British Langtang Himalayan Expedition

A team under Mike Stead made an attempt on the spectacular, steeply glaciated S face of Langtang Lirung. This peak was reconnoitred by Tilman in 1949, and was the object of 8 subsequent expeditions (6 being Japanese) in the course of which 8 climbers died. Avoiding the rock band over which the South Langtang glacier pours continual avalanches, the party placed 2 camps on the S ridge of the face, reaching a point some 1,200m below the summit, at a small nick in the steep ridge below the bulging ice-cliffs. Repeated storms then forced a retreat.