Burgess Adrian

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Biografie:
Mount McKinley, Western Rim and Cassin Route of South Face.
Our group of eight divided evenly to climb these two routes. My brother Alan, Paul (Tut) Braithwaite and Paul Moores and I climbed the Cassin route while Don Whillans, Gordon (Binke) Blakie, John Howard and the Californian Bob Schneider did the Western Rim. Both teams reached the summit alpine-style on June 26 only 12 hours apart. Our foursome set off on the morning of June 21 and went to the Cassin Icefield at about 14,500 feet. The next day we camped at 16,000 feet and were stormbound for 24 hours. On June 24 we climbed to 17,300 feet, where the route regains the final ridge leading to the summit. Twelve hours of bad weather meant that we started for the summit on the evening of June 25, climbed through the night to reach the top at 5:30 A.M. and descended 8000 feet before eating and sleeping. Unfortunately the descent down the West Buttress was crawling with people and garbage.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
NOTE: All dates in this section refer to 1976 unless otherwise stated.
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 21,Issue 1, 1977, Seite 148

Huascarán Norte, North Face.
In the latter half of June my brother Alan, Brian Hall and I were camped in the Llanganuco valley in preparation for an ascent of the French (Paragot) route of 1966. Alongside the large, well-organized expedition of Desmaison, we felt small and insignificant, but they were making a film and had more of a burden to bear than we. Two load-carries to the foot of the wall at 16,400 feet and we were installed for a five-day acclimatization period. This was the minimum time we had planned for, but with no more load-carrying, we became bored and set off on the route not fully acclimatized. The lower part of the route had changed since 1966 and the lower ridge had large ice towers along its crest, which certainly increased its difficulty. We had planned to take four days over the ascent, but it was not until the seventh day on the wall that we finally emerged for a near-summit bivouac. On the eighth day we made it to the top and back to Huaraz. We all suffered from the rapid rise in altitude and from the lack of nourishment. One of the hardest days was the final one, where the rock climbing of UIAA V+ led to the summit slopes. We afterwards agreed that it was one of the hardest climbs we had ever done and compared it in difficulty to the harder mixed routes in the Alps … but longer!
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 21,Issue 2, 1978, Seite 561

Fitz Roy.
On February 28 Alan and Adrian Burgess and I climbed Fitz Roy via the American route; this was the third time on that route and the ninth ascent. We had difficulty in digging a snow cave in the usual place near Terray's route but found a good site in the glacial basin on the traverse to the Silla.
David Malcom Cheesmond, South Africa
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 21,Issue 2, 1978, Seite 584

Annapurna II Attempt.
The aim of the expedition was to make the fourth ascent of the mountain, but doing it alpine-style with a team of three, Alan and Adrian Burgess and me. After a nine-day walk-in, we arrived at 11,500 feet, where our Base Camp was set up. The next three weeks were spent acclimatizing. We surveyed the north face, looking for a more direct route to the summit. The idea was crushed when one morning we witnessed the largest avalanche any of us had ever seen sweep the line of our proposed ascent, destroying Camp I. (We had been at Advance Base.) We then changed our line of attack to the route by which the mountain had first been climbed. On October 6 we began our ascent with fifteen days of food and fuel. After ten days, often harrassed by high winds and new snow, we had got to over 21,000 feet. Alan had been weakened by a severe stomach and bowel infection and decided not to go higher. On October 18 Adrian and I left camp at five A.M. on a bid for the summit. At eleven o’clock we were at 23,500 feet but had to turn back in the face of terrible winds. On October 20 we began our journey back to Kathmandu.
Paul Moores, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 22,Issue 2, 1980, Seite 622

Annapurna IV, Winter Ascent.
The Canadian Annapurna IV Winter Expedition climbed the 7525-meter, 24,688-foot mountain by the normal north-face route as training for this year’s Canadian Everest expedition. The leader was Gordon Smith and the other seven members were Roger Marshall, Don Seri, Steve Langley, Jay Straith, Carl Hannigan, my brother Alan Burgess and I. Our 110 porters began the walk-in on November 7 but we did not reach Base Camp at 16,000 feet until November 24. The snow-line was at 9000 feet after very early heavy snows and we understandably had great difficulty in getting our ill-clad porters to carry all the way. The following week we organized food and equipment and began climbing on December 1. My brother A1 and I established Ice-Cave I at 18,300 feet on December 4 and were joined by Marshall and Smith the next day. Heavy snow on the 7th delayed Langley, Marshall, A1 and me from occupying Ice-Cave II at 20,000 feet until December 14. The cave was dug by our two high-altitude Sherpas, Sonam and Dawa. A final ice-cave was dug at 21,000 feet and Marshall, A1 and I spent the night of December 21 there, prior to the summit day on the 22nd. We climbed the final 3700 feet in one long day. The temperature at Camp III was —30° C, but the greatest danger was from the “unreasonably strong” wind. We reached the summit at three P.M. with only two-and-a-half hours of daylight left. Fear of benightment drove us back to camp in two hours. A second attempt ended at 24,200 feet for Langley when he discovered his two companions were no longer with him.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 24, Issue 56, 1982, Seite 231

