Kirat Chuli | 1985 S Ridge from Nepal Pk

A UK expedition to Kirat Chuli in 1985 via S Ridge from Nepal Pk, led by Mike Kefford. Summit reached on 15th October 1985. 31 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 207
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID KIRA85301
Peak ID KIRA
Year 1985
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Ridge from Nepal Pk
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Mike Kefford
Sponsor Joint A.M.A.-Royal Nepal Army Kirat Chuli 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 Nepal
Approach Ghunsa
Basecamp Date 1985-09-25
Summit Date 1985-10-15
Summit Time -
Summit Days 20
Total Days 25
Termination Date 1985-10-20
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6735m on Nepal Peak due to strong wind, heavy snowfall
High Point (m) 0
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 31
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 False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Attempted Nepal Peak (NEPA-853-01)
Campsites BC(25/09,5400m),C1(28/09,5900m),C2(14/10,6400m),xxx(15/10,6735m-Nepal Peak)
Route Notes BC at 5400m edge of glacier north of Cross Peak C2 at 6400m in crevasse under big seracs under S Ridge of Nepal Peak Highpoint at 6735m at South Ridge of Nepal Peak. Expedition attempted to reach Kirat Chuli (Tent Peak) via Nepal Peak along the very long South Ridge of Nepal Peak and thence Kirat Chuli's low long South Ridge. The Nepal Peak ridge was a steep slope with very big cornices; its problems and many days of snowfall and snow slides, one of which took away their route, forced a halt after having reached a high point of 6735m on the ridge before Nepal Peak's summit. Team never actually set foot on Kirat Chuli. Snow above C1 was thigh-deep, unconsolidated powder snow on a 60-degree head wall. Then got onto South Ridge of Nepal Peak first on Nepalese side, then on Sikkimese side, 45-degree slope with very big cornices. First storm started 7 Oct by which time they had put in most of route to C2 and couldn't move till 13 Oct. 1st attempt to C2 on 9th but stopped by wind and thick spendrift. Again on 11th tried and retreated. More bad weather 12th, but 14th to C2 and 15th on up ridge, which again was vertical sugar, exposed to very cold wind for their ascent, fixing rope as they want. Had to climb down from high point of 22,100 ft but long distance from summit. Expected go to summit next day. 16th snowing heavily and strong wind. 17th tents destroyed and had to move down to BC. On 18th BC evacuated and down to Pangpema and those in C2 to abandoned C1 bringing own tents and digging under 3 ft of snow to find fixed ropes. 150m of snow slab went down but ropes fixed to ice underneath. Another slide took out route and covered one man. Still snowing, C2 doubtless destroyed, route gone and had little time left. 32 days on mountain, 17 actually climbing. Successfully completed water supply project and plant collection plus good experience. North ridge of Kiratchuli very difficult climb for strong climbers. British Kirat Chuli: Expedition's attempts to climb Kirat Chuli and Nepal Peak now abandoned. Expedition defeated by extremely bad weather, deep snow and avalanche conditions high on mountain. Williams/Kefford/Spencer reached 22,100 ft on South Ridge of Nepal Peak on 15 Oct before withdrawing and cold. 16th Oct plan to occupy C3 below Nepal Peak abandoned due combined bad weather and thick snow. 16-17th high winds and deep snow destroyed 3 tents and C1 (19,200 ft) and forced abandonment. Letter from Royal Force Mountaineering Association - Jan 1986 AMA Expedition to Nepal 1985 by Chris Cordery. Chris Cordery represented RAFMA on last year's AMA expedition to Nepal. The expedition lasted for nearly 3 months and amongst its several items it included attempts on Nepal Peak and Kirat Chuli. These 2 mountains are satellites of Kangchenjunga and are linked by a mile long, knife-edged ridge. They had only been climbed once before, from the Sikkim side. The walk-in took 3 weeks before we were ready to mount our assaults on the mountain. Ideas of climbing a new route via the North Col were quickly quashed when a recce showed the vast distance and desperately difficult glacier to be beyond the ability of our team. We settled for the South Col route which had previously been climbed in 1939. The weather remained fine throughout the last 2 weeks of September and we made good progress. We established ABC on the glacier beneath Nepal Peak and we put C1, at 19,500 ft, in a snow basin just below a ridge leading to the summit. The route to C2 proved to be difficult, long and quite prone to avalanches, but after sitting out several days of bad weather we established 6 climbers at 21,500 ft. The news of 5 Indians dying on Everest only 50 miles away did nothing positive for our morale but our lead climbers continued to press on. They got to within 600 ft of the top of Nepal Peak before being driven back to C2 by deep snow and high winds. The next days consisted of a blizzard and winds of 100 mph which demolished several tents or buried them in snow. The route from C2 to C1 had become seriously avalanche-prone and retreats were made in desperate conditions to the relative safety of our 2 BCs. The expedition was very lucky indeed to get everyone back alive. Avalanches had ripped out our fixed ropes and there was not enough time to rebuild our route so it was decided to end our expedition. We were very disappointed but we were all still alive. On our return to KTM we heard that the Himalayas were having their worst post-monsoon weather for 18 years and that a vast majority of mountaineering expeditions had been abandoned - one expedition did not even get to its base camp before being defeated by deep snow.
Accidents One Nepali, Yagya Bahadur, got sick on day 2 of walk-in and never reached BC
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2448924
Year 1985
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s ridge from nepal pk

