Lhotse | 1996 W Face

A USA expedition to Lhotse in 1996 via W Face, led by Dan Mazur. Summit reached on 10th May 1996. 11 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 1750
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT96102
Peak ID LHOT
Year 1996
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Dan Mazur
Sponsor UK-US Lhotse-Pumori Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 34th,36th,37th
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries France, UK
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1996-05-03
Summit Date 1996-05-10
Summit Time 1400
Summit Days 7
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8516
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 11
Summit Members 4
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 Climbed Pumori (PUMO-961-02)
Campsites BC(03/05,5400m),C2(05/05,6400m),C3(08/05),C4(09/05,7800m),Smt(10,22-23/05)
Route Notes BC lower than many C1 at top of Icefall C2 in Western Cwm C3 on Lhotse Face C4A in uncomfortable site so moved camp. First to Pumori on Mazur's expedition and reached top on 28th April with Pearson. Then to Everest/Lhotse BC for Lhotse climb on Mazur's Lhotse expedition. Spent 2 days in C2 because lot of wind. [Pearson] with Steve Koch and Tim Horvath to C3 8 May. 9 May then went to 7800m and pitched C2 there and slept there. 10th Pearson and Horvath very cold so they did not go for top but Chantal did climbing alone (no Sherpas on this expedition), reached top at 2:00 pm or so, about 6 hours after leaving C4; very cold and very windy but Mauduit very warmly clothed; took photos at top (did not go to top of cornice, stopped 5 to 10m below it, but is sure she reached this height. Took 2 ice axes to be safe. Slept that night in C3 not needing to use headlamp because could come down fixed ropes, but was dark when reached C3 at 7:00 pm or so. Down to BC with fall into pool of water in icefall and lost way; arrived very tired maybe 8:00 pm. Used no oxygen at all. Ed Viesturs, Breashears Everest climbing leader 3 June 96: Viesturs saw Mauduit go into gully and return so soon as to cast doubt on her having gone to top; her sponsors would be pressing hard for her to succeed since her failure on Everest last year [and before]. BUT Pratt - 26 May 98 Viesturs account of Mauduit's not summitting Lhotse is "dead rubbish." She was climbing with 2 others and they saw her go into couloir at 10:00 am. Viesturs may have seen two go into cloud and one must have been Dave Sharman from Pratt's team who was also wearing yellow jacket. Chantal was back in C4 at 5:30 pm in cloudy weather and Pratt and Sharman were in C4 then. She described route in unusual snow conditions which Pratt found 10 days later and he took same amount of time as she. 10th May Chantal made summit push from C4A at 8:30 am (this confirmed by others in camp) and reported she summited [see Mauduit on Return form] and the times are within realm of possible and she went fast to C4A and wind tends to push one up couloir. 11th May Pratt and Sharman went for top but turned back at 8000m. 21st May Mazur and Shaw from C4B to 7900m at 1:00 pm arrived too late and tired. 22 May Pratt and Darsney from C4B to very top of cornice and took photos at 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm respectively and back to C4B. 23 May Mazur alone to just below cornice, about 5m below top at 4:30 pm; started from C3 at 2:00 am and next to C3 at 11:45 pm (not to C4B because tent had been removed) couloir really easy although old fixed ropes helpful.
Accidents Nothing serious
Achievement 1st French woman atop Lhotse
Agency Everest Parivar
Commercial Route -
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453020
Year 1996
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w face

Members

11 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Bernard Cabrol M 1958 France Climber Lyon, Rhone, France Postal employee Details Other expeditions
Scott C. Darsney M 1961 USA Climber Unalaska, Alaska Electrical engineer Details Other expeditions
Timothy Stephen Horvath M 1970 USA Climber Cherry Valley, New York Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Stephen A. Koch M 1968 USA Climber Jackson, Wyoming Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Chantal Mauduit F 1964 France Climber Les Houches, Haute-Savoie, France Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Daniel Lee (Dan) Mazur M 1960 USA Leader Somerville, Massachusetts Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Michael John (Mike) Pearson M 1956 UK Climber Oswestry, Shropshire, England Telecommunications manager Details Other expeditions
Jonathan C. Pratt M 1958 UK Joint Leader Shenfield, Essex, England Mining engineer Details Other expeditions
David M. (Dave) Sharman M 1966 UK Climber Aberdeen, Scotland Oil-well engineer Details Other expeditions
Christopher Shaw M 1962 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Computer programmer Details Other expeditions
Diane Taliaferro F 1961 USA Climber Missoula, Montana Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

7 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LHOT96102 AJ Pratt, Jonathan Lhotse 96: Controversy in the Shadow of Everest - 103:93-96 (1998) -
LHOT96102 HIGH - - - 167:68 (Oct 1996) -
LHOT96102 HIGH Pratt, Jonathan Lhotse 96 - 180:52-56 (Nov 1997) -
LHOT96102 AAJ Mazur, Daniel - - 71:298-299 (1997) -
LHOT96102 HIGH - - - 167:73 (Oct 1996) -
LHOT96102 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199729802/Asia-Nepal-Pumori-East-Face-and-Lhotse-First-Female-Ascent - - -
LHOT96102 - - https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1998_files/AJ%201998%2093-96%20Pratt%20Lhotse%2096.pdf - - -