2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Update: Jost on the Move on Everest, Urubko/Bowie on Broad Peak
No progress on Everest or Broad Peak due to poor weather but plans to reach Camp 2 on K2. Monday, Jan 28 Update: Jost back on the move to the Lho La and Denis Urubko with Don Bowie are starting their summit push. Everest – Climbing Jost on West Ridge German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, is stuck at base camp due to poor weather Monday, Jan 28 Update: on the move to the Lho La at 5681 m | 18638 ft according to his tracker. 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. He gave this recent update on Facebook: Back at base camp! In the night from 20.01 to 21.01 the weather conditions in camp one on Lho la had deteriorated seriously. Although my tent was tied with six lines in each direction, it could hardly withstand the estimated wind speed of 100kmh. With split bamboo I tried to anchor the lines deep in the snow. Nevertheless, a hole in the flysheet was teared and since the weather conditions did not really improve, I started my way back to the base camp on 22.01. During the descent from the glacier to the cliff, I had to realize that the whole route section had collapsed. This did not necessarily make the descent any easier and made sure that I only felt really recovered today, 4 days after the descent. I am no longer so short of breath and my resting pulse rate has dropped back to normal levels. Will i go up again? I am just waiting for the next fair-weather window! 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). Txikon on Southeast Ridge Alex Txikon and the team summited Ama Dablam and now gave an update on how they powered their electronics. They will now move to Everest for an attempt on the standard SE Ridge route. His team includes Spaniard Oscar Cardo, Jonatan García and Nepalese Sherpas Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa, and Tenjen Sherpa. Txikon posted on Instagram: Thanks to EVE we’ve been able to avoid using 100 litres of fossil fuel to cover Base Camp’s energy needs. We’ve installed three 100w solar pannels! We support solar energy. Welcome Ekian and kudos to our friends at Basque’s organization for Energy! They should be moving to EBC soon. K2 – No Os – Cold!! Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team arrived at Broad Peak Base Camp in deep snow and have started carrying loads as high as 19,187.01 ft【5.848 m】according to John Snorri’s tracker. Mingma posted on Facebook: K2 in winter is not like what we expected. It is extremely cold and windy. Our sleeping bags are frozen, clothes are not dried. Tomorrow some of us will sleep in camp1 and try to set up route to camp2. Snorri added: We are back in BC after long 16 hour day in the mountain. The mountain it self is covered in blue ice. It was difficult and the cold was our worst enemy. Our GPS froze and just turned of, but still we managed to port 250 kg of equipments to C1. We are exhausted and will use tomorrow to rest and gather strength. Now in BC it’s -24 celcius and everything is frozen but beautiful wether. Broad Peak – Beginning the Summit Push Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 The team wanted to overnight at 7,000 meters to complete their acclimatization before their summit push but now are forging the extra rotation aiming to summit on February 1, within Urubko’s definition of winter which ends on February 29, 2020. Denis Urubko’s goal is to complete, what he considers, the first true winter ascent of Broad Peak and then, perhaps, go to K2 within his “winter.” He is teaming with Don Bowie and Lotta Hintsa. Denis gave this brief update on Monday: “I am preparing the equipment for the summit. I am ready to work and get to the top ” Batura Sar – At Base Camp In preparing for a 2020/21 K2 winter attempt, Piotr Tomala,Rafał Fronia, Wojciech Flaczyński, Filip Babicz, Mariusz Hatala, Kacper Kłoda, Marco Schwidergall and Oswald Rodrigo will try the first winter at Batura Sar, an impressive 7,795 meter peak, located in the western Karakoram Pakistan. They are at Batura’s base camp now. The latest from their site: The climbers covered a total of 30 kilometers for four days. On the fourth day, he was a little over a kilometer in a straight line. However, the route led through a very hard terrain, after a glacier buried up to the waist in the snow and densely dotted with crevasses. A local guide lost his way, and porters twice refused to continue working. The first time, they managed to persuade them to continue in exchange for financial gratification, the second they left the cargo and set off back. This forced the expedition to spend two nights on the glacier at an altitude of 4000 meters. Eventually, the participants of the expedition opened the road to the Base on their own on January 25 (4,100 m). The next day, after difficult negotiations, we managed to convince another group of local porters to bring most of the cargo to the Base. The expedition now has two organizational days, and then the mountain action – Batura Winter 2020. Winter 2019/20 Everest At 6000 meters Jost Kobusch – at EBC Alex Txikon – Ama Dablam summit, now Everest K2 Mingma Gyalje Sherpa – At BC Broad Peak, then K2? Denis Urubko – Tagged 7000m, At BC Gasherbrum I/II Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger – Over. Due to injury Ama Dablam Zoltán Szlankó, Alex Goldfarb Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Summit!
