the weather would hold for the next 24 hours. We reached our 7600m camp in the early evening and dug into a serac to secure our two person bivvy. Little did we know that in the night we would be pummelled every hour by spindrift avalanches. Because of these avalanches we had no sleep so prepared to leave for the summit that night, May 14th. Resting at 7600m and thinking about the summit day made my inner fires burn so bright I couldn't sit still. I ended up leaving on my own at 11 pm. Hector and Araceli would be leaving right after me. The crisp evening sky was dazzling with millions of bright stars, each breath was felt deep in my lungs and my feet were warm in my boots. It took a few hours to make it to Piotr's tent with much wading through new deep snow. Piotr was not ready to leave and so I continued anyway. My headlamp shone bright and my mind was clear. After four more hours of climbing alone I reached 8000m along with the first light of dawn, Karenema. Some of the best feelings that I have in the mountains are while going for the summit. Like coming out of a dark cave and into the pure goodness of light. Piotr caught up with me using his oxygen and we tried desperately to make our way along the traverse that Norman's team had used. It was one the hardest 100m of deep snow that I have ever climbed above 8000m and we were getting nowhere. We were battling 1.5m of snow and it took us 2 hours ot climb this 100m. We were burning energy and time. So close and yet so bloody far. The time came to retreat and to find another way. Imagine how hard it was for us going back in to the unknown, not knowing if we could find anouther way. But looking back, it was the same for Norman's team on their summit days. There the first ever to be up near the summit and they forged a route in great style. We dropped quickly and turned our energy to the narrow gully, leading straight to the top of the West Ridge. This gully was filled to the brim, with only small sections of exposed rock. The daily snow showers wer upon us as we climbed, reducing visibility to 10m. We just kept climbing in the the unknown. The mixed climbing on the summit ridge of Kangchenjunga was difficult and involved but still enjoyable even at 8400m. The next three hours went by quickly. I was praying for the clouds to lift so that the the magic of the Himalayas could be seen. Now reading about Norman's ascent, he and Streather made the summit in under 4 hours from their high camp. It took me 12 hours to reach the West Ridge, then three hours of intense climbing to the summit. The time was getting towards 2 pm and when I least expected it. I was on the summit. Still engulfed with clouds, I quickly had a photo taken of me holding a picture of my two children, then I called down to Hector and Araceli on the radio to see how they were doing then headed for home, giving thanks to the great spirits of the highest mountains in the world. Hector and Araceli ended up turning around at 8000m because they were worried about their toes. Looking back now, I wish I had know about Norman Hardie and his expedition before I ascended Kangchenjunga. It would have helped me in many ways, knowing that he had also gone this way. But then again, it was an unknown adventure and I would not have had it any other way. Hector Ponce de Leon - 25 May 2005 This morning I met with Norbert Joos and Hector Ponce de Leon, who had just come back from an unsuccessful attempt on Kangchenjunga. I mentioned that I expected to see Piotr Pustelnik tomorrow on his return from the South Face of Annapurna I, and in the course of our conversation, Ponce de Leon mentioned doubts about the ascent of Kangchenjunga in 2001 by Pustelnik and party. According to Ponce de Leon, the summit party of Pustelnik, Marty Schmidt (US), Brian Duthiers (Swiss), Miss Areceli Segarra (Spanish), Gonzalo Velez (Portugese) and Ponce de Leon (Mexican) left for the summit at midnight, but it was very cold, the wind was very strong, and there had been heavy snowfall. They were up to their knees in the deep snow. He and Areceli turned back at 4:00 am at about 8000m, while the others continued on up. He and Segarra couldn't see the others above them because clouds obscured their view. At 2:00 pm, Schmidt radioed to Ponce de Leon that they were on the summit, and they were back in Camp 2 at 6:00 pm. Schmidt said they had been unable to find the usual route up The Ramp, so they went over to the col between Yalung Kang and Kangchenjunga and then followed the ridge all the way to the summit after some "technical climbing." (This ridge is known to be exceedingly difficult.) However, during their trek out from base camp, Duthiers and Ponce de Leon chatted together and Duthiers said "I am not sure we were on the summit." They couldn't see ten meters ahead and simply followed the ridge for two hours and got to a flat place which Pustelnik declared to be the summit -- he said he knew it from pictures he had seen. But Duthiers' doubt arose from the fact that they had avoided the Brown Crack, which Carlos Carsolio and Erhard Loretan have said is impossible to avoid. Ponce de Leon thinks "they probably got confused -- to put it diplomatically" about what was the actual summit. Piotr Pustelnik - 26 May 2005 I saw Piotr Pustelnik this morning, and he said that since the visibility on his Kangchenjunga summit day was bad, perhaps they hadn't actually reached the summit. "It is possible. It is very true" the weather was bad with "cloud and snow and wind" and "we could see only five to ten meters" ahead. They went to a col between Yalung Kang and Kangchenjunga, then up the West Ridge to a flat place. "We didn't know it was the top." When he said the didn't have any problem with the Brown Crack, I suggested perhaps they didn't get to it. He said this is possible, and it is possible they didn't get to the summit." In this weather, everything is possible," he said. But he did participate the yesterday's celebrations here of the 50th anniversary of the mountain's first ascent as one of its summiters.
Accidents Slight frostbite; Caughron bronchitis
Achievement 1st Portuguese summiters
Agency Asian Trekking
Commercial Route -
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2454541
Year 2001
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) sw face

Members

9 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Raymond David Caughron M 1943 USA Climber Berkeley, California Business development specialist Details Other expeditions
Brian Duthiers M 1968 Switzerland Climber Muri, Bern, Switzerland Teacher Details Other expeditions
Piotr Klepacz M 1968 Poland Exp Doctor Lask, Poland Surgeon Details Other expeditions
Hector Mario Ponce de Leon Gomez M 1966 Mexico Climber Mexico City, Mexico Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Piotr Czeslaw Pustelnik M 1951 Poland Leader Lodz, Poland University teacher of environmental engineering Details Other expeditions
Martin Walter (Marty) Schmidt M 1960 New Zealand Climber Denver, Colorado Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Araceli Segarra Roca F 1970 Spain Climber Barcelona, Spain 'Freelancer - whatever' Details Other expeditions
Markus Stofer M 1968 Switzerland Climber Bern, Switzerland Computer consultant Details Other expeditions
Gonzalo Manuel Sobral Blanco Velez M 1958 Portugal Climber Lisbon, Portugal Economist Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
KANG01101 HIGH - - - 231:78 (Feb 2002) -
KANG01101 - - http://www.k2news.com/kang2001.htm - - -