Kangchenjunga | 1994 SW Face
A Belarus expedition to Kangchenjunga in 1994 via SW Face, led by Sergei Novikov. Summit reached on 23rd October 1994. 12 members recorded.
Expedition Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ID | 1410 |
| Imported | 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634 |
| Expedition ID | KANG94302 |
| Peak ID | KANG |
| Year | 1994 |
| Season | 3 |
| Host Country | 1 |
| Route 1 | SW Face |
| Route 2 | - |
| Route 3 | - |
| Route 4 | - |
| Nationality | Belarus |
| Leaders | Sergei Novikov |
| Sponsor | First Belarussian Kangchenjunga Expedition Lux-Geya |
| Success 1 | True |
| Success 2 | False |
| Success 3 | False |
| Success 4 | False |
| Ascent 1 | 43rd |
| Ascent 2 | - |
| Ascent 3 | - |
| Ascent 4 | - |
| Claimed | False |
| Disputed | False |
| Countries | Bulgaria, Russia |
| Approach | - |
| Basecamp Date | 1994-09-28 |
| Summit Date | 1994-10-23 |
| Summit Time | 1700 |
| Summit Days | 25 |
| Total Days | 0 |
| Termination Date | - |
| Termination Reason | 1 |
| Termination Notes | - |
| High Point (m) | 8586 |
| Traverse | False |
| Ski | False |
| Paraglide | False |
| Camps | 3 |
| Fixed Rope (m) | 500 |
| Total Members | 12 |
| Summit Members | 1 |
| Member Deaths | 3 |
| 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 | True |
| O2 Taken | False |
| O2 Unknown | False |
| Other Summits | - |
| Campsites | BC(28/09,5300m),C1(02/10,6200m),C2(15/10,7200m),C3(21/10,7800m),Smt(23/10) |
| Route Notes | BC at normal site C1 at plateau at top of icefall C2 slightly below Great Shelf C3 just about Great Shelf at start of couloir. 23 Oct Bulgarians left C3 at 3 am, without oxygen; Borislav turned back at 4:30 am 8100m, there toes started getting frostbitten so went down to BC same day and gave himself infection (now Ok); other member continued up; at 8:30 am he saw Dimitrova at about 8200m; at 11 am he saw her at 8300m not moving; he at BC 2 pm. After 11:00-11:30 am clouds obscured view from BC and lower mountain. Same day Koulabatchenko left C3 at 8:30 am using oxygen and started later than Bulgarians because he feared frostbite earlier. At 12 noon at 8100m near found outer glove in it's loop; 50m higher, found her ice axe also drilled into snow; at 8300m he found foot prints going 20m left (towards Yalung Kang) and 20m back to track but no footprints going higher. At 17 hrs Victor on summit and returned at 22 hrs to C3 completely exhausted and entirely alone; reached BC on 24th very weak and 3 black (frostbitten) fingers. 24th 2 members to 7200m and 25th to 7800m (on 25th to look for Dimitrova but no sign of her). They were not strong and did not go off track to search thoroughly. 9/10 Oct night hard snow avalanche fatally hit Ivanova and Jvirbiva in biv at 6700m but others waited for 2 days to hear from them, then rescue team went up to search and found only one camp on top snow. Oxygen used by Victor climbing above C3 to top and 45 minutes down from top; Losowski in C1 when sick from effects of altitude. Note: Italian Spr 1995 exped (Simone Moro) found the remains of a woman: 29th April Mondinelli, Galezzi and De Stefani at 7700m to left of classical route 100m under serac (at base of seracs) found body of woman whose left leg from knee and right arm pulled out of socket; Mondinelli thinks she fell from distance; skull missing from eyebrows up and most hair gone (little left was curly light brown). Bulgarian pills found in chest pocket. Mondinelli saw it was a woman: breast flesh was left and waist narrow; leg broken at knee and skull means did not fall with snow avalanche, means fell on rock. Mondinelli found body thinking pink and yellow he saw from distance was a tent and went to look. Body placed in crevasse; nothing taken from it. |
| Accidents | Losowski altitude sickness; Koulabatchenko frostbitten finger (will lose parts) |
| Achievement | - |
| Agency | Kailash Journeys Treks |
| Commercial Route | - |
| Standard Route | True |
| Primary Route | False |
| Primary Member | False |
| Primary Reference | False |
| Primary ID | - |
| Checksum | 2452183 |
| Year | 1994 |
| Summit Success | True |
| O2 Summary | Used |
| Route (lowercase) | sw face |
Members
12 recorded members.
| Name | Sex | Year of Birth | Citizenship | Status | Residence | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borislav Mihaylov Dimitrov | M | 1967 | Bulgaria | Climber | Sofia, Bulgaria | Engineering student | Details Other expeditions |
| Iordanka Ivanova Dimitrova | F | 1952 | Bulgaria | Climber | Sofia, Bulgaria | Economist | Details Other expeditions |
| Alexandr Dubrovsky | M | 1960 | Belarus | Climber | Minsk, Belarus | Sports club director | Details Other expeditions |
| Ekaterina Ivanova | F | 1962 | Russia | Climber | Irkutsk, Russia | Professional alpinist | Details Other expeditions |
| Sergei Jvirbiva | M | 1960 | Belarus | Climber | Minsk, Belarus | Sports club director | Details Other expeditions |
| Victor Koulabatchenko | M | 1962 | Belarus | Climber | Borisov, Belarus | Physician | Details Other expeditions |
| Edouard Lipen | M | 1936 | Belarus | Exp Doctor | Minsk, Belarus | Physician | Details Other expeditions |
| Leonid Losowski | M | 1938 | Belarus | Climber | Minsk, Belarus | University teacher | Details Other expeditions |
| Valeri Vasilevich Moiseenko | M | 1947 | Belarus | Climber | Lesnoy, Belarus | Surgeon | Details Other expeditions |
| Sergei Novikov | M | 1954 | Belarus | Leader | Minsk, Belarus | Businessman | Details Other expeditions |
| Alexei Sedov | M | 1960 | Russia | Climber | St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia | Manager of home-construction company | Details Other expeditions |
| Irina Vialenkova | F | 1957 | Belarus | Climber | Minsk, Belarus | Economist | Details Other expeditions |
References
5 recorded references.
| Expedition ID | Journal | Author | Title | Publisher | Citation | Yak 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KANG94302 | AAJ | Hawley, Elizabeth | - | - | 69:230 (1995) | - |
| KANG94302 | AAJ | Hawley, Elizabeth | - | - | 70:263 (1996) | - |
| KANG94302 | HIGH | - | - | - | 151:12 (Jun 1995) | - |
| KANG94302 | HIGH | - | - | - | 155:8-9 (Oct 1995) | - |
| KANG94302 | - | - | http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199523001/Asia-Nepal-Kangchenjunga-Ascent-and-Tragedy | - | - | - |