Autumn Himalayan Climbing: More Summits, More Attempts!
“It ain’t over till it’s over.” – Yogi Berra Surprise on Dhaulagiri – 5 Summits! No for Carlos We have been following the efforts of 78-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan on Dhaulagiri. They tried twice in September to summit including once going up the wrong couloir. By the time they discovered their mistake, it was too late with conditions worsening. They never got another good chance as conditions continued to degrade thus ending his 8th attempt over nine years to summit Yes for Boyan, Yuri and Ang Phurb But Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov who was climbing at times with Carlos persevered and summited on September 29, 2017, his 10th 8000er. He tired a week earlier without success, you can read about it here and for his summit push read here. A few days later, on October 1, Russian climber Yuri Kruglov and Ang Phurba Sherpa also summited Dhaulagiri. All of the links are excellent overview of their efforts. Another Yes for Cala and Mathias and a great Photo My friend László Pintér gave me the pointer that Italian Carlo Alberto Cimenti aka “Cala” and Mathias König had reached the summit of Dhaulagiri solo from Camp 3. Yesterday, the Italian Carlo Alberto Cimenti aka “Cala” has reached the summit of Dhaulagiri solo from Camp 3. Leader of the Italian-Swiss expedition, Davide Gerlero already descended from Camp 2, passing on the photo of the late Luca Borgoni, who initiated and mainly funded the expedition, winning the Mountopia video contest. He fell to his death on the Matterhorn this July during training. He was 22. Cala took his photo to the summit of Dhaulagiri, as promised to his family. The Swiss member of the team, Mathias König was together in Camp 3 with Cala, but decided to wait a little more with the summit push. Cala started first, alone, reaching the summit after an arduous climb, with wind and a lot of doubt, with no tracks in the snow and no fixed ropes. Two hours after Cala, Matthias also left Camp 3 and headed to the summit. Later he met the already descending Cala and reached the summit himself. They made it safely back to Camp 3 and are heading down the mountain to base camp today. The original plan to ski the whole mountain has not come together, further details are avaited. Photos show that Cala did ski some parts of the mountain though in the past weeks. On Facebook Cala’s team posted this great picture with the details: And, One More First Ascent! There was another first ascent in Nepal! Jost Kobusch claims to have accomplished the solo first ascent of the 4th highest unclimbed mountain in the world, Nangpai Gosum II at 23,937/7296m on the border of Chia and Nepal. More Manaslu Hans Kammerlander is headed back to Manaslu on October 11, 2017. After losing two close teammates, Friedl Mutschlechner and Karl Großrubatscher, on the peak in 1991, he vowed not to go back being content with summiting 13 of the 14 800ers. One asterisk however is that he reached the central summit at 8008 meters, not the true summit of 8,027m on Shishapangma. He posted on his blog: I decided to return once again to Manaslu. That mountain where I lost two good friends in a tragic and fateful day 1991st I am now of the opinion that I have thus been waiting far too long. Perhaps the time is really ripe for it only now. Together with my North Tyrol friend and partner Stefan Keck, a mountain guide colleagues from Stans, I will now leave early October on an expedition to Manaslu. We are accompanied by an Austrian film crew which reconstructs important phases of my life for several weeks. This documentary feature film will then be released in the autumn 2018th We want to try to tell at this point more or less regularly over the course of our plan to cruise the Manaslu after climbing with skis. Not always it will be possible technically to connect to Europe. But together with my friend and author Walther Lücker want Stefan Keck and I try to keep you posted. For more on this 60 year-old please read this excellent interview by Stefan Nestler. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Autumn Himalayan Climbing: Surprise Summits!
