{"id":24395,"date":"2016-09-11T10:41:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T16:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=24395"},"modified":"2016-12-12T15:42:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T22:42:42","slug":"autumn-himalayan-climbing-update-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/11\/autumn-himalayan-climbing-update-1\/","title":{"rendered":"autumn Himalayan Climbing Update 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, really not a lot to report – I know what you’re thinking – that I would never be a journalist for an outdoor magazine with this as my opening line. Maybe this headline should have read “Amazing News from\u00a0Early Himalayan Climbs – No News!” lol \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Actually there is some news plus two new expeditions<\/strong> to announce.<\/p>\n

\"Everest<\/a>
Everest and Cho Oyu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cho Oyu<\/h3>\n

The world’s sixth highest peak at 26,907’\/8201m is always popular attracting\u00a0hundreds of climbers each autumn season. It is the most summited, after Everest, of all the 8000 meter mountains with 3,331\u00a0summits thru 2014 according\u00a0to the Himalayan Database.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Many teams have\u00a0now reached Advanced Base Camp, which some call the highest altitude of any 8000 meter base camp at 18,500 feet. Adventure Consultants reports in including wifi available at ABC:<\/p>\n

Everyone made it through their first night at ABC in good shape. Whew! \u00a0We awoke to swirling mist and filtered sun revealing and obscuring magnificent scenery. Our camp is peaceful and set in a sheltered reclusive moraine bowl. By late morning it was snowing. A good day for reading and letting one’s body gain equilibrium for the hard toil ahead. Folks were happy to be connected on wifi.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is way too early\u00a0to determine what the snow conditions are like above 7000 meters. The climbers\u00a0are starting their first rotations to C1 this week.\u00a0As I reported earlier, the usual suspects of\u00a0Adventure Consultants<\/a>, Alpine Ascents (AAI)<\/a>, Asian Trekking, IMG<\/a>\u00a0, SummitClimb are all there.<\/p>\n

\"8,156m<\/a>
8,156m (26,670′), Manaslu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Manaslu<\/h3>\n

Similar to Cho Oyu, Manaslu\u00a0is regarded as attainable and in recent years has seen a dramatic increase in traffic. Seven Summits Treks,<\/a> the now dominate Nepali owned and based guide service, posted they have\u00a0130 members and Sherpas for the 2016 season. This is astounding in that in the year ever, 2011, Manaslu saw 140 total summits.\u00a0Since 1956, Manaslu has had 980 total summits.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Russel Brice,\u00a0Himalayan Experience<\/a> reports heavy rain at base camp which\u00a0is somewhat normal for this 8000er:<\/p>\n

I write from a very wet rainy Manaslu Base Camp, so what is new. This is our 9th trip to Manaslu and we have always apart from last year managed to fly into Samagon on the program date of 29 Aug. Maybe this is too early but I still feel that we need to be right on the heels of the monsoon so as we are ready for the very short weather envelope for the summit.<\/p>\n

This year we all managed to fly by helicopter to Samagon where we had 4 days with very little rain as we did our normal acclimatisation treks. Samagon continues to see so much new house construction, so I suspect that the economy there is doing OK, although I am surprised as we still need to send our loads over the Larkya Pass from the adjacent Marvangdi valley rather than coming straight up the Budh Kandaki water shed.<\/p>\n

I really see that this difficult trail needs to be reopened after last year\u2019s earthquake in order to support the local inhabitants who have invested in lodges so as to support trekkers who do the Manaslu Circuit trek. I understand that it is taking time to rebuild this trail in the lower Kandaki which is not surprising considering the steepness of the mountain slopes on either side of the river.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dhaulagiri<\/a>
Dhaulagiri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dhaulagiri<\/h3>\n

From early repots Altitude Junkies<\/a> appears to be the only team on this 8000er this autumn season. At 26,794’\/8167m, Dhaulagiri was considered to be a hard peak to climb but nowadays is considered as in the lower half of the 8000er list. The normal route has some short technical sections and some avalanche danger, but overall it\u2019s a quite straight forward climb. 469 climbers have reached the summit thru 2014.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Phil Crampton\u00a0reports the team has finally\u00a0reached base camp after multiple delays and rain but the\u00a0weather is good now<\/p>\n

The team reached base camp on September 8. The all important Puja ceremony will be held on Monday, September 12. After that, the work will begin and the rope fixing will start. The plan will be to create a new route to Camp 1, due to the dry snow conditions. We are still the only team here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of note, they will not have satellite access with their\u00a0BGAN modem as the mountain blocks direct\u00a0line of sight.<\/p>\n

Everest<\/h3>\n

There are no reported teams attempting Everest from Nepal this second half of 2016 but two\u00a0climbers are on the north side.<\/p>\n

\"Kilian<\/a>
Kilian Jornet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kilian Jornet<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I previously reported<\/a>, Spanish speed climber\u00a0Kilian Jornet<\/a>\u00a0will attempt to set a speed record by climbing from the\u00a0Rongbuk Monastery (Tibet) to the summit in a single push. He expects to take around 20 hours to summit and about 35 hours to descend. Kilian\u00a0and his three partners are already in Tibet.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: He has been in the\u00a0base camp area now for a couple of weeks continuing to acclimatize before his attempt. He reported recently:<\/p>\n

Hi all! we continue with the acclimatization. There’s a lot of snow, but everything is ok!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Nobukazu<\/a>
Nobukazu Kuriki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nobukazu Kuriki<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I posted<\/a>\u00a0a few weeks ago, Japanese climber,\u00a0Nobukazu Kuriki<\/a>, is climbing from the north side. He is now at base camp. He posted recently:<\/p>\n

This morning’s advanced base strong wrapped in gas out for visibility, I’m afraid of heights adaptation to leave after it is changed to tomorrow.\u00a0Still monsoon new year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is his sixth\u00a0autumn (post-monsoon), no O’s, climbing alone,\u00a0attempt on Everest. His previous try have been met with drama and injury. He has lost nine fingers on Everest in 2012 during a thwarted attempt<\/a> on the West Ridge\u00a0of Everest.\u00a0In 2015, he reached a bit above the South Col before deep snow forced him to stop.<\/p>\n

Climbing alone is his “style” of climbing. He has climbs of McKinley (2004), Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro all in 2005 and Carstensz Pyramid in 2006. Plus these 8000m climbs: Cho Oyu (2007), Manaslu (2008), and Dhaulagiri (2009). He attempted Annapurna last spring without a summit due to weather.<\/p>\n

These are the two new expeditions recently announced:<\/p>\n

autumn Broad Peak Attempt.<\/h3>\n

Altitude Pakistan<\/a> reports that \u00a0Oscar Cadiach will (re)attempt Broad Peak\u00a0in Sep-Oct, hoping for better conditions than summer. On Oscar’s Facebook<\/a> page they noted:<\/p>\n

As far as the Himalayas Expedition autumn are rare in karakoram climbers this time of year, there are less pretty.\u00a0Conditions at this time of the karakoram should cause us to be cold and dry. This is due to the fact that, before the snow – make up during the warmer days of summer, while another heavy snow conditions are expected, and the beginning of March and April.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lhotse South Face<\/h3>\n

For the fourth time,\u00a0Sung-Taek Hong, will lead his Korean team in an attempt\u00a0up the extremely avalanche prone South Face of Lhotse, the world’s 4th highest peak. In 2015 they reached 8200 meters before snow conditions stopped them.<\/p>\n

Best of luck to all this autumn season.<\/p>\n

Climb On!
\nAlan
\nMemories are Everything<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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