Peak 41 | 2000 W Face-NW Ridge

A Finland expedition to Peak 41 in 2000 via W Face-NW Ridge, led by Petri Kaipiainen. Summit reached on 2nd May 2000. 4 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 4103
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PK4100101
Peak ID PK41
Year 2000
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face-NW Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Finland
Leaders Petri Kaipiainen
Sponsor Finnish-American expedition to Peak 41 in Spring 2000
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 USA
Approach Lukla->Tangnag->Mera La
Basecamp Date 2000-04-27
Summit Date 2000-05-02
Summit Time -
Summit Days 5
Total Days 7
Termination Date 2000-05-04
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 5280m due to dangerous icefall and progress too slow
High Point (m) 5280
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
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(27/04,4800m),C1(02/05,5280m),xxx(02/05,5280m)
Route Notes BC on moraine of Hinku Shar Glacier, 13 kms north of Mera La trek C1 below southern icefall High point at C1. Petra Kaipiainen (extract from www.kuvalehdet.fi/realmera): Starting from Lukla mountain airfield in Khumbu, Nepal, it took one week to reach Real Mera basecamp at the terminal moraines of Khare glacier. Our sirdar being nervous about our unprecedented climb and (base)camping away from other dozen or so (False) Mera expeditions told all other groups that we were glaciologists doing research. After carrying heavy loads of climbing gear and fixed ropes to the foot of the 500m high icefall the attempt at the mountain began. The east and north faces of Mera are impossibly steep and prone to avalanches, the south ridge resembles an edge of a dented knife. This leaves only the icefall and then the west face and the northwest ridge, our chosen main route. The big problem was the icefall that could not be bypassed. The broken mess of crevasses and seracs flowed around a huge nunatak in two parts and was over 500 meters high, almost the size of notorious Khumbu icefall, but actually steeper! Our expedition had lost a few days to heavy snowfall and sickness meaning a few unplanned rest days. For the summit attempt only five days were left. All, except the weather, looked good from the start. Intensive climbing and routefinding up the broken and dangerous glacier just ate up the hours. Only when we were forced to camp among the teetering seracs we realized how slow we actually were: 180 vertical meters in a day! After cutting two platforms for the tents in the ice we settled for the night. No appetite, just mugfulls of tea and thin soup to replenish lost fluids. At 5200-meter height the semi-vacuum dries the body fast. The night was spent listening the cracking and groaning of the icefall, ice avalanches falling down on both sides. Some mental calculations were made. The route through the icefall was proving to be too slow and too dangerous. A desicion was made to turn back and spend the rest of the time reconnoitering the east and north sides of the mountain. Unfortunatelly the weather turned nasty right after we left the mountain, constant low clouds and heavy snowfall made views nonexistant. Clyde and Fred were not able even to summit False Mera to take fresh photos. They did get across Amphu Labtsa, but did not see the mountain at all along the way. Mera remains to be unclimbed, but now it was well-documented and possible routes accurately positioned with Benefon Esc! GPS/GSM reciever and photographed as much as possible for the benefit of future climbers. You can also read the internet reports that we sent during the expedition. You are welcome to try our mountain, the only legally climbable virgin peak in Khumbu!
Accidents Soles respiratory infection
Achievement -
Agency None
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2455017
Year 2000
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w face-nw ridge

Members

4 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Petri Kaipiainen M 1954 Finland Leader Espoo, Helsinki, Finland - Details Other expeditions
Juha (Jussi) Saarinen M 1959 Finland Climber Kirkkonummi, Finland - Details Other expeditions
Clyde Soles M 1959 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Photojournalist Details Other expeditions
Frederick C. (Fred) Barth M 1952 USA Climber Boulder, Colorado Retired engineer Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
PK4100101 AAJ Kaipianinen, Petri - - 75:388-389 (2001) -
PK4100101 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200138802/Asia-Nepal-Western-Nepal-Janak-Himal-Real-Mera-Peak-Attempt - - -