Dhaulagiri.
Our expedition was originally to attempt the southwest pillar but without enough tested Himalayan climbers living in Canada, we changed to the first-ascent route. We were Jon Jones, leader, Dr. Chuck Masters, Jim Elzinga, Don Gardner, my brother Alan and I. We arrived at the first Base Camp at 12,000 feet after 14 days of walking. We eventually established our upper Base Camp at 15,300 feet on April 7. The camps above were mostly at standard places. An intermediate Camp I at 17,000 feet, used only during the first week, was on the way to Advance Base at 18,300 feet. From this camp on the northeast col, the northeast ridge really begins. There were three camps above at 21,000, 23,000 and 24,400 feet. Rope was fixed between 21,500 feet and the last camp so that the less experienced members could move freely between camps. Actually, partly due to sickness, only Alan Burgess, Elzinga and I reached 23,000 feet, supported to 21,000 feet by Masters and Gardner. Shortly after, Elzinga left the expedition when altitude sickness meant he could no longer hope to attempt the summit. The summit was reached by Alan and me on May 17 after a 12-hour day beginning at 24,400 feet.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 24,Issue 56, 1982, Seite 236

Mount Everest, West Ridge Attempt in Winter.
Over the winter of 1980-81 Adrian and Alan Burgess, Brian Hall, Paul Nunn, Alan Rouse, Joe Tasker, Dr. Peter Thexton and I attempted the west ridge via the Lho La. We were accompanied by a three-man film team: Alan Dew- hurst, Graham Robinson and Mike Shrimpton. Shrimpton spent nearly a week filming on the Lho La. Base Camp was established on the Khumbu Glacier on December 6, 1980. Three days later we had our first taste of winter when winds destroyed three tents. The weather before Christmas was generally favorable, however, but recurring giardiasis among many of the team slowed our progress. After following the general Yugoslav line up the difficult and shattered rock ridges, we established Camp I in two snow caves on the Lho La at 20,000 feet. The first thousand feet of the route to the west shoulder were fixed, including the difficult rock band, before the first major winter storm brought everyone down to Base Camp for Christmas festivities. From the last week in December, the weather went into a slow spiral of decline with ever-increasing winds and colder temperatures. Camp II at 22,500 feet was established on January 3, but in the next ten days repeated attempts to go higher were thwarted by bad weather. Ad Burgess and I had a nasty experience when our tent was blown away during the early hours of January 10 and we were forced to descend under poor conditions. Joe Tasker and Pete Thexton eventually reached the site of Camp III on January 12 and very fortuitously uncovered a crevasse just as they started to dig a snow cave. Camp II was abandoned and all carries thereafter were made direct to the crevasse at Camp III in one appallingly long haul of 3500 vertical feet. Keeping enough people high on the mountain during bad weather became increasingly difficult as the team began to deteriorate physically. All the members commented on the difficulty of acclimatizing in the cold. Camp III was at times empty, and the rare good day was often squandered jümaring to it. On January 17, on one of the few fine days, Ad Burgess and Joe Tasker climbed onto the west shoulder at 24,000 feet and halfway along the three-quarter-mile section of nearly level ridge before high winds forced them back. It was the high point reached by the expedition. The last two weeks of the expedition featured almost continuous bad weather, illness and failing morale. Only a few members ever returned to Camp III; no further progress along the ridge could be made safely. The attempt was abandoned during the first week of February. The expedition was run at a very low cost. Money spent was just over $30,000, although sponsors had provided much food and equipment at no cost. Sherpas and oxygen were not used. For future winter expeditions the message seems to be: acclimatize on trekking peaks in November and be ready to start the route on December 1 (the official opening of the winter season) to make the best use of the good weather before Christmas, assure that all members and cook staff are treated for giardiasis and other stomach problems prior to arrival at Base Camp, and arrange for the strictest hygiene there. This is not easily done due to the amount of human waste that now covers the surface of the glacier over many acres.
John Porter
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 24,Issue 56, 1982, Seite 212

