EXTREME ATTEMPT ON JANNU PEAK

 

Sam Hennessey and Mike Gardner, two esteemed mountaineers from the Samaya Family, traveled to Nepal during the summer of 2023. Their two-month expedition led them to the imposing Jannu Peak, near Kanchenjunga. For Samaya, Sam reflects on their extraordinary attempt.

 

"In the fall of 2023, Mike and I traveled to the eastern part of Nepal to Jannu Peak, to attempt the ascent of the north face of the east summit. It's a really interesting part of Nepal because it isn't as developed and frequented as places like the Khumbu or Annapurna regions. It has a nice sense of isolation, and there are many truly impressive 6000 and 7000-meter peaks in the area. Kanchenjunga is very close, so it's a great place to visit.

 

We had a weather window to attempt the climb from the north side, but unfortunately, the conditions weren't very good. The end of the monsoon was very wet and caused a lot of snow and ice on the wall. During our ascent, there was a lot of wind, which brought down snow and ice.

 

We climbed for two days, then found a safe spot to set up our portaledge, where we waited for another three days. The conditions didn't improve, so we went back down.

 

Last year, we had tried, but it was impossible due to bad weather. It was very cold and windy. Climbing above 7000 meters on a north face in those conditions was simply too cold for us.

 

Next year, we plan to go back. We know that it's a long process to climb a route like this, and we think we can do it. We just need to get perfect conditions.

 

The problem with this specific goal is that it is so cold that if you stay for a very long time, it becomes increasingly colder. Staying for about two months feels like the right amount of time to us.

 

There were other great mountains around this year when we were acclimatizing. The weather was very wet, so we could only do non-technical hiking and just sleep in the rain and snow.

 

It was a really great adventure. We learned a lot about the mountain and the route, as well as tactics and equipment. This year, we tried again, and next year, we will have even better tactics."