Peak 41 | 2008 W Face of S Smt

A UK expedition to Peak 41 in 2008 via W Face of S Smt, led by Nick Bullock. Summit reached on 7th November 2008. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6281
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PK4108301
Peak ID PK41
Year 2008
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face of S Smt
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Nick Bullock
Sponsor Khumbu Alpine Style 08
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 2008-10-04
Summit Date 2008-11-07
Summit Time -
Summit Days 34
Total Days 35
Termination Date 2008-11-08
Termination Reason 10
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6250m due to impassible rock buttress
High Point (m) 6250
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.1(04/10,5000m);BC.2(02/11,5200m),Biv1(05/11,5800m),Biv2(06/11,6100m),xxx(07/11,6250m)
Route Notes Khumbu Alpine Style 08 - 15 Oct & 15 Nov 2008 The two orginal members of the team, Bullock and Houseman (with no Sherpas), flew to Lukla on 30 September and trekked for five days east and southeast to BC via Zatrwala, Tuli Kharka, northeast to a small river named Hinku Drangka, north along the river to Tangnag, east to Dig Kharka, again north to the south end of the Hinku Glacier, and finally to the east side of the glacier and to the spot for BC at 5000m south of a sizable lake. They arrived at BC on 4 October. On the 5th, Bullock went east on a reconnaissance to find the approach to the East Summit of Peak 41 and back to BC. Next day Bullock and Houseman went closer to the mountain all the way to the base of the SW Face of the South Summit, decided the face gave a good approach to the top, and returned to BC. On the 7th, to acclimatize they went south to Mera Peak and up it to 5800m, they spent the night there. They returned to BC on the 8th, and on the 9th they went southwest to Tangnag village at 4300m for a rest. Back on the 11th to BC (or, rather the site of BC). There was absolutely nothing there. Tents, sleeping bags, clothes, boots, gear, food, everything had been stolen. It was the day before their planned assault on the mountain. They spent that night with an American expedition to Kangtega who were at Dig Kharka enroute to their BC. On the 12th they retreated to Tuli Kharka, on the 13th got to Lukla and were back in Kathmandu on the 14th. Bullock hoped his sponsor would could to the rescue with replacement supplies. He did. Noddings unofficially teamed up with Bullock on the 22nd. Houseman had left Nepal on the 16th or 17th; Bullock and Noddings flew to Lukla on the 24th. The two men made a new BC on the 26th at a tea house in Tangnag village, and the day after that went to the site of the old BC to pick up any items left by the robbers (not much was there) and returned to Tangnag. On the 29th they acclimatized by spending the night at 5800m on Mera Glacier and back to Tangnag on the 30th. They rested there for two days. On 2 November Bullock and Noddings moved east to Dig Kharka and north to 5200m on moraine east of the lake near which Bullock and Houseman had pitched the old BC. They left a cache of gear there, returned to Tangnag, were back there on the 4th and bivouacked there. Now the climb could begin. On 5 November Bullock went to the base of the West Face and bivouacked at 5800m on rock in the middle of the Khare Glacier. He started moving again on the 6th at 1:00 am, when the glacier was frozen and he was less likely to fall into a crevasse, and when rock fell and big falling seracs were less likely to come down. He reached 6100m at 1:25 pm on an arret due west of Peak 41's unclimbed South Summit, 6574 meters high. This was a good spot for a bivouac and he was tired, so he stayed there. On the 7th he left the bivouac at 7:00 am in "quite cold" weather and encountered mixed rock and sugary snow which wouldn't support any weight. This part of the climb was technically difficult: in parts of it the rock was 100-degree overhang. He kept going, but then he came to a snow runner to a 100-meters-high steep rock buttress at 6250m. He couldn't see any way up this. At its base the snow was fluted; he could see no weakness. He turned around at about 10:00 am. He returned to his bivouac, "crept" around the seracs and at 6:00 pm was back on the rock in the middle of the Khare Glacier. He arrived at Tangnag on the 8th of November.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Loben Expeditions
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458136
Year 2008
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w face of s smt

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Nicholas Ivor (Nick) Bullock M 1965 UK Leader Luton, Bedford, England Alpinist & writer Details Other expeditions
Andrew William (Andy) Houseman M 1981 UK Climber Harrogate, N Yorkshire, England Truck driver Details Other expeditions
David (Dave) Noddings M 1979 UK Climber Llanberis, Gwynedd, Wales Climbing hardware marketer Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
PK4108301 AAJ Bullock, Nick - - 83:343-344 (2009) -
PK4108301 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200934300/Asia-Nepal-Mahalangur-Himal-Khumbu-Section-Peak-41-South-Summit-6575m-West-Spur-Attempt - - -