The first Himalayan summits of this winter season were on Ama Dablam while poor weather bogs down the other climbs. Ama Dablam – Summit! Alex Txikon and the team summited Ama Dablam. They will now move to Everest for an attempt on the standard SE Ridge route. His team includes Spaniard Oscar Cardo, Jonatan García and Nepalese Sherpas Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa, and Tenjen Sherpa. Txikon posted on Instagram: It has been a day full of emotions. Thus we have lived the summit moment from the base camp. Because nothing would be possible without the work of the entire expedition team. Their home team gave this update: Alex Txikon has achieved the first summit this winter in the Himalayas. At 10:15am, local time, he stepped on top of Ama Dablam (6,858m) together with Jonatan García, Pasang Sherpa, Cheppal Sherpa and Kalden Sherpa. The climbers had set off from Camp 3 (6,300m) at 4:30am. “It’s been a tough ascent,” Alex said on the phone from the summit. “Wind hit us hard all they way up, but here we are, the five of us on top! Next, let’s start descending carefully.” We will report again on social media as soon as the climbers reach safely back some higher camp. News is also expected on the progress of other team members. Weather forecasts indicated good conditions today with weaker winds, but conditions may turn for the worse tomorrow. A few pictures from Racetraker and Alex Everest – At Base Camp Now that Alex Txikon has summited Ama Dablam, he will move to Everest for a standard route attempt, his third effort. It will be interesting to see if German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, alters his plans and joins them (which I think would be excellent and then to return in a year or two for a solo attempt.) Jost is 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). K2 – No Os – Loads to ABC Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team arrived at Broad Peak Base Camp in deep snow and have started carrying loads to the foot of the Abruzzi route at 17,835.33 ft【5.436 m】. John Snorri posted on IG : Today we manage to port 100-120kg of equipment up to 5600m on the Abruzzi Spur. The icefall was tricky and some places a bit dangerous, so we needed to fix lines to pass. We didn’t set up ABC camp because we believe the wind will be to strong for the tent’s there. We are still climatasing. Next days the weather will be bad, so we have to play along with the wether. The team is felling well and strong. Broad Peak – To 6800 meters, Back at BC 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. Bowie gave this brief update on Friday, January 24: Denis Urubko and I made a sprint yesterday, climbing from base camp at 4850m elevation to 6840m -then doing some work there- then climbing back down to base camp. It was a long day with 2000 meters vertical climbing (and then descending) but when you get a few hours of good weather in the forecast, sometimes you need to launch a marathon day to get a little work done. We pushed our existing high point up 100m vertical to just below Camp 3 before getting chased off the face by hurricane winds and low temps. Now back in base camp waiting the next weather window. Winter 2019/20 Everest At 6000 meters Jost Kobusch – at EBC Alex Txikon – Ama Dablam summit, now Everest K2 Mingma Gyalje Sherpa – At BC Broad Peak, then K2? Denis Urubko – Tagged 7000m, At BC Gasherbrum I/II Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger – Over. Due to injury Ama Dablam Zoltán Szlankó, Alex Goldfarb Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Progress in Bad Weather
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
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Arriving at K2
The K2 winter team is almost at base camp but has been slowed by deep snow. Excellent progress on Ama Dablam and Broad Peak and Jost on Everest is back at base camp after overnighting on the Lho La. Summits on the Antarctica volcano Mt Sidely. Everest – Back to 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. His photographer Daniel Hug has left thus Jost is truely climbing solo now. You can track his location on this excellent map from 3D Reality Maps. He posted on Facebook: There was a lot of new snowfall in the Basecamp! ❄ However, the departure to camp one yesterday was without any problems. I started the ascent only around noon to climb the huge serac leading to camp at night at low temperatures. The ascent took 10 hours in total. Nonstop. Solo. So today I will have a rest day in my bedroom (at 6060m) 😏 , before I will open a new route to camp two tomorrow. Hug shared a photo he took from the helicopter on his way out of Jost high on the Lho La. I believe in the photo, Jost is approximately where the ‘J’ is on this map. 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 1 Alex Txikon and the team are climbing Ama Dablam Base. 