SAMAYA x PHILIPP BRUGGER
ABORTED ATTEMPT ON LUPGHAR SAR
On May 27, 2022, Philipp Brugger, Tomas Franchini, and Lukas Waldner completed the first ascent of Shaue Sar at an altitude of 6,653 meters. The Shimshal Valley is a very wild, isolated region with large glaciers and many seracs. Exploration there is rare and difficult, with very few mountaineers visiting. In June 2023, Philipp, Tomas, and Lukas returned to attempt some unexplored summits.
"Last year, with Tomas and Lukas, we went to the Shimshal Valley to attempt the first ascent of Shaue Sar at 6,653 meters altitude. After reaching the advanced base camp at 4,600 meters, we set off toward the 2,000-meter-long North Face, with ice at about 85 degrees. We completed the ascent in one go.
We had imagined climbing for ten hours to reach the summit and six hours to descend. It was more or less like in the Alps, in alpine style, except that it was a big 6,000-meter peak. We were very lucky and very happy to succeed in this ascent, because the weather was not ideal.
This year, we realized how lucky we had been last year.
We had spotted other peaks deeper in the valley, higher, wilder, and more difficult. The possibilities were multiple, with at least five 7,000-meter summits. We knew we were going to need a lot of luck, because the areas are wild and filled with seracs, making the attempts very dangerous. But we thought it was possible. That's why we went back there this year.
We arrived at the base camp in June, thinking we could attempt the ascent in early July. Unfortunately, the mountain was covered in a thick blanket of snow, much more significant than in previous years. The weather conditions did not improve as the days went by.
Our goal was the magnificent 7,200-meter Lupghar Sar. We wanted to climb the 2,400-meter-long East Face. Once we arrived at the foot of the face, we set up an advanced camp. We did our acclimatization on the neighboring 6,000-meter peak, then realized that the ascent was impossible. We went back down and tried the South Face. Despite our self-sacrifice, nothing was in condition. We had arrived too early in the season.
There was nothing we could do.
A friend fell into a crevasse, cutting his hand slightly with the rope. Given his need for antibiotics and the weather forecast, we decided to head home more than two weeks early.
Generally, failure is not a big problem. What is peculiar and frustrating about this expedition is that we didn’t even get the chance to try. It’s a very strange feeling.
I would find it hard to describe this feeling. In the case where you make a good attempt, give it your all, and despite all those efforts it turns out the ascent is impossible, you turn back, but you still had a good day.
When we were there, we wandered around on a glacier, realizing day after day that everything was too dangerous, with too much snow.
In the end, we put a lot of effort into exploring this, and we should make another attempt, but not next year—perhaps in two years. I think with all that work, all the time we invested in this project, we should return one day."