This week has shown never say never about climbing big mountains. When people say it’s over, it may be just starting. When people say it’s impossible, someone proves them wrong. Manaslu wound down this week with a few more summits, a first summit was accomplished in Nepal and a missed summit was corrected in Pakistan. First Ascent accomplished on Burke Khang Bill Burke, the oldest American to summit Everest and live, finally saw his namesake peak summited. He attempted the peak three previous times: 2015, 2016 and this past spring of 2017. This time on his fourth expedition, Bill pulled in professional mountain guide, Noel Hanna. While Bill did not summit, Noel and three Sherpas: Sirdar Naga Dorje Sherpa, Pemba Tshering Sherpa and Samden Bhote, all did on 5th October, 2017 at 12:05pm. Bill, at age 75, apparently made it to Camp 1 and chose not go higher. I’m sure he will fill us in through his blog when gets home. Noel was a lead guide for the Seven Summits Club and has summitted Mt. Everest eight times, twice with his wife, Lynne. He has completed the 7 Summits with a twist that has never been repeated: after each summit, he returned to sea level by his own power: bicycle, walking and skis. Noel is an ultra athlete. He has competed in dozens of the world’s most extreme adventure races, with podium finishes and accomplishments that put him in the Guinness Book of World Records. A film crew was along to document this summit. We should expect the film in 2018. Congratulations to Bill and his team. Nanga Parbat – Redux for Mingma Sherpa guide, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa missed the summit on his first attempt on Nanga Parbat saying he believes he mistakenly stood on a sub summit by his own admission earlier this year. He also is assumed to have missed the summit on Broad Peak but has not made a public statement. However, the 31 year-old appears to have successfully summited in 2017: Dhaulagiri on 30 April, Makalu on 14 May, and K2 on 29 July. Now he said he secretly returned to Pakistan and stood on the true summit of Nanga Parbat with a simple post on Facebook, albeit, no pictures or GPS track yet: pictures are now posted on his Facebook account. We 8 climbers made Nanga Parbat 8125m Summit on 02-10-2017 at 12:40pm. We had really good weather during our climb and we are all safely back from mountain. We are sorry for no updates as our friends suggested us not to give any information about this climb. By this climb, I understood that Pakistan’s tourism agencies need to focus on Autumn climbing and trekking around Nanga Parbat area as the weather remains very fine and clear all the days. Congratulations to all climbers on Manaslu for successful ascent and other climbers who made safe descent from Dhaulagiri and Makalu. Ps: photo and videos will be shared once we are back in city. Congratulations on an excellent year for Mingma. Manaslu – Successful Season A busy season wrapped up with Seven Summits Club out of Russia putting all their team on the summit -17 people as well as Adventure Consultants waiting out some high winds in order to summit 10. This year was especially crowded on Manaslu as the Chinese had closed Tibet for autumn climbing due to sensitive political meetings being held in the area. No reports of large issues with the crowds as they enjoyed an unprecedented two weeks of good weather compared to the more usual period of a few days. These teams are reporting summits and I estimate around 250 when the final numbers are tabulated once the Himalayan Database and the Nepal Ministry of Tourism contact all the teams. Himalayan Experience: 2 members, 2 Sherpas Seven Summits Treks: 14 Chinese, 1 Australian, 1 Indian, 1 Irian, 7 Koreans, 1 Hungry, 1 US, over 20 Sherpas – 45 total Arnold Coster (part of Seven Summits Treks): 4 Mexico, 2 Netherlands, 1 Australia, 1 China, 1 US, 2 Taiwan, 10 Sherpas – 21 total TAGnepal (Tendi Sherpa): 4 members, 4 Sherpas SummitClimb: 1 UK, 2 Australia, 1 Sweden, 1 Finland, 2 US, 1 Spain, 1 German, 1 Canada and 5 Sherpas Satori Adventures: 2 Indian, 1 Australian, 3 Italians, 1 French, 1 Israeli, 1 Romanian and 13 Sherpas Climbalaya Treks: 6 members, 5 Sherpas Ascent Himalaya: 3 Norwegians, 8 Sherpas Snowy Horizon Treks: 2 members, 2 Sherpas Kobler & Partner: 5 members, 3 Sherpas Seven Summits Club: 9 members, 8 Sherpas Adventure Consultants: 