Alex Txikon’s Everest Winter Summit – OVER
Alex Txikon said going on would have been “suicide.” With a team of five Sherpas he reached Camp 2 on 7th March 2017 from the Nepal side of Everest. They felt the extreme cold and high winds with the same in the forecast for many days and called it quits. Txikon says he will return. Txikon deserves a lot of credit for not giving up easily. He reached the South Col almost a month ago but was stopped by high winds – so much so that they couldn’t even pitch their tent. One of the Sherpas was hit by rockfall on the descent to Camp 2 and the entire team flew back to Kathmandu, against Txikon’s wishes. The organizer for this winter attempt was Seven Summits Treks, a Sherpa owned guide company that has become the dominate guide force on Everest. They regularly have between 60 to 100 members each season, primarily from China and India. The Icefall Doctors initially helped set the route thru the Khumbu Icefall with Txikon chipping in on the work.Txikon is 35 years old and was joined by 28 year old Spanish climber Carlos Rubio who was better known for extreme skiing than climbing. Aitor Barez was the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister was the cameramen. Carlos Rubio was evacuated by helicopter with lung inflammation a few weeks into the effort. Summiting any 8000 meter mountain in winter is difficult but Txikon had knocked off Nanga Parbat last winter and had hopes to summit Everest this season without using supplemental oxygen. History of Winter Ascents Txikon is not alone in not reaching the summit in winter. A paltry 0.2% of all summits since 1953 have occurred in the winter. The Himalayan Database reports that the last successful winter summit was in 1993 and the only previous summit without supplemental oxygen was by Ang Rita Sherpa in 1987. Technically winter begins on the winter solstice on December 21st or 22nd and ends on March 20th. To add some controversy, the solstice in 1987 was on December 22nd at 4:45:13 and Ang Rita summited at 15:20. Some articles position Txikon as the first winter, no supplemental oxygen summit, if successful, others note Ang Rita’s winter, no Os winter summit. If Txikon had summited it would have been widely admired given he spent the majority of the winter on his quest. There have been 21 winter expeditions with only five successful summits: 2017 Winter Attempt Timeline The team arrived in Kathmandu on Christmas day, 25th December 2016 with plenty of time to summit before 20th March, 2017 – the end of winter. They spent weeks setting the route thru the Khumbu Icefall and establishing Camp 1 and Camp 2 before leaving Base Camp aiming for a 14 February summit. The First Summit Attempt Txikon, and Seven Summits Sherpas: Norbu, Chhepal left base camp on 10 February for the summit push arriving at Camp 2 in about 8 hours. The next day 3 more Sherpas, Nuri, Furba and Pemba joined them. They reported extremely cold still air temps in the -20F to -30F range, without windchill. They left Camp 2 to establish High Camp at the South Col and began to experience even worse weather -45C/-49F air temp with 60 kph/37 mph winds. This puts the wind chill at -70C/-95F, perhaps a bit lower at this extreme altitude but still deadly cold. Skin would instantly freeze in those conditions and even with the world’s best down suits the climber would soon become chilled beyond recovery. Given they were climbing without supplemental oxygen, the risks were dramatically increased. Dead Bodies at South Col On the push from Camp 2 directly to the South Col, there were fighting the wind on each step. At the South Col, the high winds made it impossible to set up a tent. They arrived without sleeping bags assuming a short stay in the tent before pushing for the summit. The climbers were becoming dangerously cold. As they struggled to establish camp, the wind broke a pole sending Txikon searching in tents from last spring’s expeditions for a spare. He finds not one, but two dead bodies in separate tents. He didn’t identify them. After only half an hour, with harsh winds making establishing Camp 4 impossible, they all retreated to Camp 3 for a short, cold night then down to Base Camp. But while on the Lhotse Face, an avalanche of snow and mostly falling rock, hits the team sending Txikon sliding hundreds of feet and injuring Sherpa Chhepal. Back to Kathmandu With Chhepel injured, Seven Summits Treks orders a helicopter and the entire team was transported back to Kathmandu. Reports were confusing with some saying the summit effort has ended, others saying it would go on but Txikon posted he was not ready to