EXTREME ATTEMPT AT PIC JANNU

 

Sam Hennessey and Mike Gardner, two outstanding mountaineers from the Samaya Family, travelled to Nepal in the summer of 2023. Their two-month expedition took them to the imposing Jannu Peak, close to Kanchenjunga. For Samaya, Sam looks back on their extraordinary attempt.

 

"In the autumn of 2023, Mike and I traveled to the eastern part of Nepal to Jannu Peak, to attempt an ascent of the north face of the east peak. This is a really interesting part of Nepal because it's not as developed and frequented as places like the Khumbu or Annapurna regions. It has a pleasantly isolated feel, and there are lots of really impressive 6000 and 7000-meter peaks in the area. Kanchenjunga is nearby, so it's a great place to visit.

 

We had a weather window to attempt the climb on the north side, but unfortunately conditions were not 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 caused snow and ice to fall.

 

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

 

Last year we tried, but the weather made it impossible. It was very cold and windy. Climbing above 7000 metres on a north face in these conditions was simply too cold for us.

 

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

 

The problem with this particular lens is that it's so cold that if you stay very long, it gets colder and colder. Staying for about two months seems to us to be the right length of time.

 

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'll have even better tactics."