Members

31 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
John Allen M 1949 UK Exp Doctor Leicester, England Physician in Army Details Other expeditions
Charles Ross Ashe-Cregan M 1949 UK Climber Beaminster, Dorset, England Colour sergeant in Royal Army Details Other expeditions
Martin H. Bazire M 1958 UK Climber Bath, Avon, England Army Captain, British Army Details Other expeditions
David Boxell M 1953 UK Climber Camberley, Surrey, England Warrant Officer, Royal Artillery Details Other expeditions
Meryon G. Bridges M 1944 UK Deputy Leader Hong Kong Major, Royal Engineers Details Other expeditions
Duncan Briggs M 1946 UK Climber Hong Kong Major, Brigade of Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Chris Cordery M 1952 UK Climber Albrighton, Wolverhampton, England Flight Lieutenant in Royal Air Force Details Other expeditions
Elspeth Cowling F 1953 UK Climber London, England Captain, Queen Alexandra's Army Nursing Corps Details Other expeditions
Peter Curzon M 1941 UK Climber Oamaru, New Zealand Physician Details Other expeditions
Simon Damant M 1961 UK Climber Arrington, Hertford, England Trooper, Special Air service Details Other expeditions
Sarah Dennis F 1959 UK Exp Doctor Hong Kong Captain, Military Hospital, Hong Kong (Physician) Details Other expeditions
Lindsay Dick M 1966 UK Climber Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland London Metropolitan Police force Details Other expeditions
Jonathan W. A. (Jon) Fleming M 1936 UK Climber Godalming, Surrey, Scotland Queen's messenger (Retired Lieutenant Colonel) Details Other expeditions
Simon David Gray M 1963 UK Climber Southampton, Hampshire, England Lieutenant, Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment Details Other expeditions
Michael H. (Mike) Kefford M 1946 UK Leader Hong Kong Major Brigade of Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Himalaya Bikram Khatri M 1956 Nepal Climber Kathmandu Army Captain Details Other expeditions
Christopher Lees M 1967 UK Climber Hong Kong & Kathmandu, Nepal Father is with British Embassy Details Other expeditions
Lalitman Limbu M 1965 Nepal Climber Hong Kong Rifleman, Brigade of Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Rudra Prasad Limbu M 1962 Nepal Climber Hong Kong Signalman, Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Simon Patrick Rhodes Lowe M 1960 UK Climber Mansfield, Nottingham, England Lieutenant, Royal Signals Details Other expeditions
Hamish MacKay M 1956 UK Climber Alton, Hampshire, England Army Captain (Parachute Regiment) Details Other expeditions
Shanker Rai M 1962 Nepal Climber Hong Kong Rifleman, Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Yagya Bahadur Rajaure M 1952 Nepal Climber Dang Army Captain Details Other expeditions
Gourab Shumsher Rana M 1955 Nepal Co-Leader Kathmandu Army Major Details Other expeditions
John Lincoln Rowe M 1951 UK Climber Kinross, Scotland Artist (paints marine subjects - civilian) Details Other expeditions
Ang Temba Sherpa M - Nepal Climber Hong Kong Corporal, Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Christopher Brine (Kit) Spencer M 1955 UK Climber Hong Kong Officer, Brigade of Gurkhas Details Other expeditions
Surya Sen Thakuri M 1954 Nepal Climber Pokhara Army Major Details Other expeditions
Philip Henry Jeffrey Thorley M 1953 UK Climber Spalding, Lincoln, England Petty Officer, Royal Navy Details Other expeditions
Gavin Nigel Williams M 1956 UK Climber Warminster, Wiltshire, England Captain, Royal Hampshire Regiment Details Other expeditions
Andrew Tuder Wright M 1966 UK Climber Linslade, Bedford, England Police cadet Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
KIRA85301 AAJ Cheney, Michael J. & Hawley, Elizabeth - - 60:217 (1986) -
KIRA85301 MM - - - 108:11 (Mar 1986) -
KIRA85301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198621701/Asia-Nepal-Kirat-Chuli-Attempt - - -