Lhotse Attempt.
Peter Hillary (New Zealand), Fred From (Australia), Paul Moores (U.K.) and I attempted Lhotse by the normal west-face route. We were sharing the route through the Khumbu Icefall with a large Canadian expedition intent on climbing the South Pillar of Everest. The Canadians fixed the route through the icefall and we were under contract not to enter this section until they had reached Camp I at 19,200 feet. On August 31 and September 2, two separate accidents took the lives of three Sherpas and one Canadian. This threw them into turmoil and they asked permission to change to the South-Col route. Our routes were to be common until 25,600 feet. Our light-weight expedition was to be swamped beneath fixed ropes and Sherpas. Continuing bad weather in early September prevented any progress. On September 16 Camp I was established and Camp II was placed in the Western Cwm at 21,500 feet on the 20th. Camp III was lower than normal at 23,300 feet but we used it rarely because we usually went from Camp II onto the Lhotse Face in order to fix rope. On October 7 we moved up to 26,000 feet and established Camp IV. Our summit try was on October 8. A long traverse rightwards led to the summit gully. At 27,000 feet we were hit by a sudden snowstorm and strong winds. The increasing bad weather forced us to stop and descend. Our expedition did not use oxygen and cost $15,000.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 25, Issue 57, 1983, Seite 224

Manaslu, Northeast Face Attempt in Winter.
A little after midday on December 22 my brother Alan and I were climbing carefully upwards at 23,000 feet on the northeast slope of Manaslu. Winds of more than 80 mph kept throwing us sideways into the waist-high pinnacles of eroded snow. We would hide behind them, waiting for a lull and then quickly move upward into the shelter of another. Caught out in the open, we would occasionally finish on our knees, while coffee-table-sized slabs of snow flew overhead. The beginnings of frostbite in our three Sherpa companions had forced them back to our top ice cave. At 23,300 feet we too realized that placing a final camp would have to wait for a calmer day. That evening we sadly discovered that two of our team who were below were sick and would not be able to help any more. We decided to abandon our attempt to make the first winter ascent of Makalu. Our group consisted of my brother Alan, Gordon Smith, Trevor Jones, Carl Hannigan, Sherpas Pema Dorje, Tenzing Tashi, Lakpa Tsering, Sawa Nuru, Gyaltsen, Pinsu and me. Our Base Camp was at 13,500 feet and Camps I and II were at 18,300 and 21,500 feet.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 26,Issue 58, 1984, Seite 248

Himalayan Winter Climbing.
The strongest winds generally come from the west and south. Route selection should consider this because jet-stream winds can stop movement altogether. The height of the mountain is more critical in winter because winds are worst above 21,000 feet. [See also Dr. West’s article in this issue which explains that in winter there is less barometric pressure and therefore less oxygen.—Editor. ] Routes passing through or near cols are much more windy and can funnel winds onto slopes which would normally be considered to be in the lee. When the wind direction changes from southwest to north, there is often one day of good, calm weather, but northerly winds never seem to last for many days. Although occasional snowstorms can occur in early December, they are rarely heavy and the first three weeks of December are normally the best for climbing. However, if there is an early snowstorm, it can hinder (and put up the price of) getting to Base Camp. November weather is normally sunny and dry and the Nepalese government does not seem to mind expeditions preparing Camp I (the higher the better) before December 1, provided no one occupies it, and even this may depend on the liaison officer, who may be looking forward to the New Year in Kathmandu. When hiring porters to go to Base Camp, beware the Tihar Festival around the beginning of November. It is like trying to coax a Westerner to work at Christmas. Because expeditions are better completed by December 24, there is little time to acclimatize on the mountain and previous acclimatization is advisable, possibly on a nearby trekking peak. When getting porters for the return trip, consider that a heavy snowfall might trap the expedition behind a high pass, such as on Makalu. Snow caves are best as camps on the mountain. Only very strong tents will resist the winds above 21,000 feet; living in them is worse than miserable. One-piece down suits are the best outer clothing in very windy conditions. The short cold days of winter seem to make climbing more tiring than at other times of the year. Since Christmas is when people like to be with their families, climbers have to be very highly motivated. Climbing Sherpas dislike high winds and are better below the windy zones. Frostbite may lead to amputation and so they are hesitant to commit themselves to long days in the cold.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 26, Issue 58, 1984, Seite 249

