Seven Summits Treks<\/a>\u00a0posted a list of members nearing 45 as I described in this post<\/a>. The team now includes Polish climber\u00a0Waldemar Kowalewski, who will do a no O’s attempt. Italy\u2019s Tamara Lunger who was first mentioned on the SST list has now been removed from the list. Apparently, she never agreed. Also, there is a rumor that Nirmal Purjas Purja<\/a>\u00a0who made a name for himself by summiting all fourteen of the 8000ers in six months and six days, \u00a0will do a no O’s summit and paraglide off the summit.<\/p>\n Overall this suggests close to 60 climbers this winter, similar to a normal summer season. There are also plans on nearby Broad Peak.\u00a0Russian-American Alex Goldfarb and Hungarian Zoltan Szlanko are planning a climb, hoping to ski from the summit.<\/p>\n One stand out team will be lead by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s founder and owner of Imagine Nepal<\/a>. This will be an all Sherpa team with no clients. Mingma can manage his own finances but given the COVID-19 limitations this year and no income for almost all the Sherpas, his teammates need financial help and have set up a GoFundMe<\/a> site for donations to offset expenses.<\/p>\n I’ve covered Mingma’s accomplishments in the past so he is no stranger to my regular readers.<\/p>\n He\u00a0is IFMGA\/UIAGM certified Mountain Guide who began his mountaineering career in 2006 with his first attempt on Mt. Manaslu. \u00a0As of today, he has successfully topped\u00a0Mt Everest, K2<\/a>,Kanchenjunga<\/a>,\u00a0Lhotse<\/a>,\u00a0Makalu<\/a>,\u00a0Cho Oyu,\u00a0Dhaulagiri<\/a>,\u00a0Manaslu<\/a>,\u00a0Nanga Parbat<\/a>,\u00a0Annapurna,\u00a0Gasherbrum I \u2013I<\/a>,\u00a0Broad Peak<\/a> and Gasherbrum-II<\/a>. Sishapangma is the only 8000er he has not summited. He also reached the altitude of 8300m on Mt. Lhotse via South Face, which is regarded as the longest rocky range and hardest mountain to climb.<\/p>\n Mingma was the first and only solo climber from Nepal on Mt Chobuje (6685m) via west face in 2015. This is one of the most difficult mountains to climb via the west face.\u00a0He also has a first ascent on Mt. Cheki-Go (6257m), Mt. Bamongo (6400m), and Mt Chobuje via West Face.\u00a0He also made several 6000m peaks like\u00a04 times on Mt. Ama Dablam (6812m),\u00a0Thorong Peak<\/a>, Paldor Peak, Mt. Larkya North peak, Island peak, Pharchamo, Ramdung, Lobuje, Chulo peak,Himlung 2018\u00a0<\/a>, Elbrus(5642m)<\/a>. He made a winter attempt on K2 in 2019\/20. You can read about that experience in this interview<\/a> I did with Mingma in February 2020.<\/p>\n I will be exclusively covering his expedition this winter season on this set and caught up with Minga for a short Q&A:<\/p>\n Q: What draws you to attempt K2 in the winter, Mingma?<\/strong><\/p>\n K2 is the last 8000er that hasn’t been climbed in winter. For all the other 8000ers summited in winter, no Shepra was with them, so this is an opportunity for Sherpa to demonstrate their strength. Besides alpinists, all the climbers take help from Sherpa to fulfill their dreams of 8000m peaks. I have helped several foreign climbers to get to the summit of different 8000ers. I was a little surprised\u00a0to see no Sherpa on winter first ascent. So this climb is for all the Sherpa community who are so known because of our friends and clients from different foreign countries.<\/p>\n Q: When will you arrive in Pakistan?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0 We are planning to be there before mid December 2020.<\/p>\n Q: How do you define winter and what is the last possible summit day that you still consider winter?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0What we have learned is 01 December to 28 or 29 February is considered winter. We very less follow astronomical\u00a0calendars\u00a0as the season starts changing from the beginning of March. So we will begin from mid of December and will end by February 28 at base camp.<\/p>\n Q: Why an all Sherpa team and no clients?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0It is very clear, we want to make a summit and only the Sherpa team would be best for the mission. When there are clients, there are too many responsibilities and challenges.<\/p>\n Q: There are other teams attempting K2 this winter. Will you cooperate with them?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0 As per my knowledge, there are 4 different teams trying K2 this year including us. On the mountain, we must cooperate.<\/p>\n Q: What route will you use?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n We are planning to use Abruzzi as winter climb is more on bare rocky sections there are chances of frequent rock following on the Cesen route and I have seen Abruzzi route winter.<\/p>\n Q: Will you fix your own ropes or work with other teams to get the route in?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0We will fix our own and if all the team agrees to cooperate with us or with everyone then there will be combined work.<\/p>\n Q: You have a GoFundMe<\/a> to offset the costs. Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0As you know SHERPA gets a chance to earn only when there are climbers on the mountain. Our main earning is in the Spring season(April-May) Autumn Season (September-November). Most of the months, Sherpa are jobless and they depend on the money they earn in these seasons. This is not applicable for all Sherpa but most. They are Sherpa who goes to foreign countries for guiding and they have good earning.\u00a0 In 2020, we have earned not even a penny because of Covid-19. There are few tourists climbing in Nepal at the end of the year but only a few have got job opportunities. I can make expenses on my own but all our team members can’t make all the expenses so it is necessary to go on GoFundme<\/a> and ask for help from the foreign climbing friends who have climbed with Sherpa and all who have known Sherpa.<\/p>\n Q: Please introduce your team to us.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nAll Sherpa K2 Team<\/h3>\n
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