4 members, 6 Sherpas Amical: 9 members, 9? Sherpas Congratulations to all who summited. Lhotse – South Korean Returns South Korean, Sung-Taek Hong, 51, along with Spanish climber Jorge Egocheaga, 49, are attempting Lhotse’s South Face. They established their base camp and are now climbing. Winter Everest or K2??? This is always a question as we approach winter. And teams usually keep their plans quiet. The recent suspects include Alex Txikon on Everest and the Poles on K2. Stay tuned! The Rest of the World The climbing activity now moves to the 6,000 and 7,000 meter peaks of Nepal including Ama Dablam and Cholatse plus in South America including Aconcagua. Of course it won’t be long until the big airplane begin to fly climbers to Antartica for Mt. Vinson. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Autumn Himalayan Climbing: Lhotse Begins, Manaslu Summits, Burke Khang
Lets start with the most exciting news out of the Autumn Himalayan climbing season, the attempt on Lhotse’s South Face. But also worthy of acknowledgment are the large number of summits on Manaslu and another attempt on the unclimbed Burke Khang. Lhotse – South Korean Returns South Korean, Sung-Taek Hong, 51, along with Spanish climber Jorge Egocheaga, 49, are attempting Lhotse’s South Face. The only time this route has been climbed was in October 1990 by Russian climbers Serguey Bershov and Vladimir Karataev according to the Himalayan Database. According to his website and the Himalayan Database, these are the results of his previous attempts on Lhotse, 8,516 meters. All attempts occurred in the Autumn. 2015 South Face: reached 8,200 m ended due to high winds 2014 South Face: reached 7,900 m ended after running out of time and poor conditions 2013 West Face: reached 7,900 m ended due to high winds 2008 West Face: arrived to base camp but never climbed due to personal issues back home left early 1999 South Face: reached 7,700 m – ended after supplies ran out and avalanche took some gear. The latest update said they are now at their base camp: Our team completed base camp on 26th Sep. There was a delay on delivering equipments to the base camp but they are ready to climb now. Previous attempts have been met with avalanche danger, and high winds. With the Himalaya a bit warmer than in previous years, the conditions could be even more deadly this season. This video is from their 2015 attempt: Manaslu – Big Number of Summits With over a week of excellent weather, teams summited Manaslu almost daily allowing the record crowds to spread out reducing any serious crowding. As I have previously noted, there were an estimated 255 foreigners with permits plus at least that many Sherpas on the mountain. It is so crowded due to China closing Cho Oyu this Autumn fearing demonstrations during a meeting in Lhasa. The most successful year thus far on Manaslu was in 2011 with 285 total summits followed by 2012 and 2013 with 121 each. There have been over 150 in 2017 with many more to come. These teams are reporting summits totaling close to 200 people. Click on the links to see the names of the climbers. Also read the Kobler post as they do a nice job of explaining their summit process, including some high winds. Himalayan Experience: 2 members, 2 Sherpas Seven Summits Treks: 36 Chinese, 3 French, 1 Australian, 1 Indian, 1 Irian, 1 Taiwanese, 1 Mexican, 2 Koreans, over 45 Sherpas – 90 estimated total TAGnepal (Tendi Sherpa): 4 members, 4 Sherpas SummitClimb: 1 UK, 2 Australia, 1 Sweden, 1 Finland, 2 US, 1 Spain, 1 German, 1 Canada and 5 Sherpas Satori Adventures: 2 Indian, 1 Australian, 3 Italians, 1 French, 1 Israeli, 1 Romanian and 13 Sherpas Climbalaya Treks: 6 members, 5 Sherpas Ascent Himalaya: 3 Norwegians, 8 Sherpas Snowy Horizon Treks: 2 members, 2 Sherpas Arnold Coster: 2 Mexico, 2 Netherlands, 1 Australia, 1 China, 1 US, 8 Sherpas Kobler & Partner: 5 members, 3 Sherpas Seven Summits Club and Adventure Consultants are on their summit push now. Adventure Peaks was on the mountain but has not updated their status. Adventure Consultants commented that the majority of climbers are now off the mountain and the weather is warm: Hi everyone we are all at camp 2 now and still haven’t seen anyone else this is sure a rare and great experience on such a big mountain. The route has progressively been getting steeper and the crevasse have been getting