Page 9 - 2023 AMA Spring

The west face of Chombu in April 2019 (above) and April 2022 (below)
The unclimbed peak of Chombu with the west face in shade on the right and the NE ridge on the left hand skyline
face largely stripped of snow and ice was not what we had expected. All previous sightings and photographs had shown a network of interconnecting snow/ice streaks but this time the streaks did not connect and it seemed obvious that the rockfall danger would be significant. We were gutted. It really did look as if the objective that we had set our hearts on was unlikely to be feasible and to find this out so early in the expedition was a serious blow to morale.
If the west face was indeed too dangerous our only other option from this side of the mountain was the NE ridge. We had reached 6100m on this line in 2019 but had to retreat above the main difficul- ties when we poisoned ourselves on a
gone-off freeze dried meal. The route involved an awful lot of walking and deep snow grovelling, not my kind of ascent route at all but potentially a good descent after climbing the west face.
Two days later we had established base camp, stood opposite the west face and concluded what we had already suspected. It just looked too dangerous. Our only option was to try and complete the NE ridge. It was not a good start.
While acclimatising we increasingly realised just how dry it had been. A big snow couloir, which led to the glacier giving access the NE ridge line, had been soft snow in 2019 but was now icy. Spirits lifted. Perhaps we could enjoy a
first ascent in good conditions after all. To further boost morale the professional forecast that we had subscribed to (a first for me) promised a period of good weather. There seemed an awful lot of snow on the north side compared to the west but after a couple of days getting our bodies used to the thin air we left as much kit as we could at the head of the couloir and headed down to base camp to prepare for our attempt.
It was while crossing a boulder field at the foot of the couloir that a huge boulder turned under Victor’s weight and he fell forward into a deep hole between boulders. We were not together at the time but as soon as I saw him it was immediately clear that all was not well.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 9