Lhotse | 1997 W Face

A Russia expedition to Lhotse in 1997 via W Face, led by Vladimir Bachkirov. Summit reached on 24th May 1997. 12 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2242
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT97103
Peak ID LHOT
Year 1997
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Russia
Leaders Vladimir Bachkirov
Sponsor Russian Lhotse-Lhotse Shar Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 36th,37th
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1997-04-10
Summit Date 1997-05-24
Summit Time 1105
Summit Days 44
Total Days 47
Termination Date 1997-05-27
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8516
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 12
Summit Members 11
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent True
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical True
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Attempted Shanti Shikhar (SHAN-971-01)
Campsites BC(10/04,5350m),C1(14/04,6100m),C2(20/04,6400m),C3(26/04,7300m,C4(02/05,7700m),Smt(24,26/05)
Route Notes C2 in West Cwm C3 on West Face C4 on West Face. After C4 made on 2 May, back to BC because bad weather (very strong wind and very cold). Slept in C4 again 6 May; 7th May fixed route to 8000m. 8 May took more rope to end of fixed rope, wind and cold bad and down to BC same day. Another group in C4 10 May, tried go up on 11th nut too cold and down to BC. 12 May again in C4 and not above C4. 13th down to BC. Went up to camps often to check tents survival in winds and to fix route and carry gear for traverse. 15th down to Deboche to rest and wait for Bachkirov, who arrived there in good health 15th himself. Those from mountain stayed 1-2 days at Deboche before returning to BC. C4 next occupied 23 May by Cherny, Outechev and Zoev; 24th finished fixing rope and reached summit and back to C4. 26th they down to BC. 26th eight remaining climbing members reached summit without oxygen. Left C4 together at 5:00 am and arrived at summit from 11:05 am to 6:00 pm (last one at 6:00 pm was Bogomolov, who had returned to C4 after his feet got cold, warmed them in tent and put on more clothes). It was thought six of these men would traverse to middle summit, but weather was very cold visability was bad so they did not try. In descent Sokolov was first to return to C4 (at 1:30 pm); last coming down were Bogomolov, who got to C4 at 5:00 am on 27th and Bachkirov who died enroute. When these two were so late coming down, 2 members went up to them with tea and oxygen and met them at 8200m at midnight and helped them descend. Bachkirov got to 8000m on his feet; from 8000m to 7900m he was pulled down the snow slope; at 7900m he had no pulse or any other sign of life. His body was tied to fixed rope and at 10:00 am on 27th 2 summiters returned to it and buried it in snow inside a sleeping bag. Climb finished. Bachkirov died because he was exhausted; he was perhaps sick (he had spoken of slight fever on 26th and already in C3 he had been breathing hard and was restless during this night in tent he shared with Sokolov). He had been to Everest summit with Indonesia expedition on 26 April, gone down to KTM on 4 May and stayed in KTM till about 10 May, returned to Khumbu by air, met his teammates at Deboche on 15th and returned to BC 17th May. Is traverse from Lhotse to Lhotse Shar possible? Savkov: "it is very, very, very, difficult" - very sharp ridge and quite steep. Sokolov: "Maybe" possible. He would like to attempt traverse from Lhotse Shar to middle summit because that section of ridge is not so sharp, not so steep steep and descent not so difficult. Would not try to go beyond middle summit to main summit. Summiters on 23 May: Alan Hinkes - 2:55 pm Michael Jorgensen (Todd Team) - 3:00 pm Summiters on 24 May: Outechev - 3:05 pm Zoev - 3:10 pm Cherny - 3:25 pm Summiters on 26th May: Timofeev - 11:05 Sokolov - 11:20 Christine Boskoff - 12:00 Babanov - 12:30 Simone Moro and Anatoli Boukreev - 13:30 (independant pair) Koroteev - 14:00 Foigt - 14:10 Bachkirov - 14:30 Perchin - 14:40 Bogomolov - 18:00
Accidents 27 May Bachkirov collapsed (heart failure)
Achievement -
Agency Asian Trekking
Commercial Route -
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453400
Year 1997
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) w face

Members

12 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Valeri Babanov M 1964 Russia Climber Omsk, Russia Professional alpinist Details Other expeditions
Vladimir Bachkirov M 1952 Russia Leader Korolev (Kaliningrad), Russia Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Sergei Bogomolov M 1951 Russia Climber Saratov, Russia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Alexander Foigt M 1958 Russia Climber Novokuznetsk, Russia Building worker Details Other expeditions
Vladimir Koroteev M 1955 Russia Climber Moscow, Russia Car service manager Details Other expeditions
Juri Outechev M 1955 Russia Climber Mezdurechensk, Russia Structural engineer Details Other expeditions
Valeri Pershin M 1948 Russia Climber Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), Russia Alpine instructor Details Other expeditions
Vladimir Savkov M 1957 Russia Deputy Leader Novokuznetsk, Russia Airplane pilot Details Other expeditions
Gleb Sokolov M 1953 Russia Climber Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia Electrical engineer Details Other expeditions
Nikolai Dmitrievich Cherny M 1938 Russia Climber Moscow, Russia Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Sergei Timofeev M 1957 Russia Climber Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk), Russia Alpine instructor Details Other expeditions
Sergei Zoev M 1956 Russia Climber Kemerovo, Russia Rock-climbing instructor Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LHOT97103 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth - - 72:310-311 (1998) -
LHOT97103 HIGH - - - 179:26-27 (Oct 1997) -
LHOT97103 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199831002/Asia-Nepal-Lhotse-Intermediate-Attempt-and-Tragedy - - -