Climbers Missing on Nanga Parbat – Search Hampered
After having no contact for two days, the home team and base camp crew for British climber Tom Ballard, 30, and Italian Daniele Nardi, 42, have asked for help to search for them. They were attempting a new route on the Mummery Rib – a steep, avalanche-prone area known for taking lives. The two climbers arrived at base camp in December but made little progress due to harsh weather and deep snow along the route. Two Pakistani climbers on their team left a few weeks ago citing the difficult conditions and poor weather forecast. Their last known position was near 6,300-meters between Camp 4 and Camp 3 according to Nardi’s wife who received a satellite phone call from him on Friday, February 22. Low clouds and snow shrouded the view from base camp where their two cooks and Liaison Officer have been using binoculars to search the area. Today, with better conditions, the two were not spotted. To complicate the search, a dispute between India and Pakistan escalated over the last two days with Pakistan shooting down two India fighter jets thus closing the air space around Nanga Parbat to rescue helicopters. Through diplomatic efforts, an exception was made to allow a rescue helicopter to conduct an air search. It will begin tomorrow, February 28 with Pakistani mountaineer, Ali Sadpara, on board. He was on the team that made the first winter summit of Nanga Parbat two years ago. This is Nardi’s fourth attempt on the Mummery Rib. Ballard is known as one of the world’s finest climbers and solo climbed all six of the Alp’s major north faces in one winter, a first. Ballard is the son of famed British alpinist Alison Hargreaves who in 1995 was the first woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. She died a few months later attempting the world’s second highest peak, K2. Their home team made this report on their progress to C3 on February 24: Daniele Just informed us that they arrived at about 6300 meters, maybe even something more! They climbed along a fireplace different from the one up with Elisabeth. They went on light, now they’re going down to c4. The weather is not good, there was fog, sleet and wind gusts. The last position that Daniele managed to send us was little lower than the one indicated on the photo, then continued in the climb for another hour, the position in red is therefore an approximation. Nanga Parbat has a deadly reputation. In 1895 British climber Albert F. Mummery died on Nanga Parbat along with two fellow climbers. Last winter Polish climber Tomasz Mackiewicz died during a winter attempt and his partner, French alpinist Elisabeth Revol was rescued in a dramatic effort by climbers who left their K2 attempt to render aid. In 2013, ten foreign climbers and base camp staff were executed by 15 Taliban extremists at base camp. Hopefully the climbers are stranded by conditions and can be reached tomorrow. You can follow updates on their sponsors site, Montane and Facebook. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: Four Keys for a Winter K2 Summit
UPDATE Tuesday February 26: All K2 teams have returned to base camp due to strong winds If you are in the camp that believes winter ends on February 28, then you might be getting nervous that a K2 summit won’t happen this winter. The other camp has March 21st, the Spring Solstice, as the end of winter so they have more hope. Either way, it’s going to be difficult so let’s break down what it will take for anyone on either team to summit this week or even next month. Where are They Now? The two teams, Spanish/Galician and Kazakhstan/Russia/Kyrgyzstanm aka KRK are converging on the same camps with tolerable weather the past couple of days. Note, not good weather but tolerable weather. Txikon and his Sherpas are at Camp 2, just. below House Chimney and KRK is at Camp 2 proper. Both teams report “the weather conditions are bad, it’s very cold and windy” They have a long way to go and the conditions will get worse. The Keys to Summit In my mind there are four keys to getting the summit this season: teamwork, health, weather and luck. Let’s break it down. Teamwork The two teams have been working independently all season long – since the beginning of the year, almost two months ago. The KRK gang is going traditional, setting up camps, stocking them slowly and deliberately and acclimatizing slowly. In other words in traditional siege style. Meanwhile Txikon and his team of Sherpas are patiently waiting for small weather windows to make a quick trip to Camp 1 or 2 and then back to base camp conserving their energy. They are almost acting like they will go for the summit in Alpine style – one fast push. Txikon is strong and he has a team of world-class Sherpas in support so this may be possible. All of this is fine but the real climbing on K2 starts with the Black Pyramid above 7,000-meters/23,000-feet. Climbers go slower on difficult rock and increased objective dangers of falling rock and ice. Of course as you near 