"The upper part of the mountain was completely blocked by ice cliffs. To travel underneath that stuff day in and day out was insane. Some people might accept conditions like that, but I won't. We spent a lot of time, and looked at many different routes, but nothing was acceptable to any of us We came home."

But when Viesturs made the decision to leave Annapurna, noting that the north side seemed to offer no viable route, he resolved to look at other possibilities for climbing the mountain. An accidental meeting in Tibet last year lead to this year's attempt on the other side of the peak.

"Last spring," Viesturs told MountainZone.com before leaving the U.S., "I bumped into a French climber, Jean Christophe LaFaille, who knew of me and what I was trying to do. LaFaille told me about a route he had found on the south side, a long and complicated route that he thought might offer a way up without the overwhelming objective dangers on the north side. It's a long route, and you're up high for a lot of the time, but if you can deal with the prolonged exposure to altitude it's probably the safest route on the mountain."

So this season, Viesturs, Gustafsson, LaFaille, and a group of Spanish climbers traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal, then by vehicle to Pokhara, and set out for Annapurna. The climbers have reached their base camp, not far from the site of the base camp for the famous Annapurna South Face Expedition in 1970, when Don Whillans and Dougal Haston reached the summit by the South Face, one of the most technical big routes climbed at that point in the Himalaya.

"We'll be climbing east of the South Face route," Viesturs explained. "First we'll ascend the west face of a neighboring peak, Singu Chuli, to avoid the objective dangers of the South Face. From the summit of Singu Chuli, we think we can get on the east ridge of Annapurna. From there to the summit is a long ridge, all between 7,000 and 8000 meters; and it means we have to go up and over the east summit and central summit of Annapurna before reaching the main summit. There's work to do, that's for sure, and it's a long way down, too. That all adds up to a long time in what people call the "death zone."

Since much of the proposed route is above 7,000 meters, and will require passing several sub summits of Annapurna, the climb will expose the climbers to the dangers of altitude and bad weather for an extended period. But for Viesturs, it represents the best alternative.

"There's no question," Viesturs told MountainZone.com, "it's a long, hard, strenuous way to the top. But for me, it's a better compromise. The trade off is this: there is less objective danger, but you have to spend more time in the death zone. It's like climbing two or three high mountains. But I'll take that option, because I'm more in control."

Viesturs and Gustafsson have perfected the technique of climbing fast and light. In 1999, when the pair was acclimated by their ascent of Manaslu, they climbed Dhaulagiri alpine style in matter of days. The unique nature of their proposed route on Annapurna may offer opportunities to exploit their lightweight style.

"Whether or not can we make an attempt in a single push depends on conditions," Viesturs said. "Right now, we think we might put in a camp low on the ridge. We might be use that as a fixed camp, supplied and stocked, or we may use it like an alpine-style camp, that is, take the camp with us, and set it up some place higher on our way to the summit. We'll just have to see." (For more on Viesturs' attempt on Annapurna, go to edviesturs.com, or click on the dispatch links above.)

For Viesturs, the route he's attempting this year on Annapurna symbolizes the personal challenge that Himalayan climbing holds for him, the challenge that keeps his interest, and keeps him coming back year after year.

"I'm very excited about this climb," he said. "And not just because it's Annapurna, in a beautiful, uncrowded area of Nepal. And it's not just because it was the first 8,000-meter peak climbed and one that has inspired me ever since I read Maurice Herzog's book about that famous 1950 French Expedition.

"For me, what makes this particular climb so interesting is that it's a huge mystery: Can we do this long, long route? Can we figure this thing out? Who knows, but we're going to give it our best shot."

— Peter Potterfield, MountainZone.com Staff