Lhotse | 2017 W Face

A UK expedition to Lhotse in 2017 via W Face, led by Richard Maybank. Summit reached on 16th May 2017. 37 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9510
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT17107
Peak ID LHOT
Year 2017
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Richard Maybank
Sponsor Seven Summit Treks Lhotse Expedition 2017
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, India,Iran, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal,S Korea,Serbia,Spain
Approach Lukla->Namche->Pangboche->Everest BC
Basecamp Date 2017-04-15
Summit Date 2017-05-16
Summit Time 1700
Summit Days 31
Total Days 44
Termination Date 2017-05-29
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8516
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 30
Summit Members 18
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 7
Summit Hired 6
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(12/04,5350m),C1,C2,C3,C4,Smt(16-17,19-20,26-27/05)
Route Notes The Seven Summit Treks Lhotse Expedition was a combination of several independent teams (1-3 climbers each). Seven Summit Treks provided transportation, base camp facilities and various levels of high altitude support (oxygen, high-altitude porters, tents, etc) as required and contracted for by each team. The individual accounts for each team are given below: Song Yui-Jiang (China) Camps: BC(18/04,5300m),C1(28/04,6100m),C2(16/05,6400m),C3(17/05,7000m), C4(18/05,7781m),Smt(19/05) Left: 21/05/17 Hired: 1 Term: Success at 10:50 am. Yujiang Song was the only climber from his group going for Lhotse. The rest of team went for Everest. BC, C1, C2 and C3 were the same for all the climbers. On summit push at 19 May, Song left C4 at 1 am. There was a little bit of wind, but no snow and it was not too cold. Song climbed together with Dawa Sherpa. They reached the summit of Lhotse at 10:50 am and spent 30 minutes on the summit. The weather was clear. They descended to C2, which they reached at 5 pm. The next day (20 May), they went down from C2 to BC, arriving at 2 pm. Oxygen: Taken and used from 8200m to top to C4 by Song Taken and used from C4 to summit and down to C3 by Dawa. Mario Vielmo (Italy) Sebastiano Valentini (Italy) Nicola Bonaiti (Italy) Camps: BC(22/04,5260m),C1(28/04,6050m),C2(29/04,6430m),C3(07/05,7070m), C4(25/05,7800m),Smt(26/05) Left: 29/05/17 by helicopter (Vielmo, Bonaiti); 28/05 by foot (Valentini) Hired: 1 Term: Success at 5 pm. Summit day: started at 2 am from C4, reaching entrance of the couloir at 6 am at 8000m. Summit at 5 pm, after doubting to continue because of bad weather. 30 minutes on top then down. Back to C4 at 10:20 pm (found it thanks to GPS in the dark). On 27th back to C2. On 28th back to BC. Sebastiano stopped at the entrance of the couloir, feeling cold fingers. Had had 9 fingers frostbites on Annapurna I with Mario Vielmo. At 5:30 am decided to return down. Back to BC on same day. Before them, 6 other people with oxygen went to the top (Korean team?), who started from higher C3 (Sebastiano saw their headlamps). Nicola and Mario waited for them to go down at the thinnest part of the couloir, to pay attention to rock/ice falls. Gyelu Sherpa up to C3. Italians didn't want him to go farther, but to wait at C3. "Weather forecast always changing, particularly unstable conditions this season." Oxygen: Not taken, not used. Agency: Cho Oyu Trekking (on SST permit) Atanas Skatov (Bulgaria) Camps: BC(15/04,5400m),C1(26/04,6000m),C2(27/04,6500m),C3(14/05,7200m), C4(15/05,7800m),Smt(16/05) Left: 24/05/17 by helicopter to Ktm Hired: 1 Term: Success at 5:52 pm. On summit push Skatov left C4 at 8 am. It was warm, good weather. Skatov's Sherpa Lhakpa Dendi turned around after 50m from C4, Skatov continued alone. At noon he had a problem, his regulator did not work properly and he continued to the summit with a very low oxygen rate. He felt pain in his back, maybe caused by low oxygen. He stayed on the top for 30 minutes, weather and view were perfect. He descended to C4 reaching it at 8:15 pm. He reached South Col with Lhakpa Dendi Sherpa on the same day at 11:15 pm. But on South Col the wind started to