Two Dartmouth Climbers In Dhaulagiri Attempt
Two Dartmouth climbers are part of a nine-man team that flew to Katmandu, Nepal, last month in a blitz bid to climb the 26,810-foot Dhaulagiri, or "White Mountain," sixth highest in the world.
The Himalayan peak turned back six separate attempts to climb it between 1950, when it was first attempted by a French expedition, and 1959, when a Swiss expedition led by Max Eiselin reached the top - a feat not since duplicated. The American team intends to ascend Dhaulagiri via the precipitous "French route" which turned back the first team and which Maurice Herzog, its leader, later called "impossible."
The Dartmouth pair, making this bid to realize their brand of "impossible dream," are James G. Janney 3rd '69 of St. Louis, who completed his studies a semester early and will be graduated in June, and David Seidman '6B of South Norwalk, Conn., who last summer led the successful four-man Dartmouth Mountaineering Club assault on the then unclimbed North Ridge of Mt. Kennedy, Alaska.
Both Dartmouth men accompanied the expedition leader, Boyd N. Everett Jr., a New York securities analyst and a Harvard graduate, two years ago to Alaska to become the first to conquer the perilous Direct South Face of Mt. McKinley, tallest peak in North America. According to Janney, before he left Hanover to join the team in New York City, they are counting on this proven teamwork to become the second expedition to climb Dhaulagiri and the first to scale the sheer north face which turned back the Herzog climbers who then went on to conquer Annapurna.
The expedition left the United States for Nepal on April 1, and was scheduled to fly from Katmandu to Pokhara near the foot of the mountain range about a week later, trek four days into the base of the mountain, and be off the icy colossus again by June 1 before the monsoon storms begin.
Although the group had been planning some kind of major climb this summer, they turned to the Himalayas when at the last minute permission was granted by the government of Nepal for the group to try Dhaulagiri, and the team was hastily assembled. The expedition, sponsored by the American Alpine Club, is being assisted in part by the National Geographic Society.
Janney, youngest member of the team, spent last summer in Peru climbing Nevado Chopicalqui, a 20,990-foot upthrusting of rock in the White Range (Cordillera Blanca) of the Andes about 100 miles northwest of Lima. Like Dave Seidman before him, Janney really started technical climbing after arriving at Dartmouth, where he joined the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club. Having combined an English major with pre-medical training at Dartmouth, he has been admitted to the University of Washington Medical School, starting in September.