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: Yesterday some members of the team climbed up to C1 for their first night at 5,400m. Ramon Portilla’s voice speaking on the radio from Base Camp bring us back to the documentaries he used to participate in. We grew to love mountaineering watching those shows! K2 – No Os – Almost to BC, Despite Deep SNow Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team arrived at Broad Peak Base Camp in deep snow. MIngma posted : Today we reached Broad Peak Base Camp. I had problem with my net but it’s fixed now and we will trek to K2 base Camp tomorrow. We had too much snow on our way so it took us more days fighting with snow to reach here. Broad Peak – Touched 6700, Back at BC Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 The team 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. Don Bowie posted on Instagram Denis Urubko arrives at the small shelf of Camp 2. We had a few days of relative good weather and took full advantage of them, with Denis and I pushing the route somewhere around 6650m. Lotta, Denis, and I, stayed one night in Camp 1, and 2 nights in Camp 2. Despite mostly clear skies the temperatures remain extremely low. Denis really pushed hard on the 17th, getting out of the tent early to start working almost 1.5 hours ahead of me- which I consider a monumental effort considering temperatures that morning were -52C with wind chill. I mean just brrrr. (I owe you one Denis) We are back in base camp now, but I’ll post a few pictures this week from this last push. Please note that due to limited satellite data I cannot read or comment on my posts- but please leave your input and I will answer any questions later. And Lotta gave this perspective on IG Yesterday we came down to BC after spending 1 night in Camp 1 and 2 nights in C2 and I have to say I’m already incredibly proud of our team! There is a reason why people don’t climb in the winter, the conditions are brutal!! You’re constantly either breaking trail in waist-deep snow, trying not to trigger avalanches, or climbing steep, blue ice, where one mistake might mean you’re going waaaay down, probably in five pieces. And that’s only (part of) the climbing, not even mentioning the camping in crazy conditions (I’ll do another post about that) or the work that goes into preparation. So making it to camp 2 on Broad Peak in winter is so cool! (Here I also need to mention that the guys once again started the work of cutting out ropes from under the ice between C2&3. I salute them!) Now we wait out the weather again and see what opportunities it brings… Picture from our slippery descent below C2 yesterday by @donbowie Antarctica Mt Sidely – Summit!! David (Rosco) Roskelley and the entire team summited on January 18. As of approximately 3:22pm MDT, (from what I can tell on the tracker) Team Sidley reached the SUMMIT – HOORAY!! CONGRATULATIONS to the entire Mt. Sidley team!! They had perfect, sunny conditions today with no wind, which is pretty remarkable given where they are. Amazing!! Today was a BIG climbing day. . . 4,700 vertical feet of elevation gain from high base camp to the summit. WOW! It’s official. . . Roscoe is the FIRST American to complete the Volcanic Seven Summits + Seven Summits!! We are all sooo very proud of you David C. Roskelley!! In the photo below I’m not sure if I was able to capture the tracker as they were standing on the exact summit, but pretty dang close. The second photo was sent by teammate Andrew Hughes. . .showing one of the rope
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Moro Escapes Death & Ends Gasherbrum Attempt
If you climb long enough in icy, crevassed terrain, you or a teammate will fall in a crack. It happened to Simone Moro on Monday, January 20, 2020, in the Icefields at the base of Gasherbrum. Thankfully he and his partner knew what to do. Basically, it appears a snow bridge collapsed under Moro’s boots after Tamara had walked over it. This is not uncommon. It happened to me on Everest outside of Camp 1 in 2001. He fell into the crevasse about 20 meters/65 feet pulling her to within 50 centimeters/ 1.5 feet of the gap. She held his full weight plus pack, around 90 kg/198 pounds, for 2 minutes while he put an ice screw in to relieve the load. He then spent two hours slowly crawling out of the crevasse using a technique called piolet traction where you hold your ice axe by its shaft near the base, swing overhead and plant the pick firmly but carefully in the ice. Do the same with the other tool and then work your feet upward. It’s slow, tedious and exhausting. They were both evacuated by a Pakastani military helicopter and are now back in Skardu seeking medical checks. The expedition is officially over. Simone gave this detailed update on Facebook: All’s well that ends well. Without going too far around the concept, yesterday we really came just a breath away from a tragic and disastrous epilogue for both Tamara and me. We were planning to spend two nights on the mountain, reach camp 1, sleep there and then head to camp 2 the next day. We were FINALLY out of the icefall, we had passed the last big crevasse and proceeded to the summit plateau. Always tied up because we knew that the crevasses were always lurking and antennas were always straight but the morale was high and the satisfaction of having overcome everything. The big ice maze. But the day was not over and what lay ahead was terrible. Approaching a crevasse I put myself in position as always to secure Tamara who first crossed it and then moved into the safety zone, 20 meters beyond the crevasse. Then it was my turn and after a split second, a chasm opened under my feet and I fell. Tamara suffered such a violent tear that she literally flew to the edge of the crevasse while I free falling upside down for 20 meters banging back legs and buttocks on the blades of ice suspended in the endless gut where I continued to descend. No more than 50 cm wide, in complete darkness. Above Tamara had the rope wrapped around her hand and held it like a vice and caused her excruciating pain and numbness. I was in the dark and she was slowly sliding down the edge of the crevasse. All complicated by the fact that she had snowshoes on her feet. I managed with one hand to put a very precarious first anchorage and, while feeling myself slowly descending towards the abyss, I had the