The monsoon has been hanging around Nepal and Southern Tibet later than usual this autumn creating massive snow on some peaks, thus the risk of avalanches is critical at the moment.<\/p>\n
![\"Cho](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/route-225x169.jpg\")
<\/a>Cho Oyu<\/h3>\nThe 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<\/strong>: The tough conditions on Cho Oyu finally calmed enough for summit bids. Multiple teams are reporting success including Adventure Consultants, Alpine Ascents with 3 members and support, 7 Summits Club with 5 members and 4 Sherpas. \u00a0Summit Climb also said\u00a0they summited.\u00a0Other teams including IMG are looking at a Sunday, October 2 summit.<\/p>\nMike Roberts of Adventure Consultants<\/a> posted on the conditions at the South Col on Everest which can be clearly seen from the summit of Cho Oyu:<\/p>\nAt noon Kai, Da Jangbu and Ringin were back at C2 after an almost windless cloudless summit. Superb views of Everest and surrounding peaks. Da Jangbu said there was no rock on the South Col of Everest, just snow, a sure testimony to the heavy monsoon. Understandably, they’re stoked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Alpenglow is rushing up the peak with their expeditions designed to minimize time away from home. Adrian Ballinger<\/a> posted about the crowds and a picture of the “conga line” on their summit push.<\/p>\nThe 30th (today) was our ideal summit day on\u00a0ChoOyu. But when temperamental weather the past 2 days pushed a hundred climbers today (can you see the Conga Line nearing the shoulder?), all planning on following a rope-fixing team that would break trail the final 2000 feet of the route, we passed on the weather day in hopes of solace and being able to move at our own speed tomorrow. This is the 8000-meter game. Logistics balance with weather balance with strength and resolve to stand on top. Congrats to the phenomenal effort of the 6 rope-fixing Sherpa (who volunteered for the final summit push and a big payday) and to all who summit today. 24 hours from now we hope to be on top with our skis!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"Cho](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Cho-Oyu-2016-Crowds-Courtesy-of-Adian-Ballinger-480x480.jpg\")
<\/a>Cho Oyu 2016 crowds. Courtesy Adrian Ballinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"8,156m](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/manaslu-225x169.jpg\")
<\/a>8,156m (26,670′), Manaslu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nManaslu<\/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 including a 60 member Chinese team. 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\u00a0UPDATE<\/strong>: \u00a0A good period of weather, albeit windy,\u00a0has allowed many summits on Manaslu. \u00a0Russell Brice noted “In 2008 our first year on Manaslu we had more than 5m of snow fall, so really this last weather\u00a0is a mild reminder of what it used to be like.”<\/p>\nThere were a reported 60 summits on Manaslu this week and another wave is heading up. It is almost certain that a new summit record will be set this season. Seven Summits Treks with the largest team of over 100, reported 80 summits attempts from their team. Nepali based guide services Ascent Himalayas and Dreamers\u00a0Destination Treks\u00a0reported success for their teams.<\/p>\n
The Himalayan Times<\/a> reported:<\/p>\nAccording to the Department of Tourism (DoT), there are 18 teams comprising 151 climbers on Mt Manaslu in the autumn season. \u201cAmong 360 persons \u2013 climbers, high altitude Sherpas and support staff \u2013 have headed for Manaslu base camp,\u201d DoT official Gyanendra Shrestha said, adding that 58 were Chinese climbers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Meanwhile, Russell Brice said his team would target an October 1 summit;\u00a0Benegas Brothers were at C3 headed for the summit.<\/p>\n
New Route on Manaslu<\/strong><\/p>\nAlberto Zerain & Mariano Galv\u00e1n split up as they made their attempt. It is reported that Galvan continued alone on the new route and Zerain will attempt via the normal route according to the blog\u00a0Altitude Pakistan<\/a>.<\/p>\nDhaulagiri<\/h3>\n
