Lhotse | 1989 S Face

A France expedition to Lhotse in 1989 via S Face, led by Christophe Profit. Summit reached on 29th December 1989. 4 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 403
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT89402
Peak ID LHOT
Year 1989
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality France
Leaders Christophe Profit
Sponsor Lhotse S Face en Duo
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 Spain, Netherlands
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1989-12-05
Summit Date 1989-12-29
Summit Time -
Summit Days 24
Total Days 48
Termination Date 1990-01-22
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7300m due to continuous strong wind
High Point (m) 7300
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
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 False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(05/12,4700m),xxx(29/12,20/01,7300m)
Route Notes BC at Chhukhung C1 no fixed camps C3 at routes and bivouacs High point at South Face. 5 times on face: 1st with Lucas, other times alone: 1. 17th Dec 6:00 pm from BC climbed all night and all day 18th via new route and reached biv at 6750m at 6:00 pm 18th, stayed 2 nights and left some supplies. Down via Polish route (and ropes) to bottom of face in 4 hrs and to BC. Down because clouds and snow coming. Lucas went home. 2. 28th Dec 1 pm from BC, climbed all night up Polish route; reached Polish C4 (7300m) for 1st biv, where arrived 3:30 pm 29th. Big problem with wind, which almost blew tent down face at 3:00 am and had to make snowhole. 30th all day in snowhole because of wind. 31st down to BC starting 4:00 pm when wind abated and reached BC 2:00 am on 1st Jan. 3. 12 Jan from BC 8:30 pm, bottom of face 1:15 pm 13th climbed all night and stopped 7:00 am 13th 5560m because very strong wind. Back to BC same day - Polish route. 4. 19th Jan from BC 10:00 pm, bottom of face 1:30 pm 20th and up very quickly: 7300m at 2:30 pm 20th on Polish route. Slept in snowhole again because of wind. 21st and 22nd night also slept there. 23rd down at 10:00 am, bottom of face 3:00 pm 23rd was in very good condition but impossible to climb in very strong wind. After Lucas went home, Profit climbed only Polish route for maximum security "which is very importent for me." 1st time alone on face was not to reach summit but to carry up supplies. 2nd and 3rd times alone on face were attempts to reach summit. No falling stones or ice on Polish route, but some to its right. "Face is very big - 3500 meters. Takes long time to fix rope if you are a big expedition and get very tired." Exposed to wind and in spring and autumn a lot of snow. Can be climbed if no wind or no snow; necessary to spend 3 more days above 7300m if an expedition, Profit would have taken in ascent 4 days total: 1st to 7300m 2nd to 7600m 3rd to 8000m 4th to top 5th to 7300m 6th to BC Would like to return to Face. In BC late Nov and start climb early Dec - very safe period, no stone, ice good. Would return to Profit-Lucas new route. This time spent days looking at face, deciding route. Profit and Lucas attempted the great South Face by a previously untried line to the left of Polish autumn 1989 route, and in 24 hours of continuous climbing gained 2600 vertical meters to bivouac at 6750m. But then they traversed to Poles' fixed ropes and descended when a snowstorm approached. Lucas went home while Profit stayed and went up the face alone three times via the Polish route, for it was much safer for a soloist to use the fixed ropes. His plan was to climb the face in four days bivouacing at 7300m, 7600m and 8000m in the ascent, fourth 7800m. He had to spend two to three hours to overcome difficult section where he kept slipping one or two meters ("this was most difficult problem I had ever encountered and I was afraid I couldn't solve it"). He managed to reach the NE Ridge at 7800m at 3:00 pm on the 10th, when it started to snow. He was exhausted and with snow falling; he decided against pushing on up to the summit and instead descended. Climb was now over.
Accidents None
Achievement -
Agency Kunga
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450689
Year 1989
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s face

Members

4 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Barbara Broers F 1960 Netherlands Exp Doctor Fillinges, Haute-Savoie, France Physician Details Other expeditions
Enric Lucas Llop M 1961 Spain Climber La Pobla de Segur, Lerida, Spain Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Vincent Mercie M 1945 France Climber St. Martin d'Herse, Isere, France Photographer, film-maker & alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Christophe Profit M 1961 France Leader Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LHOT89402 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth - - 64:227-228 (1990) -
LHOT89402 MM - - - 132:10 (Mar 1990) -
LHOT89402 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199022703/Asia-Nepal-Lhotse-South-Face-Solo-Winter-Attempts - - -