CLIMBING IN NEPAL
Plas y Brenin, Capel Curig
Saturday 1st December 2001
 

09.00 Registration

09.30 John Cleare: Kingdom of The Ultimate Mountains - making sense of the Nepal Himalaya

John Cleare has been climbing for over 50 years. A member of the 1971 International Everest Expedition, he has made some 20 expeditions in the Himalaya. He is a professional photographer, a much published author and operates the internationally-known Mountain Picture Library. Although Nepal is a small country its topography is complex. A knowledge of what's where and how the ranges and the river systems fit together is essential for those with aspirations in the Nepal Himalaya. This talk sets the context for the subsequent speakers.

10.15 Pat Littlejohn: Taweche NE Pillar superalpine style

Pat is that ever youthful, keen and committed all-rounder - sea cliff pioneer of the SW, Pembroke and N Wales, some 30 Alpine seasons with routes including the Eiger N Face, Hemming-Robins route on Petit Dru and S Face of the Fou (first free ascents). He is Director of the International School of Mountaineering and has also a worldwide portfolio - Raven's Pyramid (Karakoram), Poi N Face (Kenya), Kjerag N Buttress (Norway) and exploration of twelve new summits in the Tien Shan. His lecture is about eight days on Taweche NE Pillar, the first ascent he made with Mick Fowler in 1995.

11.00 Coffee

11.15 Doug Scott: Drohmo South

Doug may feel he is decrepit now but managed to climb the South Pillar of Drohmo to one of the central summits (6850m) with Roger Mear in October 1998. This fine alpine style ascent took five days over varied terrain.Doug first spotted this magnificent line from the NW side of Kanchenjunga in 1979. There are many other fine and unclimbed objectives in this NE corner of Nepal which he will illustrate.

12.00 Bill O'Connor: 'Trekking' Peaks of Nepal

As a well-known International Mountain and Ski Guide, Bill has made more than 30 expeditions to the Nepal Himalaya. He is the author of the definitive guidebook to the so called 'trekking peaks' of Nepal and has an unrivalled knowledge of these sub 7000m mountains. These provide ideal objectives for technical, lightweight Himalayan climbing. Bill's lecture will outline the past and present history of these fine objectives - but more than that his talk will highlight many as yet unrealized possibilities as well a proposed additions to the trekking peaks of Nepal.

12.45 Bill Ruthven: The Mount Everest Foundation

Bill is the tireless secretary of the MEF, the charity that helps many small expeditions take off for the Great Ranges. A brief talk about the work of the foundation. Get your applications in on time, and beware Bill's chasing letters if you do not complete your expedition report! He will also introduce the plans for 50th Anniversary of the First Ascent of Everest in May 2003.

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Rick Allen: North Face of Dhaulagiri

Rick, 46, has been active in the Himalaya for some 20 years. He made the first ascent of Kirti Stambh in Garhwal in 1982 and two technical Alpine style ascents of Ganesh II and Pumori in 1984 and 1986. He has attempted lightweight routes on several 8000m peaks - Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, K2 and Everest, culminating in the first ascent of the N Face of Dhaulagiri in 1993 with a Russian team. He has climbed in the Tien Shan and Fann Shan, and summitted Everest in 2000.

14.45 Steve Razzetti: Off The Beaten Track in Nepal

Steve spent his first season in the Himalaya in 1984 and at least seven months a year there ever since. After initially concentrating on the Everest region and Kashmir, he visited Pakistan in 1986 and embarked on a career as a trekking guide - a vocation that has financed his own travels ever since. He has travelled extensively - to the K2 region, around Snow Lake, Shimshal and Boroghil, journeys he has written about recently. In 1988 he was among the first westerners to trek in the Makalu and Kangchendzonga areas of Nepal and subsequently travelled extensively in Humla, Dhaulagiri and Manaslu, Sikkim and Bhutan. Steve's talk focuses on Kangchendzonga, Makalu, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri and the far west (Humla).

15.30 Peta Watts: Waiting for Lhotse

Peta has climbed in the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Tatras, Argentina and Kenya. Her first Himalayan summit was Ama Dablam in 1994. In 1995 she was the first British woman to climb Khan Tengri in Kazakhstan. She has also climbed in Pakistan, Kyrghizia and regularly in Nepal. Her lecture is about her successful spring 2001 expedition to Lhotse, when she made the first ascent by a British woman of this 8000m peak.

16.15 Tea

16.30 Sergei Efimov: Adventures Russian-style in the High Himalaya: Everest S Pillar, and Kangchenjunga

Sergei Efimov is a world class mountaineer who has over the years climbed numerous new routes in all the main climbing areas of the former Soviet Union. He became a Master of Sport and once guided Yaltzen (before he became President) up Elbruz - both hail from Ekatarineaberg, east of the Urals. Our AC members, Rick Allen and Doug Scott have climbed with Sergei in the Fanski Mountains of Central Asia and on Nanga Parbat's Mazino Ridge and both were intrigued at the efficacy of the Russian approach to climbing on big mountains. Sergei will explain this approach by describing the Russian route on Everest's South Pillar and on the Russian traverse of all five summits of Kangchenjunga.

20.00 Dinner

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