Lhotse Shar Attempt.
On August 28 Base Camp was set up on the west bank of the Imja Glacier, beneath the eastern flank of Island Peak at 17,000 feet. The route to Camp I was begun on September 2 and lay up the rubble-covered glacier and slopes on the eastern side of the col separating Lhotse Shar’s south spur from Island Peak. From the col we made a northern traverse over a series of snowy bumps, followed by a 70-foot abseil into the western flank which led to a glacial shelf and the site of Camp I at 19,100 feet. This camp was finally established on September 10 and work on the lower part of the south spur began. It was slow work fixing rope on the crest of the spur in deep snow. Every day it snowed after noon and the weather improved only after September 20. Over a number of days we fixed rope to 22,000 feet and a 600-foot traverse left led to Camp II behind a sérac. On the 24th Alan Burgess and I moved to Camp II and fixed 650 feet more rope. We could see that we needed 1500 feet of additional rope, which we would have to buy from the village of Pheriche. On September 26 Adrian Burgess and Mike O’Donnel went to Camp II to continue fixing rope. At the high point it became obvious that all the hard work which was still necessary for establishing Camp III was too much for the physical strength and morale of our small group. The team returned to Base Camp. Alan and Adrian Burgess then decided to change to the southeast ridge of Lhotse Shar. After climbing quickly to 21,000 feet, they encountered a serious sérac barrier which they felt would require fixed rope for the descent. The two were not able to carry fixed rope and so the expedition was abandoned on October 7.
Paul Moores, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 27, Issue 59, 1985, Seite 259

K2, Northwest Ridge Attempt.
Our expedition consisted of Alan Rouse, leader, John Barry, Alan and Adrian Burgess, Phil Burke, Brian Hall, John Porter and Dave Wilkinson, with Jim Hargreaves, Base-Camp manager, Dr. Bev Holt and Jim Curran, film maker. With 200 porters, we arrived at K2 Base Camp on May 23. We retained 10 porters to help ferry gear onto the Savoia Glacier, where Advance Base was established at the foot of the west face of K2, the Base Camp site used by Japanese and British west-face expeditions. From there we established Camp I at 6100 meters in the hanging valley that separates the northwest and west ridges. Above is a 700-meter mixed face which was fixed-roped in roughly the 1982 Polish line to Camp II at 6800 meters. Above the snow slopes, old Polish ropes led leftwards through mixed ground into diagonal gully-and-ramp systems. Porter and Rouse had fixed new rope up to 7400 meters by the third week of June. However, continued bad weather was slowing progress, with only the odd spell of fine. Brian Hall returned home with a damaged knee and John Porter left to return to work on July 1. By July 8 Adrian and Alan Burgess reached the high point and Adrian managed one more rope-length before the weather once more showed signs of breaking. The inevitable decision was reached that with too few active climbers to continue a fixed-rope ascent and not enough good weather to risk an alpine-style push on technically difficult ground, the northwest ridge had to be abandoned, Wilkinson, Barry, Burke, Rouse and the Burgess twins made a short foray on the Abruzzi Ridge before being turned back by bad weather. The same day, July 16, Renato Casarotto had his fatal crevasse fall. The whole team tried unsuccessfully to rescue him, and for many, this, the sixth death on K2 that summer, was the turning point. By the 20th, only Rouse and I were left. What happened later is well documented elsewhere in this Journal.
James Curran, England
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 29, Issue 61, 1987, Seite 277

Lhotse Shar, East Ridge Attempt.
Alan Burgess, Joe Frank, Dick Jackson and I had hoped to traverse from Lhotse Shar to Lhotse via Lhotse Middle. We arrived at Base Camp on August 28 and established staging camp at 19,000 feet from where we could fix a small amount of rope on steep ridges above. The rope began at 20,000 feet and led to easy ground at 21,700 feet. From there the southeast flank of the mountain consisted of wide open slopes averaging 40° interspersed with short but steeper séracs. On September 27, at 23,000 feet we triggered a five-foot-thick avalanche. With great luck we were carried only 30 feet and stopped at the edge of an ice cliff. However, the avalanching snow stripped the entire slope we had just climbed. We descended, carefully. A week later, we tried again, but snow conditions were even worse with the whole of this side of the mountain covered by vast areas of slab. We abandoned this route on October 8. We then changed to the south spur from which a Spanish team had recently withdrawn because of four avalanche fatalities. Unfortunately, the time taken in changing the permit lost us so much time that we were hit by the big storm of October 19. Four feet of snow fell in Base Camp and two avalanches destroyed two of our tents with direct hits. I was in one of them, but the snow stopped six inches from my shoulder.
drian Burgess, A.A.C. and Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 30, Issue 62, 1988, Seite 201

