On December 1, 2023, the New York Times reported the feat of 3 men:

Alan Rousseau, 37;  Matt Cornell, 29; and Jackson Marvell, 27. Americans.

 

 

 

North face of Mount Jannu in sunlight. Jackson Marvell in the NYT on 12/01/2023

 

 

They completed the ascent and descent of the most difficult of the Himalayas’ peaks, Mt. Jannu. North face.  

 

Without ropes. Without bottled oxygen or fixed high camps. And without porters beyond base camp.

 

A few others have also succeeded but not without this support. These climbers used only what they could carry on their backs.

I lay out the nub of the story here because I cannot attach it from the NYT website;

 

and because this has lifted us up in a time of intense sorrow and apprehension. 

 

Mt. Jannu is 25,295′.  Its difficulty is not its height but the shape and size of its head wall: 3000′; a part of it overhanging and covered in snow and ice. 

 

The ascent is almost 2 miles. 

 

This was a slip of a story, easily missed, of an extraordinary feat by 3 ‘ordinary’ men. 

 

 

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Rousseau and Marvell on the shoulder atop Mount Jannu’s head wall. Credit…Matt Cornell on the site of the NYT

 

 

This was reported by John Branch on 12/01/23 in the NYT.

 

“The expedition began with a 30-hour drive from Kathmandu, Nepal. A hiking trek to base camp began at 5,000 feet of elevation, and for six days the climbers used porters and pack animals to climb out of swampy junglelike terrain.

Base camp was established at the foot of Jannu’s north face in a meadow at 15,500 feet. 

 

“Arriving Sept. 17 (2023), the climbers acclimated to the altitude and studied forecasts, searching for a weeklong window of clear weather.

 

“In early October, they found a promising stretch.

 

“They prepared their climbing packs, taking advantage of ever-improving gear. Climbing tools — ice axes, crampons, ice screws, pitons and so on — are stronger and lighter than ever.

 

“So are ropes. The climbers used two ropes, each 60 meters long. One was a nine-millimeter nylon rope for climbing, the other a thinner one so that the lead climber could lift gear, allowing teammates to concentrate and ascend without cargo on their backs.

 

“They carried dehydrated food. They had one stove, one pot and one two-pound sleeping bag, wide enough to fit three men, the better for body warmth.

 

“The climb began on a Saturday in October.  It was “mixed” climbing, meaning a mix of rock, snow and ice, with the men rotating into the lead position.

 

“The first two days involved about 6,000 vertical feet of climbing, 60 meters of rope at a time.

 

 

At night, the climbers slept while hanging off the mountainside. Credit…Jackson Marvell on the site of the NYT

 

 

“They slept the first night at 19,000 feet, in a crack “where the glacier movement separates away from the ice that’s stuck to the mountain face,” Rousseau said. “Which sounds crazy to a lot of people, that we camped inside a crevasse, essentially.”

“They could feel and hear the movement of the glacial ice.

 

 

 

Cornell, Rousseau and Marvell on Mount Jannu. Credit: Jackson Marvell on the site of the NYT

 

 

They reached Jannu’s summit on Oct. 12 (2023)  and stayed for just a few minutes….

 

“The descent from Jannu’s summit, by a series of rappels that hopscotched back down the face, stretched to midnight the next day…. 

 

“After a day at base camp, the men flew in a helicopter back to Kathmandu, where Rousseau and Marvell spent five days in a hospital, getting their hands treated (for frostbite).”

 

 

Alan Rousseau, left, and Matt Cornell on Mount Jannu in October. Credit…Jackson Marvell on the site of the NYT