2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 Climbers en route, Nanga Climbers Climbing, New Everest Route?

Nanga Parbat

The winter 8000-meter teams are well on their way to their respective peaks. On Nanga Parbat, the climbing has begun.

K2: In Skardu

K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – Arrival Pakistan 

The seven member team from Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan are in Skardu after taking a bus on Karakoram Highway for 30 hours. It seems there was some construction and repairs along the way that delayed their progress but all is well now. Next up is the 8 to 10 hour drive in Toyota 4Runners to the end of the road in Askole where they will being the trek to K2 Base Camp.

You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb is the best source.

K2: Spanish/Galician Team – On the road

The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon, are also in Skardu. While no final decision has been made on which route they will take, it appears they are open the 1978 American Route. Also, Txikon told the Spanish media, Marca in December that if they end up on the same route as the Russian International team, most likely the Abruzzi, that they will work together. He said they will share kitchen facilities at base camp.

He also said “K2, there is less chance than on Everest” for a winter summit and suggested he will return in the summer of 2019 to do a traverse of K2 combing the Pakistani and Chinese sides.

You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker,  Twitter,  Instagram, and Facebook.

Winter Nanga Parbat – Poor Weather

This team is attempting a new route on Mummery’s Spur. After a short period of heavy snow, Daniele Nardi, British Thomas Ballard and two Pakistani teammates Rehmatullah Baig and Karim have established their Camp 1 at 15,49-feet/4,700-meters , and touched Camp 2 at 16,730-feet/5,100-meters

They posted this video on YouTube

 

Winter Manaslu – Summited Mera

Simone Moro and Pemba Gyalje Sherpa summited Mera Peak for acclimatization and posted this update on Instagram: “Today we reached the Mera Peak summit at 15:30 after five hours of ascent. Cold and heavy gusts of wind on top, but it took us only eight hours to climb up and down.”

Winter Alaska – Flying

American climber Lonnie Dupre is in Talkeetna, Alaska hoping to fly to the glacier tomorrow for his winter attempt on Mt. Hunter.

Everest: New Route Attempt Spring 2019

Cory Richards posted on Instagram “2019. The biggest and most immediate goal is our attempt to establish a previously unclimbed route on Everest come May. We have 14 weeks until we leave…” He is said to be climbing with Adrain Ballinger.

Best of luck to all this winter.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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