Nuptse | 2010 S Face

A USA expedition to Nuptse in 2010 via S Face, led by Cory Richards. Summit reached on 21st November 2010. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6982
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID NUPT10301
Peak ID NUPT
Year 2010
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Cory Richards
Sponsor American Nuptse South Face 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 Lukla->Namche->Phortse->Dingboche->Chhukung
Basecamp Date 2010-11-19
Summit Date 2010-11-21
Summit Time -
Summit Days 2
Total Days 5
Termination Date 2010-11-24
Termination Reason 10
Termination Notes Abandoned at 5600m due to face out of condition and members not getting on well together
High Point (m) 5600
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
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(19/11,5300m),xxx(21/11,5600m)
Route Notes BC at west side of Nuptse Glacier High point on the Glacier. Richards and Kennedy flew to Lukla on 12 November and Zimmerman on the 13th. They trekked via Phakding, Namche Bazaar, Phortse, Dingboche and Chhukung villages and up the Nuptse Glacier. They made their BC on 19 November at 5302m (according to the Schneider Khumbu map) on the west side of the glacier on grass which had grown over moraine. On the 21st they took all their gear to 5600m in the middle of the glacier, where the surface was rock covering ice. From there, they took pictures of the line on the South Face that they proposed to climb. They left their gear, returned to BC and studied the photos. Now they saw that the face was "completely out of condition:" it was all bare slab rock, shattered granite, and there was evidence of rock fall. On the 22nd they went back to 5600m to bring their gear to BC, and they talked together: Richards and Kennedy spoke with Zimmerman about how he irritated them. He apologized, but the "team dynamics" was a real problem, Richards and Kennedy felt. A big challenge, which the South Face of Nuptse is, needs everyone to feel comfortable with each other and not constantly being irritated by another of the members. On 23 November there was light snowfall, too light to cover the face. They decided to quit and left BC for Namche the next day, trekked to Lukla on the 25th, and flew to Kathmandu on the 26th. Richards wants to go back to the South Face a bit earlier in the season (in October-early November), when there should be more snow on the face without wind having blown it all away. He prefers a three-member team for this challenge.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Sherpa Shangri-La Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458837
Year 2010
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s face

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Hayden Kennedy M 1990 USA Climber Carbondale, Colorado Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Courtney Woodward (Cory) Richards M 1981 USA Leader Red Lodge, Montana Photograper and climber Details Other expeditions
Graham Zimmerman M 1986 USA Climber Bozeman, Montana Alpinist Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
NUPT10301 NZAJ Zimmerman, Graham Failure in the Khumbu - 63:77-79 (2011) -