wider but over its pretty good condition considering how warm it’s been! We have been in and out of the cloud all day witch once again keep us a little cooler just as we could see our Camp our amazing Sherpa team passed us having left Base Camp latter than we left C1. First Ascent Attempt – Again Burke Khang Bill Burke, the oldest American to summit Everest and live, is back in Nepal to attempt a first ascent of a peak named after him by the Nepal Government. Burke Khang is in the Gokyo Valley at 6,942 meters (22,775 feet). He has attempted it two previous times finding conditions too dangerous to proceed. I wrote a long article about their 2015 attempt. This year they wanted to do a fly over of the summit to evaluate climbing conditions. Bill updates his blog: We were disappointed with the helicopter reconnaissance that was completed yesterday. The pilot refused to fly much above Camp 1 so we have no footage of the summit or the summit ridge headwall. We are considering a second recon on September 30 when the helicopters ferry us from Gokyo to Base Camp. The good news is that the route looks climbable and conditions on the mountain are very good. In fact, the lines have already been fixed to C1. The Sherpas are sleeping at C1 tonight and will start to fix the lines to C2 tomorrow. Noel is at Base Camp and will be climbing to C1 tomorrow. He has a film crew this year to document his attempt and his relationship with his grandson Olli who suffers from a debilitating disease. Noel Hanna and Micah Kershner. The film crew is Jeff Oppenheim (USA) and Alex Buisse (France). The expedition is supported by Asian Trekking Sherpas Naga Dorjee Sherpa (Sirdar), Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, Samden Bhote and Tshering Tashi Sherpa. They will be in their base camp soon and anticipate a summit attempt around October 5th. Congratulations to all who summited and best of luck to the rest. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Autumn Himalayan Climbing: Manaslu Summits, Dhaulagiri Over
With a period of excellent weather on Manaslu, teams are making their summit pushes and over 150 have aready summited this week. However, deep snow on Dhaulagiri has ended the Autumn summit bids. Dhaulagiri – Over for the 78 year-old 78-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan on Dhaulagiri has ended his 8th attempt over nine years to summit Dhaulagiri. They tried to summit last week but went up the wrong couloir. By the time they discovered their mistake, it was too late with conditions worsening. His first attempt on Dhaulagiri was in 1998 and has made others in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2015, and spring of 2017. His highest thus far was 7700 meters on the 8167 meter peak. He has Dhaulagiri and Shishapangma remaining to complete his dream of summiting all fourteen of the 8000 meter peaks. Carlos’s team posted on Facebook: this morning we started a second attempt at the mountain. We knew that we did not have many possibilities, because of the heavy snowfall of the previous days, but we wanted to check for ourselves. We have started early ascension, and quickly we have been able to make sure that the amount of snow accumulated was a big setback to the intentions of trying the summit. During the ascent to field 1 there have been several avalanches, not far away. In higher areas, more snow is accumulating and in places such as the journey, the way to the top, the danger of avalanches is very high. In addition, Field 1 stores have been broken by inclement weather, assuming that field 2 AND FIELD 3 have run the same fate. The ropes, previously installed, are buried. In the face of all these disadvantages we have no choice but to permanently suspend our expedition to the dhaulagiri for this season Manaslu – Summits and Huge Crowds This week opened with the tragic news of Philip Harvey‘s death while descending. He reportedly was suffering from altitude sickness. Currently Manaslu is giving every team a chance to summit with excellent weather conditions and are they ever taking advantage of it! Reports are coming in daily of summits. There are an estimated 235 foreigners with permits plus at least that many Sherpas on the mountain. It is so crowded due to China closing Cho Oyu this Autumn fearing demonstrations during a meeting in Lhasa. Seven Summits Treks who has