K2 Attempt. On May 10, Pete Athans, Steve Matous, Andrew Lapkass, my brother Alan and I arrived in Islamabad. Athans and I began travelling north on the Karakoram Highway with 70 prepacked loads in a privately hired local bus on May 17. Meanwhile the rest of the group flew directly to Skardu. On the 18th, the bus, gear and we two were taken over by 70 gun-bearing Suni Muslims, who wanted a fast ride to Gilgit. The situation deteriorated sufficiently to seal off all access roads to Gilgit for eight days. Luckily we and the gear were released, but we had to wait until the siege of Gilgit was taken care of by the military. Thus delayed, we left Skardu only on May 27. Base Camp was reached on June 7 and all local porters were paid off. On June 10, the weather cleared. The next eleven days provided us with reasonable but cold weather and we were able to push our acclimatization to reach the site of Camp III at 24,600 feet on the Abruzzi Ridge. We returned to Base Camp. On June 25, we began climbing. Not yet fully acclimatized, we still hoped to leave our high point for the summit, climb overnight and not sleep, thus reducing the risk of pulmonary and cerebral edema. We never got the chance to test our theory as the weather closed in on June 27. For the next six weeks, we launched five more serious attempts, but the weather only allowed us to get to 25,000 feet before forcing us down again. An exceptionally heavy mantle of snow lay on the upper reaches of the peak. After each successive attempt, we noticed that the layer of fresh snow was becoming deeper and more unconsolidated. We could not believe that five consecutive days of good weather was too much to expect. It never materialized and so on August 10 we had to abandon our climb. Our experience led us to believe that a small group of friends—and we are closer friends now than before—can safely tackle a high and difficult peak and still hold the same hope of success as a much larger group. In fact, we did as well and perhaps better than larger expeditions who were around us at the same time.
Adrian Burgess, A.A.C. and Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 31, Issue 63, 1989, Seite 240

Everest.
Our expedition had Karen Fellerhoff and Peter Athans as logistical leaders. The other members were Americans Jeff and Kellie Erwin Rhoads, Andy Lapkiss, Glenn Porzak and Tom Whittaker, Swedes Carl Johan Lager and Mikael Reuterswärd, New Zealander Peter Hillary, Belgians Rudy Van Snick and Nick Tettelin, Australian Roddy McKenzie, Britons Alan Burgess and I and 12 Sherpas. Porzak, Lapkiss, Al Burgess and I got to Base Camp on March 30, but most members did not arrive until April 12 because of supply problems in Kathmandu and illness in the Khumbu. On April 10, we established Camp I, a little higher than usual because of bad conditions in the icefall. Camp II was placed at 21,000 feet on April 17. Platforms for Camp III were dug at 23,500 feet on April 22 but the camp was not occupied until April 24. Porzak, the two Belgians, Reuterswärd and two Sherpas made the first summit attempt from Camp IV on the South Col on May 4. However, bad weather stopped this group as well as the next four summit attempts. The idea was that because of the considerable experience of the group we should all have the opportunity to make a summit bid. Actually twelve of the Westerners did go to Camp IV on the South Col without oxygen, spent the night there and either made a summit bid or descended, thwarted by bad weather. Finally on May 24 Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, Sonam Dendu Sherpa, Roddy McKenzie and I left the South Col at midnight and reached the summit at seven A.M. We were back at the South Col at ten o’clock and at Camp II at two P.M. Two bottles of oxygen were carried by all four climbers. The snow conditions were very good, hard snow-ice. The weather was perfect until late afternoon when it quickly deteriorated. A final summit bid on May 25 was foiled by bad weather. There were two accidents and deaths on the South Col route this spring, involving other teams. The Nepalese government is now allowing a number of expeditions on this route at the same time. It would appear that the capability of teams ranges from very experienced to wildly incompetent. The main cause of accidents is because climbers are taking so long on the final day that they do not arrive at the summit until after four P.M. Then, tired from their efforts, they must descend in failing light and with failing strength. Teams should decide on a reasonably early turn-around time, such as two P.M., and then adhere to it.
Adrian Burgess
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 32, Issue 64, 1990, Seite 231

Nanga Parbat, Rupal Face Attempt, Schell Route.
A team of three New Zealanders, an Australian and four Britons was led by New Zealander Guy Halliburton. They were unsuccessful because of excessive powder snow. On May 15, they established Base Camp at 4100 meters to the left and higher than the usual spot so that the first section of the climb would be more in the shadow in the early season and therefore less prone to avalanches. They climbed in two groups. Britons Adrian Burgess, Paul Moores and Hugh McNicoll reached 6500 meters, after which they left for home on June 20. The rest of the team managed to reach 7500 meters a few days later, but they could not proceed higher because of the abundance and condition of the snow. Halliburton was dragged down by an avalanche some 150 meters by an avalanche below Camp III but suffered no undue consequences.
Xavier Eguskitza, Pyrenaica, Bilbao, Spain
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 33, Issue 65, 1991, Seite 280

