Kangchenjunga | 1998 N Face (Japanese 1980 rte)

A USA expedition to Kangchenjunga in 1998 via N Face (Japanese 1980 rte), led by Gary Pfisterer. Summit reached on 18th May 1998. 6 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2637
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID KANG98103
Peak ID KANG
Year 1998
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 N Face (Japanese 1980 rte)
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Gary Pfisterer
Sponsor International Kangchenjunga 98
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 51st
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Canada, UK
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1998-04-05
Summit Date 1998-05-18
Summit Time 1130
Summit Days 43
Total Days 46
Termination Date 1998-05-21
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8586
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 400
Total Members 6
Summit Members 4
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 False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(05/04,5100m),Temp(08/04,5400m),C1(10/04,5800m),C2(15/04,6800m),C3(03/05,7400m),C4(17/05,7900m),Smt(18/05)
Route Notes 5 members made summit attempt on 18th. Left C4 at 4:30 am and Pratt on top 11:30 am, Shaw at 12:00, Horvath 12:30 and Harrison at 2:30 pm having stayed with her husband who turned back at 1:30 pm at about 8400m tired. All safely in C4 that night, Harrison by 5:00 pm. Had tried for top 7 May and turned around 8000m; had planned to put camp at 8000m and go to top on 8th but very deep snow and winds turned them back and down to C2 and then BC. This bid by same 5 members. Mountain much more dangerous than last year; this year major ice avalanches one of which blew away C1 (found tent in crevasse 200m away). There were major icefalls; last year no avalanche at all. Scott route thundering falling rock constantly (every 10 minutes and big rocks) whereas last route nothing fell. Briton is First Woman to Scale World's Third Highest Mountain By Elizabeth Hawley Kathmandu, May 29 (Reuters) - The world's third highest mountain, Kangchenjunga, was first "conquered" in 1955 by three British and one New Zealand man, but no woman had ever gotten to its 8586m (28,169 ft) summit until this month. The Nepalese tourism ministry announced today that Mrs. Ginette Harrison, a 40-year-old British physician living in Monson, Massachusetts, USA reached Kangchenjunga's lofty summits on May 18. She summited with a party of three men: - Timothy Horvath, 27, American contractor from Cherry Valley, New York; - Christopher Shaw, 36, American, computer programmer from Boulder, Colorado; - Jonathan Pratt, 39-year-old mining engineer who has both British and American citizenship and lives in Shenfield, Essex, England. They scaled their mountain not by its standard route on the southwest side but via the more difficult North Face. Kangchenjunga was not the first great Himalayan peak Mrs. Harrison had reached. She stood atop the world's highest, Everest, in May 1993 and the sixth highest, Cho Oyu, in September 1997. Her husband, Gary Pfisterer, 45, was the leader of this six-member team, of which Mrs. Harrison was the only woman member.
Accidents Malo respiratory infection
Achievement 1st woman summiter
Agency Everest Parivar
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453490
Year 1998
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) n face (japanese 1980 rte)

Members

6 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Ginette Lesley Harrison F 1958 UK Climber Monson, Massachusetts Physician Details Other expeditions
Timothy Stephen Horvath M 1970 USA Climber Cherry Valley, New York Contractor Details Other expeditions
Paul Lucien Malo M 1956 Canada Climber Cochrane, Ontario Electronics technician Details Other expeditions
Gary Scott Pfisterer M 1952 USA Leader Monson, Massachusetts Owner of textile manufacturing business Details Other expeditions
Jonathan C. Pratt M 1958 UK Climber Shenfield, Essex, England Mining engineer Details Other expeditions
Christopher Shaw M 1962 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Computer programmer Details Other expeditions

References

8 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
KANG98103 HJ Pfisterer, Gary International Kangchenjunga Expedition, 1998 - 55:224-225 (1999) -
KANG98103 AJ Harrison, Ginette Kangchenjunga: The First Female Ascent - 104:18-22 (1999) -
KANG98103 AAJ Harrison, Ginette - - 73:379-381 (1999) -
KANG98103 HIGH Venables, Stephen Ginette Harrison - 190:56-57 (Sep 1998) -
KANG98103 HIGH - - - 193:20-21 (Dec 1998) -
KANG98103 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199937902/Asia-Nepal-Ganesh-Himal-Kangchenjunga-First-Female-Ascent - - -
KANG98103 - - https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/55/18/expeditions-and-notes-55/ - - -
KANG98103 - - https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1999_files/AJ%201999%2018-22%20Harrison%20Kangchenjunga.pdf - - -