Makalu | 1981 W Pillar (to 7000m)

A France expedition to Makalu in 1981 via W Pillar (to 7000m), led by Ivan Ghirardini. Summit reached on 12th January 1982. 1 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 1774
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MAKA81402
Peak ID MAKA
Year 1981
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Pillar (to 7000m)
Route 2 NW side (to 6900m+)
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality France
Leaders Ivan Ghirardini
Sponsor French Makalu Winter 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 1981-12-31
Summit Date 1982-01-12
Summit Time -
Summit Days 12
Total Days 31
Termination Date 1982-01-31
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7000m due to strong wind
High Point (m) 7000
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 1
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(31/12,4850m),C1(03/01,5300m),C2(08/01,5900m),C3(09/01,6700m),xxx(12/01,7000m)
Route Notes Porters stopped at Shershon because arrived there late in day and they had little food. BC at Shershon on 31 Dec at 4850m. 1 day rest and arranged things then started to West Pillar alpine-style. 2 Jan reached 5200m up and down, route difficult to see. 3 Jan at C1 5300-5400m then snowfall, 1 day rest and returned to BC 5 Jan. 6 Jan rest. 7 Jan start again with another load; arrived C2 same day found C1 tent broken by wind but improvised camp. 8 Jan to C2 (5900m) and a little beyond to snow limit; here conditions very good wind stopped a little; that night in C2. 9 Jan to C3 (really bivouac) at 6700m - no snow on ridge, conditions very good, fixed rope not needed. 10 Jan tried to go to C4 but after 300m wind very strong so down to C3. 11 Jan again big, big wind and down to C1. 12 Jan to BC. See expedition success not possible on West Pillar, wind continous; maybe chance of success via Makalu La going in 1 day to top. Sent message to Ministry requesting permit for normal route; wandered around area, practicing. 24 Jan porters arrived BC without reply, decided try anyway; snowing in late Jan. 26 Jan started up, went beyond original C1, snowing and very windy slept at 5400m. 27 Jan climbed Chago Glacier in 10 cm snow to 6200m. 28 Jan to nearby 7000m beyond top of Glacier towards Makalu La. 28 Jan waited for weather to improve. 30 Jan still bad weather: big wind which was the problem, so went down because now not possible to be on top and down by end of season on 31st. At 9:00 pm was in BC at Shershon. 31 Jan left BC. Highest point reached he think was 7000m on Pillar No accident, no frostbites, no altitude problem. On Pillar had 2 sleeping bags and still boots inside bag was frozen. Next winter want to come again to Nepal 8000m; prefer no ridge but face, where can go from 7000m to top in one day because of short period of wind. Start final climb in night. Use Sherpas, to carry loads to find camp at 7000m or so. "Big problem in winter is the wind"; snow and rock conditions are good, clear weather many days, few avalanches but very short periods of no winds; wind sounds like Boeing. In pillar attempt wind atleast 150 km/hr and blowing rope horizontal and cannot rappel down to 7000m protected by others around not so difficult, above that jet wind is fierce and seldom lets up. Climbed entirely alone except are three Sherpas carried with him to Japanese BC. Solo and Winter Ascent on Makalu 8481m West Pillar and Normal route Makalu West Pillar: it is one of the most beautiful and difficult route of the Himalaya. Ivan Ghirardini: he is one of the most experimented solo climbers in the world; born in Italy in 1953, he was French and living in Chamonix. He have successful climb: Grandes Jorasses north face, Matterhorn north face, Eiger north face in solo and in the same winter, Mitre peak and Aconcagua south face in solo, 17 first solo ascent, II America, Alps, Africa, Himalaya, etc... He was member of the French national expedition on K2, and bivouacked alone at 8350m without oxygen. Approach march: The expedition reached KTM the 6th Dec only because 4 other members have preferred to cancel their participation because of the bad rapport of the Italian expedition in 1980/81. It take 15 days in KTM to finish all the formality and to have a flight to Tumlingtar. The expedition reached Navagaon in 3 days and change all the porters for Sherpas and reached the BC the 31st Dec. With only 7 porters and one member, it was the smallest expedition who have never gone to on 8000m. Events of the Ascent: The 2nd January, Ivan Ghirardini started its climbing after a snow fall and bad weather, he return to the base camp the 4th. The 6th January he returned to Camp 1 on the Chago Glacier and he discovered that his small tent was broken by a strong wind. He decided to continue using it as a sleeping bag. The 7th January, he reached 5900m up to the French Camp 2. Then he successfully climb Jumeau I and Jumeau II and bivouacked alone above the French Camp 3 near 6700m or more, at the beginning of the rock part to C4. The ropes for rapelling are going in horizontal direction but not down. He bivouacked at 6500m to Camp 2; he returned to Camp 1 on Chago with big problem because of the wind in the C2 to the base camp. He understands that his solo ascent was quite impossible because of the wind. After discussion with liaison officer, he decided to send back the mail runner and cook for ask permission for normal route which did not require rapelling for return. The weather was very bad and snowed all the time but Ivan Ghirardini returned on Chago the 26 and biv alone above the French camp 1 near 5450m. The 27th he reached 6500m on Chago and the 28th he bivouacked near a big crevasse near or above 7000m. The weather was staying very bad. Ivan Ghirardini was going with no visibility, but he find the rest of the British expedition on Dec and he think that the wind will be very less by bad weather and with snow, but he didn't reach Makalu La. In high altitude, also by weather the wind was continuous. Letter by Tashi Jangbu Sherpa, BC - 2 Jan 1982 The expedition established base camp at the height of 4850m on 31st Dec 1981. It is the smallest expedition ever been in 8000m peak using only 7 porters up to BC. The solo climb is to be undertaken by Ivan Ghirardini and he started on 2nd of Jan 1982 from base camp. In any case he has to accomplish the accent by 31st Jan, the extreme limit of date for winter accent according to Nepal Mountaineering regulation. In the case of success, his ascent will be the most difficult climb ever made in the whole history of alpinism, because he accumulates the maximum of difficulties: 8481m, extreme winter, solo without any artificial oxygen and without any assistance and porter from base camp. Attempt in alpine style with only 120m ropes, 12 pitons, and 15 days rations. All together 25 kgs of equipment.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2447953
Year 1981
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w pillar (to 7000m)

Members

1 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Ivan Ghirardini M 1953 France Leader Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
MAKA81402 AAJ - - - 57:219 (1983) -
MAKA81402 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198321902/Asia-Nepal-Makalu-Solo-Winter-Attempt - - -