Gasherbrum II.
As in previous years, a large number of expeditions had Gasherbrum II (8035 meters, 26,362 feet) as their objective. Only three of them reached the summit. A six-member Swiss expedition was led by Nicole Niquille, the only woman of the group. Having followed the standard route, on June 28 Philippe Menu, Félix Thurlir, Christian Haymoz and Pakistani porter Ali Mohammad reached the summit. During the descent, Menu and Thurlir had a fall toward the Chinese slope, fortunately without serious consequences. A South Korean expedition succeeded in placing four on the summit by the standard route. On July 19, climbing-leader Kim Chang-Seon, ahead of his companions, got to the summit alone, followed a few hours later by three others. A second South Korean expedition, led by Han Sang-Kook, also made the ascent. On July 20, the summit was reached by five climbers. An eight-member American expedition was led by David Mention, who had to return home in the early stages of the expedition. The rest of the team left Base Camp on June 23 after two of their members had reached the site of Camp IV at 7500 meters. An eight-member international expedition led by Adrian Burgess (a Briton living in the United States) included his American sister-in-law Sarah Rogers, Briton Paul Moores, Swedes Mikael Reuterswärd, Oscar Kihlborg and Johan Lagne, and Catalan women Magda Nos and Monica Verge. During the early stages of the attempt, Moores fell into a deep crevasse in the icefall and was held precariously at the end of the rope by Burgess; he suffered injuries to his leg. Later, on June 18, Kihlborg and Lagne reached a high point of 7800 meters. On June 28, Moores and an Austrian of Studer’s group managed to get to 7700 meters. The expedition was left first by the three Swedes and then by Moores and Monica Verge. A last attempt by Burgess ended at Camp II. The three remaining climbers left Base Camp on July 15. An Austrian expedition led by Wilfried Studer had to give up its attempt on July 13. As mentioned above, one of its members reached 7700 meters with Moores. Four Americans led by Dave McNally got to Camp III at 7000 meters. Eleven French climbers led by Jean-Pierre Fedéle had to give up their attempt at 7500 meters on August 18 because of bad weather conditions they had encountered since their arrival at Base Camp a month earlier.
Xavier Eguskitza, Pyrenaica, Bilbao, Spain
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 34, Issue 66, 1992, Seite 248

Makalu Attempt. Our members included Americans Peter Getzels, Brad Johnson, Peter Carse, Dr. James States, Brian Cox and me as leader and Britons Adrian and Alan Burgess. Our objective was a light-weight ascent of the northwest-ridge first-ascent route without supplementary oxygen nor high- altitude Sherpas. We established Base Camp on April 6 at 17,500 feet just 20 minutes below the British Advance Base for the west face and next to a small painted mani wall. Camp I was placed at 21,500 feet on April 16, with a temporary acclimatization camp at 18,500 feet. Due to the new peak fees in Nepal, we were the only expedition on our route, which necessitated our fixing the entire route up to the Makalu La. Therefore, Camp II was not established on the col at 24,500 feet until May 13. It was our hope to reach the summit from this camp. On the evening of May 13, however, two or more feet of snow fell, making trailbreaking difficult. Most members withdrew by June 15. Brad Johnson made one final attempt on the 16th with the British west-face expedition, which a week before had switched to our route. This attempt also failed at 25,600 feet. I count the friendship and cooperation between our small American expedition and the much larger British expedition as one of the major successes of our trip. One last addendum: it should be stressed how important it is to change porters in Tashigaon on the approach. Lowland porters are definitely not up to the challenges of the relentlessly poor weather on the Shipton Col.
James McEachen
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 35, Issue 67, 1993, Seite 208