8,000-meters/26,250-feet oxygen becomes more and more of a problem and remember that these teams are going without supplemental oxygen so this increases the risk of getting colder easier along with frostbite thus slowing everyone down even more – not what you want with still air temps of -40C/-40F and wind chills as low as -65C/-85F. So, in my mind these teams need to join forces, swap the lead often to break trail, split the load of fixed rope, combine efforts to fix the route and establish camps. Together they will be strong. Separate they only compete. Health They have been on K2 a long time and in extremely harsh conditions. While they all speak highly of excellent food, the body can only take so much. Now with over six weeks above 5,000-meters/16,400-feet the toll increases daily. Already there are reports of members turning back after reaching Camp 1 at 6,000-meters/20,000-feet. This is not a good sign and suggests fatigue. The extreme cold at base camp has prevented restful sleep – even with Txikon’s igloos – and without rest the body degrades quickly. So, bottom line: They need to get this done and leave soon. Weather This one is obvious but the major unknown. While weather forecasting for the world’s highest peaks has improved, it is still an estimate at best. As we saw a few days ago, the predicted long window of good weather closed quickly forcing a change of plans. As the teams climb higher from their present altitude of 7,000-meters/23,000-feet the temperature will get colder and the winds stronger – and that is the best case. They need at least two days of low winds and the forecast calls for that Tuesday through Thursday so this might be their chance. Luck You ask anyone who has climbed an 8000-meter peak in good or bad conditions, they will almost always use the word “luck” at some point. They were lucky with snow conditions, with health, with weather, with the team and more. This is the intangible that often makes or break a summit. Of course, all of these climbers are outstanding in their own right and often make their own luck, however a lucky charm or three never hurts. Another luck factor will be the snow conditions above Camp 4 and in the Bottleneck and across the traverse. This is the Bermuda Triangle of K2 where climbers disappear or get stuck forcing a retreat. Last year, Denis Urubko, went out alone in an act of frustration only to be turned back as he entered this area stopped by deep snow, high winds, icy conditions – in other words, all the nightmare conditions K2 can throw at you in the winter. Will 2019 be the same way? These climbers will be lucky if K2 is nice to them. In summary, they need luck with good weather the rest of this week. They need to not get sick. They need to work together – and that doesn’t require luck but it does require strong leadership from both teams. Can It Be Done? So will they summit? There are a lot of variables but the fact that they are pushing hard the last two days in marginal conditions tells me they want this badly and can taste it. I wouldn’t count them out just yet. K2: Spanish/Galician Team – At C2 The K2 team lead by Alex Txikon are at Camp 2 as of Monday night, February 25th. We are all of us at Camp 2! As I told you yesterday, the rest of the members of the team have climbed today from Camp 1 to 6650 meters where we are at the moment. The conditions are very hard, as it is still very windy. We will see if tomorrow we can continue equipping up to Camp 3. We have recorded for you the conversation via walkie-talkie with the friends at the Base Camp. A big hug! I hope the
2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 and NP Weather Issues … Again – Updated
UPDATE 25 February: The weather, while still bad, calmed enough to allow Txikon and his Sherpas to reach Camp 2 and the Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team to attempt to establish their C3 at 7300-meters above the Black Pyramid. Txikon posted: “Cheppal and I have reached Camp 2 at 6650 meters. The weather conditions are bad, it’s very cold and windy. Tomorrow, if the weather improves the rest of the team will go up to Camp 2.” The International team: “Vassily, Misha, Artiom and Tursunali come to the nest, which was blown off – C2. They have a spare tent with them. Goal for tomorrow is to put C3 on 7300 – in the picture it is the red circle, the deposit was left on 7200, at the top of the Black pyramid” Hopes for February K2 summits have dimmed as high winds returned to K2 forcing the teams to return to Base Camp. Similar on Nanga. K2 Big Picture Hoping to nab the first winter summit of K2, as defined by the end of February and not the Spring Solstice on March 21, continues to look beyond the schedule of the current teams on K2. Both teams, Spanish/Galician and Kazakhstan/Russia/Kyrgyzstan are working hard to establish (and keep them up) Camps higher than C2. The lower part of K2 while steep is not that difficult to climb, however all bets are off when they step on the Black Pyramid and then approach 