Two Slovenian alpine climbers made the first ascent of the impressive northwest face of Chobutse (21,935 feet) in Nepal’s Rolwaling Valley. The 5,577-foot route goes free on steep ice and mixed terrain.
Slovenians Luka Stražar and Nejc Marčič completed a massive direct route up Chobutse’s northwest face in a reportedly smooth 3-day ascent. The Slovenian Direct (ED, M5, AI 5) is the first route on the previously unclimbed wall.
The team started up the lower portion of the wall on October 28, with 1,600 feet of soloing on easier terrain. At 2 p.m. on October 30, they stood on the summit. They descended the west face and reached their base camp 8 hours later.
![Strazar-3-768x512 Summit of Chobutse](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/Strazar-3-768x512-1.jpg)
Two other expedition members descended without summiting. Marko Prezejl and Matija Volontar vied for a first ascent on the south face, but high winds forced a retreat. Stražar and Marčič, too, encountered adverse weather but managed to persevere. Steep, sustained climbing defined the route.
“There were six steep pitches in the central part, where the climbing was rather slow,” Stražar told ExplorersWeb. “The terrain was mixed, and we already had problems with spindrift. Later, we saw that wind high up was really strong, hence the spindrift.”
![strazar7-1536x1024 Chobutse NW face](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/strazar7-1536x1024-1.jpg)
Chobutse First Ascent: Logistics and Background
![Strazar-01-768x512d Chobutse NW face](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/Strazar-01-768x512d.jpg)
![strazar-6-768x512d Slovenian Direct on Tsoboje](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/strazar-6-768x512d.jpg)
![alpine mountain chobutse tsoboje](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/Michael-Wandinger.jpg)