Ascent of P 6640, Chinese Karakoram
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
ALL OUR ENERGIES were focused on the ascent of the north ridge of K2 from the Xinjiang Province of China. However, after two months of climbing, fixing rope and preparing the route to 26,000 feet. Brad Johnson and I found ourselves in Base Camp in good weather while our team member Alan Hinkes was trying for the summit with two Basque climbers. (See “Climbs and Expeditions” section.) K2 was not out of our minds, but it was out of reach at the moment and we were frustrated.
Surrounding Base Camp were a number of peaks of about 22,000 feet. While on the north ridge, we'd looked across at them and drawn imaginary lines up their unclimbed faces. The climbing adventurer in us wanted to break out, but we had another job to do and fantasies were likely to remain just that. Then, on July 22, with the 3500-foot unclimbed south face of P 6640 staring down at us, we made a decision. “Let’s go and do it. We would if we were in the Alps.”
That night, we hiked up to the base, fully aware that even the moraine and rocky ridges we followed were probably virgin. As I lay in my sleeping bag and checked out my climbing gear, I casually asked Brad if he had the rope. He looked across at me and shook his head with a disbelieving stare. We'd forgotten it. Still, we rationalized, the route wasn’t going to be so difficult — ice up to 55° and most of it less than that. I reckoned it looked a bit like the Courtourier Couloir on the Aiguille Verte and I’d soloed that years ago.
Dawn was barely breaking when we made our way over the rocks towards “our” couloir. All snow had long since disappeared because of the warm season, but the ice was good and our spirits were high. I didn’t expect the zing and drone of rocks that met us as the ice steepened. We ducked under an overhang and had a hasty discussion. The gully was turning into a bowling alley with us the skittles. Should we go up, change our route or wait and see? We chose the latter because it gave us time: time to get hit by rocks but also time to think of an alternative.
Racing from overhang to overhang up the left side of the gully didn’t seem too dangerous, but when it came to where we would have to move into the open, we both balked. Up to the left, a smaller side gully led out of sight through some brittle-looking rock. We followed it as naturally as if it were where we had planned to go all the time. The difference was that the ice had become steeper. Still, our confidence soared and we moved rapidly together. Sometimes I led and sometimes Brad. He looked happy enough and I hoped I did too, though a creeping feeling inside me was beginning to grow. We were moving away from an option to descend and we didn’t know where we were going because we hadn't “scoped” any other route. All we knew was that there were some ice arêtes stretching down from the summit and that they should be safe from stonefall. Some other awareness was starting to blossom too. I felt free and alive. All the climbing on K2 involved fixing ropes, hauling gear and food, in short, work. Standing alone on frontpoints with the ice sweeping away brought me back to the true essence of what it was all about. Escape from routine, the tingling sense of doing something you shouldn’t. The whole reason I’d begun climbing over thirty years earlier.
We pressed on up, diagonaling left through more gullies and then back right, where we could see the ice ridges. It had suddenly become much more exposed. Brad was above and was having trouble with poor, rotten ice as he attempted to reach the first ridge. I decided to traverse over to the right to try to reach it lower down, but that meant crossing a short rubble-covered ledge. It was steeper than it looked and every rock hold came away in my hands. I tried not to let my eyes follow the debris as it plunged into the shadows. The hair on the back of my neck prickled. The climbing had changed. I was now trying to save my life. Things had become serious. Raw panic hovered just below the surface, but I had to stay cool if I wished to survive. Worrying about the building exposure could only compromise my concentration. I knew I could climb it with a rope, but without, well, I wasn’t sure.
The snow on the ridges was rotten on the left but had small ridge-like penitentes to the right. Despite the special Reebok boot that gave me much support, I was glad to be able to side-step on these ridges. After a few more hundred feet of arête, I looked up to see Brad starting a traverse right where the ridge ended and a thin seam of ice led through the summit rocks.
“My God!” I thought, cursing my stupidity in getting myself into this situation. “Keep it together now or you’re dead.” I called up and asked him to stop where he could find a place to rest. One dislodged stone, one careless move and he could kill me. I suggested we climb as though we were roped, one at a time, stopping when it seemed reasonable. The ice steepened to 65°. It was thin and three feet wide. There was one complicated change-over as I tried to step onto a foot-square ledge while Brad tried to step off it. I placed ice-tool picks carefully between Brad’s teetering boots. We were a team, linked not by rope but by a common desire to survive. It demanded all my abilities to focus on the immediate surrounding ice and loose, friable rock. At one point, the ice fractured all the way across as Brad removed his ice tools, leaving a precarious slab. I noted the danger with an almost detached, third-party perception.
"Don't set both feet in the plaque. It could go.” Then we traversed out to the right and began the final rock climb to the top. A torque of a tool-blade, an awkward mantle and we were on the snowy summit. It had taken a little over four hours.
The descent was another string of surprises, culminating in 1500 feet of frontpointing down 50° ice while sun-released rocks spun past us. It had been an amazing day, but not one I’d want to repeat every day.
Summary of Statistics:
Area: Karakoram, north of K2, Xinjiang, China
First Ascent: P 6640, 21,785 feet, via the south face, July 23, 1994 (Adrian Burgess, American born in the U.K., and Brad Johnson, American).
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 37, Issue 69, 1995, Seite 92

