Photo Gallery

April 20, 2008
Left to right, the peaks of Annapurna II, Annapurna IV and Gangapurna all loom in the distance.

Basecamp
15,600′ basecamp at the foot of the North Ridge of Annapurna IV. Morning clouds burn off the summit of Annapurna III in the background.
Lock down
Ben Clark locks his down his heel. The team had to disassemble and reassemble skis for portering in to basecamp.
Tim and Ben
Tim Clarke (with cup) and Ben Clark eye the line they hope to climb and ski.
These peaks are big
Josh Butson takes it all in below the North face of Annapurna II.
The Approach to Annapurna IV camp 1
Josh Butson in the lead on the Approach to Annapurna I basecamp. The 11,000′ North face that spans between Annapurna II and IV can be seen behind him.
Tim Clarke skinning
Tim Clarke skins a steep section en route to the face at the base of Annapurna IV’s North Ridge.
Steep and deep snow
Ben Clark post holes up some steep and deep snow in a chute on the North Ridge of Annapurna IV
The Chute
With Josh Butson in the lead, Tim Clarke and Ben Clark climb up a 45 degree chute they will later ski.
Camp 1
Josh Butson throws on his harness at Camp 1 on the North ridge of Annapurna IV.
Cloud layers
The various layers of buildup present at 8AM on any given day. The peak in the distance is Makalu
Alpine Style at it’s simplest
Josh Butson leading out on a steep section of climbing on the North Ridge of Annapurna IV
Ben Clark in his natural habitat
Ben Clark, relaxed and ready on a steep section in a Serac band on the north ridge of Annapurna IV.
Those are skis on that pack
Ben Clark leads the meat of the route, a steep section of snow and ice followed by a disentegrating roof. This was the crux of the route.
High camp view
Josh Butson taking it easy after a long hard day of technical climbing to reach High camp on Annapurna IV.
The storm is too long
After snowing a foot in four hours, Josh (left) and Ben (right) elect to retreat.
Bindings outside the tent
Clark and Butsons ski bindings, the skies are bound together one directly on top of the other and almost buried while sitting on the slope above the tent. It snowed a foot in four hours and after slogging through considerable to high avalanche danger for most of the climb, this storm was the last warning before descent.
Higher than most
Higher than most summits in the region, Josh Butson flakes out the rope before he and Ben Clark began the harrowing descent.
After the storm
Josh Butson leads down after the storm that snowed a foot on four hours and took away the summit, but luckily granted the last day to get down.
The rap
Ben Clark rappels a section of steep ice on the descent of Annapurna IV.
The first descent
Ben Clark carves through a steep chute as the team skis Annapurna IV for the first time-ever!
3 feet of corn
On the first foray of the mountain, Josh Butson stays on top of the deepest corn snow around.
The notorious lowers
Tim and Josh navigate the deep corn snow of the lower section of Annapurna IV.