Pangbuk Ri | 2011 S Face (up), SW Face (down)

A USA expedition to Pangbuk Ri in 2011 via S Face (up), SW Face (down), led by David Gottlieb. Summit reached on 11th November 2011. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 7379
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PANG11301
Peak ID PANG
Year 2011
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Face (up), SW Face (down)
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders David Gottlieb
Sponsor Pangbuk Ri 2011
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 1st
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2011-10-28
Summit Date 2011-11-11
Summit Time 0900
Summit Days 14
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6625
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
Summit Members 2
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(28/10,5000m),ABC1(05/11,5300m),ABC2(06/11,5700m),Smt(11/11)
Route Notes BC on lateral moraine of Pangbuk Glacier. The small team of only two climbers made the first ascent of 6725 meters high Pangbuk Ri in the Rolwaling on 11 November in a BC-to-BC round trip of just one week. They left behind on the mountain four pitons, two stoppers and one ice screw -- no fixed ropes for the simple reason they didn't fix any. Their approach march took much longer. They left Kathmandu on 11 October by road to Singati on the Bhote Koshi River. Following the river north, they arrived at Simigaon, just east of the Bhote Koshi, on the 12th. They continued east along the Rolwaling Chhu (river) to Beding, where they arrived on the 14th and stayed three nights. On the 17th they were in Na, where they again stayed three nights. However, on the 19th they did a quick ascent of Yalung Ri, 5350m (18,471 ft) high. The round trip from Na, southwest along the Yalung Glacier and up the mountain's NE Ridge, then back to Na took them only three hours. On 20 October the two Americans moved southeast to the southern side of Trakarding, the southeastern extension of Tsho Rolpa's lake bed, to its southeast end at 5000m and then northeast across the Trashi Labtsa into Khumbu to Thengpo village, west of Thami Og, on 23 November and finally on the 24th to Namche Bazar. They stayed in Namche two nights and did some shopping. On the 26th back to Thami Og, then north and west to Pangbuk Glacier and at last arrived at their BC site on 28 October on the lateral moraine of the glacier at 5000m. The following three days were spent exploring the south and west aspects of Pangbuk Ri. Each man independently concluded that the South Face presented the best route. So on the 2nd of November they found the way to a good ABC site for the face at 5300m; they moved to it on the 5th. But the site was exposed to frequent rockfall, and the next day they moved the camp up to 5700m below a large overhanging rock formation which gave them good protection from the rocks that started coming down the face at about 6:00 am every day. They wore hard hats; the top of Gottlieb's got smashed in by a direct hit; he wasn't hurt but his hat certainly was. They spent a few days at ABC waiting for the full moon and watching the rock fall. Finally at 4:00 am on 10 November they started up the mountain's South Face, and they kept moving up. At 2:30 pm they reached the summit (east) ridge. They now lowered themselves five or six feet (1.5-1.8m) into a crevassse for protection from the wind and turned on their small stove to brew warm drinks, moving their limbs constantly to keep their circulation flowing. At 6:30 am of the 11th, they left their crevasse and climbed back to the ridge. They walked along the glacier ridge to the summit, a large flat area, where they arrived at 9:00 am. They left the top an hour later. They realized that it would not be easy to rappel down their ascent route, so they descended by a different route down the SW Face. In 20 rappels in 14 hours they reached the bottom of this face at 5400m at midnight of the 11/12 Nov. Some of the rappels were "tricky" said Gottlieb; "We had to be super-careful." They then trekked 15 km to their BC, moving very slowly because they were extremely tired, not having slept for such a long time. They arrived at BC at 6:00 am on 12 November for the third sunrise of the their climb. Both members had just experienced the most technical climbing on snow and ice of their careers. And the 50 hours they had spent moving without interruption, including inside the crevasse, was the longest such period they had endured. They had excellent weather through out their climbing period. They left BC on 18 November to return to Kathmandu by a different route from their approach march: they trekked to Jiri and came by motor vehicle the rest of the way to the city on the 24th.
Accidents -
Achievement 1st ascent
Agency Climb High Himalaya
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2459238
Year 2011
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s face (up), sw face (down)

Members

2 recorded members.

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

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
PANG11301 AAJ Gottlieb, David - - 86:315-317 (2012) -
PANG11301 - - http://www.chadkellogg.com/dispatches.html - - -
PANG11301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12201231500/Pangbuk-Ri-6716m-Schneider-Map-6625m-HMG-Finn-Southeast-Face-Ghost-Ride-the-Whip - - -