K2 Attempt and Ascent of P 6640. Towards the end of April, Americans Mark Wilford and Brad Johnson, Britons Alan Burgess, Alan Hinkes, Paul Moores and I assembled in Kathmandu with all equipment and food. All this baggage was put on a truck and five Sherpas accompanied it overland for 11 days to the roadhead at Mazar in Xinjiang Province of western China. We climbers embarked on a series of flights through Lhasa, Chengdu, Urumqi and Kashgar, and then on by jeep to Mazar, a dusty, desolate army outpost in the Yarkand valley. On May 10, we began our journey to Base Camp. Our gear was carried for the next seven days by 47 camels over the Arghil Pass, into the Shaksgam valley and then on to Low Base Camp at 12,200 feet. On May 18, the camels departed and for 13 days we six climbers and five Sherpas ferried our gear 17 miles to High Base Camp at 16,600 feet. On May 30, most of us established High Base Camp while Moores and Wilford reached Camp I at 19,000 feet. They reported that the ice was so hard that our Russian-made ice pitons were bending as they drove them in. The route to Camp I lay to the right of the true ridge and followed a slight depression over some steep ice bulges. This was a natural avalanche track, but no other way was practical. The way to Camp II at 21,800 feet lay up the right flank of the ridge before sweeping back up left to the ridge and a small place to camp. There were two icefields of up to 55° and the ice was black and hard. Moores and Wilford fixed rope again. After a week’s delay from storm, they almost reached Camp II on June 18. Not until June 21 did we get to the site of Camp II and carry 150 pounds there. The difficult route waa threatened in the afternoons by heavy stonefall. Between Camps I and II we fixed 5500 feet of rope, which tended to freeze into the ice because the afternoons were warm and the nights cold. The ice screw anchors melted out in the afternoon heat. It took six hours to reach Camp II and this made an afternoon descent inevitable, increasing the risk. Moores, Wilford, Johnson and Hinkes fixed rope up to Camp III at 25,000 feet over very loose rock and interconnecting snow slopes. Two more expeditions arrived: from Spain and Italy. There was much negotiation with them over the use of our fixed ropes. The Spaniards helped us carry rope to Camp II. The Italians did not, but they used our ropes to fix their own and finally used ours when the stonefall danger became apparent. On July 7, Moores left for a job at home and Alan Burgess and Wilford left with him. The strain of such a dangerous route was taking its toll. As leader, I descended to discuss the situation with the liaison officer and arrange for their outward journey. In Base Camp, I found Johnson sick with swollen glands. The weather improved and Hinkes, the only sufficiently acclimatized member, joined two Spaniards to make the first summit attempt. On July 26, they reached 26,000 feet, just beyond Camp IV, but after one Spaniard fell into a crevasse and the snow was so deep on the 30° slope, they called off their attempt. During the last days of the expedition, Johnson and I made the first ascent of P 6640, a difficult ice climb on the 3500-foot south face. A full article on this climb appears earlier in this Journal. We left Base Camp on July 30.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 34, Issue 66, 1992, Seite 311

Cerro Torre, First British Ascent.
Paul Morres (UK), Mark Wilford (US) and I (UK/US) found ourselves in Patagonia on October 25. I had climbed Fitz Roy 18 years earlier and was quite surprised to see the growth of the small village of Chalten. There are now bars and restaurants on the road- head. We left for Cerro Torre immediately and after reaching the Col of Patience and digging an ice cave the good weather came to an end. In descent there are two choices: a) rappel down the route of ascent (mixed ground with both snow and rock), or b) rappel the 1000-foot rock wall to the right of the ascent route. This is a purely rap-route (established during the 1994-1995 season by alpinist Robert Jasper) needing 60-meter ropes with two bolts at each hanging station. We began the latter. A bad idea. While the three of us hung from two bolts the rope pulled clear and then snagged way above. Mark jümared the rope; we climbed back up to the anchors and all ascended again. Descent was then made by the first option.
For two weeks it stormed, then on the morning of November 10 we left the Bridwell camp in brilliant weather. Austrians Max Berger and Alois Badegruber went with us to the Col in nine hours. Max climbed with Paul and I with Mark. Alois photographed our ascent from the col. On November 11 we all climbed up to the foot of the headwall (20 pitches) and bivied on two small ledges. The climb was in reasonable condition if icy. The next day we climbed the headwall and reached the summit around midday in deteriorating weather. The descent took seven hours, in storm, back to the col. We arrived back at the Bridwell camp on November 13 in time to meet an Italian trekking group led by the two old guys who had hauled the compressor up behind Maestri. It was the 25th Anniversary of the route’s first ascent.
Adrian Burgess, Alpine Climbing Group
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 38, Issue 70, 1996, Seite 229

Diran, Ascent.
Adrian Burgess and Rob Ziegler made the first American ascent of Diran (23,838') on July 10. The mountain was climbed in alpine-style over three days; we climbed the final 4,800 feet in eight hours to summit at midday. Base Camp was reached again at 10 a.m. on July 11. We were relying on information from the book Himalaya Alpine-Style; much of the information on the route in that book had been gleaned from Doug Scott’s 1983 ascent. It should be noted that some of the structure of the face may have changed, as we found the face leading to the ridge extremely dangerous and at risk from collapsing seracs and wet snow slides. This forced us onto the ridge about two hours further west than the West Col, which accounts for the extra height on the last day. On the first two days, we actually climbed in the middle of the night.
Adrian Burgess
Quelle: American Alpine Journal Volume 41, Issue 73, 1999, Seite 398