Langtang Lirung | 1964 SW Ridge

A Australia expedition to Langtang Lirung in 1964 via SW Ridge, led by Peter Taylor. Summit reached on 6th October 1964. 8 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2520
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LANG64301
Peak ID LANG
Year 1964
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Australia
Leaders Peter Taylor
Sponsor South Australian Himalaya 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 UK
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1964-09-27
Summit Date 1964-10-06
Summit Time -
Summit Days 9
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 10
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6700m due to team too weak
High Point (m) 6700
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 5
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 6
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
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(27/09),C1(01/10,5650m),C2(05/10,6550m),xxx(06/10,6700m)
Route Notes Letter from Peter Taylor, C1 - Oct 13, 64 I have just come off the ridge and am relaxing and trying not to think in superlatives. Here is the programme: 1) C2 21,400 was set up on Oct 5. 2) Ang Temba, Pasang Kami, Pasang Sherpa and myself put the route up the face of a 500 ft rock tower on the ridge on Oct 6. We reached an estimated height of 22,100 before calling off the climb. This height decides on observations on Ghenge Liru (Langtang II) (21,592) which is clearly visible. All claims to be supported by photographs. It was clear to me that we were too few in number to push on further, also the weather was weakening. It snowed for 4 days and by the end of it the 500 ft rock tower was unclimbable, it is obvious that had we continued we would not have returned. 3) Mary Boyle came up to C1 (19,000) on Oct 1st. She has remained here cooking for Sherpas and ourselves until today. 4) This morning (Oct 13) Mary Boyle, George Petley, Ang Temba, Pasang Kami, Pasang Sherpa and myself ascended to 21,600 on the SW Lirung Ridge. This was accomplished in 3 hours from C1. We shall return to BC tomorrow. Everyone is fit and well. Homan made it to C1 only Wendy Martin only managed a few hundred feet above BC. Letter from Peter Taylor, BC - Sept 30, 1964 I have been consulting my diary and note that base camp was finally set up at 16,000 on Sept 27th. Three days were spent in moving. I have decided on this new location as it puts us higher and nearer to Lirung. We are in a cirque below the SW Lirung ridge - which is above us at about 18,500. (There is a 22,000 peak on the ridge at this point which effectively blocks off any approach to Lirung from here directly). Between this peak and Ghenge Liru is a couloir which leads to the southwest ridge (on the west side) to a flat spot at 19,000. This will be the site of C1 - the same as last year. Last year the couloir was filled with deep snow and was easy to negotiate. Right now there is about a foot of snow covering a lot of loose rock - the whole thing requires care. The route to the top of the couloir was opened up and marked out by George Petley and myself on Sept 26th. Since that time the Sherpas, Graham Homan, George Petley and myself have ferried all the high altitude food and fuel (plus enough equipment to set up camp and recce the Lirung ridge) to the top of the couloir and the site of C1. This has been a slow job since - due to the conditions in the couloir - each man can carry 30 lbs. With the exception of the Sirdar (Ang Temba), all the members of the expedition are fit and well. Ang Temba has a mouth ulcer; I have put him on a course of penicillin. Today we are resting. Tomorrow the sirdar, the 2 H-A porters and the 2 local porters plus Petley, Homan, Mary Boyle and myself will go up to 19,000 ft and set up C1. We shall be staying up there; the Sherpas will down and then come back up with all their gear on 2nd Oct. I hope to have a go at the Lirung Ridge (SW at this point) on the 3rd. Its about 21,000 above C1 - perhaps a bit more. Mary Boyle has taken to altitude and mountain life quite well. She has been up to 18,000 ft with me and climbed quite strongly. I have decided to take her up to C1 on a trial basis. She will do all the cooking for us up there. I hoping that she will eventually go over 20,000 ft.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2441314
Year 1964
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw ridge

Members

8 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Peter Taylor M 1921 UK Leader Adelaide, SA, Australia Geophysicist Details Other expeditions
Mary Boyle F 1934 Australia Climber Minburn, Edmonton, Alberta School teacher; has been teaching past 2 years in Adelaide Details Other expeditions
Graham John Roger-Homan M 1935 UK Climber Wellington, New Zealand Ex-RAF electronics technician Details Other expeditions
Wendy Martin F 1938 Australia Climber Corby, Northampton, England School teacher, taught geography in Sydney Details Other expeditions
George Petley M 1939 Australia Climber Adelaide, SA, Australia Fitter and turner with United Geophysical Details Other expeditions
Ang Temba Sherpa M - Nepal Sirdar - - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker - - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Kami Sherpa M 1938 Nepal H-A Worker Namche Bazar, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

4 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LANG64301 AAJ - - - 39:465 (1965) -
LANG64301 HJ Taylor, Peter Langtang Lirung, 1964 - 27:141-143 (1966) -
LANG64301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12196546501/Asia-Nepal-Langtrang-Lirung - - -
LANG64301 - - https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/27/14/langtang-lirung-1964/ - - -