lucidity to take the ice screw I had in my harness and secure it in the smooth and hard wall of the crevasse. That screw stopped me from slipping and probably pulling down Tamara into the crevasse. From there, without going into details, we invented the way out. Almost two hours later. hours of contortion and an excruciating effort I was able to climb up in piolet traction the whole crevasse, completely in the dark and squeezed between two walls 50 cm wide. Shivering and with a thousand bruises I hugged Tamara who was also crying from the pain in her hand. While I was climbing she had managed to organize a nice recovery stop and to secure me while I was climbing the 20 endless meters of smooth ice. We descended to base camp, who had already been alerted and reassured by radio. Today I organized the evacuation with a request for medical checks for both of us. Today the pains are obviously stronger and Tamara’s hand is partially numb out of use. [ Simone’s Team ] Lunger posted this update on Instagram along with a great photo: Maybe I need to adjust my goals? Sometimes you may want too much, but yesterday it wasn’t like that at all! We just wanted to go up and sleep in our camp 1. We were fast and happy and we crossed the ladder and the weather was getting worse, but now we were just a stone’s throw away from the safe landing! Finding the route seemed easier than ever and as always we were careful. But then, after I crossed the crack and did that steep bit, I stopped. I was about to do the half boatman to get Simone to come, he took his first step and suddenly disappeared into the hole. My hand got stuck in the rope and I flew half a meter away from the hole. I did everything and more, time seemed endless and in the end, I could forget the thoughts of death, thank God! We both worked at our best to get Simone out of his 20 mt. flight! We’re safe now! The hand paid heavily, as I held on to my thumb, 90 kg of Simone plus the backpack for at least 2 min. I screamed like I was being killed, and I knew what was going to happen… I faced all the work with one hand, between trust and tears. Again, we’re safe! Simone has organized the evacuation and medical checks. Let’s see! Winter 2019/20 Everest At 6000 meters Jost Kobusch – at C1 ~6000m Alex Txikon – At Ama Dablam BC K2 Mingma Gyalje Sherpa – Trekking to K2 BC Broad Peak, then K2? Denis Urubko – Tagged 6700 meters, back at BC Gasherbrum I/II Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger – Over Ama Dablam Zoltán Szlankó, Alex Goldfarb Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Moving Higher!
Excellent progress on Gasherbrum and Broad Peak and Jost is on the move on Everest. There are expeditions on K2, Everest, Broad Peak, and the Gasherbrums plus a few others. Big Picture – Patience Pays Off Taking advantage of lower winds, but still, mind-numbing cold, teams from Everest to Broad Peak are climbing and establish the high camps. By either definition of winter, there is still plenty of time but they need to jump on every opportunity. Some teams are comfortable summiting using the meteorological definition of the seasons that begin on the first day of the months that include the equinoxes and solstices thus February 29, 2020, would end winter. The astronomical definition uses the dates of equinoxes and solstices thus winter would end when spring begins on the spring equinox. For the Pakistani peak that is 20 March at 08:49 and for Everest it’s 20 March at 09:34. source I went deeply into this last year on this post. Everest – Back to 6000 meters German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, is on the move according to his tracker. His GPS coordinates map to 6,033 meters/ 19,793 feet on the Lho La Pass. Base Camp is usually around 5,273 meters/17,300 fee. He had posted on Facebook that he and photographer Daniel Hug were going to 6,000 meters at the top of the Lho La Pass but the big winds and cold temps kept them at base camp for almost an entire week. 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 Base Camp Igloo Alex Txikon and the team have arrived at Ama Dablam Base Camp. 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: Installed in the Base Camp, we are at home. No one has had acclimatization problems and the weather remains stable. Learning from the experience of K2, in four hours we have built an igloo that will be very useful in the coldest nights. We don’t have coverage but InReach keeps me in touch and I can send short messages like this, and greetings to everyone from the foot of Ama Dablam. K2 – No Os – On the Trek to BC Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team is on the trek to K2 Base Camp per logistics organizer Wajahat Khan of Apricot Tours. Mingma will climb without supplemental oxygen. Wajahat passed on that : They have reached Urdukas camp today. He said the snow was bad but they will reach Concordia on Sunday according to plan. Everyone include the porters are doing well. Broad Peak – Touched 6700 Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 Denis has made it to Camp 2 before expecting more tough weather on January 19 then went on to tag 6,700 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 who will not attempt the summit is there to support the two climbers, but she has climbed to C1. Denis sent this SMS to his home team: We did an hard job 🙂 We passed steep gulley touch 6700 almost shoulder of icy plateu. BC tomorrow Gasherbrum Traverse – Progress to C1!! Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger have found a path through the icefall blocking access to GI. Simone walked a few hours to a nearby Pakistani military post to borrow a ladder needed to cross a deep crevasse. Yesterday Tamara started her post with “The disappointment today was really great. We have the ladder and it stopped snowing, but the danger of avalanches is enormous.” but today has a much happier tone: They want to traverse the two peaks in a single push via the Gasherbrum La at 6,400 meters. Simone gave this detailed update on Facebook: Finally the way to Camp 1 is open! Even today I traveled 10 km (from Gps) between crevasses and seracs, with Tamara in front reopening the track and me behind carrying the famous ladder on my shoulder kindly borrowed from the military. The weather was good and the intense effort of both allowed us not to suffer the cold. Sometimes I had to crawl or go sideways with the ladder on my back through the seracs and glacier bottlenecks. We left at 9:12 a.m. and arrived at 3:00 p.m. at the point where I thought I would finally put the ladder between the two crevasses and access the summit plateau. But the surprise silenced us. Everything had collapsed and the crevasse was at least twice as wide and the ladder wasn’t enough. We weren’t discouraged and wandered through the summit seracs and crossed precarious bridges of ice but in the end we found the route which ended with a very deep crevasse, but not wider than six feet. Perfect for the lineup I worked so hard to get up there. Tamara was always in the front looking and finding the way (good) I was behind to be the mule. In the end with the utmost caution and delicacy I positioned the ladder from edge to edge from the deep crevasse. Perfect!!!!! Now the way to Camp 1 and the upper field is open. If we were to calculate the efforts and the kilometers created by finding the way in this maze, believe me, they are equal to going up and down the summit of any other eight thousand I have climbed. We are told that the Earthquake a month ago collapsed and opened the glacier and also changed the entire route from the military to their positions. I don’t know if it’s true
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Cold Progress
It’s cold in the Himalaya! Teams are fighting the conditions yet are making as good of progress as you might expect for the middle of winter. Camp 2 reached on Broad Peak. There are expeditions on K2, Everest, Broad Peak, and the Gasherbrums plus a few others. Big Picture – Cold The winds have calmed in the Karakorum for the moment but it’s very cold, -13F/-25C at Broad Peak Base Camp. At Everest Base Camp, it’s not much warmer, but a bit at -2F/-19C, according to the excellent online weather app, Windy. In both locations, the weekend weather calls for more snow and high winds. Everest – Base Camp German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, is remaining at base camp according to his tracker. He had posted on Facebook that he and photographer Daniel Hug were going to 6,000 meters at the top of the Lho La Pass it looks like the big winds and cold temps turned them back. Per the National Geographic/Rolex weather stations on Everest, the temperature is -14F/-10C at base camp. Jost appears to be very philosophical: Fear. She’s an interesting companion. Not only here in the mountains, sometimes even in everyday situations. It can stop us from doing certain things. Sharpen our senses when we find ourselves in dangerous situations or even be an engine and incentive. It is important that it does not guide us, that it does not become the determiner of our actions and being. We can feel the fear and decide to do it anyway. The point is not to lose curiosity about the world, to keep going to our limits and beyond. Am I afraid of death? No, because I would have made every decision again the way I did. I have no regrets. 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 Base Camp Alex Txikon and the team have arrived at Ama Dablam Base Camp. 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. K2 – No Os – On the Trek to BC Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team is on the trek to K2 Base Camp per logistics organizer Wajahat Khan of Apricot Tours. Mingma will climb without supplemental oxygen. Wajahat passed on that : They have reached Urdukas camp today. He said the snow was bad but they will reach Concordia on Sunday according to plan. Everyone include the porters are doing well. Broad Peak – At C2 Before the Next Storm Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 Denis has made it to Camp 2 before expecting more tough weather on January 19. 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 who will not attempt the summit is there to support the two climbers, but she has climbed to C1. They have established their Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. Denis sent this SMS to his home team: I drink tea in tent C2 6400 Don e Lotta coming Weather OK but Don told bad ab 19-20 new forecast Don Bowie posted on Instagram: (click the link to see the picture) Denis Urubko’s image of me taking my turn attacking the ice below Camp 2 a few days ago. We spent hours and hours fixing new rope and hacking out the old stuff- the latter a most tedious and mind-numbing task, where 15 minutes of work can sometimes yield only a meter of upward progress. But perhaps the worst part is waiting your turn, shivering on your crampon points, the cold seeping in, hoping your partner will let you take your turn again up front, just so you can warm up a little. Gasherbrum Traverse – Struggling Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger are trying to navigate the glacier and ice below the true start of the mountain but