Makalu | 2011 Makalu La-NW Ridge

A Switzerland expedition to Makalu in 2011 via Makalu La-NW Ridge, led by Joelle Brupbacher. Summit reached on 21st May 2011. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 7198
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MAKA11108
Peak ID MAKA
Year 2011
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 Makalu La-NW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Switzerland
Leaders Joelle Brupbacher
Sponsor International Makalu Expedition
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 2011-04-18
Summit Date 2011-05-21
Summit Time -
Summit Days 33
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 7
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8400m due to climbing too slowly
High Point (m) 8400
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 1
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 1
Total Hired 1
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
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(18/04,5700m),C1(25/04,6400m),C2(26/04,6600m),C3(19/05,7400m),xxx(21/05,8400m)
Route Notes C3 at Makalu La High point at NW Ridge. Brupbacher left C4 (7700m) for the summit on 21 May at 2:00 am with Oscar Fernandez a member of the small team led by Jorge Egocheaga, according to Peter Hamor and Horia Colibasanu. She was slower than Fernandez and did not reach the summit as he did, but got to 8400m. Her Sherpa, Pasang Gyalzen, claimed they summited, but Egocheaga and her camera said 8400m only. She had made the same progress reaching C4 as Colibasanu, Hamor and Joao Garcia, said Colibasanu and Hamor. She had not been well during her entire climb, according to Fabrizio Zangrilli. She had been coughing a lot. But when Egocheaga and Ramos Martin, his teammate, met her at 8200m in the French couloir at 2:30 pm of the 21st, and they urged her to turn around because it was late, she refused and continued her ascent. She and Pasang Gyalzen returned to C4 at about 10:30 pm, according to a statement by Martin and Egocheaga. Next morning at 5 o'clock Egocheaga said every one should descend as soon as possible and asked Brupbacher and her Sherpa how they were. They said were tired but well, but that afternoon Brupbacher was in C3 (7400m at the Makalu La), exhausted and unable to move. Efforts to find oxygen for her from various teams was fruitless for hours, and by the time some had been found, she had died. Brupbacher died in C3 at 11:30 pm on the 22nd from pulmonary edema, hypoxia and cardiac arrest. Her body was left in the tent at C3; Zangrilli went up, collapsed the tent over her, and packed snow over the tent. Sherpa: Pasang Gyalzen Sherpa, 30/7/81, Makalu village, Everest X2
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Cho Oyu Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458659
Year 2011
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) makalu la-nw ridge

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Joelle Catherine Brupbacher F 1978 Switzerland Leader Muri, Bern, Switzerland Informatics teacher Details Other expeditions
Pasang Gyalzen Sherpa M 1981 Nepal H-A Worker Walung, Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.