increase and they returned to C4 on Lhotse. At midnight they arrived at the camp. On 18 May they descended to C2, staying there for 3 nights, resting for their Everest attempt. Oxygen: Taken and used by Skatov from C3 to Lhotse summit and back to C4. Sherpa: Lhakpa Dendi, Gudel-9, Solukhumbu, 22/11/74 Vibeke Andrea Sefland (Norway) Camps: BC(15/04,5350m),C1(26/04,6100m),C2(27/04,6400m),C3(06/05,7100m), C4(15/05,7800m),Smt(16/05) Left: 25/05/17 by helicopter Hired: 1 Term: Success at 5:52 pm. Lhotse summit team left C2 at 8 am as the rope-fixing Sherpas were in front of them. They caught up with the rope-fixing Sherpas at about 8200m. The weather was calm and warm, so waiting for the Sherpas was not too bad. There were 17 people on the route (including rope-fixing Sherpas). They spent about 15 minutes on the summit and descended to C4, where they arrived at 8 pm. The following day they went to C2. They spent three nights at C2 before starting their Everest ascent. Oxygen: Used from C3 to summit to C4 by Sefland and Temba. Sherpa: Temba Bhote, Makalu, 19/03/82 Alessandra Pepper (Australia) Mariano Galvan (Argentina) Camps: BC(27/04,5300m),C2(6480m),C3(08/05,7200m),xxx(21/05,8015m) Left: 29/05/17 Hired: 0 Term: Abandoned at 7200m (Pepper) and 8015m (Galvan) Pepper turned back on 26 May due to weakness from gastro-intestinal illness. Galvan turned back on 21 May due to exhaustion (had not slept since departing from base camp on his summit push). Oxygen: Not taken, not used. Richard Maybank (UK) Camps: BC(18/04,5350m),C1(27/04,6100m),C2(28/04,6500m),C3(18/05,7100m), C4(19/05,7800m),Smt(22/05) Left: 26/05/17 by trekking Hired: 1 Term: Success at 9:30 am. Maybank reached C3 on 18 May. He had carried one oxygen bottle up to C3, which he put on once he got there. He slept on the oxygen and went to C4 on 19 May. When he got to C4 he met a Slovakian, who tried to come into his tent. He had come up from C3 and was on his way to Everest, but decided to go to Lhotse C4 for the night. He stayed with Maybank, who had realized that there was no oxygen for him at C4. Next to his tent there was SST Chinese tent and sent a message down to C2 to tell them that there was no O2 for him at C4. On 21 May Maybank met Pemba Sherpa, who told him that there was oxygen for him on the crossing between Everest and Lhotse. He went down and brought two bottles up for his summit push. One of them did not work. On the summit push Maybank left C4 at 11 pm on 21 May. Straightforward climb even though he was very slow. He only used 1-1/2 litres of oxygen and he had been at C4 for two nights. When he reached the summit there were three people just coming down from the summit. He spent about 10 minutes on the summit (he has no summit photo as he only had his phone and it died of battery). He descended to C4, where he arrived at 3 pm. On 23 May down to C2. On 24 May down to BC. Oxygen: Taken and used from C3 to summit to C2 by Maybank. Sophie Lenaerts (Belgium) Steven Maginelle (Belgium) Camps: BC(22/04,5350m),C1(25/04,6100m),C2(26/04,6430m),C3(29/04,7250m), C4(15/05,7750m),xxx(16/05,8100m) Left: 19/05/17 Hired: 0 Term: Abandoned at 8100m due to exhaustion. On 15 May Lenaerts and Maginelle left C4 at 10 pm. Lenaerts turned back at about 7800m after half an hour. She was too tired to carry on. Maginelle continued to about 8000m and also turned back. He was too tired and too cold and descended to C4. He slept and went out again with the Seven Summit Sherpas and their clients (Atanas, Vibeke) at about 8:30 am. He reached the bottom of the couloir (8100m), but was too tired again and turned back at about 10 am. He went to C4, picked up Lenaerts and they descended to C3, where they spent the night. On 17 May, they descended to C2 and on 18 May to BC. The reason they felt so tired was partially that they did not have any Sherpa support and they carried about 20kg each. Oxygen: Not taken, not used. Frank Irnich (Germany) Camps: BC(20/04,5400m),C1(25/04,6100m),C2(26/04,6430m),C3(7340m), C4(16/05,7860m),xxx(17/05,8420m) Left: 22/05/17 Hired: 1 Term: Abandoned at 8420m due to sickness [pulmonary edema] and frostbite. Irnich left C4 at 00:10 to go for the summit. He abandoned