Annapurna IV : Cheers Greet Conquerors of Mountain

LOS ANGELES —  The first U.S. team of mountain climbers to scale 24,688-foot-high Annapurna IV in the Himalayas came home to Southern California Tuesday to cheers, hugs, kisses and a few tears of joy.

“It feels good to be on firm ground,” said Tim Schinhofen, 34, of El Toro, who along with his guide, Pemba Norbu, reached the summit on Oct. 10, becoming the first people to climb the almost vertical northwest face of the mountain, considered one of the most difficult in the Nepalese range.

“That was the goal of the expedition: to get at least one person on top,” said team leader Steve Brimmer, 37, of Malibu.

Shortly after Schinhofen and Norbu reached the top, the weather warmed up and the snow became too soft for the others to continue toward the peak.

At the Right Time

“The first part of success is that everybody comes back safely,” said team member John Collett, 38, of San Clemente. “It could have been any one of us. Tim just happened to be supported at a higher camp at the right time and went for it.

“It’s not that everybody wouldn’t have liked to have gone. But . . . the weather changes so much that it could have been suicidal to send the rest of us up.”

Collett, a research physicist at Hughes Aircraft Co., said before he and several others could follow Schinhofen to the summit, the ground began to shift and crevasses opened up, leaving 10- to 15-foot gaps making further climbing difficult and dangerous.

Others in the team were Douglas Kosty and Dan Bridges, engineers at Hughes Aircraft Co.; William Dailey, a medical technologist, and Karl Herrmann, a cinematographer.

Glistened With Tears

The seven businessmen, none a professional mountain climber, were greeted at Los Angeles International Airport by about 20 cheering friends, relatives and sponsors. Some faces of the welcomers glistened with tears as they hugged the jubilant climbers.

The team left Los Angeles Sept. 9 and arrived in Katmandu, Nepal, Sept. 13. They trucked their gear to a small town 70 to 80 miles away from the base of the mountain. About 70 porters accompanied the team, carrying 2,500 pounds of equipment on an eight-day trek.

Six Sherpas, experienced native mountain climbers, helped the team set up four camps on the mountain before the ascent without oxygen tanks.

“We had amazing weather,” said Brimmer, who manages the sound department at Walt Disney Studios. “We had 14 days of absolutely clear, sunny weather, which is unheard of in the Himalayas. So conditions on the mountain were absolutely perfect.”

Brimmer said he was just behind Schinhofen, but when he made it to the third camp up the mountain he started to come down with pneumonia and had to come down the mountain.

Slipped and Fell

The team encountered a blizzard on the way down and some members became separated from one another. Brimmer, already suffering from pneumonia, slipped and fell about 100 feet and cracked a few ribs.

Schinhofen, asked what it was like at the top, said, “It’s crystal clear, cold and I could see for 100 miles, 360 degrees. You feel real alone. When you’re up there, mostly you’re thinking about survival and making it back down the mountain.”

The AT&T; service manager said the most difficult part of the climb was breathing and keeping up strength in the high altitude.

“Every day, it drains you,” said Schinhofen who lost 22 pounds on the trip. “You get weaker and the wind goes by and you hope you can keep up your strength and stay healthy.”

It took two years to assemble the team, gain the endorsement of the American Alpine Club, petition the Nepalese government for permission to climb the mountain and solicit financial backing, Brimmer said.

Mountain climbing is not cheap--the Nepalese government charged the team $1,800 to climb the peak, he said.

The $40,000 expedition has won financial support from Celanese Corp., a U.S. synthetic fiber manufacturer, in exchange for promoting a line of thermal underwear. Singapore Airlines donated the group’s air fare to promote a new flight into Katmandu.