give up. The difference in plans between Mingma, one of the owners of Seven Summits Treks and an extremely accomplished mountaineer himself and Txikon seemed to be that Mingma was protecting his employees and most likely felt the conditions were too dangerous for another attempt, especially given the rockfall. Txikon, following his dream, was willing to take more risks. After a meeting between Mingma, Txikon and the remaining Sherpas, it was agreed to return to Base Camp and give the summit another attempt. While in Kathmandu, they ate, slept and recovered. A climber would usually keep their acclimatization for a couple of weeks once achieved, so the 8 day rest at 5,000 feet did not impact their acclimatization and allowed Txikon to recover. Txikon swapped out most of original crew of Sherps for reasons not cited. Most likely the Sherpas, who work for Seven Summits Treks, were committed to work on Everest for the Spring season and need to rest up. Nuri Sherpa was the only Shepa from the first attempt to join Tixkon for the second try. Txikon posted a ghostly image of himself saying he lost 12kg/26 pounds on his already lean frame. Second Attempt and a Visit from Reinhold Messner Once back at base camp, Txikon received a huge mental boost when Reinhold Messner, who was already in Nepal, flew to Base Camp to wish him the best as he left for Camp 2 on 6 March. The team had to reestablish
Alex Txikon’s on Final Everest winter Summit Push
Alex Txikon’s team is back on Everest for what will be their last push to summit Everest in winter. They need to top out by March 20 to claim that prize. LATEST: Their GPS tracker still shows them at Camp 2 as of this post midnight, Wednesday March 7 Everest time. They should be on their way to the summit, somewhere near the Balcony, to miss the high winds. Let’s hope the tracker is not working or turned off. Recovering from First Attempt After a difficult first attempt, they retreated to Kathmandu, somewhat under duress (see this recap of that effort) for 8 days. They ate, slept and recovered. A climber will usually keep their acclimatization for a few weeks once achieved, so the 8 day rest at 5,000 feet will not impact this acclimatization and allow him to recover. Txikon swapped out original crew of Sherps for reasons not cited. Most likely the Sherpas, who work for Seven Summits Treks, are committed to work on Everest for the spring season and need to rest up. They will start setting with Base Camp in a few weeks. Txikon will be climbing with five Sherpas who will all be using supplemental oxygen, Txikon will not use supplemental Os. The plan is for Txikon and Nuri Sherpa to go to the summit. It appears that Txikon’s cameraman and and other teammate will not be on the summit push. Messner Visit Reinhold Messner was in Nepal and flew to Base Camp to wish Txikon the best as he left for Camp 2 on 6 March. Their last location per their GPS tracker showed them there. Remember, that tracker has been inaccurate several times over the past couple of months. When they returned from Kathmandu, the team had to reestablish 60% of the route thru the Khumbu Icefall. The Icefall moves constantly, sometimes as much as 3 feet a day in some sections, so ladders will fall into crevasses and ropes will be lost. This is the Last Attempt Txikon posted on his Facebook page: TIME TO GO FOR IT! We are already in the 2C where we will spend the night and leave at dawn. With the strength that Messner has transmitted to us, we have come upwards with our eyes set on the balmy 8848 meters that reaches our dream. In the last weeks, the weather has not played in our favor, but we have a very small truce until Wednesday; Moment in which we will try to finish the adventure. Nuri, my Nepalese companion, will accompany me to the top and German, Temba, Sanu and Pasang Nurbu will be our support.Until now, the wind does not stop and hit us hard, but the mere fact of having the opportunity to try, pushes us forward.Fingers crossed. I need you more than ever to be with me.Let’s go for the last attempt! Weather The largest challenge in climbing almost any mountain in winter are the winds. This is what stopped them last time. Windchills were near -100F. It remains to be seen if the weather cooperates this time. As this forecast shows, the SUMMIT winds are forecasted to remain high with extremely cold temperatures over the next few days, but there is a tiny window on Wednesday morning. At some point the Txikon will lose the physical strength for another summit attempt. He had already lost over 25 pounds on the first push. My general rule of thumb is that if you lose 10% of