Lhotse | 2006 South Face

A Japan expedition to Lhotse in 2006 via South Face, led by Osamu Tanabe. Summit reached on 27th December 2006. 9 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 5561
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT06402
Peak ID LHOT
Year 2006
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 South Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Japan
Leaders Osamu Tanabe
Sponsor JAC-Tokai Winter Lhotse Expedition 2006
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 -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2006-11-13
Summit Date 2006-12-27
Summit Time -
Summit Days 44
Total Days 49
Termination Date 2007-01-01
Termination Reason 2
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8475
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 5700
Total Members 7
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 18
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(13/11,5200m),C1(21/11,5900m),C2(01/12,7100m),TempC3(06/12,7250m),C3(21/12,8000m),xxx(27/12,8475m)
Route Notes BC at west side of Lhotse Glacier C1 on South Face of bottom of rock wall C2 on South Face Temp III on South Face C3 on South face. Japanese Lhotse Expedition - Winter 2006 Team made a temporary C3 at 7350m on 6 Dec and retreated to base camp, where they were pinned down from 7 to 12 December by very strong wind. On 13th they started up again and made their permanent C3 at about 8000m on the 21st. Their route was the same as Tanabe's 2003 winter route. This meant moving up and over to the left above C2's 7100m to 7250m and then up to the right to C3 at 8000m. Their first bid for the summit was made on 22-24 Dec by Kenmochi, Senda and Pema Chhiring, with one Korean team member, An Chi-Young. They reached 8200m on the 24th and turned back: the route was very difficult, there was a lot of rockfall and many Sherpas were tired. The second summit party, Tanabe, Yamaguchi and Pemba Chhoti, then took over the summit push on 25-27 December. They started up from C3 at 7:00 am on the 27th. There was a very steep rock wall between C3 and the summit; they traversed diagonally to the left from a direct line to the summit because this way was easier to climb. At 3:35 pm Yamaguchi reached the summit ridge at an 8475m summit that is just east of the main summit; it is the summit that is on their right side as climbers emerge from the top of the couloir via the normal West Face route (the main summit is to their left). At 4:00 pm Tanabe and Pemba Chhoti joined him on this lower summit. Their lower summit was 200-300 meters from the main summit as the crow flies. To reach it they would now have to descend along the summit ridge about 50-100 meters and then ascent the ridge about 100-150 meters to the main summit. The weather was all right: clouds were coming in on their side of the mountain that afternoon, and there was light snowfall, but the weather didn't worry them because the mountain's west side was clear, and on this day oxygen supply was almost exhausted. They would take two or three hours to reach the main summit. They didn't try. They returned to C3 at 8:00 pm. Now came the decision whether to make a third summit bid or give up. Tanabe favored another attempt after one week, but Senda reported from base camp that Sherpa opinion was against it; they were tired and "their condition was not so good." The other two members were unfit to try: Fujikawa's fingers were slightly frostbitten when he went to 6500m on 23 or 24 December, and Yamamoto had such a bad cough that he cracked some ribs on 5 Dec (but nonetheless went to C2 on the 23rd). The decision was taken on the 28th to abandon the climb. This was the third time Tanabe had led a winter expedition to the South Face of Lhotse. He said he would not go to the face again: the summit he had reached was good enough. Many Sherpas were hit and bruised on their arms and legs by the falling rock. Kenmochi was also hit but not seriously hurt, and a rock struck the rucksack on Tanabe's back. Everybody wore helmets. One Sherpa, Mingma Tshering, from Beding, got a serious throat infection. Summit team's Sherpas: Pema Chhiring, 17/12/83 (2/9/2040), Beding, Everest X5, Cho Oyu X2, Lhotse X1 Pemba Chhoti, 27/1/81 (14/10/2037), Beding, Everest X4 Oxygen: They had 60 bottles of oxygen and all were used. The Japanese members used it up from C2 (7100m), but not in descent. Sherpas used it up from 8000m but not in descent.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Rolwaling Excursion
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2456823
Year 2006
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) south face

Members

9 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Katsuhito Fujikawa M 1965 Japan Climber Tokyo, Japan Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Noriyuki Kenmochi M 1969 Japan Climber Isesaki, Gunma, Japan Engineer Details Other expeditions
Atsushi Senda M 1974 Japan Climber Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Sales businessman at opt-electronics Details Other expeditions
Osamu Tanabe M 1961 Japan Leader Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Takahiro Yamaguchi M 1973 Japan Climber Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Engineer Details Other expeditions
Toshio Yamamoto M 1974 Japan Climber Okasaki, Aichi, Japan Photographer Details Other expeditions
Tomomi Tanabe F 1961 Japan Climber Nagoya, Aichi, Japan - Details Other expeditions
Pemba Chhoti Sherpa M 1981 Nepal H-A Worker Beding, Dolakha - Details Other expeditions
Pema Chhiring/Chhiri Sherpa M 1983 Nepal H-A Worker Beding, Dolakha - Details Other expeditions

References

12 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LHOT06402 JAN Tanabe, Osamu Lhotse South Face Winter Ascent - 8:2-7 (May 2007) -
LHOT06402 ALP - - - 20:92 (Summer 2007) -
LHOT06402 AAJ Tanabe, Osamu - - 81:394-395 (2007) -
LHOT06402 AJ Tanabe, Osamu Lhotse South Face Winter Ascent - 112:61-67 (2007) -
LHOT06402 JAC Tanabe, Osamu Lhotse South Face Winter Ascent - 102:A16-18 (2007) -
LHOT06402 JAC Tanabe, Osamu Lhotse South Face Winter Ascent - 102:7-24 (2007) -
LHOT06402 CLIM - - - 39:70-72 (May 2008) -
LHOT06402 JAN Tanabe, Osamu Lhotse South Face Winter Ascent - 16:132-137 (2015) -
LHOT06402 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200739400/Asia-Nepal-Mahalangur-HimalKhumbu-Section-Lhotse-South-Face-Winter-Ascent-Not-to-Summit - - -
LHOT06402 - - http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP18/newswire-lhotse-south-face-winter-japan-tanabe - - -
LHOT06402 - - https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_2007_files/AJ%202007%2061-67%20Tanabe%20Lhotse.pdf - - -
LHOT06402 - - http://jac.or.jp/english/images/vol8/jan-vol8-2-7.pdf - - -