Saipal | 1996 W Ridge

A Switzerland expedition to Saipal in 1996 via W Ridge, led by Gaston Zoller. Summit reached on 21st October 1996. 4 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 1920
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID SAIP96301
Peak ID SAIP
Year 1996
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Switzerland
Leaders Gaston Zoller
Sponsor Saipal 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 Simikot then 'Training Trek' via Limi Valley NW
Basecamp Date 1996-10-09
Summit Date 1996-10-21
Summit Time -
Summit Days 12
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6470m due to too much snowfall
High Point (m) 6470
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 1
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 False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites LowBC(09/10,4025m),HighBC.C1(18/10,5100m),C2(21/10,5780m),xxx(21/10,6470m)
Route Notes Low BC at Kairang Khola High BC at valley glacier below North Face (7km+ from low BC) C2 at West Col on West Ridge connecting Firnkopf and Saipal. Approach Route: Simikot then "training trek" via Limi Valley to N & W & SE to Tumkot, Munchur to Puiya to Thothoriya in Kirang Khola. After Low BC made heavy snowfall for 10 days delayed progress. 21st up to see site for C3 at 6470m and returned to C1 because weather changing and needed to carry supplies up site C3. 24th 2 members down to low BC and snowfall resumed. 25th other 2 members also to low BC. 30th 2 members up to C1 to clear that camp (on 23rd had cleared C2). (Made no attempt to climb Firnkopf because of bad snow conditions. Had hoped to do so before attacking Saipal but when it came time to do so, feared getting trapped in unknown snow conditions and terrain).
Accidents Tilsenkoff throat problem
Achievement -
Agency Lama Adventure Treks
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453904
Year 1996
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w ridge

Members

4 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Vincent Dalmais M 1960 France Climber Grenoble, Isere, France Engineer Details Other expeditions
Yves Devillard M 1967 Switzerland Deputy Leader Bernex, Geneva, Switzerland Engineer Details Other expeditions
Wladimir Tilsenkoff M 1943 France Deputy Leader Geneva, Switzerland - Details Other expeditions
Gaston Zoller M 1956 Switzerland Leader Russin, Geneva, Switzerland Archeologist Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
SAIP96301 HIGH - - - 175:93 (Jun 1997) -