your body weight, you will not have the strength to summit. That said, Txikon is an unusually strong and fit climber as proven on his winter summit of Nanga Pabart last year. This is the latest from the computer model from Mountain Forecast for the summit of Everest: Nepal Wants more Money? In a strange twist, the Nepal newspaper The Himalayan Times, is reporting that the Ministry of Tourism is asking Txikon to pay $11,000 for another climbing permit. They claim that the winter permit he bought expires at the end of February. Follow Again, follow their ascent from his GPS tracker. Warning, this system has been somewhat unreliable throughout their climb. Best of luck to Alex and team. The whole mountaineering world is pulling for their safe ascent, summit and return. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest winter Attempt Stopped & Restarted
Alex Txikon’s team went through quite a bit of drama on their first summit push from hurricane winds at the South Col to an injured Sherpa and an unexpected trip to Kathmandu for the entire team, apparently against Txikon’s wishes. All that said, the team will return to Everest Base Camp this upcoming week and push once again to stand on the summit of Everest in winter, without using supplemental oxygen, before 20 March, the end of winter. His team consists of Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who is the cameramen. The expedition is being supported by Seven Summits Treks. There have been Sherpas climbing with them – 2 ice doctors: Nima y Ghense, Seven Summits Sherpas: Norbu, Nuri, Chhepal, Furba, Lakpa yPemba. Five Sherpas are reported to be joining the summit bid. Push #1 Stopped Looking at a 14 February summit day, Txikon, and Seven Summits Sherpas: Norbu, Chhepal left base camp on 10 February for the summit push arriving at Camp 2 in about 8 hours. The next day, 3 more Sherpas, Nuri, Furba and Pemba, joined them. They reported extremely cold still air temps in the -20F to -30F range, without windchill. They left Camp 2 to establish High Camp at the South Col and began to experience even worse weather -45C/-49F air temp with 60 kph/37 mph winds. This puts the wind chill at -70C/-95F. Skin will instantly freeze in those conditions and even the world’s best down suits the wearer will soon become chilled beyond recovery. Given they are climbing without supplemental oxygen, the risks dramatically increase. Dead Bodies at South Col They pushed from Camp 2 directly to the South Col, fighting the wind on each step. At the South Col, the high winds made it impossible to set up a tent. They arrived without sleeping bags assuming a short stay in the tent before pushing for the summit. The climbers were becoming dangerously cold. As they struggled to establish camp, the wind broke a pole sending Txikon searching in tents from last spring’s expeditions for a spare. He finds not one but two dead bodies in separate tents. He didn’t identify them. After only half an hour, with harsh winds making establishing Camp 4 impossible, they all retreated to Camp 3 for a short, cold night then down to Base Camp. But while on the Lhotse Face, an avalanche of snow and mostly falling rock, hits the team sending Txikon sliding hundreds of feet and injuring Sherpa Chhepal. Back to Kathmandu With Chhepel injured, Seven Summits Treks orders a helicopter and the entire team is transported back to Kathmandu. Reports are confusing with some saying the summit effort has ended, others saying it will go on. Txikon posted: We have problems with the local agency. I have left my equipment at the Base Camp with a support person, and I go down to Kathmandu to find a solution. I assure you that I feel very strong and I do not want to leave; Everest is waiting for me! Thanks for all the strength I am receiving, every day, from every corner of the world. You are my motivation! The difference was between Mingma, one of the owners of Seven Summits Treks and an extremely accomplished mountaineer and Txikon himself. Mingma, protecting his employees most likely felt the conditions were too dangerous for another attempt, especially given the rockfall. Txikon, following his dream, was willing to take more risks. After a meeting of Mingma, Txikon and the remaining Sherpas, it was agreed to return to Base Camp this upcoming week and give the summit another attempt. Another Attempt Txikon posted on his Facebook page: This is not over … we’re back! When we arrived at Kathmandu, we have been welcomed by Mingma, the agent of Seven Summits Trecks, and after meeting we decided to continue with the expedition, as before, since my Nepalese partners