It is always fascinating to observe the changing popularity of destination countries over a number of years - inevitably to some extent influenced by finance and politics. Not many years ago, most expeditions headed for the Indian sub-continent, but increases in peak fees have forced teams to seek cheaper locations. Hence, in 2005, India, Nepal and Pakistan each only attracted two expeditions.

In India, an expedition to Sikkim was successful on two peaks - the first ascent of the North Peak of Lama Lamani (c.5650m) and the first alpine-style ascent of Tinchenkang (6010m) - while a team hoping to climb on the west face of Changabang (6864m) found that the Nanda Devi Sanctuary was still closed, so made an approach from the north but was forced to abandon due to deep snow, lack of food - and a tooth abscess! In Nepal, two climbers on Machermo (6017m) were also beaten by snow/ice conditions, but a scientific project studying ice caves inside the Ngozumpa Glacier at about 5000m returned home with detailed maps and useful data of several in addition to some very spectacular photographs. Of the two trips to Pakistan, one achieved the first ascent of Peak 5800m in the Kero Lungma Range, but a multinational team hoping to climb Uli Biaho (6109m) decided that frequent avalanches made it too dangerous to attempt, so turned their attention to Trango II (6327m) which they climbed by a new route on its SW Ridge.

Expeditions to the peaks of China/Tibet were mainly successful, achieving first ascents of Birutaso (c.6550m) and Kajaqiao (6447m) in the Nyainqentanglha East region, Dobzebo (c.6420m) in the Habuqung Shan, several peaks in Shar Kangsum and the North Face of Xiashe (5833m) in West Sichuan. Despite holding the appropriate permit, another team in West Sichuan was forcibly prevented from climbing its chosen peak by local monks, so made another attempt to complete the ascent of Haizi Shan (5833m), which the team had abandoned in 2004: once again they were repulsed by bad weather.

Bad weather proved to be a major problem on the other side of the world, with all five teams in Alaska (USA) affected, and thus achieving little. Fortunately expeditions to Canada fared better, one recording the first N-S traverse of Mt Zeus (2959m) in the Pantheon Range (including the first ascent of its West summit) and the other making first ascents of 8 peaks including Donjeks 3, 4 & 5 (c.3300m-3700m) in Kluane NP.

South America attracted six expeditions: in Peru, an expedition to the Cordillera Oriental completed a traverse (including possibly the first ascent) of an unnamed peak (c.5200m), while hot weather made another team's prime objective of the west face of Nevado Rondoy (5879m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash too dangerous, so they carried out a reconnaissance of the Eastern Cordillera Blanca instead, achieving several ascents in the process. By contrast, heavy rain in Argentina caused swollen rivers, which initially prevented access to a team hoping to visit the Lost Valley of the Andes, but once the level dropped they managed to get across on horseback and explore, although without doing any actual climbing. Although a team making its (almost annual) attempt on Cerro Aguilera (2500m) in Chile felt that they now knew a suitable approach they were once more beaten by the Patagonian weather, with only 2 'good' days during four weeks in the area. A four-man team in Bolivia had no such problem, and climbed new routes on Casalala (5650m), Huelancalloc (5847m) and Canisaya (5652m) in the Cordillera Apolobamba. Following previous successes on the tepuis of Venezuela a husband and wife returned with an augmented team, but dense jungle prevented access to their intended objective, so they turned their attention to the 1000m Main Face of Angel Falls, on which they successfully topped out after 31 pitches up to E7 6b and 19 days - including 14 nights spent on the wall.

Any visit to the Antarctic is obviously going to be expensive, but climbers with good sea legs can save money by the use of sailing boats, which is what all three expeditions did in 2005. One team sailed from Port Stanley to Larsen Harbour to carry out a 17 day S-N traverse of South Georgia, making one first ascent en route. The other two expeditions used a different boat, but ran back-to-back with one another: the first attempted a number of routes on Anvers Island and Wiencke Island, achieving some success despite poor weather. Moving to South Georgia for the second, the bad weather unfortunately continued with pressure dropping to 930mb, preventing two attempts to reach the summit of Mt Paget (2996m), although a subsidiary peak, Buzen Peak (c.2100m), was climbed.

There were only three expeditions to Greenland, but as usual many more peaks received their first ascents: it makes one wonder how many still remain unclimbed?

After being out-of-bounds for many years, western mountaineers are finding countries in the former Soviet Union increasingly popular, with three teams visiting in 2005. An Anglo-NZ team hoping to climb Pik 5697m (nick-named 'Grand Poohbah') in the Western Kokshaal-Too of Kyrgyzstan experienced various problems before reaching their peak on which they could see no feasible route, but they were successful in making the first ascent of a 5240m peak which they named Neizvestniy (Russian for 'unknown') and attempted several others. In the same country a team of rock climbers who described the valleys round Ak Su as 'like Yosemite Valley in the 1930s with terrorism' achieved some hard new routes despite bad weather. A team from Bristol University climbed new routes on several 5500-5900m peaks from the Fedchenko Glacier in Tajikistan before the leader and one companion disappeared while attempting a multi-day traverse of Peak Bakinshikh Kommisarov (6834m) and Peak Revolution (6948m). We would like to express our deepest sympathy to their families and friends.

On arrival in Mongolia, a 2-man team decided that their original objective - a 70km ridge traverse on Monhh Khiarhan (4202m) - 'looked rather tame', so climbed the peak (the country's second highest) via a new route over a subsidiary peak: en route they saw footprints that may have been those of a snow leopard.

There were two caving expeditions recommended by the Ghar Parau Foundation. The long-running China Caves project discovered many new entrances and a massive resurgence in Yunnan, but despite potential no great depth was achieved. The Mulu area of Sarawak (Malaysia) has long been popular with British cavers, and this year they successfully linked two previously separate caves to form the world's tenth longest system at 130 km.

In June, we celebrated the Fiftieth Anniversary of the First Ascent of Kangchenjunga with a memorable evening in the Royal Geographical Society: amazingly, all surviving members of the original team participated, although sadly John Jackson died a few weeks later. We also mourn the death of Michael Ward, a stalwart supporter of the MEF and well-known explorer in his own right.

At the Kendal Mountain Film Festival 2005, we once again joined with the British Mountaineering Council to present a series of short talks on expeditions supported in the recent past. We are already planning our participation in the next Festival, the main part of which will be held over the weekend 17th-19th November 2006. For the first time, this will also include the presentation of the Boardman-Tasker Award for Mountain Literature.

Discussions continue with the Royal Geographical Society over the future of the Everest photographic collection, and we hope that it will be possible to reach an amicable agreement in the very near future.

At the Annual General Meeting to be held in December 2006, I will complete my six years on the Committee, the last two years as Chairman, and will hand over the reins to Martin Scott. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Committee and feel honoured to have been Chairman. The smooth running of organisations such as the MEF, requires the dedication and enthusiasm of many people. Bill Ruthven has been a tower of strength and no Committee or Chairman could have been better served. Richard Morgan has managed the MEF's financial affairs impeccably and Lindsay Griffin has chaired the Screening Committee with encyclopaedic knowledge and good sense. I could mention many more individuals but I will embrace them all with my heartfelt thanks. It has been a privilege, and I wish Martin Scott and the Committee all the best for the future.

Dr John Gerrard - MEF Chairman

May 2006

Destinations in 2006 (repesented in graphical form)

MEF Committee Information 2005 - 2006

2006 Expeditions/Projects supported by MEF

Grants to expeditions 1977 - 2006 (represented in graphical form)