recently catered to Indain and Chinese members with low prices has the largest team on Manaslu and are enjoying excellent success thus far with almost 90 summits. These teams are reporting summits with 69 foreigners and over 80 Sherpas totaling 149 people. Click on the links to see the names of the climbers. Himalayan Experience: 2 members, 2 Sherpas Seven Summits Treks: 36 Chinese, 3 French, 1 Australian, 1 Mexican, 2 Koreans, over 45 Sherpas – 90 estimated total TAGnepal (Tendi Sherpa): 4 members, 4 Sherpas SummitClimb: no details Satori Adventures: 2 Indian, 1 Australian, 3 Italians, 1 French, 1 Israeli, 1 Romanian and 13 Sherpas Climbalaya Treks: 6 members, 5 Sherpas Ascent Himalaya: 3 Norwegians, 8 Sherpas Snowy Horizon Treks: 2 members, 2 Sherpas With the weather continuing to look good, the remaining teams are preparing for their push. The boot path is surely well established! Other teams pushing soon include: Seven Summits Club, Adventure Consultants, Arnold Coster, Teams that were on the mountain but are not updating their plans include Adventure Peaks. Crowds With so many people on Manaslu, long lines are inevitable. This picture posted by Seven Summits Treks shows the story. I added one of the same area during my climb in 2013 when there was a total of 121 summits. Chances are excellent there will be twice that number in 2017 – a record. The most successful year thus far on Manaslu was in 2011 with 285 total summits followed by 2012 and 2013 with 121 each. There have been over 150 in 2017 with many more to come. This section between C3 and C4 is a long snow slope at an aggressive angle. It causes many people to slow to a crawl. Once at the top of this slope, the route turns to the climber’s right to C4. Lhotse – South Korea back for 5th time South Korean, Sung Taek Hong at age 51 is back for the 5th time to attempt Lhotse’s South Face. The only time this route has been climbed was in October 1990 by Russian climbers Serguey Bershov and Vladimir Karataev according to the Himalayan Database. Sung Taek has attempted this route in each of the previous four years. This year he has Spanish climber Jorge Egocheaga at age 49 with him. Jorge has summited all 14 of the 8000ers but has some controvesery in his past. The pair had wanted to attempt Lhotse this past Spring but the Chinese refused to give the permits due to a political clash between China and South Korea. Their latest update should have them at base camp now: Our team has arrived in Chukkung(4,730m) which is the nearest village from the Lhotse SF base camp. They started their journey to the BC from Kathmandu on the Sep 9th, trek to Namche Bazaar on Sep 10th, went through Temgboche, Dingboche and arrived at Chukkung today . After a short acclimatization, they will move to built their base camp on Sep 16th. Congratulations to all who summited and best of luck to the rest. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
British Climber Dies on Manaslu
The Nepali agency Himalayan Guide’s owner Ishwor Paudel is reporting that Philip Harvey, 46, of UK nationality has died as he was descending from Camp 3 on Manaslu. He was reported to have been suffering from “severe altitude sickness”. This is the first death on Manaslu this season where there are 255 foreign permits issued plus over 240 support staff on the mountain. Manaslu has seen 1,134 summits with 82 deaths making it the 3rd most summited 8000er after Cho Oyu and Everest but tied for 2nd with Everest, K2 and Dhaulagiri for the number of deaths. Lhotse has the least number of deaths at 19 according to the Himalayan Database and Cho Oyu has the lowest summit to death ratio at 1.4% with 3,508 summits and 50 deaths through the Spring of 2016. Manaslu has become popular as a training 8000m climb for aspiring Everest climbers similar to Cho Oyu in Tibet but without the political and logistical difficulties. It is climbed in both pre and post monsoon seasons but more often in the Autumn. Cho Oyu was closed this season by the CHinese. The Manaslu Circuit Trek has also become very popular as an alternative to the Annapurna Circuit. A unique aspect of a Manaslu climb is starting the trek very low, 1,870 feet, and walking through rain forest and dense tropical vegetation. The mountain is included in the Manaslu Conservation Area and is home to the protected snow leopard and pandas. The area