Saldim West | 2015 SE Face

A USA expedition to Saldim West in 2015 via SE Face, led by Luke Smithwick. Summit reached on 24th October 2015. 2 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9182
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID SALW15301
Peak ID SALW
Year 2015
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 SE Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Luke Smithwick
Sponsor Himalayan Alpine Guides Saldim Expedition 2015
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 2015-10-24
Summit Date 2015-10-24
Summit Time -
Summit Days 0
Total Days 9
Termination Date 2015-11-02
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 5300
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 2
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(24/10,5300m),xxx
Route Notes From himalaya-alpine.blogspot.com: We completed the Yaphu Ri expedition for 2015 early. On the 19th of October, we flew into Tumlingtar, and swiftly trekked into base camp in 5 days, arriving on the 24th in the afternoon to 5300m and the base of Yaphu Ri. This was our first time in this base camp, and it is truly an extraordinary. I think it is common news now that the peak remains unclimbed, and we simply didn't get the weather we needed. We were getting clear skies from 11 pm to 10 am each day until the 29th of October, with each day bringing in cloud cover and moderate snow fall. We could have worked with these windows and gotten the summit, but it started to snow on the 29th, and continued until 1st of November. We could get small hour long clearing spells and we could see that the peak wasn't getting a ton of snow, but certainly enough to give us pause. Winds whipped during these clearing spells, and there was significant snow loading on the upper slopes of our route, and spindrift avalanche pouring down all aspects. We considered the weather, and upon getting the forecast on the 1st of November, decided to call the expedition. We could have sat in base camp in the clouds for another week, but was that enjoyable? There was ice climbing and rock to climb around base camp, but it was serac ice and the rock was wet from the snow. I knew we weren't going to get our window that we needed, and so Brian and I decided to call it and head out before the snow piled high on the passes that led us out of the region. We will be back, and of course it was a great trek in and out, and a really nice time in the wilderness. -Luke Smithwick
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Real Himalaya
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460865
Year 2015
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) se face

Members

2 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
James Luke Smithwick M 1979 USA Leader Markleville, Colorado Owner-founder of alpine guiding company Details Other expeditions
Brian John Beatty M 1960 USA Climber Atkins, Iowa - Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
SALW15301 - - http://himalaya-alpine.blogspot.com/2015/11/2015-saldim-ri-expedition.html - - -
SALW15301 - - http://himalaya-alpine.com/expedition-climbs/makalu-6000s-first-ascents/yaphu-ri-2/#main - - -
SALW15301 - - http://himalaya-alpine.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-expedition-begins-unclimbed-saldim.html - - -