AMERICAN CLIMBING TEAM MAKES FIRST ASCENT OF TIBET’S SEPU KANGRI

[Rodchester]

AMERICAN CLIMBING TEAM MAKES FIRST ASCENT OF TIBET’S SEPU KANGRI (22,82 FEET) DURING SNOW STORM

 

LHASA, TIBET - A seven-member team of mountaineers from the United States

were successful in making the first ascent of the highly coveted Mount Sepu

Kangri in the Nyangchen Tanglha Himalaya Mountains. Expedition Leader and

renowned ski mountaineer, Mark Newcomb (Victor, ID) and Carlos Buhler

(Bozeman, MT), a veteran of twenty-five Himalayan expeditions, reached the

22,821 foot summit at 10:00 AM, October 2nd during a fierce snow storm.

"Sepu's weather has been wild and unpredictable throughout our entire

expedition. When we left our high camp for the summit, the skies were

clear, but by 8:00 AM, we were hit with a 'full-conditions' storm," explains

Newcomb. Buhler adds, "When we reached the summit plateau, our situation

was growing more serious by the minute. We were caught in heavy cloud and

wind driven snow. We knew that our descent was going to be tedious andrisky".

 

Despite the difficult conditions and poor visibility, Newcomb and Buhler

arrived back at their 20,830 foot Camp 3 by 2:00 PM. The monsoon weather,

which lasted longer than expected this season, brought high winds, and

serious avalanche conditions to the area earlier in the climb. Despite the

demanding conditions, all team members reached Camp 2 (19,200 feet) or

higher on Sepu, using state-of-the-art, ski-mountaineering equipment to

ascend between Camps 1 (17,700 feet) and 3. The team members were; Carina

Osteberg (Victor, ID); Kate Clayton (Telluride, CO); Frank Pickell (Boulder,

CO); Jordan Campbell (Moab, UT); and renowned adventure photographer, Ace

Kvale (Telluride, CO). Kvale, a veteran of numerous ski-mountaineering

expeditions to the world’s great ranges, explained, "We chose skis as the

method to rapidly ascend the critical glacier terrain between Camps 1 and

Camp 3, and to get us off the mountain quickly. In the end, our strategy

worked.”

 

Well known British mountaineers, Chris Bonington and Charles Clarke, first

explored the Sepu Kangri massif in 1996. They led two subsequent attempts

on the mountain; the first in 1997 and the second in 1998. In the second

expedition, 2 members of their team reached the Southwest Shoulder of the

mountain but were forced to turn back in a storm about 500 vertical feet

from the summit. In their book, “Tibet's Secret Mountain, The Triumph of

Sepu Kangri”, Bonington and Clarke document their 16 year relationship with

the elusive and difficult peak. In retrospect, Bonington describes Sepu

Kangri as perhaps, for him, a "Last Great Climb".

 

The Sepu Kangri Team, sponsored by Marmot, Gore-Tex, Powder Magazine, and

Texture Media, will post information and details about their ascent at

www.climbsepu.com after the team returns to the United States later this month.

 

 

[ 10-23-2002, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: Rodchester ]