Langtang Lirung | 1985 NE Buttress-NE Ridge

A USA expedition to Langtang Lirung in 1985 via NE Buttress-NE Ridge, led by Daniel Newell. Summit reached on 16th October 1985. 9 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 211
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LANG85301
Peak ID LANG
Year 1985
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 NE Buttress-NE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Daniel Newell
Sponsor Langtang Lirung N Face 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 Timure
Basecamp Date 1985-10-05
Summit Date 1985-10-16
Summit Time -
Summit Days 11
Total Days 13
Termination Date 1985-10-18
Termination Reason 6
Termination Notes Abandoned at 5030m due to the death of climbing members
High Point (m) 5030
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 7
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 2
Total Hired 1
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 1
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(05/10,3775m),ABC(16/10,5030m),xxx(16/10,5030m)
Route Notes BC at 2 km down from North Face (same as in 1984) ABC on a buttress of NE Ridge in a gully High point at ABC. Probably the 3 climbers got no higher than 5030m since weather again very bad on 16th Oct with heavy snowfall and occasional strong wind gusts. Urkien Sherpa met Newell, Spake and Gyalzen Sherpa on 15th below ABC site. Newell sent back with him a note to Leung saying they expected to reach ABC site in 1 or 2 days. All were well. They made bivouacs between BC and ABC as they moved up, probably reached ABC on 16th Oct and could go no higher because of snow fall. Spake was supposed to be load and message carrier only. Atkinson left team well before caravan reached BC; claimed his girl friend's bad knee prevented her from trekking. Report of Mary E. Leung - 30 Oct 85 Oct 18 the three members of Langtang Lirung climbing party (Newell, Spake and Gyalzen) decided to come back to BC due to bad weather. They had been on the mountain since Oct 13. On 16 the weather again turned bad, continuing until Oct 20. The morning they decided to come down it was also raining. The route from which they were descending was one we had not observed them climbing on before. The members at BC including cook, kitchen boy, mailrunner, porter and sirdar Urkien Norbu saw three objects carried down by an avalanche. At the time of the avalanche they were at an altitude of approx 16,000 ft. They fell to an altitude of about 12,385 ft. Immediately after the avalanche we went to the site. The sirdar and a few others saw a jacket sleeve, most probably of Elliot or Gyalzen, an ice axe and one mattress pad. We weren't able to approach them to offer assistance because of constant avalanching. After about 45 minutes we left the site to go back to BC. The rest of that day we were unable to go back because of constant eminent avalanching due to the falling rain and snow. The following day Oct 19, several BC members tried to go back to the site twice, but were unable to do anything because of the danger of more avalanching and a lack of digging implements. Snow and fog were quite heavy that day. Oct 20 was a sunny clear day. We finished same digging tools out of wood and in the afternoon the BC members tried to dig where they had seen the items before but were unsuccessful. The snow was too deep after two days and nights of snowfall and avalanching. On Oct 21 we departed BC to return to KTM. We were unable to recover any bodies or equipmment on the mountain since none of the BC members were equipped for high altitude climbing. Nor were we able to determine if they were abandoning the expedition or merely coming down to BC to wait for good weather.
Accidents Fatal accident of two members and 1 Sherpa
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2449015
Year 1985
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) ne buttress-ne ridge

Members

9 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Daniel Newell M 1950 USA Leader South Lake Tahoe, California Computer consultant Details Other expeditions
Gyalgen Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker Badar, Ramechap, Janakpur - Details Other expeditions
Jan Elliot Spake M 1958 USA Climber Sacramento, California Botanist & ceramacist Details Other expeditions
Dona Haber F 1946 USA Member Santa Barbara, California Counselor Details Other expeditions
Harvey Norman Haber M 1937 USA Member Santa Barbara, California Counselor Details Other expeditions
Mary Elizabeth Leung F 1961 USA Member California Secretary Details Other expeditions
Dory Helen Smith F 1954 USA Member Los Angeles, California secretary Details Other expeditions
David Atkinson M - UK Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Urkien Norbu Sherpa M - Nepal Sirdar - - Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LANG85301 AAJ Cheney, Michael J. & Hawley, Elizabeth - - 60:237 (1986) -
LANG85301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198623704/Asia-Nepal-Langshisha-Ri-Attempt - - -