Today, Toshiyuki Yamada and Takeshi Tani successfully climbed the Northwest Face of Kangchung Nup (6,090m). This marks the first ascent of the mountain from its north side.
A Czech expedition reached as far as 5,900m in 2014, before retreating because of dangerous conditions.
Photo: Toshiyuki Yamada
The two Japanese guides shared some stunning images of the climb on their social media as well the line of the route. Yamada says that the weather and other conditions on the mountain were perfect.
A dangerous line. Photo: Toshiyuki Yamada
Earlier this week, Yamada said that they were ready to make a single push up the face. They had already acclimatized to 5,600m.
Before the push, they also checked their proposed descent line on the south side of the mountain. They expected the climb to involve a lot of drytooling since the mountain was very dry. This did, however, lessen the avalanche hazard.
Top: The upper part of Kangchung Nup. Bottom: Yamada and Tani on the summit. Photos: Toshiyuki Yamada
Yamada and Tani’s line is very similar to the one attempted by the Czech climbers in 2014.
Top: The new Japanese line. Bottom: The attempted 2014 line by Czech climbers David Kovarik, Tomas Svoboda, and Martin Klestinec. Photos: Toshiyuki Yamada/Martin Klestinec
More details to come.