From early reports Altitude Junkies<\/a>\u00a0reamins\u00a0the 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>\nUPDATE<\/strong>: Phil Crampton’s team remains\u00a0the only one on Dhaulagiri and is looking at a summit date of October 1:<\/p>\nThere has been 4 days of pretty bad weather, but we are letting the snow consolidate and will continue on with our summit plans. Normally, most teams are pretty clandestine about summit pushes, but since we are the only ones on the peak, here are the tentative plans…. weather dependent. Right now, we are looking at going to Camp 1 on the 28th, Camp 2 on the 29th, Camp 3 on the 30th and October 1st for the summit. We are not sure how well the sat phone will work, so we will keep you posted as per our technology allows..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Shishapangma<\/h3>\n
Shish is the world’s lowest 8000 meter peak at 8027 meters or 26,335 feet. It is also\u00a0the only 8000er totally within Tibet. It is one of the 8000ers with a checkered history of people claiming the summit but only reaching the fore-summit. The last bit is across a sharp ridge that is avi prone so some people call it good at the fore-summit.<\/p>\n
RMI<\/a>‘s team continues to battle tough weather on this peak. Shish is notorious for bad weather as the season progresses. This from RMI:<\/p>\nAnd the heavy winds kept us bounded at Camp 1 today, folks. We woke up to clear skies that soon turned cloudy, but the if we had some hopes to move up early on, the everlasting winds killed it for today. We did what what we had to, and was rest, re-hydrate, eat, and fortify the wall we made around camp. Our forecast gives us hopes to move to Camp 2 tomorrow, so we\u2019re ultra motivated for that. In the meantime, we know that the extra night here will be beneficial for overcoming the thin air that awaits above. We\u2019re armed with plenty of food and desire to continue this fight, so stay toned for more. Everyone is healthy and eager to climb!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are unconfirmed<\/del> reports of a Sherpa\u00a0being killed on Shishapangma by an avalanche at Camp 2. This is a picture I took in 2007 of one of our tents at C2 with Camp 3 in the distance. As you can see, camp is situated below the face of Shish but is usually\u00a0far enough away to avoid avi, but with heavy snow, it is always a possibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Camp](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Camp-2-on-Shishapangma-in-2007.-By-Alan-Arnette-319x480.jpg\")
<\/a>Camp 2 with Camp 3 in distance on Shishapangma in 2007. By Alan Arnette<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n
UPDATE on DEATH:<\/strong> RMI<\/a> just posted the details and confirmed the death:<\/p>\nWe received very sad news earlier today. One of the Sherpa team members was caught in an avalanche this morning and has died. The rest of the team are safe. All team members are spending the night at Camp 2 and will be descending in the morning. The accident occurred below Camp 3 as a Sherpa team was moving up. This is all the information we have at this time. We will provide updates as we get information from the team.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Everest<\/h3>\n
There are no reported teams attempting Everest from Nepal this second half of 2016 but there is one\u00a0climber on the north side. As previously reported, Kilian Jornet, attempting a speed climb via the Horton or Hornbein Couloir ended his effort citing deep snow\u00a0on the North Face.<\/p>\n![\"Nobukazu](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/150831141657-nobukazu-kuriki-climbing-10-super-169-225x169.jpg\")
<\/a>Nobukazu Kuriki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nNobukazu Kuriki<\/strong><\/p>\nAs I posted<\/a>\u00a0a few weeks ago, Japanese climber,\u00a0Nobukazu Kuriki<\/a>, is climbing from the north side. He is now at base camp but notes deep snow on the north side of Everest.<\/p>\nThis is his sixth\u00a0autumn (post-monsoon), no O’s, climbing alone,\u00a0attempt on Everest. His previous efforts\u00a0have 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>\nUpdate<\/strong>: He reached Camp 2 on the North side but was met with a large storm and lots of snow:<\/p>\nI came to camp 2 today. But it had been sunny the morning becomes a storm snow in the afternoon, is the battle of the snow by the monsoon every day.\u00a0There is a large amount of snow to camp 2, but this on further deep snow, you have piled up still happening likely unstable snow avalanche.\u00a0Now, consider what happens to your friends with this snow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