are struggling with weather, cold, wind and now deep snow and avalanche conditions. They want to traverse the two peaks in a single push via the Gasherbrum La at 6,400 meters. Lunger posted this update on Instagram: The disappointment today was really great. We have the ladder and it stopped snowing, but the danger of avalanches is enormous. Spontaneous detachments from the path in the valley, which especially high up where we are in the middle of wide and deep crevasses is no joke! There are too many cases where people die from small avalanches, and we certainly don’t want to risk it! The whole track is completely gone and so we will wait (even days) to be able to go up again in safety, guided by our Garmin watch, so that we don’t have to find another possible way again! Going down I let myself fall in the snow and I screamed (which is a good cure for anger, and here at least nobody can hear you But as Simone said : “stay calm, we must be patient here. The mountain doesn’t need us and we don’t need the mountain!” Analyzing this from a point of view from the outside of my fairy tale world he is probably right. God, please help us a little bit, thank you Batura Sar – Traveling to Base Camp In preparing for a 2020/21 K2 winter attempt, Adam Bielecki, Filip Babicz, Rafal Fronia and Piotr Tomala will try the first winter at Batura Sar, an impressive 7,795 meter peak, located in the western Karakoram Pakistan. They are in Pakistan now. The latest from their site: Climbers flew out of the Frederic Chopin airport in Warsaw early in the morning. They will land in Islamabad on January 14 at 05:00 local time. The first two days after
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Winds Stall Climbers
Big winds have returned to Everest and the Karakorum forcing teams to remain at base camp waiting out the storm. There are expeditions on K2, Everest, Broad Peak, and the Gasherbrums plus a few others. Big Picture To state the obvious, climbing big peaks in the winter is all about the weather. Regardless of your fitness, skills or preparation, humans cannot survive in -100F/-73C wind chill for, well, not for long. The summit winds are hovering over 150 mph/240kmh – that’s a category 5 hurricane and we saw what that does to a place like the Bahamas last year. The problem is that the storms will eventually let up and allow for progress but the question is always for how long. When Alex Txikon attempted his last two winter Everest attempts, he played this game and eventually had to give up due to the winds and debilitating cold after reaching a bit higher than C2 on the normal SE Ridge route on Everest. Patience is the key. Everest – Above Base Camp German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, is back at base camp according to his tracker. He had posted on Facebook that he and photographer Daniel Hug were going to 6,000 meters at the top of the Lho La Pass it looks like the big winds and cold temps turned them back. According to the excellent online weather app, Windy, the winds are gusting to 55 mph/88 kph at base camp and the temperature is -2F/-19C. 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 First Alex Txikon is on the trek to Ama Dablam Base Camp. He last reported flying into Lukla. He is planning his third winter Everest attempt. He just finished an outing in Antarctica to explore new routes on various peaks before going to Nepal to acclimatize for Everest on Ama Dablam. His team includes Spaniard Oscar Cardo, Jonatan García and Nepalese Sherpas Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa, and Tenjen Sherpa. K2 – No Os – On the Trek to BC Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team should have left Askole to start the trek to K2 Base Camp today per logistics organizer Apricot Tours. Mingma will climb without supplemental oxygen. Broad Peak – Waiting out Storms Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 This team has been hammered by high winds the past few days so not a lot of progress. 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. Lotta Hintsa who will not attempt the summit is there to support the two climbers, but she has climbed to C1. They have established their Camp 2 at 6,200 meters. Don Bowie posted on Instagram: (click the link to see the picture) Moonlight illuminates our dining/kitchen tent at Broad Peak/K2 base camp, elevation 4850 meters on Jan 10th, 2020. I snapped this image just before a storm hit… which has now been hammering us for 3 days straight. Wind speeds in camp hit 120km/h last night and estimated 240km/h at the summit. The extreme summit winds create this constant, low roar coming from the summit that sounds like 20 freight trains crashing into an erupting volcano. Our shower tent is shredded. The kitchen is tent battered and hastily tethered with ropes and straps and huge boulders to keep it in place. Happy to report that our @mountainhardwear Trango 3 & 4 base camp tents have taken on the storm without breaking a sweat. Big thanks to @mattburbach and team for hooking us up!! – And Lotta Hintsa added on Instagram: Most importantly, I washed my hair yesterday for the first time since Dec 16. But it’s also awesome that we were able to haul loads to C1 and stay for a couple of nights acclimatizing. During those days the two heros, @donbowie and Denis, chopped 100s of meters of rope out of blue ice between C1 and C2. I humbly accept that this task was over my head at this point so I only climbed to about 150m above C1 to check out their work. I was also drying out gear for hours in the tent and almost burned it down. Oops. Now we’re back in this resort called