Kangchenjunga | 1990 N Ridge-N Face

A Poland expedition to Kangchenjunga in 1990 via N Ridge-N Face, led by Anna Czerwinska. Summit reached on 13th May 1990. 10 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 636
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID KANG90101
Peak ID KANG
Year 1990
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 N Ridge-N Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Poland
Leaders Anna Czerwinska
Sponsor Polish Kangchenjunga 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 Spain
Approach Basantapur->Pangpema
Basecamp Date 1990-03-27
Summit Date 1990-05-13
Summit Time -
Summit Days 47
Total Days 51
Termination Date 1990-05-17
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7800m due to bad weather and Spaniard's impatience
High Point (m) 7800
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 10
Summit Members 0
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 True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(27/03,5150m),C1(02/04,5800m),C2A(11/04,6500m),C2B(14/04,6700m),TempC3(26/04,7100m),C3(11/05,7300m),xxx(13/05,7800m)
Route Notes BC at normal site -(Pangpema) 2nd C2 at safer place in crevasse Temp at highest site possible in strong wind - N Ridge Final camp 3 also on North Ridge below the "castle" High point little below North Ridge at bottom of Couloir. 10 days of bad weather in late April and early May and during this period friction arose between Poles and Basques because of uneven abilities: Tomas did outstanding job of fixing ice wall. Alduz the other experienced Basque lost interest in climb after avalanche. 2 others very young and one of them twice had acclimatization problem; inexperienced Basques had no experience carrying loads. Communication difficult between Basque and Poles: Basques wanted to make summit attack in a large party which meant low last camp, cramped in tents, poor sleep, etc. Team made to 7600-7800m and forced back by bad weather. Spaniards had fixed departure date from Nepal and had to hurry: wouldn't wait for making C4, instead made summit push from C3 which failed; this was only summit bid because weather continued to be bad with heavy clouds and snowfall. Basques informed leader very late that they had to leave BC on 15th May. Another problem was that other 2 Polish women wanted to climb only with Basques. Czerwinska and Palmowska were in C3 on 13th waiting to go up on 14th to make a C4 and go for top, but on 14th windy and cloudy. Actual summit attack began at 10:00 pm on 12th in wind. Actually was possible for Basques to stay beyond 15th May: on 16th Tomas and Ochoa actually decided to try push to top and went up from BC for one hour & then decided loads too heavy. Communication problem was not language problem but younger climbers did not listen to older Polish leaders, who had climbed with Aldaz on Makalu and counted on him to be communicator, but when he had narrow miss with big avalanche of seracs, he lost interest in climb and stayed mostly in BC, went no higher (and wanted to go no higher) than C1. Summit bid of 12/13 May by Kaploniak, Larregui, Ochoa, Patynowska and Tomas, all of whom reached 7600m. Ochoa got highest at 7800m and others varying altitudes in between.
Accidents Nothing serious
Achievement -
Agency Rover Treks
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450555
Year 1990
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) n ridge-n face

Members

10 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Lluis Ignacio (Koldo) Aldaz Ibarrola M 1956 Spain Climber Isaba, Navarra, Spain Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Juan Ramon Cebriain M 1964 Spain Climber Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Anna Barbara Czerwinska F 1949 Poland Leader Warsaw, Poland Pharmacist & writer Details Other expeditions
Ryszard Wojciech Dlugolecki M 1933 Poland Exp Doctor Bydgoszcz, Poland Surgeon Details Other expeditions
Amalia Kaploniak F 1956 Poland Climber Krakow, Poland Social worker Details Other expeditions
Pedro Javier Larregui M 1960 Spain Climber Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Unemployed salesman Details Other expeditions
Ignacio (Inaki) Ochoa de Olza Seguin M 1967 Spain Climber Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Alpine instructor & philosophy student Details Other expeditions
Krystyna Palmowska F 1948 Poland Climber Warsaw, Poland Electronics engineer Details Other expeditions
Jolanta Patynowska F 1957 Poland Climber Czaplinek, Poland Geographer Details Other expeditions
Juan Antonio Tomas Guiterrez M 1956 Spain Climber Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Bank employee Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
KANG90101 AAJ Czerwinska, Anna - - 65:214-215 (1991) -
KANG90101 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199121402/Asia-Nepal-Kangchenjanga-North-Face-Attempt - - -