Kangchenjunga | 2022 SW Face
A UK expedition to Kangchenjunga in 2022 via SW Face, led by Adriana Brownlee. Summit reached on 5th May 2022. 18 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 10822 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | KANG22102 |
| Peak ID | KANG |
| Year | 2022 |
| Season | 1 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | SW Face |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | UK |
| Leaders | Adriana Brownlee |
| Sponsor | Seven Summit Treks (SST) Kangchenjunga Expedition 2022 |
| Success 1 | True |
| Success 2 | False |
| Success 3 | False |
| Success 4 | False |
| Ascent 1 | - |
| Ascent 2 | - |
| Ascent 3 | - |
| Ascent 4 | - |
| Claimed | False |
| Disputed | False |
| Countries | Belgium, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland |
| Approach | - |
| Basecamp Date | - |
| Summit Date | 2022-05-05 |
| Summit Time | - |
| Summit Days | 0 |
| Total Days | 0 |
| Termination Date | - |
| Termination Reason | 1 |
| Termination Notes | - |
| High Point (m) | 8586 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 4 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 0 |
| Total Members | 12 |
| Summit Members | 7 |
| Member Deaths | 0 |
| Total Hired | 12 |
| Summit Hired | 5 |
| Hired Deaths | 0 |
| No Hired | False |
| 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,C1,C2,C3,C4,Smt(05/05,12/05) |
| Route Notes | Report from Sheroze Kashif: Approach: Heli to BC BC 15/04 5500m C1 -- 6240m C2 23/04 6220m C3 03/05 6836m C4 04/05 7325m Smt 05/05 by Kashif, Namja Bhote (Makalu) at 3:30 pm. Team left C4 at 7:30 pm on 04/05. The rope was only fixed up to 8400m from the first summit attempt which was led by Mingma Gyalje from Imagine Treks. They spent about 20 mins on the summit and descended to C4 where they arrived at 6 pm. On 06/05 back to BC. Left BC on 07/05 by helicopter to Kathmandu. Oxygen: From C4 to top to C3 by Kashif and Namja. Report from Josette Valloton: Approach: Heli to BC. BC 07/05 5500m C1 -- 6240m C2 09/05 6220m C3 10/05 6836m C4 11/05 7325m Smt 12/05 by Valloton, Chhangba Sherpa at 8 am. Valloton and Chhangba left C4 at 8 pm. Straightforward climb. They stayed about 10 minutes on the summit. Valloton descended to BC where she arrived at 11 pm, while Chhangba descended to C3 as he had problem with his eyes. Left BC on 15/05 trekking to Tseram, heli to Taplethok, jeep to Ilam. Oxygen: Taken and used from C4 to top to C4 by Valloton and Chhangba. Report from Rudi Bollaert: Approach: Heli to BC BC 15/04 C1 -- Not used C2 22/04 C2 29/04 C4 04/05 Smt 05/05 by Bollaert at 4:30 pm. We started in C4 on 4 May 8:30 pm. All good, climbing went as it should. Sometime after the bottle switch in the morning I got the news from Purnima that my Sherpa (Gyalu) went down (feeling ill). I felt great and perfect weather so decided to continue. Several times I asked about my 3rd oxygen bottle and the other Sherpa´s confirmed I have a 3rd bottle, but they don't know the exact place where the bottle was. Climbing was very slow because of fixing the last part and some inexperienced climbers (1 hr waiting for 5m rock, her Sherpa installed a rescue hoist to pull her). It took so much time I asked a Sherpa to reduce my oxygen flow from 2 to 1. So I summit on 5 May at 4.30 pm with my second bottle on l. I ask to go down first because almost out of oxygen. On the way down I passed the Indian climber in green down suit and told him to go down (he died later). Descending was OK, in the place where I expected the full bottle I find only empty bottles. I checked only bottles without a company sticker. SST did not use specific stickers to mark their bottles. There was a mess of many bottles on few carabiners, a lot of them have a Pioneer sticker. Has somebody of Pioneer or another company has taken my bottle or have I not searched well: we never know. I did not find a full SST bottle. It was still daylight. I descended with my old almost empty bottle. Then it is uncertain, blackout and hallucinations. Luckily I keep following the ropes and descended slowly further. 1 am at night the Sherpa of Arianzul, Ming Temba, has found me (I had taken my gloves out). He give me his bottle, asked in C4 for a new bottle, and helped me descending. 3 am we reached C4. I slept with oxygen in C4. The time is not sure, I was in an other world... In the morning everything was OK except 1 finger frostbitten. Next we went down, I without oxygen, my Sherpa [Gyalu] following with oxygen. He was really ill, only regrettable of the non-communication about the place and color of my full bottle. Next day 06/05 heli from base camp to KTM hospital to treat the finger. Oxygen: Taken and used from C4 to summit and on descent to C4. Accidents: Bollaert frostbite on one finger (likely to heal completely). Hired: Gyalu Sherpa (no summit, turned around after C4). Report from Wilco Van Rooijen: Approach: Mera Peak, helicopter from Lukla to BC. BC 19/04 5500m C1 -- 6240m C2 24/04 6100m C3 29/04 6800m C4 04/05 