British Ama Dablam 1996

This team, attempting the NW Ridge of Ama Dablam, 6,828m, was affected by the late monsoon, which deposited deep unconsolidated snow on top of very steep granite: at times they had to tunnel their way up the route, looking for weaknesses in the rock. After 25 days of this they reached a knife-edge snow arête at 5,800m which shook when they crossed it, so they agreed that it was too dangerous to continue. They consoled themselves with the fact that this was the highest that any team had reached on the NW Ridge.