has a strong cultural similarity to Tibet. History The Japanese pioneered the early climbs on Manaslu in the 1950s and some Japanese may considered it their 8000m peak today, similar to how the British view Everest. The first ascent of Manaslu was in 1956 by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu on a Japanese expedition. The peak was not climbed again until 1971 when another Japanese team made the second ascent. The first American ascent was by Charlie Mace in 1997. There are a half dozen established routes on the mountain today. Challenge Thus far in 2014, the weather has been the biggest issue facing the Manaslu expeditions. It has rained often at base camp and dumped several feet of snow higher on the mountain. Avalanches are always a concern on Manaslu. In 2012, 11 climbers were killed by an avalanche that hit directly on Camp 3 where many teams were sleeping. In 1972 15 members of a South Korean expedition were killed by an avalanche, 10 were tragically Sherpa. 2017 Summits Thus far over 20 people have summited Manaslu including four from Himex: Dan Horne and Frank Seidel with Sirdar Phurba Tashi and Sherpa Nigma Sona. Seven Summits Trek’s Sherpas also helped with the rope fixing that same day, 18 September 2017: Karma Gyalzen Sherpa, Nga Tashi Sherpa, Damai Sarki Sherpa and Dawa Chiring Seven Summits Treks reported another 11 summits on 25 September: Climbing members: 11 members: 8 Chinese member from Zhang Wei team + 2 Korean + One Indian Lady Climbing Sherpa: 12 Sherpas: 8 Sherpa with Chinese team + 3 with Korean team + 1 with Indian The Koreans were: Ryu Heewon (L) and Kwon Oh Kuen (R) along with Sherpa Tendi, Pemba Thinduk and Nima Tenji. My condolence to the family, friends and teammates of Mr. Harvey. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Autumn Himalayan Climbing: Manaslu Summit Rush, Dhaulagiri Stalled
After a few days of heavy, deep snow on Manaslu, the hordes are prepared to push hard this week. Look for huge crowds at all camps and competition on the narrow summit. Meanwhile rain at base camp and heavy snow above has stalled all efforts on Dhaulagiri. Dhaulagiri – Rain and Snow 78-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan on Dhaulagiri is holding at base camp after his first summit attempt stalled after they went up the wrong gully to reach the summit. By the time they had discovered their mistake, the conditions turned cold, windy and snowy so they returned to base camp. Carlos’s team posted on Facebook: The #Expedicióncorreos sends us an image today from the base field that says it all. And it is that since they came down from making the attempt at the top of the dhaulagiri, it has not stopped raining, day and night. What is water in the base field becomes snow in the upper fields of the mountain, which begins to be a concern for the potential danger of avalanches, which could bury the ropes installed. You have no choice but to wait patiently, observing the changes in the mountain, waiting for the time to improve and that the circumstances can be given to make a second attempt to achieve that spectacular summit that you have almost touched with the tip of The fingers. Much mood team! ???????? Manaslu – crowded at all camps After several Sherpas and two members from Himex summited last week, heavy snow hit Manalsu holding everyone at Base Camp. Now the weather has moved on and there is an estimated 500 people wanting to summit this week. This is a huge number and more like what we see on Everest. Manaslu is not that large of a peak and finding safe camp sites from avalanches is always a problem. Also the summit is so narrow and small that only 2 people can stand on it at one time. I waited an hour in 2013 for my turn, so I can’t image what it will be like this week. Hopefully the weather stays calm enough to support all the teams. Seven Summits Treks posted on their huge team which has become their normal for all their Everest and Manaslu climbs: Chinese Team (Zhang Wei) (9 Member 10 Sherpas) is at Camp 4 and planning to summit tomorrow (25th Sep). Korean Team (2 Korean and 5 Sherpas) are at C4, summit plan 25th Sep. Another Chinese Team (Song’s Team) is at C3 & C2 and planning to summit on 26&27 Sep. Flor (f) from peru is at Camp one planning to summit on 28th sep. Four French are at C2. Aparna Kumar (India) is at C4, summit plan 25th