are willing to continue with me in this adventure; But for it, they need to recover and rest from the hard working days that I told you in my last report. Next week we will return to Base Camp, stronger than ever, and with all the experience acquire In all these weeks If you follow your dreams, everything is possible. Let’s go Thanks to everybody 😉 Txikon posted a ghostly image of himself saying he lost 12kg/26 pounds on his already lean frame. Weather? It remains to be seen of the weather cooperates this time. As this forecast shows, the SUMMIT winds are forecasted to remain high with extremely cold temperatures over the next few days, almost identical to the conditions that stopped the last week. This is the latest from the computer model from Mountain Forecast for the summit of Everest: Follow Again, follow their ascent from his GPS tracker. Warning, this system has been somewhat unreliable throughout their climb. Best of luck to Alex and team. The whole mountaineering world is pulling for their safe ascent, summit and return. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Alex Txikon leaving for winter Everest Summit
Alex Txikon’s team is leaving Everest Base Camp for their highly anticipated winter summit attempt. They will first go to Camp 2 then wait for the optimum weather sometime between February 14th and 18th. He is climbing with Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who is the cameramen. The expedition is being supported by Seven Summits Treks. There have been Sherpas climbing with them – 2 ice doctors: Nima y Ghense, Seven Summits Sherpas: Norbu, Nuri, Chhepal, Furba, Lakpa yPemba. Txikon said earlier about the Sherpas who will join him on the summit push and the use of oxygen: Norbu has climbed it 7 times, Nuri 3. But they would love to do it in winter, so we tighten the teeth and all to a van. We are progressing and gaining meters. The three climb without using artificial oxygen. Txikon is climbing without supplemental oxygen. There is some concern that Txikon has only tagged, not slept, at the South Col or 8000 meter as most no O’s summiters have in the past. However, he has shown amazing strength already plus his performance on Nanga Parbat last winter was astounding. He posted on his Facebook page: THE LONG-AWAITED MOMENT HAS ARRIVED AT LAST! Tomorrow, February 10th, we leave for the Second Camp. Hopefully the hurricane wind of these days, has not caused too much damage in our hard equipment. From February 14th to 18th a window of good weather is foreseen, so I will inform you of the day that nature gives me the strength to try to reach the highest dream of the planet. Now more than ever, I need you here with me. Once they depart Camp 2, it should take 36 to 48 hours, more or less, to summit and return to Camp 2. Visit Txikon’s blog for a nice selection of pictures and his dispatches. You can follow his movements from his GPS tracker . Weather The winds have been quite high, hurricane force over 70 mph, on the summit. Most teams will not climb above the South Col unless the winds are under 30 mph. With Txikon not using supplemental oxygen, the risk of getting cold and suffering frostbite is extremely high, so he will carefully watch the winds. As this forecast shows, the SUMMIT winds are forecasted to abate over the next few days. This is the latest from the computer model from Mountain Forecast for the summit of Everest: History of winter Ascents A paltry 0.2% of all summits since 1953 have occurred in the winter. The Himalayan Database reports that the last successful winter summit was in 1993 and the only previous summit without supplemental oxygen was by Ang Rita Sherpa in 1987. Technically winter begins on the winter solstice on December 21st or 22nd and ends on March 20th. To add some controversy, the solstice in 1987 was on December 22nd at 4:45:13 and Ang Rita summited at 15:20. Some articles position Txikon as the first winter, no supplemental oxygen summit, if successful, others note Ang Rita’s winter, no Os winter summit. Regardless, his success will go into the history books. There have been 21 winter expeditions with only five successful summits: Follow Again, follow their ascent from his GPS tracker. Warning, this system has been somewhat unreliable throughout their climb. Best of luck to Alex and team. The whole mountaineering world is pulling for their safe ascent, summit and return. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest Winter Attempt Ready for Summit Attempt