his summit attempt at 5:16 am due to frostbite and exhaustion. There were not enough tents at C4 and so he had to share his tent with 4 people. He had been very sick before and had stayed in Dingboche for 10 days. Irnich's Sherpa Lakpa Tenji summited on 17 May at 7:30 am. Oxygen: Taken and used from C3 to summit to C2 by Irnich and Lakpa Tenji (to C3). Sherpa: Lakpa Tenji Al Hancock (Canada) Camps: BC(15/04,5350m),C1(27/04,6100m),C2(28/04,6500m),C3(18/05,7100m), C4(19/05,7900m),Smt(20/05) Left: 23/05/17 Hired: 1 Term: Success at 5:53 am. Summit team left C4 at 12:13 am. Straightforward climb. Two dead bodies – one is below the couloirs and the other one in the rock band, just before you get to the summit. About 20 minutes on the summit, then descended to C4, where they drank something and then descended to C2 at about 5 pm. On 21 May to BC. Oxygen: Taken and used from C3 to summit to C3 by hancock and Pasang. Azim Gheichisaz (Iran) Saeid Mirzaei (Iran) Camps: BC(20/04,5400m),C2(28/04,6500m),C3(10/05,7200m),C4(18/05,7800m),Smt(19/05) Left: 23/05/17 by helicopter from Pheriche Hired: 0 Term: Success at 2 pm. On summit push Azim and Saeid started at 5 am from C4. They wanted to start earlier, but going without oxygen, it was too cold before sunrise. They stayed on the summit for 15 minutes. They saw two dead bodies on the way, one 100m below the summit, the other 20m below the summit. Weather was windy, cold, no clouds. They descended back to C4 and got there at 5 pm. Next day they descended to C2. On 21 May they went down to BC. Oxygen: Not taken, not used by Gheichisaz [or Mirzaei]. Javier Camacho (Spain) Camps: BC(25/04,5300m),C1(27/04,6100m),C2(28/04,6400m),C3(07/05,7100m), C4(26/05,7800m),Smt(27/05) Left: 30/05/17 by helicopter Hired: 1 Term: Success at 9 am. Camacho and Pasang started at C4 at 11 pm. They stayed on the summit only 10 minutes. Very bad weather, windy, a lot of snow, bad views. They got back to C4 at noon. They continued to C2 and reached it at 9 pm. On descent Pasang Sherpa left him alone, Camacho had to descend on his own. Oxygen: Not taken, not used by Camacho Taken and used by Pasang Sherpa from C3 to summit and down to C3. Sherpa: Pasang Dawa (Makalu, 21) Debasish Biswas (India) Camps: BC(26/04,5350m),C1(28/04,6100m),C2(29/04,6400m),C3(14/05,7200m), C4(15/05,7750m),Smt(16/05) Left: 20/05/17 Hired: 1 Term: Success at 5 pm. Summit team of Biswas and Phurba left C4 at 7 am. They were moving with the rope fixers, hence the slow pace. They spent about 10 minutes on the summit and descended to C4, where they arrived at 8 pm. On 17 May to C2 and 19 May at BC. Oxygen: C3 to top to C3 by Biswas; from C4 to top to C4 by Phurba. Sherpa: Phurba [Ongdi] (Makalu) Waldemar Kowalewski (Poland) Camps: BC(5300m),C1(6000m),C2(6500m),C3(7100m),C4(19/05,7950m),Smt(20/05) Term: Success at 15:30 pm. Kowalewski's summit push began on 17 May from BC directly to C2, then to C3 on 18 May and to C4 on 19 May, struggling to reach C4 at 9 pm. Kowalewski set off for the summit at 7 am on 20 May, summiting at 3:30 pm. Then he descended to C2 arriving at 2 am on 21 May. Danny Gordin (Israel) Camps: BC(5350m),C1(6100m),C2(6500m),C3(7100m),xxx(19/05,8000m) Hired: 0 Term: Abandoned at 8000m due to exhaustion. On his summit push, Gordin could not find a suitable site for his C4, so elected to continue towards the summit, but turned back at 8000m due to exhaustion. Oxygen: Not used Marina Cortes (Portugal) Cortes only reached BC. She injured her knee and was heli-vaced back to Kathmandu. Agency: Dreamers Destination on Seven Summit Treks permit.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Seven Summit Treks
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460717
Year 2017
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) w face

Members

37 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Debasish Biswas M 1971 India Climber Kolkata (Calcutta), India Income tax department, government service of India Details Other expeditions
Phurba Ongdi Sherpa M 1980 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-3, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Javier Enrique Camacho Gimeno M 1971 Spain Climber Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Computer assistant Details Other expeditions
