 |
|
|
| |||||||
Skirting a nasty gendarme on The Outside Penguin.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Frimer.
|
A Canadian expedition, foiled by poor conditions on its primary objective, managed a probable new route on Peak 5,750m. The four-man team had hoped to attempt an unclimbed, 4,000-foot wall on a subsidiary summit of Latok II, but persistent storms had loaded the face with verglas and spindrift. Searching for lower alternatives, Jeremy Frimer and Ken Glover picked out a line on the south side of Peak 5,750m, which may have been climbed by an Italian team in 1977 and definitely was climbed from the north in 2000 by Americans Doug Chabot and Jack Tackle. The two climbed a buttress approximately 3,750 feet high on the right side of the face, passing three steep headwalls en route. With only light bivy gear, they slept once during the ascent and did not sleep at all during a stormy second bivy on the way down. The Outside Penguin went at V 5.10 A1.
  EnlargeThe Outside Penguin (V 5.10 A1) on Peak 5,750m, a tower on the ridge to the west of Latok II. The team had hoped to descend a gully system, but was forced into rappelling and downclimbing the entire face.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Frimer.
|
Two other members of the expedition, Ryan Hokanson and Sam Johnson, made two alpine-style attempts on the Northwest Ridge of 7,108-meter Latok II. They spent three days at 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) waiting for a weather window to push for the summit but never got the break they needed.
This expedition was supported by Mountain Equipment Co-Op and the AAC’s Lyman Spitzer Award.
Date of Ascent: July-August 2007
Sources: Jeremy Frimer, Sam Johnson, The American Alpine Journal
| - advertisement - | |
plus a free gift!
