Langtang Lirung | 1990 SE Ridge

A USA expedition to Langtang Lirung in 1990 via SE Ridge, led by Richard (Rick) Wilcox. Summit reached on 17th April 1990. 20 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 412
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LANG90101
Peak ID LANG
Year 1990
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Richard (Rick) Wilcox
Sponsor 1990 American Langtang Lirung 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 Canada, UK
Approach Langtang Khola->Langtang Village
Basecamp Date 1990-04-03
Summit Date 1990-04-17
Summit Time -
Summit Days 14
Total Days 21
Termination Date 1990-04-24
Termination Reason 10
Termination Notes Abandoned at 5670m due to difficult route, lack of experience
High Point (m) 5670
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 20
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 True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Climbed Naya Kanga
Campsites BC(03/04,4330m),C1(13/04,4880m),C2(11/04,5600m),xxx(17/04,5670m)
Route Notes BC at Lirung Glacier at shepard's stone huts just halfway up slope to SE ridge east of point 5229 SE Ridge. Spectacular hourly avalanches off East Face. Established C1 5 April but then went to Ganja La Chuli (Naya Kanga) on which established 2 camps (7th April at 14,000 ft and 8th April at 16,000 ft) and 9th April all members except Kohn and Wedmore to top (Wedmore not yet in Nepal). After this climb 4 left team as planned. Others returned to BC 11th to 12th April. Yardley, Kohn and Kendall went to another small peak because Kendall and Kohn clearly unable to climb Langtang. Yardley then joined Langtang climb while Kendall and Kohn stayed at BC. Chauvin, Doherty, Bill [Yeo] and Pheasant established C2 on SE Ridge on 14th April but did not sleep there. 16th Chauvin and Doherty to sleep in C2 (fixed rock ridge above C2) but down to C1 with view that route too difficult for inexperienced climbers in group and with only 5 days left to attempt Langtang because of client's program, decided to abandon climb. 18th up to C2 to bring it down to C2 and on 20th C1 cleared. Left BC 24th April, arrived Dunche 26th. It's an excellent route for experienced climbers; 6 on this team were qualified to do it but had to look after others. Had unusually deep snow but route safe if stay well away from East Face and its avalanches. Need 4 weeks to climb Langtang Lirung with lot of works needed at 18,000 to 20,000 ft. Most of the expedition's members were inexperienced in the Himalaya, and the leadership decided this mountain's southeast ridge was technically too difficult for them. "It's an excellent route for experienced climbers and six on this team of 20 were qualified to do it, but we had to look after the others. We had unusually deep snow, but the route is safe if you stay well away from the East Face," where there were "spectacular" avalanches every hour. It would have taken four weeks to climb the route successfully and safely, Wilcox estimated.
Accidents None except Kohn's intimidation by high mountains
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Paradise
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450664
Year 1990
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se ridge

Members

20 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
James Balog M 1952 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Photographer Details Other expeditions
Marc Chauvin M 1957 USA Deputy Leader South Conway, New Hampshire Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Daniel Doherty M 1962 USA Climber South Conway, New Hampshire Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
James Driver M 1952 USA Climber South Conway, New Hampshire Carpenter & alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Michael Dube M 1966 Canada Climber Nashua, New Hampshire Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Peter F. Gamache M 1961 USA Climber Goffstown, New Hampshire Pharmacist Details Other expeditions
Ajax Greene M 1957 USA Climber Wellesley, Massachusetts Consultant Details Other expeditions
Judith Grossman F - USA Climber Ware, Massachusetts Nurse Details Other expeditions
Jeanette Kay Helfrich F 1944 USA Climber Silver Springs, Maryland Attorney Details Other expeditions
Christopher P. Hurtubise M 1957 USA Climber Eaton Center, New Hampshire Pharmacist Details Other expeditions
Henry W. Kendall M 1926 USA Climber Sharon, Massachusetts Professor of physics (MIT) Details Other expeditions
Henry Kohn Jr. M 1940 USA Climber Ware, Massachusetts Truck driver Details Other expeditions
Jeffrey Pheasant M 1956 USA Climber Dubois, Wyoming Forester Details Other expeditions
Jennifer U. Stephens F 1967 USA Climber North Conway, New Hampshire Sales clerk Details Other expeditions
David Walters M 1941 USA Climber Kennebunk, Maine Cable television employee Details Other expeditions
Ian Wedmore M 1964 USA Exp Doctor Rockport, Massachusetts Physician Details Other expeditions
Richard French (Rick) Wilcox M 1948 USA Leader North Conway, New Hampshire Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Nicholas Yardley M 1964 UK Deputy Leader North Conway, New Hampshire Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Michael Yeo M 1965 USA Climber Cumberland, Maine Mountaineering equipment shop salesman Details Other expeditions
William Patrick (Bill) Yeo M 1965 USA Climber Cumberland, Maine Manager of climbing department (LL Bean Store) Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LANG90101 AAJ Wilcox, Richard - - 65:234-235 (1991) -
LANG90101 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199123405/Asia-Nepal-Langtang-Lirung-Attempt-and-Ganja-La-Chuli-Ascent - - -