Makalu | 2010 SE Ridge (to 7100m)

A USA expedition to Makalu in 2010 via SE Ridge (to 7100m), led by Marty Schmidt. Summit reached on 24th May 2010. 5 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6809
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MAKA10110
Peak ID MAKA
Year 2010
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Ridge (to 7100m)
Route 2 Makalu La-NW Ridge
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Marty Schmidt
Sponsor Shared Summits Makalu
Success 1 False
Success 2 True
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 120
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries New Zealand
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2010-04-05
Summit Date 2010-05-24
Summit Time 1500
Summit Days 49
Total Days 52
Termination Date 2010-05-27
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8485
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 5
Summit Members 1
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(05/04,4100m),ABC(08/04,5400m),C1(16/04,6700m),xxx(16/04,7100m);2nd BC(14/05,5700m),series of Bivs,Smt(24/05)
Route Notes BC at 100m above Hillary BC ABC from SE Ridge route C1 at South Col 2nd BC at normal BC site for NW Ridge route. The goal of the two-member team of Marty Schmidt and Chris Warner was to forge a new route up the South Face with few fixed camps and perhaps a traverse down the NW Ridge's normal route. They placed their BC 100 meters above the Hillary BC on 5 April; three days later they established ABC at 5400m on the glacier leading up in a northwesterly direction to the South Col; and on 12 April they camped at 6200m on the glacier while making the route on the face. On the 16th they reached 6600m on the glacier. But now they found that too many rocks were coming down the face, which was mostly bare rock with nothing to hold them in place. Schmidt and Warner made the wrenching decision to abandon the face and go to the col to climb the SE Ridge in its entirety. That day they made C1 at the col at 6700m. They started fixing rope to C2 at 7400m but got no higher than 7100m on the SE Ridge because of winds up to 80-100 mph. They retreated to BC, then left BC to return to the col on 2 May to take advantage of a weather window forecast for the 2nd to the 5th. They were back at the col on the 3rd and climbed to the top of the fixed lines at 7100m on the SE Ridge aiming to summit no later than the 5th. The wind now picked up strength, it was cloudy and cold. They went back to C1. Here Warner was stricken with a major ailment: his legs became swollen, which could be symptoms of life-threatening pulmonary embolisms. He had to get off the mountain, and the quickest way down from where they were was via the route a British team led by Colin Scott had established that did not go all the way to the col but went straight down to the bottom of the face. On the 6th, with help from British climbers, they descended this line and in nine hours of stormy weather they got back to the Hillary BC, slept in a British tent. Warner was evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu on the 7th and left Nepal on 10 May. Now Schmidt was alone. He did not want to climb their route without Warner, so from 11 to 14 May he cleared their camps and on the 16th trekked around to the BC at 5700m used by teams on the normal route, where he slept that night. From here he climbed alpine style. He went up to the Makalu La at 7400m on the 17th to reconnoitre the route, to get a feel of it and to make sure it was safe, and descended to sleep in a bivvy a 6700m, the normal site for C2. He was back in the normal BC on the 18th. On 20 May he returned to 6700m, this time climbing with Brad Johnson, a member of an American expedition led by Chris Klinke. The next day, they got to the Makalu La at 7400m and on 22 May they left the La at 3:30 am, climbed up and out on the North Face in Tibet and reached 8150m at 1:00 pm. Here they decided it was getting too late to push on to the summit without ending up in an unprepared bivouac. They turned back and in five hours were again at the Makalu La. On the 23rd Schmidt and Johnson parted company; Johnson went down while Schmidt went up. Schmidt climbed alone up to a bivouac site at 7700m. At 1:00 am on 24 may he went for the top despite the cold and falling snow. He began to encounter descending Ukrainians (under Mstislav Gorbenko's leadership from below) who had come up a different route and didn't know the way down the normal route. Schmidt gave the first one water and showed him the fixed lines to Marty's tent. When he got to 8200m at 5:00 am, Marty found another one, sitting down from exhaustion; Marty got him on his feet, short-roped him to 7900m and showed him the way down from there. At 7:00 am Marty moved upwards again and succeeded in getting to the summit at 3:00 pm in clear weather on the final ridge but not below. At 6:00 pm he was back at his bivy at 7700m, where he found one of the Ukranians in his tent. Marty nursed him through the night and the next morning brought him down to the Makalu La, where his teammates took charge of him. Marty was back in his BC at 5700m for the normal route on the 25th and at BC near the Hillary BC site on the 26th.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Guides
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458296
Year 2010
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se ridge (to 7100m)

Members

5 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Martin Walter (Marty) Schmidt M 1960 New Zealand Leader Christchurch, New Zealand Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Christopher Bernard (Chris) Warner M 1964 USA Climber Annapolis, Maryland Alpine guide & owner of business operating climbing gyms Details Other expeditions
Giannina Cantale F 1966 New Zealand Member Christchurch, New Zealand Ayurveda student Details Other expeditions
Ashley Gateless F 1985 USA Member Rockville, Maryland Media coordinator Details Other expeditions
Theo Linder M 1989 USA Member Columbia, Maryland Film student Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
MAKA10110 NZAJ 4 x 8000 x 1 Schmidt, Marty - 63:72-76 (2011) -