Mountain: Everest
Route: Kangshung (East) Face
Country: Tibet, China
Height: 8848 meters
Dates of Expedition: August- November, 1983
Overview of climb: The Kangshung Face was a major undertaking. For this second attempt on the Face (the first was in 1981), leader Jim Morrissey brought together a group of people he believed could get the job done. Many of us had not climbed together before. But all of us believed we had a chance of success on this massive objective, the last unclimbed face of Everest.
Team Members: Jim Morrissey, Leader: Wang Fu Zhou, Liason Officer; Tsao Hongjun, Chinese English Translator and Interpreter; Jack Alustiza, Cook; John Boyle, base camp manager; George Lowe, Chris Kopczynski, Kim Momb, Lou Reichardt, Geoff Tabin, Carl Tobin, Andy Harvard, Carlos Buhler, Dave Cheesemond, David Combs, Dan Reid, Jay Cassell
Lasting Impression:
Looking back, I can say I was out of my depth. Among other things, I had no 8000 meter experience. And something this size? Nothing close. Because we had no Sherpas working with us, there was a ton of work to distribute among only three groups of four climbers. To a fault, everyone worked very hard. The real achievement was that we managed to pull together on the mountain when the going got really tough near the end of the climb. Without every member’s willingness to work for the overall goal of the team, I doubt we would have achieved the success we all shared.