basecamp waiting out a storm… Gasherbrum Traverse – Wating out Weather Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger are trying to navigate the glacier and ice below the true start of the mountain. They want to traverse the two peaks in a single push via the Gasherbrum La at 6,400 meters. Moro posted this update on Facebook: “Finally” the first real day of bad winter weather. Snow and strong wind, so strong that at altitude, the Mountain seemed to howl. The visibility on the glacier is almost zero and it is difficult to distinguish the contours and depths. Our track is covered but we hope that the flags and the GPS track will allow us to reopen the path as soon as conditions improve. It seems that at least for over the next 24 hours the weather will remain very bad and so we take the opportunity to rest… Winter 2019/20 Everest Jost Kobusch – at EBC Alex Txikon – Trekking to Ama Dabalm K2 Mingma Gyalje Sherpa – Trekking Broad Peak, then K2? Denis Urubko – at base camp Gasherbrum I/II Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger – at base camp Ama Dablam Zoltán Szlankó, Alex Goldfarb Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Cold, Tough, Slow but Progress
Taking advantage of a small window of good weather progress was made on a few of the Himalayan peaks this week. More bad weather is expected later this weekend. Meanwhile, Everest and K2 climbers have arrived in Nepal and Pakistan respectively to begin their trek to base camp. There are expeditions on K2, Everest, Broad Peak, and the Gasherbrums plus a few others. Everest – Above Base Camp German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, has announced on his Facebook page that he will take the West Ridge. Initially, he will climb with his photographer, Daniel Hug the top of the Lho La Pass but then proceed solo. Looks like its cold at base camp slowing down progress but his tracker showed another climb on the Lho La Pass to 19,284 feet or 5878 meters. He appeared to spend the night and is exploring the area before returning to BC. A strong storm is expected later this weekend. Jost posted on Facebook: Current weather situation at the basecamp: 60% sun / 40% very windy – 100% bloody cold. 🥶 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). In Nepal for Everest Alex Txikon is planning his third winter Everest attempt. He just finished an outing in Antarctica to explore new routes on various peaks before going to Nepal to acclimatize for Everest on Ama Dablam. His team includes Spaniard Oscar Cardo, Jonatan García and Nepalese Sherpas Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa, and Tenjen Sherpa. He is now in Kathmandu preparing for Ama Dablam. K2 – No Os – Team in Pakistan Most of Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team has arrived in Pakistan according to a message I received from his logistics organizer Apricot Tours. Mingma and Gao arrived on January 8 but their flight to Skardu was canceled, as usual, but finally got to Skardu by road. They begin their trek to BC Sunday. Mingma will climb without supplemental oxygen. Broad Peak – Camp 2 Established Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 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 who will stay in base camp to support the two climbers. They have established their Camp 2 at 6,200 meters. Urubko’s home team posted on Facebook: Don and me did hard job just in 2 days I touch ridge 6200! We exhausted in BC. 2 days Don and me cut hundreds kg ice- ropes under 10-30cm. My arms are very strong now 🙂 road to C2 is open we are happy. And Lotta Hintsa added on Instagram: Hanging out in (and around) base camp until further notice, waiting for some better weather. The winds above the summit have been around 240km/h, it’s cloudy and cold, and snow is blowing wildly all around. It sounds like the mountains are roaring… This has been some good time to explore around BC and today me and @donbowie went ice climbing just a 10min walk (aka swim through snow) away Gasherbrum Traverse – Cold and Confusing Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger are trying to navigate the glacier and ice below the true start of the mountain. They want to traverse the two peaks in a single push via the Gasherbrum La at 6,400 meters. Moro posted this update on Facebook: Very cold morning at -31 but with a very clear sky and therefore the subsequent arrival of the sun luckily made the temperatures more pleasant. Today, the third consecutive working day for as many 10 kilometers of movement between the crevasses and seracs was exhausting, I would say almost mortifying. Today I pushed to the maximum in search of the final passage that would eventually take us to the plateau above the glacier and the ice fall. We still managed to steal a few more hundred meters by crossing dangerous bridges of ice, jumping crevasses, consuming nerves and liver to advance. In the end the efforts seemed to pay off but we weren’t ready for the final surprise! By now at the same slenderness of the Plateau, a gigantic and very deep crevasse has blocked our road and the probable joy. I looked for the narrowest point to assess a possible jump, but the distance was still too great. I estimated 2.5 m in that narrow spot, too much to do uphill and with snowshoes on my feet. We wandered around for half an hour looking for an alternative but couldn’t find it. That crevasse cuts across the entire glacier lengthwise. The only possible solution is a metal 3 meters ladder that I remember seeing at base camp near the military camp in the middle of the Abruzzi glacier. So we’re back at base camp and