Quiet across most of the Himalaya today. Progress on Ama Dablam while poor weather bogs down the Everest and Broad Peak advances. The K2 winter team is at base camp and will start climbing in a few days. Jost on Everest is back at base camp holding due to weather
Everest – At Base Camp
German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, is back at Everest Base Camp according to his tracker. His GPS coordinates map to 5,272 meters/ 17,296 feet. His high thus far was 6146 meters / 20164 feet on the Lho La Pass where he planned to establish his Camps 1 and 2. You can track his location on this excellent map from 3D Reality Maps.
In review, he plans on a winter, solo Everest climb without supplemental oxygen and no Sherpa support. This exact style has never been attempted or accomplished. Jost had acclimatized on other peaks including Amotsang (6,393m), Island Peak (6,186 meters) and Pachermo Peak (6,259 meters).
Ama Dablam – Camp 2 established
Alex Txikon and the team are climbing Ama Dablam. They will move to Everest for an attempt on the standard SE Ridge route after Ama. His team includes Spaniard Oscar Cardo, Jonatan García and Nepalese Sherpas Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa, and Tenjen Sherpa. Txikon posted on Instagram:
Today, we’ve fixed the route between Camp 1 and Camp 2, climbing on the granite slabs of Ama Dablam, on a gorgeous winter day.
K2 – No Os – At BC
Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team arrived at Broad Peak Base Camp in deep snow. John Snorri posted on IG :
“The whole team has finally reached K2 base camp after 9days on the Baltoro glacier. We have been establishing our camp in -27°C. Tomorrow is a resting day..we are all tired after tough days. Friday we will start our first rotation. Up to ABC through the icefall. We need to set a safe route up.”
Broad Peak – Back to 6800 meters on Last Rotation
Broad Peak First then Maybe K2
The team wanted to overnight at 7,000 meters to complete their acclimatization then potentially make a summit attempt last next week. They made it to Camp 2 before experiencing more tough weather on January 19 then went on to tag 6,650 meters. Denis Urubko’s goal is to complete, what he considers, the first true winter ascent of Broad Peak and then, perhaps, go to K2. He is teaming with Don Bowie and Lotta Hintsa. Denis gave this brief update:
Ciao from BC. We fight 2km up today to icy terrace 6800 very bad condition as a mirror. We took some ropes out from slope Than hurricane kick us back. We did big job fix acclimatization trained and recognized condition of route in 1 day of any weather. Don have bad forecast fo 4 next days
Interview with Simone Moro on Gasherbrum Incident
Rock & Ice posted a nice interview with Moro. He noted “Our injuries are minor but they prevent us from climbing. I’m going to recover quickly, but Tamara will need two months before climbing again. ”
Winter 2019/20
Everest At 6000 meters
- Jost Kobusch – at EBC
- Alex Txikon – C2 established on Ama Dablam
K2
- Mingma Gyalje Sherpa – At BC
Broad Peak, then K2?
- Denis Urubko – Headed to 7000m
Gasherbrum I/II
- Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger – Over. Due to injury
Ama Dablam
- Zoltán Szlankó, Alex Goldfarb
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