8,000-meters near the traditional Camp 4. From there K2 really becomes a very different climb than many other 8000ers. There is objective danger of avalanches, rock fall and most critical in winter, unpredictable winds and storms. They will need to climb hard and fast to stay warm, especially given they are not using supplemental oxygen. The computer based weather forecast over the next seven days stills calls for summit winds as high as 70 kph/45 mph with still air temps of -40C/-40F making wind chills as low as -65C/-85F. K2: Climbing! K2: Spanish/Galician Team – At C1 The K2 team lead by Alex Txikon are at Camp 1 but no higher according to their tracker. They posted: We have arrived at Camp 1 in about 5 and a half hours from the Base Camp, good sensations. If the weather allows it tomorrow we will continue to up. Thanks for being there! You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – At C1 but stopped by winds Both of the sub teams on the Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team struggled to reach their objectives after hoping to establish their Camp 4 for the summit push. But unexpectedly high winds stopped all progress. We have a difficult day. The second group descended to the Base camp. The first group encountered erroneous weather forecasts, wind was really until 80 km/h. Ascended to C2 we found that it’s absent. Despite the fact that the tent and things were safely buried by us in last push, the wind had blown away everything … Already in the dark we went down to C1. You can follow them on Instagram but Facebook and their site are the best sources. Winter Nanga Parbat – Bad Weather Returns Daniele Nardi, and British Thomas Ballard have left their base camp via the Mummery’s Spur. Their home team made this report on their progress to C3: Daniele Just informed us that they arrived at about 6300 meters, maybe even something more! They climbed along a fireplace different from the one up with Elisabeth. They went on light, now they’re going down to c4. The weather is not good, there was fog, sleet and wind gusts. The last position that Daniele managed to send us was little lower than the one indicated on the photo, then continued in the climb for another hour, the position in red is therefore an approximation. You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane and Facebook. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: Summit Push on Nanga, Climbing on K2
As per the forecast, high winds kept teams quiet on K2 this week but have now let up and they are planning aggressively to push for the summit. Both K2 teams are scattered over the lower camps. Over on the other 8000er being attempted this winter, Nanga Parbat, the climbers have left for the summit push. K2 Big Picture First, remember that many in the climbing world feel the end of February is the end of winter so our climbers are motivated to attempt the summit in the next 6 days – a hard but not impossible feat. The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team have climbed as high as the top of the Black Pyramid – around 7,300-meters/24,000-feet. They have established C1, and C2 with tents and some supplies as well as a fixed rope (that may now be buried) on the Abruzzi route. Next up is to establish their Camps 3 and 4 at 7,300-meters/24,00-feet and 7,800-meters/25,500-feet with food, fuel, stoves, medical oxygen, ropes, and personal gear. The Spanish/Galician team has not climbed above C1 soothes have more work to do. Their strategy seems to be one of swift climbing with less acclimatization – a risky approach – but they have five or more Sherpas who might be able to make this strategy happen. Even though the huge winds have calmed a bit, the weather forecast over the next seven days stills calls for summit winds as high as 70 kph/45 mph with still air temps at -40C/-40F making wind chills as low as -65C/-85F. The lowest winds are forecasts for the night of Thursday, February 28. K2: Climbing! K2: Spanish/Galician Team – Climbing The K2 team lead by Alex Txikon sent Felix Criado, Ignacio de Zuloaga and the doctor Josep Sanchis to Advanced Base Camp. A nice video showing the conditions at K2 Base Cmap the past few days: You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – Up t0 C2 The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team is divided into two groups so be careful not to confuse their two groups with the two teams on K2 of Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team and the Spanish/Galician Team. In any event the so-called “International team” is headed back up now that the winds have calmed: 22.02 5000 weather is normal, the wind is not strong. This afternoon the whole team of the two groups goes up. The first group (Pivtsov, Aubakirov, Danichkin, Abildaev Brown) plans for output up to ABC, C1, C2, C3 and then the weather. The second group (Ants, Shepelin, Gabbassov, Smailov, Temirbaev) will act according to circumstances. A video they posted climbing to C1 on 21 February You can follow them on Instagram but Facebook and their site are the best sources. Winter Nanga Parbat – Summit Push!!! Daniele Nardi, and British Thomas Ballard have left their Base Camp for the summit on the Mummery’s Spur. The Long-awaited window of good weather came on time and this morning daniele and Tom left loads of energy and confidence to reach, as planned, c1. but once they arrived on the spot they decided not to stop their race! And so, given the excellent weather conditions and the strong grit that never abandoned them, not even in these last days of forced rest at base camp, they pushed up to c2. we await updates! You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: “Hurricane” at K2 and Messner Weighs In
