Annapurna I, south face, new route attempt. Ueli Steck o f Switzerland w anted to com plete a route on A nnapurna I ’s vast south face that had been started in the au tum n o f 1992 by French climbers Pierre Beghin and Jean-Christophe Lafaille. These two Frenchm en had been attem pt­ing an alpine-style ascent o f the great face by a new line in the couloir slightly to the right (east) o f the 1970 British route and had reached 7,400 m eters, w hen they were forced to retreat in the face o f snow and w ind. D uring the descent a rappel anchor failed and Beghin fell to his death.

In May, Steck went to complete this line alone, but he was defeated at only 5,850m on the 21st when he was hit by a falling stone that sm ashed his helm et— though not his head. He fell to ca 5,500m on the glacier, was knocked out, and has no m em ory o f w hat happened. He stag­gered away w ith bad bruising on the back o f his head and his spinal area, bu t no blood flowed. As he w andered around no t know ing w here he was, Robbi Bösch, a m em ber o f his support team , found him . W ith a badly bruised body and his only helm et shattered, Steck abandoned the idea o f climbing the south face o f A nnapurna for the m om ent. “This route is climbable,” he said, but d idn’t know w hether he still wanted to be the one to climb it.

Elizabeth H awley, AAC Honorary Member, Nepal