First Ascent Attempts<\/h3>\n
Burke Khang<\/strong><\/p>\nBill Burke, the oldest American to summit Everest and live, announced this past week that he is returning to\u00a0attempt a first ascent of a peak named after hm by the Nepal Government. Burke Khang is in the Gokyo Valley at 6,942 meters (22,775 feet). He attempted it last year but found the summit blocked by opposing cornices. I wrote an long article<\/a> about their attempt last year.<\/p>\nUpdate<\/strong>: They are enroute to Nepal.<\/p>\nTenzing and Hillary Peaks<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Tenzing](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/14324438_1245562435511700_5434286608274494711_o-225x169.jpg\")
<\/a>Tenzing and Hillary Peak from Gokyo Ri. Courtesy of Elia Saikaly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mike Roberts of Adventure Consultants<\/a> posted on the conditions at the South Col on Everest which can be clearly seen from the summit of Cho Oyu:<\/p>\n At noon Kai, Da Jangbu and Ringin were back at C2 after an almost windless cloudless summit. Superb views of Everest and surrounding peaks. Da Jangbu said there was no rock on the South Col of Everest, just snow, a sure testimony to the heavy monsoon. Understandably, they’re stoked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Alpenglow is rushing up the peak with their expeditions designed to minimize time away from home. Adrian Ballinger<\/a> posted about the crowds and a picture of the “conga line” on their summit push.<\/p>\n The 30th (today) was our ideal summit day on\u00a0ChoOyu. But when temperamental weather the past 2 days pushed a hundred climbers today (can you see the Conga Line nearing the shoulder?), all planning on following a rope-fixing team that would break trail the final 2000 feet of the route, we passed on the weather day in hopes of solace and being able to move at our own speed tomorrow. This is the 8000-meter game. Logistics balance with weather balance with strength and resolve to stand on top. Congrats to the phenomenal effort of the 6 rope-fixing Sherpa (who volunteered for the final summit push and a big payday) and to all who summit today. 24 hours from now we hope to be on top with our skis!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\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 including a 60 member Chinese team. 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 \u00a0UPDATE<\/strong>: \u00a0A good period of weather, albeit windy,\u00a0has allowed many summits on Manaslu. \u00a0Russell Brice noted “In 2008 our first year on Manaslu we had more than 5m of snow fall, so really this last weather\u00a0is a mild reminder of what it used to be like.”<\/p>\n There were a reported 60 summits on Manaslu this week and another wave is heading up. It is almost certain that a new summit record will be set this season. Seven Summits Treks with the largest team of over 100, reported 80 summits attempts from their team. Nepali based guide services Ascent Himalayas and Dreamers\u00a0Destination Treks\u00a0reported success for their teams.<\/p>\n The Himalayan Times<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n According to the Department of Tourism (DoT), there are 18 teams comprising 151 climbers on Mt Manaslu in the autumn season. \u201cAmong 360 persons \u2013 climbers, high altitude Sherpas and support staff \u2013 have headed for Manaslu base camp,\u201d DoT official Gyanendra Shrestha said, adding that 58 were Chinese climbers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile, Russell Brice said his team would target an October 1 summit;\u00a0Benegas Brothers were at C3 headed for the summit.<\/p>\n New Route on Manaslu<\/strong><\/p>\n Alberto Zerain & Mariano Galv\u00e1n split up as they made their attempt. It is reported that Galvan continued alone on the new route and Zerain will attempt via the normal route according to the blog\u00a0Altitude Pakistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n From early reports Altitude Junkies<\/a>\u00a0reamins\u00a0the 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<\/strong>: Phil Crampton’s team remains\u00a0the only one on Dhaulagiri and is looking at a summit date of October 1:<\/p>\n There has been 4 days of pretty bad weather, but we are letting the snow consolidate and will continue on with our summit plans. Normally, most teams are pretty clandestine about summit pushes, but since we are the only ones on the peak, here are the tentative plans…. weather dependent. Right now, we are looking at going to Camp 1 on the 28th, Camp 2 on the 29th, Camp 3 on the 30th and October 1st for the summit. We are not sure how well the sat phone will work, so we will keep you posted as per our technology allows..