As had been predicted, high winds are hitting K2 Base Camp and everyone is holding tight for the storm to pass. The high winds will persist through Friday so look for a quiet week and then a lot of climbing starting on the weekend with perhaps a summit push late next week. Informed Opinions say “No Summits” While these climbers are waiting out weather and trying to keep camps stocked, some big names are weighing in that they “have no chance.” Denis Urubko opined on K2, “they have no chance to get there this year”: (source) It is impossible to go to K2 without significant acclimatization, without a well-prepared road. March 1 is the end of winter and they do not have time. They have no chance of winning the K2 this year. But there will be other expeditions, mountain waiting. I’m tired of these expeditions; but I still have plans for the next 3 years! A new route on Gasherbrum II in summer, in winter Broadpeak and finally K2 in winter. I think to finish my career by K2 winter.” And Reinhold Messner’s conclusion is that it will be the weather conditions that will decide: (source) Messner explains that ” the Russian-Kazakh-Kyrgyz expedition has reached 7,000 meters while the one led by the Basque Alex Txikon, formed by five Sherpas and another Spanish mountaineer [Felix Criado] has reached field 2 ” .Messner notes that there is no collaboration between the two groups because, in his opinion, the two methods to face the mountain are radically different: “While the first expedition advances with a typically Soviet method, based on many days of sacrifice and work constant, even in adverse conditions, the second moves less and only then can be fast. Txikon tries to reserve as much as possible the energies, physical and mental . “ And finally, Krzysztof Wielicki: “I wish good luck to the two teams that are trying to top the winter K2”. He went to add: (source) I believe that the attempt of truth will begin on the 7,600. When they reach the 7,800 meters and arrive under the Bottle Neck is when the real competition will begin, and I think the referee will be the time. I think they ‘re a little late if you want to finish by the end of February [ this conversation took place on February 6] … I think you can not try the top from 7,200 meters, it’s too low a height. I do not know if they have time to establish another camp; in winter it is very difficult to start from 7,300 meters to reach the summit at 8,600 meters and return. For that reason, in my opinion, they have to establish field 4 near the Bottle Neck or bivouac, but for that they have to be very well acclimatized and for that they have to spend two or three nights at 7,300 meters. And, first of all, they have to reach this height. K2: Huricane! K2: Spanish/Galician Team – Holding The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon posted a nice update as they wait out the winds. We are preparing for the hurricane that will hit us the next few days. Winds up to 90 km/hour at expected in the Base Camp and category 4 hurricane, with winds of 210 km/hour at the top of K2. For this reason, we have built a 20 cm wide and 1.80 cm high snow wall on the southern part of the Base Camp. Taking into account the progression of the igloos, we have powerful reasons to believe in snow forts. After the hurricane passes through good weather is expected, and we will be able to carry on working. While we can plan for the future, we must first deal with the here and now, and protect ourselves from the storm. We built a defensive wall with battlements to protect us from the wind. We got inspired by the engineer Vauban, who revolutionized defensive fortifications during Louis XVI reign. A hug!!!!!!! You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – Holding The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team is also at base camp to wait out degrading weather. They posted a couple of nice action videos. You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb and their site are the best sources. Winter Nanga Parbat – Holding Daniele Nardi, and British Thomas Ballard continue to wait out weather at base camp. They are attempting the Mummery’s Spur. They did an update on their sponsor’s site: We’ve been up to C2 several times recently. But always the threat of avalanches made us turn back without spending the night. We even turned back from C1 because we didn’t have a good feeling. Well-founded as a huge avalanche engulfed our line of ascent shortly after. Back to waiting. Patience is a virtue after all. You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 Progress
