{"id":35241,"date":"2019-10-16T16:14:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T22:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=35241"},"modified":"2022-05-07T12:57:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T18:57:14","slug":"nirmal-purja-travels-to-shishapangma-for-number-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/16\/nirmal-purja-travels-to-shishapangma-for-number-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Nirmal Purja Travels to Shishapangma for Number 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

Its official, Nirmal Purja has a permit to climb Shishapangma to achieve his self-imposed timetable of November 23 to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. He posted on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and Facebook:<\/a><\/p>\n

With full of mix emotions ; I feel very humble, thankful and proud today. Finally me and my team has got the permit to climb Shishapangma. I would like to thank the government of Nepal for approaching China on my behalf for this project and I would also like to thank the government of China for considering my application and allowing me to climb Shishapangma this year.<\/p>\n

Equally, I would like to thank the Ministery of foreign affairs Nepal, Department of Tourism, Embassy of a China in Nepal , NMA, CTMA, TMA and all my friends who helped me ( you all know who you are ) to make this happen. Thank you to all for taking this “Bremont Project Possible\u201d as OUR project. My heart and soul is full of joy with mixed emotions.<\/p>\n

Now, you have given me the opportunity, I will deliver my promise.\u00a0I\u2019m looking to complete this project within 6 months. I love you all and big thank you to my wife @sus_xox for bearing with me and being that “strong woman\u201d- Without your support I wouldn\u2019t have come this far.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Shishapangma<\/h1>\n

Getting to the true summit of Shisha is not a foregone conclusion, even for a team as skilled as Nirmal Purja. Shish is the lowest of all the 8000-meter peaks standing at 26,335 feet or 8,027 meters. It’s the only 8000er that stands alone in Tibet. Everest, Lhotse, and Cho Oyu are on the border with Nepal while Kangchunga shares the border with India.<\/p>\n

Shishapangma was first climbed by a Chinese team in 1964. I estimate there have been around 350 summits and over 30 deaths placing it the middle for deaths\/summits on the 8000ers. \u00a0In 1999 Americans Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges died in an avalanche and last year on May 3rd<\/sup>, 2018, well-regarded Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov disappeared during an attempt.<\/p>\n

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About 30% of all expeditions reach the true summit which is two more hours of climbing to cover an additional 46-feet\/ 14-meters from the central summit. However many climbers claim a summit with the\u00a0lower one as demonstrated by Luo Jing who falsely claimed her last 8000er when she only reached the central summit.<\/p>\n

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Shishapangma summit routes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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From my own experience in September 2007, Shish is extremely accessible\u00a0as you can drive to base camp. The lower route crosses a glacier with a series of up and down climbs of 20 to 30-foot tall ice towers called penitentes. Next is a straightforward climb up a 30-degree snow slope to reach Camp 1 then another long traverse across a snowfield to Camp 2 and then up an avalanche-prone slope to Camp 3. Then the real climbing begins with a steep climb up fairly rough snow-covered rock wall to the Central summit before crossing a knife-edge snow-covered ridgeline to the true summit. We only made it C3 and stopped when we received a weather forecast calling for high winds and heavy snow for the next 30 days!<\/p>\n

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