Lhotse Shar | 1986 SE Ridge-SE Face

A Switzerland expedition to Lhotse Shar in 1986 via SE Ridge-SE Face, led by Anton (Toni) Spirig. Summit reached on 21st October 1986. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 1600
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LSHR86302
Peak ID LSHR
Year 1986
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Ridge-SE Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Switzerland
Leaders Anton (Toni) Spirig
Sponsor -
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 Jiri->Chhukung Valley
Basecamp Date 1986-09-21
Summit Date 1986-10-21
Summit Time -
Summit Days 30
Total Days 32
Termination Date 1986-10-23
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8050m due to strong winds
High Point (m) 8050
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 3
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(21/09,5350m),ABC(24/09,5750m),C1(04/10,6750m),C2(20/10,7250m),xxx(21/10,8050m)
Route Notes BC at west side of Lhotse Shar Glacier High point at snow dome. Left tent at 610om on 25th Sept because of soft snow above and new snow falling and returned to BC same day. On 3rd Oct regaining 6100m and slept there. 4th to 6750m and slept there in same tent that had been at 6100m. 5th weather threatened more snowfall, so left tent at 6750m and returned to BC that day. On 14th Oct tried to reach 6750m but only got to 6700m and back to BC because heavy snowfall (waist-deep snow) and avalanche danger. Last summit bid left BC 18th to ABC, 19th Oct to 6750m where tent was there but poles broken (used ski poles). 20th to 7250m in "stormy wind" with wind-blown chunks of snow coming down. 21 Oct Fuster alone up to 8050m at 11 am and then wind trying to blow him off. Not technically difficult by alpine standards but were two 80-degree steps of 20m which were only places they fixed rope. Were on same route as 1970 spring Austrian team. Calendar of Events: 1 Sep : Arrival in KTM 9 Sep : Bus trip to Jiri 10 Sep : Approach march with 20 local porters in 8 days up to Namche Bazar and then with 7 yaks and 4 local porters in 4 days to BC 21 Sep : BC established at 5350m on the moraine between Lhotse Shar Glacier and Island Peak 22 Sep : Liaison officer, Krishna Napit, left BC because of high altitude sickness. He stayed the whole time after in Namche. 22-24 Sep : transport of equipment and food over the rocky spur to 5750m and established ABC (by Spirig/Steininger) 25 Sep : Reconnoitre of route up to 6100m. Left one tent and some equipment there, then installed a fixed rope over first step (Spirig/Steininger) 27 Sep : 1st attempt by Fuster/Spirig after one night in heavy snowfall up in ABC, we climbed down to BC again. Avalanche danger was too high to continue 2-5 Oct : 2nd attempt by Fuster/Spirig 1st day: Up to ABC, where we found our deposited tent damaged and food supplies stolen by ravens. 2nd day: reconnoitre of route up to 6500m and installing a fixed rope over the second step (20m). We spent night at 6100m 3rd day: We climbed up to 6750m and spent one night up there. 4th day: With signs of bad weather we decided to climb down to BC 13-14 Oct : 3rd attempt by Fuster/Spirig 1st day: Up to ABC 2nd day: Up to 6700m - a day of mostly strenous trail-breaking with weather getting bad again. So we decided to climb down to BC. 18-22 Oct : 4th attempt by Fuster/Spirig 1st day: Up to ABC (5750m) 2nd day: Up to C1 at 6750m. There we found the tent badly damaged by avalanche snow. Both poles were broken and the outer skin got some holes (of ravens and avlanche). We spent hours for clearing snow from the tent and repairing tent poles using tubes of the ski poles. 3rd day: Up to 7250m and established C2. Weather was clear, but very windy. We had to find a well protected spot for the damaged tent. So we found an overhanging Serac, which gave us enough protection from the destroying wind gales. 21 Oct : Because of my still present illness, I decided to stay at C2. Beda Fuster started at 4:30 am alone for the summit. At 11:00 am, he reached the snow dome, in about 8050m. But here, the wind gusts got too strong for continuing over the small ridge to the summit slopes. Avoiding frostbite and exposure, he had to turn back, only 350m below the summit. We stayed one more night in C2 and descended the next day to BC. We made the decision to abandon because of: - expecting storms with continue - my illness, which I caught on the approach - shortage in time 23 Oct : We left BC with 4 yaks and started the walk out to Namche Bazaar (3 days). From Namche we walked with 6 porters in one day to Lukla. Liaison officer got there a flight to KTM. There were no seats available in the planes the next days, so we had to walk out to Jiri. 3 Nov : Departure from KTM
Accidents None
Achievement -
Agency Asian Trekking
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2449566
Year 1986
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se ridge-se face

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Anton Karl (Toni) Spirig M 1953 Switzerland Leader Celerina, Graudunden, Switzerland Architect Details Other expeditions
Beda Fuster M 1956 Switzerland Climber Appenzell, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Switzerland Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Werner Steininger M 1949 Switzerland Climber Gais, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
LSHR86302 AAJ Spirig, Toni - - 61:232 (1987) -
LSHR86302 MM - - - 113:8 (Jan 1987) -
LSHR86302 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198723203/Asia-Nepal-Lhotse-Shar-Attempt - - -