Excellent progress on K2 over the weekend with both teams moving well but more bad weather in the forecast including wind chills of -108F!! K2: Progress and Waiting K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – Progress Four climbers, Abildaev, Aubakirov, Danichkin and Pivtsov, of the The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team climbed above the Black Pyramid and left a cache of gear at 7,100-meters over the weekend. This was their high point thus far. They returned to Camp 2 and will return to base camp to wait out degrading weather. You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb and their site are the best sources. K2: Spanish/Galician Team – Camp 1 Round Trip The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon posted a nice update about their round trip climb to Camp 1 As I told you yesterday, we will only risk what we can control. When we saw that the wind was still quite strong at the first camp and that in those conditions, it was impossible to continue equipping more, we decided to return to the Base Camp. It has helped us to prove ourselves and to see how long it takes us. We took our headlamps and went out at night, it took us 7 hours to get to Camp 1. We spent there a few hours at -40 degrees of thermal sensation, and we returned to the Base Camp. In total 16 hours, we are happy of doing it in that a short space of time. Therefore, it is important to respect the weather until the K2 gives us the chance to go up again. We are in winter and this is how the mountain works, but I wouldn´t change it for anything else. You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Winter Nanga Parbat – Holding Daniele Nardi, and British Thomas Ballard continue to wait out weather at base camp. They are attempting the Mummery’s Spur. You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 and Nanga Stalled by Weather
More big winds and snow are causing slow, if any, progress on these two Pakistan 8000-meter peaks. One teams feels they might not go for the summit until early march. K2: Reinforcements K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – More Money The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team has received a boost in funding from their sponsor allowing three new members to join the team. Originally there were 11 members but due to lack of funds it was reduced to 7. Now three Kazakh climbers: Ildar Gabbassov, Ahat Smailov and Amaner Temirbaev will join the team. While they are not acclimatized, they are fresh legs that hopefully can help get the camps set. However, more high winds that were not forecasted kept the teams working hard today. One group got to C2 and another left gear 5,700-meters after giving up on reaching C1 and descended to ABC. Thus far they have climbed to just under House Chimney at 6,500-meters where they found a lot of trash – tent fragments, oxygen bottles, etc. They assumed it was left by the large commercial teams this past year. You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb and their site are the best sources. K2: Spanish/Galician Team – Planning to Move The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon, is looking to move up and feels the weather is improving. They currently have gear cached at C2. One member, Polish climber Paweł Dunaj, did attempt to go to C1 today but also gave up with the poor weather. There continues to be no cooperation with the International team for unknown reasons. You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Winter Nanga Parbat – Holding Daniele Nardi, and British Thomas Ballard continue to fight the weather – wind and snow. While they make trips to C1 and C2 to uncover and/or look for tents, the conditions are holding them at base camp for the most part. They had established Camp 3 at 5,714-meters with a cache of gear. I continue to expect go/no go decision soon. They are attempting the Mummery’s Spur. You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 Stalled, Nanga Regroup
