Pethangtse | 2009 S Face-SW Ridge

A Canada expedition to Pethangtse in 2009 via S Face-SW Ridge, led by David Graham. Summit reached on 30th October 2009. 5 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6687
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PETH09301
Peak ID PETH
Year 2009
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Face-SW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Canada
Leaders David Graham
Sponsor High Hope Pethangtse
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 6th
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2009-10-24
Summit Date 2009-10-30
Summit Time 1100
Summit Days 6
Total Days 8
Termination Date 2009-11-01
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6739
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 450
Total Members 3
Summit Members 3
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 2
Summit Hired 2
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 True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(24/10,5300m),C1(28/10,5800m),Smt(30/10)
Route Notes The team approached the mountain by trekking up the Arun River valley to Runbaun, then north to Tashigaon, Shipton Pass, Hillary BC and the Barun Glacier. They established BC on 24 October at 5300m on the height above the junction of the Barun Glacier and the glacier coming down from the Makalu La, near or at the lower site of Makalu base camps. On the 26th they spent the day moving along the right (east) side of the Barun Glacier and made a temporary camp at 5660m near a very small lake. While the members stayed in the camp, their two Sherpas, Dawa Gyalzen and Pema Tshering, climbed to point 6403m (on HMG Mount Makalu map), which was northeast of the lake, to see which way they should be going. They could see they should move north on the left side of the glacier. The next day they changed course and reached 5732m, where, David Graham believed, the British 2008 Pethangtse team had placed their BC, although the British gave a different altitude for their camp. The Canadians camped here for the night, on a glacial flat, an area of moraine west of point 5775m. On the 28th, they placed their high camp at 5880m on glacial ice north of and above point 5792m. They made their bid for the summit on 30 October. The three members and two Sherpas left high camp at 2:00 am. As they moved up the South Face, they fixed rope from 6200m to 6600m and still needed more rope, so the the Sherpas pulled out the lower ropes and re-fixed them; they actually could have used a total of 1000m of rope, but they had only 400m of it, plus 100m of climbing rope, which they pressed into use here. They were climbing a snow face which varied in steepness from 35 to 60 degrees; the snow was soft but sufficiently solid. At 6600m they joined the SW Ridge. It was a rounded ridge also covered by snow, but to get onto it they had to surmount the problem of a huge crevasse all across the face; its right end led to a very steep ice face, while its left end was only 30m wide. Pema Tshering free-climbed the sides of the crevasse and the team crossed there. The summit was reached at about 11:00 am by all five climbers and stayed there for half an hour despite strong wind. Towards the top of the ridge, they had to contend with gusts of wind of up to 100 km/hr. which knocked them to their knees; they hunkered down, waited for the wind to drop and got back onto their feet. They were back in High Camp after dark at 7:30 pm, having moved fixed ropes and re-fixed them as they descended. On the 31st they returned to BC and next day left BC to return to Kathmandu via the East Col and West Col below Baruntse, then across the Amphu Laptsa on 10 November. Sherpas: Dawa/Da Gyalzen, 22/8/68 (7/5/2025), Tiue (near Sanam), Gudel-4, Solu Pema Tshering, 3/10/72 (17/6/2029), Tiue, Gudel-4, Solu
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Adventure Thamserku
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458494
Year 2009
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s face-sw ridge

Members

5 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
David Lee Graham M 1949 Canada Leader Kelowna, British Columbia City government department head Details Other expeditions
Stephen Harley Graham M 1987 Canada Climber Kelowna, British Columbia Student Details Other expeditions
Colin Andrew Young McLean M 1987 Canada Climber Calgary, Alberta Student Details Other expeditions
Da Gelje Sherpa M 1969 Nepal H-A Worker Gudel-4, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pema Tshering (Pema Chhiri) Sherpa M 1972 Nepal H-A Worker Tiu, Sanam, Gudel-4, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
PETH09301 AAJ Graham, David - - 84:320-321 (2010) -
PETH09301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12201032000/Asia-Nepal-Mahalangur-Himal-Makalu-Section-Pethangtse-6739m-South-Face-to-Southwest-Ridge - - -