Sep. William from Australia is at C3 with his sherpa Ang dawa, summit plan 26th Sep. Varga Csaba from Hungary is at C2. Sung Il Nam (Korea) with his Sherpa Thilen is at C2. Arnold’s International team will be heading to C1 tomorrow. The Summit Climb team made an interesting post which is indicative of some commercial team’s’ strategy – let others do the work and follow their path. Tons of snow here as well as at least four times the number of tents! And I have yet to see the upper part of Camp 1. So, we will now spend the night here, and in the morning move on up to Camp 2. It is still snowing as it has been the whole way up, so we will need to take it easy and hope that somebody else will break trail before us. Adventure Consultants reported: Camp 1, 2nd rotation. Well the heavy rain stopped but the cloud and drizzle stayed but we came up to camp 1 anyway arriving here just after Lunch. First jobs was to dig out the tents then get clean snow for melting water, then a mid afternoon nap, make dinner, sleep and get up early for our trip up to camp 2 were we will spend two nights. The weather the next few days is looking good with many teams going for the summit. We wish them luck and it’s great to have so many people moving on the mountain to keep the route open. Our turn will come. Best of luck to all and hoping the weather holds for them. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Autumn Himalayan Climbing: First Summits and Heavy Snow Ahead
The rope fixers reached the summit of Manaslu while other teams across the Himalayan continue to establish high camps enjoying good weather with one exception, those on Dhaulagiri saw their summit bid stopped cold. Dhaulagiri – summit stopped 78-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan on Dhaulagiri saw his first summit attempt stalled after they went up the wrong gully to reach the summit. By the time they had discovered their mistake, the conditions turned cold, windy and snowy so they have returned to base camp to regroup and will hopefully give it one more try. Carlos is trying to complete his quest to summit all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks. He has Dhaulagiri and Shishapangma remaining. On this climb he is teaming with Luis Carcavilla (Spain), Luis Mifuel Lopez (Spain) & Boyan Petrov (Bulgaria). Carlos’s team posted on Facebook: One of the keys to the dhaulagiri is to choose the corridor correctly, about 100 m, which gives access to the Royal Summit. In this season we were the first group to go to the top, so we did not have any reference to previous ascents. We also found the conditions of the final part of the mountain very changed, with regard to last spring. We decided to start ascension by a first runner, who finally did not turn out to be the right one. We walked at the foot of the final stripe looking for the right route, but the fog, which was increasingly present, made it difficult for us to work. We went to the foot of what could be the path that gives access to the top, but the great cornices that were at the end of the corridor, and that we had not appreciated on other occasions, did not make this option very clear. We had only a hundred feet of fixed rope for the final attempt, without having a clear enough choice. Time went on, and we didn’t want to get too late. Despite finding us so close to the top, the most coherent decision was to descend and try again in a few days with everything much clearer. The descent was long and hard to Field III. We decided to rest one more night in field I, to hydrate and recover a little more before we get to base camp. We can only rest for a few more days in the base camp, to recover from these days on the mountain which, more than an attempt, has been even harder than ascension to a summit of eight meters, making it all clearer. We need to look for another opportunity for the next few days and try for the second time the top of this mountain that every day we know more. Manaslu – crowded at all camps The route is fixed to the summit by Sherpas from Seven Summits treks and Phurba Tashi Sherpa from Himex who is tied for the most Everest summits at 21. It is significant that he was on the rope team as he has fixed this route many times and does it well. I followed him to the summit on 2013. Conditions are reported fairly normal thus far. The mountain is crowded