Progress on K2 and Nanga Parbat feels stalled as the winter clock continues to advance. Teams are in their respective base camps either recovering from rotations or waiting for good weather. Injuries have taken six members thus far from the collective K2 efforts. K2: Climbers Injured, Weather Delays K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – Sleep at C2/6800m The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team is back at K2 Base Camp resting up and passing time by spending 30 minutes each in a Gamo bag. They did a day trip to Advanced Base Camp, about 2 hours from normal BC, to check on the fixed line through the small Icefall – all was well. Apparently the news that four of the international team were hit by rock as “false new from Pakistain” according to message I received from Russian Climb. They had four members hit by rock or ice this past week requiring them to be evacuated to Skardu. They were Dmitry Muraviov from Kazakhstan, Konstantin Shepelin from Russia and Michael Danichkin from Kyrgyzstan. This leaves Artem Braun and Roman Abildae from Russia, Tursunali Aubakirov and Vassiliy Pivtsov both from Kazakhstan still climbing. You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb and their site are the best sources. K2: Spanish/Galician Team – Waiting The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon, is content to go slow and steady. After establishing their Camp 2, he is now at base camp waiting for good weather (which may or may not come this winter) for a go to C4 and on to the summit. He posts: Every step counts and we need to be sure in what we do. I think that in the last two expeditions on Everest, we equipped with ropes too early, and as the good weather did not arrive, we waste our energy re-equipping the track again and again after the strong storm. For that reason, and to be able to be strong and ready when the good weather arrives, we do not want to run, we need to listen to the mountain! I think that after equipping with ropes until Camp 2 in just two days, the mountain as well needs some days to rest until the good weather allows us to equip up to Camp 4. The forecast will tell us when to put the crampons on and climb towards one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. They have also had evacuation and injuries. Jon Barredo and Eva Robles from Spain plus Waldemar Kovalevsky from Poland were all taken to Skardu. You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Winter Nanga Parbat – Tents Disappear The NP team now has only two members since the local Pakistani climbers ended their effort due to hardships and deep snow. The team of Daniele Nardi, British Thomas Ballard continue to climb. They had established Camp 3 at 5,714m with a cache of gear but upon their return found their tents blown away with no trace. Now they are back investigating the situation at C2. Expect go/no go decision soon. They are attempting the Mummery’s Spur. You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane. As usual with any big mountain winter climb, it comes down to weather. Both K2 and NB are playing tough and the winter clocks keeps ticking. On K2, it feels odd that the two teams have not joined forces – after all both have incredibly strong and experienced climbers – but politics on the mountain is always a strange beast. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 Progress, No Manaslu, Nanga Fragments
There is progress on K2 but clarification that the two teams are working independently. Locals quit on Nanga and avalanches end Manaslu effort. The winter clock continues to advance. K2: Climbers Injured, Weather Delays K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – Sleep at C2/6800m The Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan team is back at K2 Base Camp after a few rotations up the mountain and after almost 7 days of weather delays. They have slept at 6800-meters/22,310-feet the location of traditional Camp 2 on the Abruzzi. In an interview with Michael Danichkina on the Polish site Wspinanie.pl we learn that all is about the same as a summer climb: We locate all camps in usual places. Except some intermediate camps, while fixing up ropes. C1 and C2 are set well already. We have 5 tents redfox cave, on the route. Ropes enough for the whole route, snow anchors, ice screws, pitons. Food and gas we bring just enough amount for every trip plus little deposit for emergency cases. All garbage is brought down to BC. Contrary to what has been reported on other sites, Danichkina says there are no plans to work with Txikon and in fact he is putting in parallel ropes to his: We have neutral relationship with Alex team. We do our tasks and they do their task. Mutual plans have not been discussed. You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb and their site are the best sources. K2: Spanish/Galician Team – Injuries The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon, continue to make plans and build igloos but there are some issues with ice and rock fall taking two members off the mountain by helicopter: Waldemar Kowalewski and Marek Klonowsk. Two people from the Base Camp’s support team (NO mountaineers) have descended from the Base Camp; one of them, for an injury he has had for several days and the other one just to help him. There was no urgency but we decided it just to avoid unnecessary risks. On the other hand, as I said yesterday, the Polish Waldelmar has also descended after being hit by an ice block. Marek who has been with antibiotics, has also gone down to recover and climb up again with our doctor Josep Sanchis !! ;);) They are making progress now that Txikon finally made a route decision after being on K2 for a couple of weeks – they will take the Abruzzi – same as the other team. He considered the extremely dangerous and once climbed East face. We have equipped up to Camp 2 at 6700 meters in just 2 days. It is a real success and we are very happy. I am very proud of the whole team, we have equipped a new route line. After equipping with 1,100 meters of rope until Camp 1, we have taken another 1,200 meters of rope with us. The weather has been quite good although the strong wind has not helped much. However, we have worked well and we still don’t believe what we have achieved. Txikon and crew spent a lot of time thinking a lot about other routes, especially the unclimbed East Face which was well known for serious objective dangers not only in the summer, much less in the winter. He made this post as to their decision on the Abruzzi: After exploring the east side of K2 we have made a decision. It is very dangerous and risky, because between 6800 and 7000 meters is very exposed, and then you have to cross the glacier to Bottleneck. In addition, everything from the mountain falls towards that side. Therefore, we will ascend through the Abruzzos route. We have also equipped more than 5800 meters, almost until Camp 1. You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Winter Nanga Parbat – Tents Disappear The team of Daniele Nardi, British Thomas Ballard continue to climb on NB but the two local climbers, Pakistanis Rehmatullah Baig and Karim have left, giving up after too much snow and winds up high. They had established Camp 3 at 5,714m with a cache of gear but upon their return found their tents blown away with no trace. They are attempting the Mummery’s Spur. You can follow them on their sponsors site, Montane. Winter Manaslu – Over Simone Moro and Pemba Gyalje Sherpa have given up. The “winter maestro” made this announcement” Finally a good weather window has opened today, and again Karl Gabl was right. Obviously with the sun, the avalanches have increased, they also approached and reached our base camp. Fortunately shortly after this photo a helicopter came to rescue us. Over the last few days the aim of reaching my fifth summit in winter was transformed into surving in this situation! It would take at least 2 to 3 weeks of sunshine to settle 6 meters of powder snow, but the forecast is far from good. Sometimes giving up is an essential ingredient for future success and with this decision I want to honor the nickname “winter maestro” I have been given. Again, When does Winter End? If you remember the K2 attempt last winter, there was a lot of controversy over when winter ends, mostly by Denis Urubko. He feels it ends on February 28, not the Spring equinox on March 20, 2018 at 12:15 pm EDT. It appears this year, teams are taking the long view. The K2 teams are making good progress at the moment but more bad weather is in the forecast – winter after all. NB is not looking promising at the moment. So we will see but the next week or so will be pivotal to see if the climbers can touch 8,000-meters and establish sustainable high camps for a summit push. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
2018/19 Winter Climbs: At K2 Base Camp, Climbing Nanga
One of the K2 teams arrived at base camp but poor weather is already hindering progress. Climbing is going well on Nanga Parbat, but also some weather concerns. K2: At Base Camp K2: Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan Team – at BC The seven member team from Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan arrived at K2 Base Camp in good condition. They tried to do a recon to Advanced Base Camp, a short walk from BC, but turned back when they hit poor weather. You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb is the best source. K2: Spanish/Galician Team – At Concordia The other K2 team, lead by Alex Txikon, are at Concordia enjoying great views of K2. They should arrive tomorrow, January 16. A third Polish climber, Waldemar Kowalewski, is joining their team and is on the trek in. You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Winter Nanga Parbat – Poor Weather This team of Daniele Nardi, British Thomas Ballard and two Pakistani teammates Rehmatullah Baig and Karim are back at Camp 3 at 5,714m with a cache of gear. They found their tents buried in deep snow and had to dig them out – hard work at that altitude. They are attempting the Mummery’s Spur. Winter Manaslu – At Manaslu BC Simone Moro and Pemba Gyalje Sherpa are now at Manaslu base camp after summiting Mera Peak for acclimatization. Winter Alaska – Over American climber Lonnie Dupre is back in Talkeetna, Alaska after giving up on his MT. Hunter attempt: With the ice fall leading to the Ramen route on Mount Hunter completely impassable this year, I explored an alternate route which proved to have a high risk of serac falls and avalanches. I called for a pickup at basecamp and am now in Talkeetna. More to follow…pictures, video, and future ice climbing. Best of luck to all this winter. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything