Tengkangpoche | 2021 NE Face-E Ridge (up), N Face (down)

A Italy expedition to Tengkangpoche in 2021 via NE Face-E Ridge (up), N Face (down), led by Francois Cazzanelli. Summit reached on 4th November 2021. 6 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 10748
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID TKPO21302
Peak ID TKPO
Year 2021
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 NE Face-E Ridge (up), N Face (down)
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Italy
Leaders Francois Cazzanelli
Sponsor Italian Tengkangpoche-Ama Dablam Expedition 2021
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Lukla->Namche->Thami
Basecamp Date 2021-10-18
Summit Date 2021-11-04
Summit Time 1100
Summit Days 17
Total Days 19
Termination Date 2021-11-06
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 6482
Traverse True
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 6
Summit Members 5
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 Attempted Yasa Thak (YASA-213-01), summited Ama Dablam (AMAD-213-08)
Campsites BC(18/10,4300m),Biv1(02/11,5700m),Biv2(03/11,6100m),Smt(04/11)
Route Notes BC 17/10 4300m (nearby the lodge) Biv1 03/11 5700m Biv2 03/11 6100m Smt 04/11 by all members, except Bovard. Route: new route on N Face of Kongde Ri to E Ridge up; E Ridge to col, then N Face down. Other peaks: Thunder Peak, Yasa Thak, Ama Dablam Schedule: 15/10: Lukla to Namche Bazar. 16/10: Namche to Thami. 17/10: Thami to BC, the latter chosen a little distant from the lodge (lodge was a too expensive solution, group fearing between some potential Covid cases, and enjoying to stay between friends). 18/10: for its first acclimatization trip, the group went up to sleep at Tashi Lapcha (4300m to 5700m), knowing the weather would deteriorate on the next day with a good amount of snow. 19/10: back to BC, everything covered by the fresh snow (down to 4000m). 20/10: rest day. 21/10: group went up “Thunder peak” (a 5300m trekking peak on the map). Looking at TKPO, saw Tom Livingstone already climbing on the N Pillar; the intended NE Face didn't look yet in good condition; the group spotted a 6200m peak in front whose N Face seemed potentially attractive. 22-23/10: the group split into 2 groups in order to ascend Yasa Thak (6141m on Finn map, SE shoulder of Tengi Ragi Tau, peak without permit; Schneider map 6180m, 6187m on other map; also called Tengi Ragi Tau South, or Pahamlahaka). The first group (Cazzanelli, Favre, Gheza) climbed a SE Pillar to a shoulder of the E Ridge, located at c.6000m ESE to the top (from this shoulder, the last bit to the top consisted in a large snow ridge). Route name: “Himalayanos Desperados” (1200m/5+/M5/80°). Enjoyed good rock quality during the climb, with 2 pitches up to 5+ (French rock grade) on first day. Also found 4 pitons obviously put as descent belays (a previous rope had tried the route?). Put a bivouac above that. Had considered the option of staying on the pillar up to the top, but there was a lot of snow, a perturbation announced and it would have meant an other bivouac which the team couldn't afford. So instead, on the second day, the trio chose to turn right into the SE Face to find some quick going mixed ground. As the trio had almost reached the end of the traverse to start with the SE Face, a spontaneous cornice fall followed by rock falls was close to hit them. The would descend in the tracks made by their friends on the E Ridge. Cazzanelli thinks the route could become a local classic, offering a nice climb on good rock close to the lodge. Meanwhile the 3 other members had been up by the E Ridge, after having put a camp afoot of the ridge. Reached the same 6000m shoulder, after having broken the trail in big amounts of snow. Even triggered a big avalanche in which they luckily just lost some walking sticks. Delicate snow conditions. After a short study, it seems that the pitons found on the SE Pillar may have left whether by Radek Lienerth and Alexandr Toloch during the first ascent of “Tengi Ragi Tau South” in 2002. Czech duet had opened “Like a Dhal Bhat“ (1700m/ED/7-/75°) from 21 to 23 October 2002 (TKPO-023-01). https://james.sk/jclshow.asp?Id=365 https://docplayer.cz/17617599-Uvodnik-2-zdenka-sturcova-roz-dil-2-vojtech-dvorak-a-o-tom-to-cely-vlastne-je-4-radek-lienerth-haute-route-9-jiri-a-klara-kocarovi.html Or it could have been left by the French team which repeated the route in 2004 (TKPO-043-01): “Then all three members (French Erwan Le Lann, Jean-Marc Clerc, Martial Dumas) went to small peak north-northwest of Tengkangpoche on opposite of valley: Point 6180m on Schneider Khumbu map; local name is Pamamla Haka. Climbed SE Ridge to 6100m, not to top because "not interesting" flat snow; down East Ridge. At high point on 21 Oct with one biv on way up and another down”. => The French trio had repeated the Czech route (as mentioned in the AAJ link below), and this in very similar description than the Italian team in 2021 (also