David Goettler of Germany and Nicolas Hojak of Switzerland have done a rare ascent of the north face of 6,378m Ganchenpo in Nepal’s Langtang. Goettler admits that they do not know if their line is new. We might need the collaboration of the climbing community to solve the riddle.
Goettler told ExplorersWeb that they found the face in excellent condition. It allowed a quick, single-push ascent, with no need to rope up for most of the route.
Change of plans
The climbers started from Kyanjing Gompa village. After trekking for five hours, they camped for the first night at 4,700m, just before the glacier. Ganchenpo is also known as Fluted Peak because of its icy, fluted north face. Goettler and Hojak had planned to go up a mixed line running along the right side of the north face, but conditions were not as expected. There was a lack of continuous ice, leaving only crumbly-looking rock.
After some discussion, the pair chose to go up the center of the face, completely on ice and snow.
“We had no bivouac equipment with us, so our our style was to simply climb up and down as quickly as possible,” Hojac wrote on Instagram. “We were also worried by the forecast, which reported winds of over 70kph at 7,000m.”
The climbers roped up to pass the bergschrund. Photo: David Goettler
The following day, they crossed the glacier and the bergschrund to the base of the north face. They then climbed one of the face’s ice gullies without ropes until the last 60m. Here, they found sugary snow and a five-meter section of 80º ice that ended at the ridge next to the summit.
“We made the last few steps to the summit and shook hands,” said Hojak. “What a wonderful moment to be standing up here! In the distance, we could see 8,027m Shisha Pangma, [and] to the left, Langtang Lirung.”
The whole ascent took just four hours.
New ‘official’ route
On the descent, the climbers took the peak’s normal route back to their tent at 4,700m. The entire return trip took 12 hours.
“Despite strong winds in the forecast, we were very lucky with almost no wind when we topped out,” Goettler said.
Hojac posted on his social media that they tried to climb the classic north face route.
“Although this has already had two ascents, it is still a cool line on this mountain,” Hojac said.
Goetller was less sure their line had been climbed before, at least legally. “Our line is different to what Freire and his partner climbed last year, but maybe some other parties [without a permit] climbed this exact line before,” he told ExplorersWeb.
Goettler and Hojac’s route. Harrin and Freire’s line goes slightly to the left. Photo and topo: David Goettler
Joshua Harrin and Oswaldo Freire climbed a line up the center of the north face of Ganchenpo last fall. They called their new 1,000m route Cold Therapy and graded it AI4+. According to The Himalayan Database, theirs was the first ascent of the north face. The other few climbs on Ganchenpo were done via from the south and west.
Yet this peak has a history of unauthorized climbs. It is possible that one or more of these teams could have been on the north side and possibly even on Goettler and Hojac’s exact line. If anyone in the climbing community can provide clarity, please contact us. Note that Ganchenpo is often spelled Ganchempo.
Goettler and Hojac have now finished with autumn climbing in Nepal. This winter, Goettler does not intend to attempt a bigger peak, as he has done in recent years. Previously, he and Herve Barmasse attempted winter alpine-style climbs on Nanga Parbat’s Rupal side and on Dhaulagiri.