tomorrow we’ll travel 8.5 km to pick it up and then we’ll carry it with us on our shoulders all the way through crevasses and seracs until the big and hopefully… the last crevasse. Hopefully it will be long enough to cross the abyss… And Tamara Lunger on Instagram: Despite a beautiful day I started off very angry… and I don’t know if you ever feel this way, but then it happens that anger is only towards myself, because I should be happy in such an environment. During the cold climb yesterday at the arrival point in the afternoon, I was alone. Simone was climbing in front of me and thanks to the many hills and corners I couldn’t see him. I needed to be alone for a while, to be fascinated by the beauty of the ice crystals and to find peace again! The thing that discouraged me the most, was that the piece we did yesterday (where I tracked) today we did in 10 MINUTES going up 😩😱 And even today, wherein my fairytale world I
2019/20 Winter Himalaya Climbs: Poor Karakorum Weather, Everest WR Video
Poor weather has hampered progress on Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums meanwhile we get a good look at the Everest West Ridge route. There are expeditions on K2, Everest, Broad Peak, and the Gasherbrums plus a few others. Everest – West Ridge Animation German alpinist Jost Kobusch, age 27, has announced on his Facebook page that he will take the West Ridge. Initially, he will climb with his photographer, Daniel Hug the top of the Lho La Pass but then proceed solo. His team put together this excellent animation of the route: Jost Kobusch – Mount Everest winter solo 2019/2020 from 3D RealityMaps on Vimeo. 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). You can follow him on his tracker. Traveling to Nepal for Everest Alex Txikon is planning his third winter Everest attempt. He just finished an outing in Antarctica to explore new routes on various peaks before going to Nepal to acclimatize for Everest on Ama Dablam. His team includes Spaniard Oscar Cardo, Jonatan García and Nepalese Sherpas Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa, and Tenjen Sherpa. He is now traveling back home and then on to Nepal. K2 – No Os – Team in Pakistan Most of Mingma Gyalje Sherpa‘s Imagine Nepal team has arrived in Pakistan according to a message I received from Mingma plus his logistics organizer Apricot Tours. Mingma and Gao should have arrived today in Pakistan. Mingma will climb without supplemental oxygen. Broad Peak – 150 mph Winds! Broad Peak First then Maybe K2 Denis Urubko’s goal is to complete, what he considers, the first winter true ascent of Broad Peak and then, perhaps, go to K2. He is teaming with Don Bowie and Lotta Hintsa who will stay in base camp to support the two climbers. They have made a couple of rotations to 5,100 meters and cached gear and Urubko spent one night at C1. On January 6, 2020, Urubko’s home team posted on Facebook that they were hunkered down at base camp due to the winds: After passing one night in Camp 1, Denis is resting on Base Camp. Just now the weather is not good enough to climb again. The wind is too strong even in BC. After three days, they expect to have an opportunity to continue working on the route. As Denis has written in his last sms: “I need to fight”. And Lotta Hintsa added on Instagram: Hanging out in (and around) base camp until further notice, waiting for some better weather. The winds above the summit have been around 240km/h, it’s cloudy and cold, and snow is blowing wildly all around. It sounds like the mountains are roaring… This has been some good time to explore around BC and today me and @donbowie went ice climbing just a 10min walk (aka swim through snow) away Gasherbrum Traverse – Windy Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger are trying to make acclimatization rotations but are also stalled by high winds. They want to traverse the two peaks in a single push via the Gasherbrum La at 6,400 meters. Tamara Lunger made this update on their progress: Bad weather, but it didn’t stop us from getting a little higher and even more in trouble!! Today I could have been the one who opened the trail and that would have made me so happy. At some points, the snow reached my hips mindless of snowshoes. I also accidentally saw the crevasses from the inside, but when on the other side of the rope you find a person to whom you would entrust your life, nothing seems serious and then you give everything for this great goal, which is still far away, but at the same time very close! Thanks to all of you! I can feel your energies Antarctica: Mt. Tyree And finally, Jimmy Chin noted a “dream team” will attempt a ski descent of the north face of Mt. Tyree, the second-highest peak on the Antarctica continent: En route to Antarctica to attempt two first descents I’ve dreamed of for years. The 7000ft【2.134 m】 NE face on Mount Tyree (pictured) is one of the main objectives and a new line on Vinson. Always some butterflies and a little bittersweet leaving home, family and the familiar for the unknown. The remote mountain ranges have an indescribable draw – always have for me and it seems they always will. Excited to be embarking on this journey w a dream team @conrad_anker @jimwmorrison @hilareenelson. Should be a good one…Hope the conditions hold steady Winter 2019/20 Everest Jost Kobusch – at EBC Alex Txikon – in Antarctica K2 Mingma Gyalje Sherpa – soon Broad Peak, then K2? Denis Urubko – on the trek Gasherbrum I/II Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger – in Pakistan Ama Dablam Zoltán Szlankó, Alex Goldfarb Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything