Mountain: Cho Oyu
Route: Southwest Ridge (1986 Polish Route)
Country: Nepal and China (Tibet) Border
Height: 8188 Meters
Dates of Expedition: March-April 1989
Overview of climb: Our dream was to climb a technical and interesting route, alpine style, on an 8000m peak, as a small lightweight team.
Team Members: Martin Zabaleta Alan Kearny Carlos Buhler, Leader Lhakpa Dorje Sherpa, Sirdar
Lasting Impression:
Despite being just the two of us, Martin and I managed to climb the beautiful and technical Southwest Ridge, reaching our highest bivi (7400m) in four days of reasonable weather and great climbing. On the following summit day, exceptionally high winds pinned us down for hours behind various formations on the upper mountain. At one point I was so cold that I was in favor of turning back. But Martin found a sheltered location at 7800 meters where we were able to warm up and kept us moving upwards to the summit. On our hike down the long valley descending from the Nangpa La to our base camp, I lost nearly all my energy and wondered, at times, if I’d ever make it back.
