By then, Imboden had contracted fever and opted to go home. Once in Darjeeling, Graham contacted the Grindelwald climber Emil Boss to find him another guide. Instead, Boss decided to join together with his hometown guide Ulrich Kaufmann, with whom he had nearly completed the first ascent of New Zealand's Mount Cook the previous year. At the end of June the party set off for Garhwal where they explored the region around Nanda Devi. Unable to penetrate the Nanda Devi Sanctuary they turned their attention towards Dunagiri, where Graham claimed to have reached a height of around 22,700 ft (6,920 m) before being forced to retreat by bad weather.