Janak, aka Janak Chuli (7090m or 7041m, depending on the source), had
been a goal of Slovenian alpinists since 2000. Then, it wasn’t on the
list of permitted peaks, and we received authorization to climb Kirat
Chuli, Jongsang Peak and Patibara instead. That expedition ended
tragically: one member died on the way down from the first ascent of
Jongsang’s South Summit I (7350m), and we stopped all other attempts. I
used the remaining time to reconnaissance Janak, focusing on the south
face via the Broken Glacier approach. The southwest pillar in particular
drew my attention. I put Janak on the list and waited for the
opportunity.
Rok Zalokar on the first ascent of the Southwest Pillar (VI 5.6 70 degrees, 1150m) of Janak Chuli (7090m). The route of ascent follows the left-hand skyline of the photo in Alpinist Issue 4, Page 61 (?Unclimbed?). Andrej Stremfelj notes that the climb was ?only slightly easier? than a winter ascent of the Grandes Jorasses? Croz Pillar, which is 3000 meters lower. Zalokar and ˇStremfelj traveled seventeen kilometers from Pangpema to the head of the Broken Glacier in a day, then made the climb in pure alpine style on May 5?6, simulclimbing most of the route in poor conditions. Zalokar is 23, Stremfelj 49. [Photo] Andrej Stremfelj
The first opportunity arose last fall. Miha Habjan and I wanted to climb
the southwest pillar, but Miha didn’t feel well, so we decided to try a
gully on the right side of the south face (behind the significant
serac). We managed to climb the whole wall up the plateau, but had to
retreat because of bad weather. The summit remained untouched.
This spring Rok Zalokar and I joined a Novo Mesto alpine club expedition
to Patibara (7123m). After completing that part of the expedition (which
served as an excellent acclimatization), we had five days left. The
first day we rested in Pangpema base camp; the next, we set up an
advance base camp seventeen kilometers higher at the end of the Broken
Glacier. We then spent a day resting and inspecting the face (the first
time Rok had seen the wall for himself). On May 5 we left ABC at 12:30
a.m. and started up the wall at 2 a.m. At 6 p.m. we reached a
bergschrund at the upper edge of the icefield beneath the headwall at
6800 meters, where we put up a small tent (we had a stove but no
sleeping bags). We continued the climb at 6 a.m. the following day. The
route’s defining characteristic was a two-pitch traverse on very hard
and steep (up to 70 degrees) ice under the headwall at 6850 meters. We
expected an exit gully at the end of the traverse, but unfortunately, we
encountered another steep wall instead, which we managed to climb in
three mixed pitches–the crux of the climb.
Finally we attained the short summit ridge, and at 2:30 p.m. we reached
the summit, which welcomed us with a snowstorm. We rappelled our route
(except for the traverse, which we had to reclimb), regaining our
bivouac at 7 p.m., then packed our tent and equipment and continued with
the descent, reaching the glacier at 5:30 a.m. and ABC at 9 a.m.
The route featured mostly hard, glassy ice of poor quality, sometimes
covered with soft snow. Six pitches were mixed or rock. We simulclimbed
the entire route except for the rock pitches and the traverse. The wall
was strenuous the whole way, and the top surprised us with its
difficulty: even the final fifty meters was still 5.3-5.5. Janak’s
Southwest Pillar (VI 5.6 70 degrees, 1150m) were harder than Menlungtse and
Gyachung Kang and only slightly easier than the Grandes Jorasses’s Croz
Pillar, which I’d climbed in good winter conditions.
–Andrej Stremfelj, Kranj, Slovenia