Alex Txikon’s team has stocked Camp 4 at the South Col and is now back at Everest Base Camp awaiting a clean weather forecast before heading back up for their summit bid. They could summit as early as Saturday, February 11, 2017. In a lengthy post on his website, Txikon describes the push to Camp 4 where he left 33 pounds/15kg of gear (ropes, fuel, tent). He descended immediately and returned all the way to Base Camp. This performance is an excellent indicator that he has acclimatized and is ready for the no O’s summit push probably starting by the end of this week, around February 8th or 9th. Please visit Txikon’s blog for a nice selection of pictures and his dispatches. Falling into a Crevasse But the rotation to C4 was not without incident. Txikon is climbing with five Sherpas from Seven Summits Treks and, I assume, his two teammates who are filming the expedition. Txikon described falling into a crevasse (aka crack) at the base of the Lhotse Face and being pulled out by Pemba, one of the Sherpas: (translation from Spanish to English via Google) We enter the section of cracks that are not dangerous, but it happens that I get caught in one; Thankfully I was stuck with the backpack as the crack had no bottom !!. Your body shrinks, nervousness tries to take over you, your heart beats much faster and you choke; Is what you feel. Pemba who came behind me threw a cloak and when I look at the hole that has made my body I break the edges and see a very dangerous crack vaulted and bottomless! I breathe and try to concentrate again and continue towards the rimaya. The Khumbu Icefall continues to be a hazard with Txikon hoping for stability but on each rotation, he finds the route has changed by the moving ice. You can feel the fear in his writing. Once back at Base Camp, he posted: Then to cross the moraine in which we live, finally arriving at base camp, to the heat of the best home in the world at the moment. I sit and fall, my feet hurt; The tips of the cracked fingers of the intense cold and the work we have done; The eyes, the lips, … I am made a Christ … 18 hours later, but happy. The winds are currently at hurricane force, over 70 mph, on the summit. Most teams will not climb above the South Col unless the winds are under 30 mph. With Txikon not using supplemental oxygen, the risk of getting cold and suffering frostbite is extremely high, so he will carefully watch the winds. This is the latest from the computer model from Mountain Forecast for the summit of Everest: It appears that Saturday morning, February 11, is a window of acceptable winds, implying they would leave base camp as soon as Tuesday. But note the air temperature is 36 degrees below zero. That is cold in centigrade or Fahrenheit! They will probably take one day to reach Camp 2, sleep and rest a day (optional), then push to the South Col taking a few hours to eat, drink and rest then begin the summit push late that same night. With no O’s they will climb a bit slower than what you may see from the commercial climbers climbing with supplemental oxygen at 4 lpm. Txikon has shown he has amazing strength so could make the summit and back to the South Col in under 12 hours then down to Camp 2. You can follow his movements from his GPS tracker . Txikon is 35 years old and is joined by Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who will serve as cameramen. The expedition is being supported by Seven Summits Treks. Best of luck to Alex and team. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest Winter Attempt Reaches Camp 3 – Member Evacuated
Alex Txikon’s team reached Camp 3 at 6917m on the Lhotse Face but team member 28 year old Spanish climber, Carlos Rubio, was evacuated by Helicopter with lung inflammation. Txikon posted on Facebook: From the C3 of Everest I send all my strength to Carlos Rubio Infante Muñiz great companion and friend who has had to be evacuated to a hospital in Kathmandu because of a lung inflammatory process. He is stable and I know he is fine, but from here we miss him a lot, since he has worked like a champion and I am really proud of him. Tomorrow we will ascend to equip the C4, for all the force he has transmitted to us. In short, this dream would not posible, without you Carlos. Rubio posted this update from Kathmandu on You Tube: In the text were these details: Carlos has been up four nights, two in the C1 and C2 two who came very touched energy. His situation worsened to the point of almost not able to walk. Well down the Khumbu icefall was unthinkable. Why Alex made the decision yesterday after rate him and talk with him, that had to be evacuated. One more night could have been fatal at this altitude (6,400 meters) in winter, and with such a small group. In addition, the weather is not