Pumori | 2016 SW Face

A Netherlands expedition to Pumori in 2016 via SW Face, led by Paul Bonhomme. Summit reached on 18th November 2016. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9303
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PUMO16301
Peak ID PUMO
Year 2016
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Netherlands
Leaders Paul Bonhomme
Sponsor Pumori SW Face 2016
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, USA
Approach Lukla->Namche->Dingboche->BC
Basecamp Date 2016-11-09
Summit Date 2016-11-18
Summit Time -
Summit Days 9
Total Days 14
Termination Date 2016-11-23
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6700m due to bad snow conditions
High Point (m) 6700
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
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(09/11,5400m),C1(12/11,5800m),xxx(18/11,6700m)
Route Notes BC 09/11 5400m C1 12/11 5800m Hpt 18/11 6700m (100 below the exit to the SW Ridge by Paul Bonhomme. Trio had 1 acclimatization day at Namche Bazar on 5 Nov. Base camp established on 9 Nov at the most western of the two lakes located at 5400m, those lying just west of Kalapattar. On the 12 Nov, the trio established its C1 at 5800m at the footstep of Pumori West/Kangri Shar (peak 6792m on Finn Map) SSE Ridge. On the 13 Nov, trio spotted the access to the footstep of the W Face through the complex 6000m plateau marked on the map. That same day everyone went back to the base camp for 3 consecutive days of rest. On 17 Nov, all were back at C1 for a summit push the day after. On 18 Nov: departure at 5:30 am (sunrise at 6 am). Trio went up together to the rimaye (about 6000/6100m) in 2 hours. Then Paul went alone in front up to 6700m, using a long right-hand traverse in the middle of the face to stop a hundred meters below the connection to SW Ridge. In 2011, Paul and his teammates couldn't even reach the face, which was mainly in ice conditions and that they guessed to be 40° steep. Now climbing the face Paul faced hard snow (poor grip for skis) with one 20m ice section at 6500m; it was a sustained average 45° steep face with some 50° sections. Were also numerous ice flutes to negotiate, their 50° NW Face being in inconsistent snow, their 40/45° SE Face being in hard snow. After reaching his high point at 10:30 am, Paul begun to downclimb without skiing. Just shortly tried it at about 6400m to test a better grip in the inconsistent snow part of an ice flute section, but it failed to be more secure, so he then continued with crampons, downclimbing. Was back to high camp at 2 pm. Took him almost same time to go up than to go down! 5h30 => 7h30 (5800/6050) : 125m/h 7h30 => 10h30 (6050/6700) : 216m/h 5h30 => 10h30 (5800/6700) : 180m/h 10h30 => 14h (6700/5800) : 257m/h Ben and Erin stopped at about 6100/6200m. Ben had had a very bad sleep, but started anyway. Immediately considering poor snow conditions for skiing, both quickly decided it was too risky for a ski attempt and weren't motivated to go up just for the climb. They went down to the C1 and watched Paul during 3 hours. All went back straight to the base camp on that day. The day after Paul went back to clean the high camp. Paul won't try again to ski that face, as he believes their strategy and conditions couldn't be much better than this time. "For that face, you need to be very lucky with the snow conditions and also be super fit". He notes the traverse in solo without skis on the rucksack is quite easily feasible trough that route. Now he will try for less steep ski projects, as he often met so far with same kind of hard snow on steep faces which is too delicate for skiing.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Khumbi-ila Mt. & Trekking
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2461167
Year 2016
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) sw face

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Paul Leon Marie Bonhomme M 1975 Netherlands Leader Cercier, Haute-Savoie, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Benjamin Philippe Rene Ribeyre M 1991 France Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Erin Gabrielle Smart F 1986 USA Climber La Grave, Hautes-Alpes, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.