Pumori | 2008 S Ridge

A USA expedition to Pumori in 2008 via S Ridge, led by Fabrigio Zangrilli. Summit reached on 27th October 2008. 7 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6282
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PUMO08303
Peak ID PUMO
Year 2008
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Fabrigio Zangrilli
Sponsor Four Winds Pumori 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 France
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2008-10-18
Summit Date 2008-10-27
Summit Time -
Summit Days 9
Total Days 19
Termination Date 2008-11-06
Termination Reason 7
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6490m due to members illness and Favre's accident
High Point (m) 6490
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 700
Total Members 7
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical True
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(18/10,5150m),ABC(25/10,5300m),C1(26/10,6100m),xxx(27/10,6490m)
Route Notes BC near lake just east of Kalapattar ABC on east face of South Ridge C1 in col on South Ridge High point at 6490m just below C2 site. Zangrilli joined Timothy Rippel's Sherpas fixing rope to C2 on 27 October and then went down to BC. Zangrilli got to 6490m that day (just below the site for C2) which turned out to be his team's highest point. On 1 November, Favre, Miller and Zangrilli climbed up to C1. On the next morning, Favre was tired because she had been coughing all night, and she wanted to return to BC to rest. So at 8:30 am on the 2nd Favre and Zangrilli left C1 (Miller left later). Favre and Zangrilli had descended to 5900m at 9:15 am when Favre was hit by a huge block of ice that had suddenly fallen from mushrooms on the col 100m above them; it was a one-meter cube, and it hit her squarely in the center of her chest (it had missed Miller by ten meters and Zangrilli by just half-meter). It flipped Favre over so she was left hanging from the fixed rope upside down; she made no movement, said nothing, was apparently unconscious. It had broken numerous bones in her body including all of her ribs and driven some ribs into her lung. Zangrilli had a sling, and with this he tied her 5'10" body weighing 60 kg (132 pounds) onto his harness and moved as swiftly as he could to ABC at 5300m, where they arrived just after 12:30 in the afternoon. He had told his cook Lhakpa from Khumjung to come up from BC to ABC, and at 1:00 pm they left ABC, taking turns to carry her piggyback down the difficult terrain of 30-degree sloping scree. Zangrilli had sent Miller on ahead to BC to get out the medical kit, asks porters who had just arrived at BC (with the Adventure Peaks expedition led by Dave Kenyon) to come part way up to ABC, and to use their satellite phone to tell their Kathmandu trekking agent to send a rescue helicopter to Gorak Shep. When Zangrilli, Favre and Lhakpa arrived at BC at 4:00 pm, Favre was semi-conscious, screaming in pain, pleading to be left alone to die. Another member, Ohlson, who gone down to Pheriche to recover from a chest infection which had afflicted three other members, had returned to BC this afternoon. He had an advance wilderness first aid certificate so was very helpful tending to Favre, and Dave Kenyon had a stretcher. At 5:00 pm Zangrilli ran from BC to Gorak Shep in 22 minutes to hire porters to carry the stretcher-borne Favre from BC to Gorak Shep. They got her there at 6:40 pm. At Gorak Shep Zangrilli found two Swiss doctors and some oxygen. Favre was now ballooning with blood distending her abdomen. The doctors and her teammates stayed up all night caring for her. The helicopter arrived at 9:15 am on the 3rd and took her to Kathmandu airport, where French embassy personnel including their doctor met her and took charge of her. The doctors at B & B Hospital, which was co-founded by an excellent orthopedic surgeon, estimated on her arrival that she had a 50-50 chance of survival. Zangrilli returned to BC on the 3rd, then quickly left again and got to Pheriche that evening. On the 4th he left at 9:00 am and was at Lukla at 5:00 pm. There were no flights to Kathmandu on the 5th, but on the 6th he got a flight -- and had a difficult time finding a hotel room. He made daily visits to Favre's hospital room; on the 9th had no idea when he would be free to go home. But he took satisfaction in the fact that he had kept her alive long enough to get her to Kathmandu. Three of the team's seven members had left the expedition on 28 October because of chest infections: Chen, Fioretti and Frisk. Ohlson had left BC on the 25th to recuperate from his ailment, and he fortunately returned to BC on the afternoon of 2 November.
Accidents Favre's accident; members' chest infections
Achievement -
Agency Karnali Excursions
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2458170
Year 2008
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) s ridge

Members

7 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Hong-Lu (Alan) Chen M 1963 USA Climber Berkeley, California Business consultant Details Other expeditions
Corinne Favre F 1970 France Climber Argentiere-la-Bessee, Hautes-Alpes, France Sportswoman (running, skiing, climbing & skiing instructor) Details Other expeditions
Matthew Dean (Matt) Fioretti M 1966 USA Climber Seattle, Washington Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
David Edward Frisk M 1963 USA Climber Everett, Washington Power company employee Details Other expeditions
John Miller M 1980 USA Climber Suquamish, Washington School teacher Details Other expeditions
David R. (Dave) Ohlson M 1976 USA Climber Seattle, Washington Photographer Details Other expeditions
Fabrizio John Zangrilli M 1972 USA Leader Boulder, Colorado Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.