stopping at the shoulder). Same year 2004 occured the first ascent of “Le sourire de Migma” on the nearby SW Pillar, by an other French team (Herry, Vimal, Potard...): http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200538902 In 2005, this route is again mentioned in AAJ: http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200641300/Asia-Nepal-Annapurna-Himal-Rolwaling-Himal-Tengi-Ragi-Tau-East-First-Ascent-of-Peak-Via-South-Pillar 24-25/10: rest days. 26/10: first day of climbing on the TKPO. The plan changed a bit: they would keep the start left to the N Pillar, then go straight up via the NE Face to the E Ridge (initally thought to tackle the N Pillar from its NE side half way up). For this day and the next two, the members would make daily round trips from BC. On this day, went up to a high point at circa 4800m. Found remnants of gear from old French expeditions (pitons, spits). 27/10: reached 5000-5100m. At 4900m, had a delicate 60m pitch in typical Scottish climbing (frozen grass on rock) with only 3 protection points. 28/10: reached 5500m. As they were traversing a broad couloir to reach a sheltered small islet located between two couloirs, a big serac broke down from TKPO summit and fell down in a huge avalanche. The 4 climbers (Cazzanelli, Gheza, Perruquet, Ratti) had just enough time to hide below a small roof, when their 2 friends at BC thought them dead. Went back down to BC and canceled the attempt on that day. Cazzanelli noticed that the straight option they used saw every day avalanches. They also had to break trail in minimum knee deep' snow, making them very slow. The initally planed solution to come back to the N Pillar seems possible via a dihedral. Line is feasible if starting earlier in the season. Was nice to look at Livingstone and Glenn climbing up TKPO in big wall style. 29/10: rest day. 30/10: Cazzanelli, Perruquet and Ratti went up to look at Kongde Ri N Face conditions. The latter were completely different and felt attractive. 31/10,01/11: rest days. 02/11: on this day, the team split into two parties high up the Kongde Ri North face. Francois Cazzanelli and Leonardo Gheza opened “Santarai” (450m/AI5 R/M7/A2), when leftwards Francesco Ratti, Emrik Favre and Jerome Perruquet opened “Settebello” (450m/AI5/M7/A2). Conditions were pretty cold, with no sun, so that teams had to climb some sections in aid (2 pitches for “Santarai”) to be more efficient. The whole team joined on top of the face for its first bivouac (5700m). 03/11: the team crossed the E Ridge across Kongde Ri various tops until reaching the footstep of TKPO's proper E Ridge. GPS on this day shew 5800-6000m maximum for various tops of Kongde Ri (Kongde Nup, Sur, Ri...), the group eventually not understanding where the proper summit was (one of these tops was slightly higher, looking like Mont Blanc du Tacul summit, covered with prayer flags, apparently put by expeditions coming from the south side). Had a second bivouac at 6100m. 04/11: the team climbed the E Ridge to the top of TKPO, reaching the summit at in perfect weather. Saw fixed ropes of French Bazin team up to 6200m, stopping here as the ridge was becoming sharper. After that crossed a plateau, then up the ridge again (where they noticed 2 people descending footprints). The team down-climbed to its bivouac vicinity, then took the route down the N Face. Needed 2 abseils and tricky down-climbing to come back down to BC. Roger Bovard didn't feel in shape, so stayed in BC. 06/11: group left BC, going back to Namche Bazar. 07/11: rest day at Namche. Leonardo Gheza and Francesco Ratti flew back to Italy. The rest went to Ama Dablam. Cazzanelli will likely come back to Nepal in spring 2022 for a 6000er or 7000er (maybe Kimshung ?).
Accidents -
Achievement 1st ascent of a double new route on Kongde Ri North Face
Agency Seven Summit Treks
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2464649
Year 2021
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) ne face-e ridge (up), n face (down)

Members

6 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Francois (Franz) Cazzanelli M 1990 Italy Leader Valtournenche, Aosta, Italy Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Roger Bovard M 1995 Italy Climber Valgrisenche, Aosta, Italy Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Emrik Favre M 1988 Italy Climber Ayas, Aosta, Italy Ski instructor & alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Leonardo Gheza M 1991 Italy Climber Edolo, Brescia, Italy - Details Other expeditions
Jerome Perruquet M 1997 Italy Climber Valtournenche, Aosta, Italy Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Francesco Ratti M 1980 Italy Climber Valtournenche, Aosta, Italy Alpine guide Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
TKPO21302 AAJ Cazzanelli, Francisco Tengkangpoche, East Ridge Intregal; Tengi Ragi Tau Southeast, New Variant - 96:284-285 (2022) -
TKPO21302 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201216127 - - -