easy to fly the helicopter but, luckily, was the only day when the wind stopped yesterday. The helicopter arrived with the last light, and pulled by the hair. Luckily for today blows very strong again, so maybe it could not have come up. Please visit Tixkon’s blog for a nice selection of pictures as they set the route in the Icefall. You can follow his movements from his GPS tracker . Txikon is 35 years old and is joined by Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who will serve as cameramen. Look for Txikon to spend a night at Camp 4 or the South Col, just under 8000 meters. This is the usual acclimatization schedule for anyone attempting to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. He would then return to base camp waiting for forecast of a week of good weather for the final summit bid. This is expected to occur in early February. UPDATE winter Manaslu – Over French alpinist Elisabeth Revol has ended her attempt on Manaslu. She noted deep snow on 13 January but little since. Fellow french climber Ludovic Giambiasi has plans to climb with her but only to Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. They had reached 7300 meters. The Himalayan Times reported: “Heavy snowfall and high wind in the higher camps have forced Revol Elisabeth Marie Bernadette to abandon her climbing bid on the Mt Manaslu on Monday,” Rishi Bhandari, Managing Director at Satori Adventures, said. Best of luck to all, Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest winter Attempt Reaches Camp 1
Alex Txikon’s team and Sherpas have established the route through the Khumbu Icefall and have tagged Camp 1 at the entrance to the Western Cwm. He reports they are moving well and climbing fast. Their Camp 1 is at 6040 meters, about 100 meters higher the normal location but it varies each season depending on avalanche danger off the West Shoulder of Everest and Nuptse to the south. He noted that the temperature at -30C/-22F. Txikon posted on his blog: After four stages of work equipping The Khumbu icefall yesterday that the wind gave us a window of good conditions, we ascended and spent the night at 5870 meters, in a provisional field, but as it is not the best place, today we have climbed to 6040 meters to build the C1. At the moment, we are less than 30º. Please visit his blog for a nice selection of pictures as they set the route in the Icefall. You can follow his movements from his GPS tracker . Txikon is 35 years old and is joined by 28 year old Spanish climber, Carlos Rubio. Also on the team are Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who will serve as cameramen. Carry the Load While Txikon is being supported by five Sherpas to set the route thru the Icefall, he is not laying back at base camp. He is actively participating as shown in pictures he is posting on Facebook of him carrying ladders. This is quite rare and probably only realistic in a single expedition season like this one as the Icefall Doctors are quite proud of their work and will not normally accept help. Kudos to Alex for jumping into the hard work – as if climbing Everest in winter without supplemental oxygen wasn’t enough! Weather Issues The weather is the foremost problem facing the team. In January, the coldest month, the summit temperature averages -36° C (-33° F) and can drop as low as -60° C (-76° F). According to the Weather Underground on February 2004 the winds reached 280 km/h or 174 mph. Technically winter begins on December 21st or 22nd and ends on March 20th so Txikon must summit by late March to claim his winter ascent. winter Manaslu French alpinist Elisabeth Revol is attempting Manaslu and reports deep snow: Strong wind, snow (2,5m of accumulation since begining of january). Each afternoon it’s snowing on BC, so it’s no simple for accli. But everything is ok. Ludo fight with the coldness and discover what mean «winter» 😉. But anyway it’s hard, but great time in mountain … alone… This snowfall not unusual for the world’s 8th highest peak at 8163 m, 26,781 feet. It can get several feet of snow during a normal autumn climb, much less in winter. Fellow french climber Ludovic Giambiasi has plans to climb with her but only to Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. There was no update on how high they have reached. Best of luck to all, Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest Winter Attempt Update
