Kangchenjunga | 2007 SW Face

A Spain expedition to Kangchenjunga in 2007 via SW Face, led by Oscar Cadiach. Summit reached on 24th May 2007. 7 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 5725
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID KANG07101
Peak ID KANG
Year 2007
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Spain
Leaders Oscar Cadiach
Sponsor Friendship Expedition to Kangchenjunga
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 -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2007-04-30
Summit Date 2007-05-24
Summit Time -
Summit Days 24
Total Days 27
Termination Date 2007-05-27
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8300m due to bad conditions
High Point (m) 8300
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 600
Total Members 5
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 2
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(30/04,5500m),C1(05/05,6200m),C2(11/05,6800m),C3(22/05,7600m),Biv(23/05,8250m),xxx(8300m,24/05)
Route Notes C4 (biv) at northeast edge of Great Shelf. Spanish Kangchenjunga led by Oscar Cadiach - 31 May 2007 On 23 May Cadiach, De Pineda, Goni and Reketa climbed from C3 in ankle-deep soft snow, which made their progress slow, towards the col between Yalung Kang and Kangchenjunga's main summit. They reached 8300m at about 6:00 pm. Goni and Reketa now decided to return to C3 because they had no tent with them, and Cadiach gave them his headlamp. It was a dark but clear night with some starlight and a half moon. Cadiach and De Pineda stayed at 8300m in an unprepared bivouac with a little protection from a rock formation from the very cold wind. They did have a Sterno stove, and they heated snow to make tea. At 5:30 am on the 24th, Cadiach and De Pineda resumed their climb, moving "slowly, slowly" to a point about 100 meters below the final summit ridge and from there traversed over to the summit, which they reached at 9:30 am. They quickly left the summit and retraced their route down the couloir from the col. About 100m below the top of the couloir at 8200m, Cadiach was leading the descent when suddenly De Pineda came hurtling past him, not making any attempt to stop himself or crying out. Cadiach thinks De Pineda must have collapsed and died, probably from a heart attack, and was already dead as he plunged 1000 linear meters down the mountainside to about 7900m near the plateau. Cadiach put the body in a crevasse close to where it stopped falling and went to C4 for the night. Cadiach descend to C2 on the 25th and to BC on the 26th. Rubio came up to meet Cadiach at C1 on the 26th. He had stayed in BC throughout the climb because of a persistent bad headache. Desnivel - 29 May 2007 Further details have been provided on Inigo de Pineda's death. The accident took place last Friday, May 25th, at 8300 meters, according to fellow team members Patxi Goni and Julen Reketa. Originally taking part in the team's summit push, Patxi and Julen turned around on Thursday from above C4 due to bad snow conditions and the late time, while Catalans Oscar and Inigo chose to go on toward the summit. The climbers going down found their C2 swept by the wind, and thus had to proceed all the way back to BC; the two still climbing were forced to improvise a bivouac at 8250 meters. On the following morning, the climbers in BC followed their mates' progress through binoculars. "They saw Oscar and Inigo climbing up the upper couloir leading to the top, but they turned around shortly after setting off from the bivouac place." Diario de Navarra reports. "Minutes afterwards, Julen and Patxi saw one of the descending climbers slipping and falling 1000 meters down; finding out it was Inigo hours afterwards." Oscar Cadiach - 27 May 2008 (in response to email questions from Elizabeth Hawley) If you could now please help me again, I would like to know what did happen on the 24th of May last year. EH: Did you and De Pineda leave your bivouac at 8300m at 5:30 am with the plan to go to the summit? OC: Yes. I left the bivouac from 8200m at 5:30 am. EH: What was the highest altitude you reached, and at what time did you reach it? OC: Highest altitude at 8300m that I reached around 9:30 am. EH: Were you on the final summit ridge above the col between Yalungkang and Kangchenjunga's main peak? OC: We were between the col and the main peak, the same height that of col. EH: What was the reason you did not go higher? IC: We always said that we wouldn't step on the top. We were very cold. EH: Is it correct that while you were descending from the col and were at 8200m, which was about 100m below the top of the couloir, De Pineda came falling rapidly from behind you and continued falling past you to about 7900m, near the plateau? OC: Absolutely yes. EH: Is it correct that you went to him, found that he had tragically died, put his body in a crevasse near it, and went down to C4 to spend that night? OC: Yes. Email from Oscar Cadiach - 8 May 2009 I am very sorry to have troubled you, it wasn't my intention. I remembered i was very confused when I came down the mountain with all the problems that had happened and perhaps I told you what I had in mind to explain to De Pineda's family that he reached the summit because it was all very sad. We wanted to arrive very near the summit but not to pass over. We stopped at 150m of the summit so for me we didn't reach it and it is what I have told. I don't know how it came to the notice that we had reached the summit. Perhaps it was my fault so I'm very sorry. De Pineda's' family don't know very much about mountaineering climbing and I thought it could be nicer to explain that he reached the summit.
Accidents De Pineda's fatal fall
Achievement -
Agency Explore Himalaya
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2456747
Year 2007
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw face

Members

7 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Oscar Cadiach Puig M 1952 Spain Leader Tarragona, Spain Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Inigo De Pineda Blanc M 1969 Spain Climber Sitges, Barcelona, Spain Mountain guiding agency manager Details Other expeditions
Francisco Javier (Patxi) Goni Lobera M 1964 Spain Climber Lumbier, Navarra, Spain Mechanic Details Other expeditions
Julen Gotzon Requeta Anton M 1967 Spain Climber Llodio, Alava, Spain Mechanic Details Other expeditions
Jesus Fernando Rubio M 1960 Spain Climber Cizur Mayor, Navarra, Spain Veterinarian Details Other expeditions
Temba Sherpa M 1977 Nepal H-A Worker Sotang-6, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Tawa Chhiri Sherpa M 1979 Nepal H-A Worker Charwo, Sotang-6, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.