Pasang Dawa Sherpa M 1994 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-5, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Marina Vinhas Cortes F 1975 Portugal Climber Corroios, Portugal Astrophysicist Details Other expeditions
Azim Gheichisaz M 1981 Iran Climber Tabriz, Iran University student & alpinist Details Other expeditions
Saeid Mirzaei M 1980 Iran Climber Tabriz, Iran - Details Other expeditions
Adolphus Gordon (Al) Hancock M 1959 Canada Climber Edmonton, Alberta Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Pasang Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker - - Details Other expeditions
Frank Hanns Irnich M 1961 Germany Climber Geretsried, Bavaria, Germany Physiotherapist Details Other expeditions
Lakpa Dendi Sherpa M 1974 Nepal H-A Worker Gudel-9, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Sophie Lenaerts F 1975 Belgium Climber Bertem, Belgium Police officer Details Other expeditions
Steven (Stef) Maginelle M 1973 Belgium Climber Bertem, Belgium Manual therapist Details Other expeditions
Richard Thomas Maybank M 1977 UK Leader Phuket, Thailand Security consultant Details Other expeditions
Alessandra Kate (Allie) Pepper F 1975 Australia Climber Katoomba, NSW, Australia Outdoor activities instructor Details Other expeditions
Mariano Galvan M 1980 Argentina Climber Mendoza, Argentina Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Vibeke Andrea Sefland F 1973 Norway Climber Oslo, Norway Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Temba Bhote M 1982 Nepal H-A Worker Pawakhola-7, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Atanas Georgiev Skatov M 1978 Bulgaria Climber Sliven, Bulgaria Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Lakpa Tenji Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker - - Details Other expeditions
Mario Vielmo M 1964 Italy Climber Lonigo, Vicenza, Italy Alpine guide & furniture shop owner Details Other expeditions
Nicola Bonaiti M 1968 Italy Climber Teolo, Padua, Italy Screw factory manager Details Other expeditions
Sebastiano Valentini M 1981 Italy Climber Canazei, Trento, Italy Restaurant owner Details Other expeditions
Yu-Jiang Song M 1971 China Climber Beijing, China Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Kasang Dawa Sherpa M 1992 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Waldemar Dominik Kowalewski M 1973 Poland Climber Szcezecin, Poland Property developer Details Other expeditions
Hong-Bin Kim M 1964 S Korea Climber Gwangju (Kwangju), Jeollanam, S Korea Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Manoj Kumar Adari M 1987 India Climber Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India - Details Other expeditions
Sachin Sanbhajirao Kanjalkar M 1988 India Climber Nanded, Maharashtra, India - Details Other expeditions
Danny Gordin M 1974 Israel Climber Tel Aviv, Israel Project manager of high-tech industry Details Other expeditions
Jing Luo F 1975 China Climber Beijing, China Quality control programmer Details Other expeditions
Da-Xiao Zhang M 1975 China Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Li-Li Dong F 1967 China Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Jiang-Hong Li M 1965 China Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Dragan Celikovic M 1955 Serbia Climber Kragujevac, Serbia Physician Details Other expeditions
Qabazard M. R. H. Fouad M 1968 Kuwait Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Victor Hugo Rimac Trejo M 1986 Peru Climber Huaraz, Peru Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

6 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LHOT17107 - - http://mountaineerdebasish.com - - -
LHOT17107 - - http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/413572/Azim-Gheychisaz-becomes-the-first-Iranian-to-climb-the-world-s - - -
LHOT17107 - - http://www.8000unlimited.com - - -
LHOT17107 - - https://www.facebook.com/pepperclimbs/ - - -
LHOT17107 - - http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2017/05/22/0302000000AEN20170522006500315.html - - -
LHOT17107 - - https://www.facebook.com/DannyGordinMountaineer/ - - -