Putha Hiunchuli | 2002 NE Face

A Austria expedition to Putha Hiunchuli in 2002 via NE Face, led by Guenther Mussnig. Summit reached on 16th October 2002. 10 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 4206
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID PUTH02301
Peak ID PUTH
Year 2002
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 NE Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Austria
Leaders Guenther Mussnig
Sponsor First Austrian Dhaulagiri VII (Putha Hiunchuli) Expedition
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 22nd
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Jomsom, up Kali Gandaki to Phalak->Lunza Khola to Mulug
Basecamp Date 2002-10-10
Summit Date 2002-10-16
Summit Time 0930
Summit Days 6
Total Days 9
Termination Date 2002-10-19
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 7246
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 10
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 2
Summit Hired 0
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 Climbed Tongu Peak (TONG-023-01)
Campsites BC(10/10,4700m),C1(12/10,5300m),Smt(16/10)
Route Notes BC at Kaya Khola valley C1 at bottom of NE Face. Tongu Peak (about 6200m/20,340ft), north of Dhaulagiri I, was climbed enroute to BC via NW Ridge running from Mu La to top. Summited on 5 Oct by Hummer, Peter Suntinger and Tronigger. On 7th Oct at "the most unfriendly village in Nepal", Kakot on the Barbung Khola north of Putha Hiunchuli expedition was stopped enroute to BC about 25 "Maoist-friendly" locals, who demanded Rs 100,000 for permission to enter their valley of Kaya Khola, where the team would make BC. Team was kept Kakot for a day and half until they agreed to pay Rs 67,000; then they were freed to go to BC. All other Dolpa villages were friendly. Expedition members were divided into three teams for further climbs. When expedition left BC to return to KTM, they had to take a northernly route, which was longer than their approach route, because Mu La was now blocked by snow. They reached Jomsom on 27 Oct. Expedition was divided into three teams: Team I Team II Team III Peter Suntinger Roland Hummer Uwe Lackner Thomas Suntinger Christian Miklautsch Guenter Mussnig Hans-Peter Tronigger Werner Mussnig Thomas Pokorny Thomas Zoehrer Team I had only one camp above BC: they occupied their C1 at 5300m on 12 Oct. On 14 Oct they made reconnaissance to 6400m on NE Face to East Ridge and returned same day to C1. On 15 Oct at 4:00 pm the three members (without any Sherpa support) left C1 to go to summit, but Tronigger decided to turn back, and Peter Suntinger went down with him to 6100m, where Team II had a camp. Then Suntinger went back up to meet Thomas Suntinger and they spent that night in a snowhole at 6800m. On 16 Oct the two men reached summit at 9:30 am, then descended to BC. They used skis in ascent and descent. Team II occupied their ABC at 5000m on 11 Oct. On 12 Oct they made another camp at 5200m because they could make only slow progress in deep snow. On 13 Oct they made their next camp at 5400m on the glacier, and on 14th another camp at 6100m in the middle of the NE Face. On 15 Oct the two men started up again at 1:00 am but at 6300m turned back because it was bitterly cold and became disoriented, so down to their camp at 6100m. On 16 Oct they left at 5:00 am for another attempt to reach summit and got to 7000m at 4:00 pm. They now turned back because they were exhausted and it was getting late in the day; they again slept in camp at 6100m. On 17th Oct fierce winds blew away their camp and they had to retreat to BC. They too had no Sherpas with them, and they used skis in their ascent and descent. Team III of five members, plus two Sherpas, left BC on 13 Oct without skis and made their ABC at 5100m. On 14 Oct, they went up to pitch their C1, but stopped at 5350m at the beginning of the glacier: they radioed to other expedition members that it was impossible to go higher on the face without skis in 2 centimeter-deep snow, and there was avalanching. On 15 Oct. they went down to BC and up a side valley, where they camped in a new ABC for two days to climb minor peaks around it. On 16 Oct. Pokorny soloed one peak, and on 17 Oct the Mussnig brothers summited another one.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Sherpa Nepal
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2456051
Year 2002
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) ne face

Members

10 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Roland Hummer M 1965 Austria Climber Pasching, Upper Austria, Austria Mountain lodge owner Details Other expeditions
Uwe Lackner M 1974 Austria Climber Graz, Styria, Austria Student Details Other expeditions
Christian Miklautsch M 1966 Austria Climber Krumpendorf, Carinthia, Austria Wind surfing and sailing instructor Details Other expeditions
Guenter Mussnig M 1964 Austria Leader Muehldorf, Carinthia, Austria National park service official Details Other expeditions
Werner Mussnig M 1965 Austria Climber Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria University professor of business management Details Other expeditions
Thomas Pokorny M 1970 Austria Exp Doctor Winzendorf, Lower Austria, Austria Physician Details Other expeditions
Peter Suntinger M 1965 Austria Climber Grosskirchheim, Carinthia, Austria Farmer Details Other expeditions
Thomas Suntinger M 1968 Austria Climber Grosskirchheim, Carinthia, Austria Business financial controller Details Other expeditions
Hans-Peter Tronigger M 1959 Austria Climber Grosskirchheim, Carinthia, Austria Carpenter Details Other expeditions
Thomas Zoehrer M 1972 Austria Climber Gratkorn, Styria, Austria Marketing and sales manager of window manufacturing company Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
PUTH02301 HIGH - - - 252:63 (Nov 2003) -