New 72-Pitch Climb in China

Dylan Johnson reports on The Alpinist newswire that Chad Kellogg and he completed the first ascent of the Southwest Ridge of 6,250-meter Siguniang in southwestern China. The pair climbed 72 pitches and 9,200 feet from September 21 to September 30. The first 17 pitches went up 2,500 feet of cliffs in a rainforest to a 2,000-foot granite wall, and then up a long alpine ridge festooned with gendarmes and snow-covered rock to the summit.

Johnson reports that they reached the summit at 4:35 p.m. on the eighth day, and then “encouraged by the darkening wall of hate boiling and flashing to the west, we began our descent.” They rappelled and down-climbed through a lightning storm and then continued descending all night to keep warm. The next day they made 30 rappels down to the glacier but got lost in dense brush in the evening and spent a wet night out. By the time they reached their base camp the next afternoon, Johnson reports losing 30 pounds and Kellogg 20 pounds. Well done, lads.

Read Dylan Johnson’s account of the ascent at The Alpinist.

Photo left: Johnson and Kellogg climbed the long Southwest Ridge of Siguniang.
Photo courtesy Dylan Johnson