Alex Txikon is now at Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side preparing to begin his acclimatization rotations on Everest. He is being supported by Seven Summits Treks and five Sherpas who will fix the route thru the Khumbu Icefall. They had their Puja today, January 6, 2016. Txikon is 35 years old and is joined by 28 year old Spanish climber, Carlos Rubio. Also on the team are Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who will serve as cameramen. Txikon along with Simone Moro and Muhammad Ali Sadpara knocked off Nanga Parbat last winter leaving on K2 as the last 8000er without a winter summit. An effort for a winter K2 summit by Polish climber Krzysztof Wielicki was canceled due to lack of funds. The Challenge The weather is the foremost problem facing the team. In January, the coldest month, the summit temperature averages -36° C (-33° F) and can drop as low as -60° C (-76° F). According to the Weather Underground on February 2004 the winds reached 280 km/h or 174 mph. Txikon is climbing without supplemental oxygen significantly increasing the effort. Timing Technically winter begins on December 21st or 22nd and ends on March 20th so Txikon must summit by late March to claim his winter ascent. The majority of Everest winter summits have been in December and predominately by Japanese climbers who have accounted for 10 of the 15 winter summits. A paltry 0.2% of all summits since 1953 have occurred in the winter. See this post for more Everest winter statistics. winter Manaslu Meanwhile over on the 8000 meter mountain Manaslu, French alpinist Elisabeth Revol is at base camp preparing for her alpine style attempt on the world’s 8th highest peak at 8163 m, 26,781 feet. Fellow french climber Ludovic Giambiasi has plans to climb with her but only to Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. She posted at the end of December that she has no communications capability so we will have to wait for her return for an update. On base camp today. We are in winter : it’s cold and windy. But weather is ok for now. Have a nice end of year, and an happy new year 2017. I’ll have no connection on base camp ! Best of luck to all, Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest Winter, No O’s Attempt!
A huge program has been announced by Alex Txikon who may be one of the few climbers on the planet qualified to attempt climbing Everest in the winter without supplemental oxygen. He and teammates, Simone Moro and Muhammad Ali Sadpara knocked off Nanga Parbat last winter leaving on K2 as the last 8000er without a winter summit. An effort for a winter K2 summit by Polish climber Krzysztof Wielicki was canceled due to lack of funds. As for Everest, Txikon announced on his website that he and a small team will arrive in Nepal on Christmas day to begin a two month effort to summit Everest using the normal route from Nepal. History Let’s look at the history for a moment. A paltry 0.2% of all summits since 1953 have occurred in the winter. The Himalayan Database reports that the last successful winter summit was in 1993 and the only previous summit without supplemental oxygen was by Ang Rita Sherpa in 1987. Technically winter begins on the winter solstice on December 21st or 22nd and ends on March 20th. To add to some controversy, the solstice in 1987 was on December 22nd at 4:45:13 and Ang Rita summited at 15:20. There have been 21 winter expeditions with only five successful summits: The team Txikon is 35 years old and will be joined by a 28 year old Spanish climber, Carlos Rubio, who is better known for extreme skiing than climbing. They will be joined by Aitor Barez, the expedition movie director and Pablo Magister who will serve as cameramen. It appears that they will promote the climb over social media with drones and real time video. There will be five Sherpa who will fix the route through the Khumbu Icefall. The Challenge The weather is the foremost problem facing the climbers. In January, the coldest month, the summit temperature averages -36° C (-33° F) and can drop as low as -60° C (-76° F). According to the Weather Underground on February 2004 the winds reached 280 km/h or 174 mph. This season, has not been kind to those attempting to summit. autumn 2016 saw speed climb Kilian Jornet and Japanese solo climber, Nobukazu Kuriki stopped on the north side by deep snow. Several first ascents in Nepal were also stopped in the last few months due to dangerous snow conditions. Txikon is no stranger to difficult conditions as reported on Explorers Web for his attempt on Gasherbrum I in 2012: Although this winter is turning out much harder than 2011 – except for the first 10 days, which were amazing. And toughing it through the winter season gets harder and harder each day no matter how experienced you are. Best of luck to all, Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything