Some details have emerged about the alpine-style ascent of the north face of Jannu. Although not the whole story, it is more than enough to confirm that the climb was epic: a seven-day, single push up a 2,700m high wall, with difficulties up to M7 AI5+ A0.
Route details
The route, according to Rousseau, shares terrain with the 2004 Russian route and with the southwest ridge during the final 200m.
“We finally got it done in a seven-day push BC to BC,” Rousseau wrote on social media.
Partner Jackson Marvell confirmed that they climbed alpine style, and included a topo of the route on Instagram:
“Our hardest, steepest climbing was from 7,000 meters to 7,500 meters,” Rousseau wrote. “This recessed portion of the north face has not been climbed previously. This is where we experienced some of the most intensely wonderful mixed climbing.”
The team named the new route “Round Trip Ticket.”
Third attempt
This was the third attempt in three years for Americans Alan Rousseau, Matt Cornell, and Jackson Marvell.
The climbers shared some pictures on their Instagram account but have said little about what happened on the face.
“We are still deep in the works of processing the experience and likely will be for a long while,” Marvell wrote.
Jannu, or Kumbhakarna, rises 7,710m in eastern Nepal, near Kangchenjunga. A team led by Lionel Terray first climbed the mountain in 1962. Its huge north face, the so-called Wall of Shadows, has seen two previous ascents, by the Japanese in 1976 and by the Russians in 2004.
