The Japanese university students on the 2025 Himalaya Camp team have successfully climbed a new route on 6,111m Bijora Hiunchuli in western Nepal.
The Himalaya Camp team summited Bijora Hiunchuli on October 24 but only reported their safe arrival back in Base Camp today. They originally planned to climb via the northwest ridge. Once on the mountain, however, they changed to the north ridge, a more direct and straightforward passage to the summit. It was also in better condition, mostly covered in ice and snow.
The planned northwest ridge route (blue) of the Himalaya Camp team, and the actual route climbed up the north ridge (red). Topo: Himalaya Camp
The team established Camp 1 at around 5,000m, fixed some ropes, and then launched their summit push, which included setting up Camp 2 at 5,240m.
The summit day began at 2 am from Camp 2. They reached the top at around 4 pm and made it back down to Camp 2 at 10 pm, exhausted. After a night’s sleep, they continued down.
The route from Camp 2 started with a snow/ice wall. Afterward, the slope was less steep, but the climbers faced knee-deep snow until the knife-edged summit ridge.
“The summit was very narrow, but it offered a 360˚ view of the Himalaya of western Nepal,” the team reported. “We could even see Sanctuary Peak, which last year’s team climbed.”
Swiss retreat
Silvan Schupbach, Stefan Siegrist, and Philippo Sala of Switzerland aimed for a new route on Khatang, a 6,582m peak between the Khumbu and Rolwaling. They hoped to open the first line up the unclimbed south face, but the elements conspired against them.
First, the storm that hit Nepal three weeks ago delayed them. They had to rebuild their base camp, but in the interim, a falling serac had buried their cached gear. Then, a member of the team came down with Acute Mountain Sickness. By the time he recovered, a new storm had moved in. The climbers have not said whether they plan any further attempts.
No solo on Kangri Sar
Lucien Bocansaud of France had to abort his bold solo attempt on Khangi Sar in the Khumbu. “I turned back at 6,400m on the ridge,” he told ExplorersWeb. “I was sick and freezing due to a digestive crisis.
Bocansaud told us that the Himalayan season is over for him.
“The snowy spell is expected to last until November 5, and I will have no time for another attempt afterward,” he said. “Too bad, but I am still happy with the expedition as a whole.”
Two weeks ago, Bocansaud made a speed climb up Ama Dablam in 8 hours 10 minutes from Base Camp to summit, and a total BC to BC time of 13 hours 17 minutes. He completed the trip from Chukhung to Ama Dablam and back in three days, including his summit push, which he considers a first.
