Tawoche | 1988 E Ridge/E Face

A UK expedition to Tawoche in 1988 via E Ridge/E Face, led by Andrew Black. Summit reached on 15th April 1988. 4 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 85
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID TAWO88101
Peak ID TAWO
Year 1988
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 E Ridge/E Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Andrew Black
Sponsor British Tawoche 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 -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1988-04-05
Summit Date 1988-04-15
Summit Time -
Summit Days 10
Total Days 13
Termination Date 1988-04-18
Termination Reason 4
Termination Notes Abandoned at 6400m due to poor weather, team not strong
High Point (m) 6400
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
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(05/04,4900m),Biv1(12/04,5650m),Biv2(13/04,5800m),C3(14/04,6100m),xxx(15/04,6400m)
Route Notes BC due west of Pheriche, SE of point 5110 and NE of point 5140m. No fixed camps above BC. All members in BC on 8th April. Started climb on 12th April in 2 pairs. Duff and Black bived at 18,000 ft and others 18,500 ft on E Ridge/E Face. 13th Brindle and Moore climbed half the day, then storm coming and Moore not well, so they went down while Duff and Black to 19,000 ft on the undefined ridge on the face. 14th on up to 20,000 ft. Was snowing all the time while fundamentally rock climbing on this feature. 15th Duff and Black climbed one hour up to just below 150 ft granite wall, which would take time to surmount directly with aid-climbing, so traversed under it and then down Japanese Couloir route (which Duff climbed in 1987). Went down because by now had lost logical route and weather not good at all. Several avalanches went down couloir as they abseiled down its side. All in BC 15th and still snowing at BC on 18th when left BC. Needed at least a week of sunshine to clear the rock. Was difficult climbing with 2-3 inches of snow on the rock. Black fell off twice. No thought to go back up this "Mountain with a bad god." Brindle not keen and Moore slight altitude sickness. Duff today suffering from sciatica. Team members arrived at BC on different dates. "This was more a holiday than a climb," but all were there by 8 April.
Accidents Nothing serious
Achievement -
Agency Mountain Travel
Commercial Route -
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450830
Year 1988
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) e ridge/e face

Members

4 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Andrew Robert (Andy) Black M 1959 UK Leader Edinburgh, Scotland Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Anthony (Tony) Brindle M 1958 UK Climber Ulverston, Cumbria, England Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Malcolm (Mal) Duff M 1953 UK Climber Culross, Fife, Scotland Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Adrian Moore M 1961 UK Climber Solihull, W Midlands, England Alpinist Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
TAWO88101 AAJ Black, Andrew - - 63:206 (1989) -
TAWO88101 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198920601/Asia-Nepal-Tawoche-Attempt - - -