Huge New Himalayan Route Was Famously Attempted by David Lama
The southeast ridge of Annapurna III had been attempted by some of the world's best climbers over the past four decades
Annapurna III is part of the Annapurna range in Nepal, and it’s the 42nd highest mountain at 7,555 metres. Three Ukranian climbers have made the first ascent of the southeast ridge, a route tried by many top climbers over the past 40 years.
Several climbers had attempted ridge in the past, with the first attempt being in 1981 by Nick Colton and Tim Leach who reached about 400 metres below the summit before turning around. Twice in 2010, Pete Benson, Nick Bullock and Matt Helliker attempted the ridge. Their first attempt started at the southeast pillar, and the second started at the east ridge where the team took a helicopter into basecamp to save time.
In 2016, the late David Lama filmed a documentary of his unsuccessful attempt up the southeast ridge with the late Hansjörg Auer and Alex Blümel. It won the UIAA award for Best Climbing Film that year. Lama and Auer, along with Jess Roskelley, tragically died in the Canadian Rockies in 2019 in an avalanche on Howse Peak.
The Cherkasy Mountaineering Federation posted on their Facebook page today that Vyacheslav Polezhayko, Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail Fomin had made the first ascent of the southeast ridge as one of the last serious unsolved problems of the Himalayas. The team has descended to below 6,000 metres.
The three climbers attempted it in 2019, and Balabanov wrote: “There are three vertical kilometres stuffed with completely different types of complex terrain: waterfall ice, vertical snow, openwork snow ridges, a cool mix.. I had to fight for several days in vertical snow. As a result, the key part began later than expected. On the sixth day, I realized that I had small frostbite on my legs. We finished somewhere aroun 6,300 metres and went down. Was it difficult? – Yes! Will we be back? – Definitely!”
We look forward to hearing about the first ascent of this mega new route over the coming days. For now, watch Lama’s award-winning documentary about their attempt, and check out some photos from Balabanov’s 2019 expedition.
David Lama, Hansjörg Auer and Alex Blümel on Annapurna III
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