7300m HPt 11/05 8100m by Van Rooijen, Manuel Gonzalez Diaz. In 04/05, team left C4 for a summit push without O2 at 9 pm. They reached 7800m at 3:30 am. Some other people like Marco Confortola were on the route for their summit push, however, there was a slight problem with the route finding and the pair decided to make this another acclimatization rotation. They descended to BC the same day. They rested at BC for a few days; however, SST told them that they would disassemble BC so they decided to go for their summit push. They left BC on 09/05. Van de Gevel reached about 5800m and felt too tired for a summit push and returned to BC the same day. Van Rooijen reached C2 on 09/05, C3 10/05, C4 on 11/05. He left for summit push at 7 pm on 11/05. He had acquired two oxygen bottles from Nuri Sherpa (Confortola’s Sherpa) as he thought the summit day was too long without supplemental oxygen. He was climbing with Gonzalez Diaz and at 8100m Gonzalez Diaz decided to turn back. Van Rooijen did not feel comfortable using the oxygen and when Gonzalez Diaz said he was going down he decided to go with him. It was about 3 am. He descended to BC where he arrived at 1 pm on 12/05. Left BC on 14/05 trekking to Ramche, 15/05 to Tseram and on same day by helicopter to Taplethok, jeep to Taplejung. Sherpas: 0 Oxygen: Not taken, but used from C4 to HP to C4 by Van Rooijen. From report from Lu Chung-Han (Pioneer Adventure team): In 4 May, about 8:30 pm local time, Lu began his summit push from camp 4 7400m. He want to try without O2. In 5 May, about 2:45 pm local time, he arrived about 8495m. By the way, he saw Marco Confortola turn back in 8495m, Marco and he is only 2 persons climbing without O2 in 5 May, so they know each other. And then he continued. Marco Confortola summit claim: Note: The summit claims of Marco Confortola for ANN1, DHA1, LHOT, MAKA and KANG are now in dispute; see articles published by Explorers Web and Lo Scarpone (portal of the Italian Alpine Club). Due to an altered summit photo presented by Marco Confortola on his Facebook page, his claim of summiting Kangchenjunga is not recognized; see the article "How to Spot a Fake Summit Photo" published by Outside Magazine, 30 October 2025. |
| Accidents | - |
| Achievement | - |
| Agency | Seven Summit Treks |
| Commercial Route | False |
| Standard Route | True |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | False |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2463932 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Summit Success | True |
| O2 Summary | Used |
| Route (lowercase) | sw face |
Members
18 recorded members.
| Name | Sex | Year of Birth | Citizenship | Status | Residence | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shehroze Kashif | M | 2002 | Pakistan | Leader | Lahore, Pakistan | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Rudi Anna R. Bollaert | M | 1967 | Belgium | Climber | Hamme, Belgium | Owner of outdoor shop | Details Other expeditions |
| Adriana Brownlee Pinon | F | 2001 | UK | Climber | London, England | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Ariunzul Chuluunbaatar | F | 1973 | Mongolia | Climber | - | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Marco Confortola | M | 1971 | Italy | Climber | Valfurva, Sondrio, Italy | Alpine guide & rescuer | Details Other expeditions |
| Manuel (Lolo) Gonzalez Diaz | M | 1965 | Spain | Climber | Jaen, Spain | Alpinist | Details Other expeditions |
| Dorota Lidia Rasinska-Samocko | F | 1973 | Poland | Climber | Warsaw, Poland | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Purnima Shrestha | F | 1990 | Nepal | Climber | Arughat-9, Gorkha | Photojournalist | Details Other expeditions |
| Raluca Cornelia Uzum | F | 1969 | Romania | Climber | Bucharest, Romania | Physician | Details Other expeditions |
| Josette Valloton | F | 1964 | Switzerland | Climber | Arolla, Valais, Switzerland | Alpine guide | Details Other expeditions |
| Caspar Bernardus Maria Van De Gevel | M | 1965 | Netherlands | Climber | Utrecht, Netherlands | Carpenter | Details Other expeditions |
| Willem Jacon Handrik (Wilco) Van Rooijen | M | 1967 | Netherlands | Climber | Voorst, Netherlands | Professional adventurer | Details Other expeditions |
| Namja/Namgya Bhote | M | 1997 | Nepal | H-A Worker | Hatiya-3, Makalu-Barun | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Chhangba Sherpa | M | 1997 | Nepal | H-A Worker | Makalu-5, Makalu-Barun | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Dawa Nurbu Sherpa | M | 1998 | Nepal | H-A Worker | Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Gyalje (Gelje) Sherpa | M | 1992 | Nepal | H-A Worker | Tapting-3, Solukhumbu | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Gyalu Sherpa | M | 1978 | Nepal | H-A Worker | Patle-2, Okhaldhunga | - | Details Other expeditions |
| Ming Temba Sherpa | M | 1988 | Nepal | H-A Worker | Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun | - | Details Other expeditions |
References
8 recorded references.