Lunag Ri | 2013 SW Face

A USA expedition to Lunag Ri in 2013 via SW Face, led by David Gottlieb. Summit reached on 31st October 2013. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 8308
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LUNR13301
Peak ID LUNR
Year 2013
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders David Gottlieb
Sponsor Jobo Rinjang 2013
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 -
Basecamp Date 2013-10-12
Summit Date 2013-10-31
Summit Time -
Summit Days 19
Total Days 24
Termination Date 2013-11-05
Termination Reason 7
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6450m due to Gottlieb's frostbite
High Point (m) 6450
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
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(12/10,5100m),ABC(21/10,5500m),Biv1(31/10,6450m),xxx
Route Notes David Gottlieb and his teammate Chad Kellogg, and Chris Wright and his teammate Scott Adamson, attempted two peaks rising from the Lunag Glacier, which branches westward off the Nangpa Glacier south-southwest of the Nangpa La into Tibet; both peaks are on the border with Tibet. They actually have no names and are not on the government's list of permitted peaks. Jobo Rinjang is the nearest mountain that is on the list, and Gottlieb obtained a permit for this mountain; Wright was on the same permit, but neither had any intention of climbing it. Gottlieb and Chad Kellogg attempted a peak of 6907m, according to the Schneider Khumbu map, which they called Lunag I. They pitched their BC next to Wright's on 12 October; their ABC was also next to Wright's camp. BC was at 5100m on the northwest side of the Lunag Glacier up on grass next to the lateral moraine. Because of a lot of snow on the glacier, they made an ABC on the 21st at 5500m from which they launched their alpine-style climb. The two climbers began their attempt on Lunag I, west-northwest of Lunag West, from ABC on 23 October in the center of Lunag I's SW Face at 3:00 am in the dark. By 2:00 pm they had gotten to 5950m when they were being pelted by "extreme rockfall." They took shelter for protection under an overhanging rock formation and sat on their packs secured by ice screws from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. They moved up again, in the dark. But at 7:30 pm, the largest of all falling rocks came crashing down beside them; it did not hit Gottlieb, but a piece that broke off of it and hit Kellogg on his left shoulder hard enough that he couldn't raise that arm above his shoulder. So they rappelled back to their sheltering rock formation until the rockfall eased off. Then they descended to ABC at 3:30 am on the 24th. Kellogg's arm recovered, and on the 31st at 9:00 pm they tried again, this time climbing up a ramp at the left side of the face to the SW Ridge at 6450m. Here at 4:30 am they found a spot where they could make a ledge for their bivy tent in two-and-half hour's hard work. This turned out to be their high point. Here Gottlieb discovered that five of his fingers were white, showing they had become frostbitten despite (or because of) warm gloves, from sweat. Now they had to descend. They waited again for darkness to minimize the rockfall and started down at 8:00 pm. They spent the whole night down-climbing and rappelling in the dark. But still occasionally a rock fell from above. Gottlieb was hit by one and was knocked off the face. He was held by an anchor, but in his short fall, he hit Kellogg in turn and knocked him off the face. Again an anchor prevented a serious fall. They were not injured and continued their descent to ABC, where they arrived at 4:00 am and slept until noon. It was now extremely hot inside their tent, so they packed up and made the six-kilometer trek to BC, which they reached at 7:00 pm.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Climb High Himalaya
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2459465
Year 2013
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw face

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
David Alfred Gottlieb M 1967 USA Leader Carlton, Washington Unemployed park ranger Details Other expeditions
Chad Lewis Kellogg M 1971 USA Climber West Brier, Washington General contractor Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.