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Shish is the world’s lowest 8000 meter peak at 8027 meters or 26,335 feet. It is also\u00a0the only 8000er totally within Tibet. It is one of the 8000ers with a checkered history of people claiming the summit but only reaching the fore-summit. The last bit is across a sharp ridge that is avi prone so some people call it good at the fore-summit.<\/p>\n RMI<\/a>‘s team continues to battle tough weather on this peak. Shish is notorious for bad weather as the season progresses. This from RMI:<\/p>\n And the heavy winds kept us bounded at Camp 1 today, folks. We woke up to clear skies that soon turned cloudy, but the if we had some hopes to move up early on, the everlasting winds killed it for today. We did what what we had to, and was rest, re-hydrate, eat, and fortify the wall we made around camp. Our forecast gives us hopes to move to Camp 2 tomorrow, so we\u2019re ultra motivated for that. In the meantime, we know that the extra night here will be beneficial for overcoming the thin air that awaits above. We\u2019re armed with plenty of food and desire to continue this fight, so stay toned for more. Everyone is healthy and eager to climb!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are <\/p>\n UPDATE on DEATH:<\/strong> RMI<\/a> just posted the details and confirmed the death:<\/p>\n We received very sad news earlier today. One of the Sherpa team members was caught in an avalanche this morning and has died. The rest of the team are safe. All team members are spending the night at Camp 2 and will be descending in the morning. The accident occurred below Camp 3 as a Sherpa team was moving up. This is all the information we have at this time. We will provide updates as we get information from the team.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are no reported teams attempting Everest from Nepal this second half of 2016 but there is one\u00a0climber on the north side. As previously reported, Kilian Jornet, attempting a speed climb via the Horton or Hornbein Couloir ended his effort citing deep snow\u00a0on the North Face.<\/p>\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 but notes deep snow on the north side of Everest.<\/p>\n This is his sixth\u00a0autumn (post-monsoon), no O’s, climbing alone,\u00a0attempt on Everest. His previous efforts\u00a0have 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 Update<\/strong>: He reached Camp 2 on the North side but was met with a large storm and lots of snow:<\/p>\n I came to camp 2 today. But it had been sunny the morning becomes a storm snow in the afternoon, is the battle of the snow by the monsoon every day.\u00a0There is a large amount of snow to camp 2, but this on further deep snow, you have piled up still happening likely unstable snow avalanche.\u00a0Now, consider what happens to your friends with this snow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Burke Khang<\/strong><\/p>\n Bill Burke, the oldest American to summit Everest and live, announced this past week that he is returning to\u00a0attempt a first ascent of a peak named after hm by the Nepal Government. Burke Khang is in the Gokyo Valley at 6,942 meters (22,775 feet). He attempted it last year but found the summit blocked by opposing cornices. I wrote an long article<\/a> about their attempt last year.<\/p>\n Update<\/strong>: They are enroute to Nepal.<\/p>\n Tenzing and Hillary Peaks<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Cho](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/route.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>Manaslu<\/h3>\n
Dhaulagiri<\/h3>\n
Shishapangma<\/h3>\n
unconfirmed<\/del> reports of a Sherpa\u00a0being killed on Shishapangma by an avalanche at Camp 2. This is a picture I took in 2007 of one of our tents at C2 with Camp 3 in the distance. As you can see, camp is situated below the face of Shish but is usually\u00a0far enough away to avoid avi, but with heavy snow, it is always a possibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Everest<\/h3>\n
<\/a>First Ascent Attempts<\/h3>\n
<\/a>