with over 500 climbers, including Sherpas. Seven Summits posted on 18 September: Rope fixing team made first Summit of Manaslu – 2017. Local time (9:57am) : The team of rope fixing from Seven Summit Treks has made the first successful summit of Mt. Manalsu (8,163m). Karma Gyalzen Sherpa informed to basecamp by walkie talkie communication that they fixed the rope to the summit of world’s 8th highest peak. The team was followed and assist by two sherpas including Phurba Tashi Sherpa and two climbing members of Himex. The members of fixing team from SST Nga Tashi Sherpa, Damai Sarki and Dawa Chiring also made the summit of Manalsu. It is unclear if they fixed to the true summit or the fore summit this year, 2017, as reaching the true summit is often dangerous and difficult as it’s a corniced edge that can easily give way. Many climbers have reached the fore summit, much lower, and claimed the true summit. The Adventure Peaks team is depending on others to set the route, fix the ropes and mark the path. This strategy has left them wanting as they were forced to return to base camp after losing the trail: The followed day we decided to head up to Camp 3. To explain, as soon as we had reached the edge of the glacier en route to Camp 1, there have been fixed rope to clip into and follow. So, in reality, it is impossible to ‘get lost’. However, above Camp 2, the rope stops and you have to follow bamboo wands, and where the fixing team of Sherpa’s deem necessary they put in rope. So we left Camp 2 with the cloud rolling in and out just enough to see the 200m spaced bamboo until we got to another steepening and then we were back on the fixed rope. At the top of this, the rope stopped and we are back on the bamboo wands. This in reality is quite unnerving since when the cloud rolls in and you enter the white room, think about walking in a white out on the Cairngorm plateau with huge, and we are speaking about huge, crevasses that are just waiting for you to plop into to never be seen again. Having stretched our legs for the morning, we decided to return to camp 2 and wait for the fixing team to continue marking the route. Adventure Consultants reports good weather but has only made it to Camp 1: The team has all made it to Camp 1 for the night. The weather has been perfect, there are lots of people but fortunately plenty of room at this camp. The great thing about acclimatising is it generally gets easier each time you go up, so we got to Camp 1 just before lunch in under 4
Autumn Himalayan Climbing: Manaslu, Dhaulagiri, Lhotse
The autumn Himalayan climbing season is well underway with Manaslu, located entirely in Nepal, dominating the numbers but not the challenge. Let’s look at the more interesting climbs first. Lhotse – South Korea back for 5th time South Korean, Sung Taek Hong at age 51 is back for the 5th time to attempt Lhotse’s South Face. The only time this route has been climbed was in October 1990 by Russian climbers Serguey Bershov and Vladimir Karataev according to the Himalayan Database. Sung Taek has attempted this route in each of the previous four years. This year he has Spanish climber Jorge Egocheaga at age 49 with him. Jorge has summited all 14 of the 8000ers but has some controvesery in his past. The pair had wanted to attempt Lhotse this past Spring but the Chinese refused to give the permits due to a political clash between China and South Korea. Dhaulagiri – 7 Climbers 78-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan is back on Dhaulagiri trying to complete his quest to summit all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks. He has spent several nights above base camp as he acclimatizing. He posted on Facebook: In the morning we had an early breakfast, at 5:30 a.m. and started the descent towards the base camp. The weather improves and we only have to be careful with the numerous cracks that are in this route and that have been covered with the last snowfall. The final part of the road, composed mainly of stone and mud, makes the descent a bit heavier. “ He attempted Dhaulagiri in the spring of this year but was turned back by weather. If he summits Dhaulagiri, he will only have Shishapangma, the only 8000er fully located in Tibet, to summit. Carlos has set the age record for many of the 8000ers: K 2 (aged 65), Broad Peak (68), Makalu (69), Gasherbrum I (70), Manaslu (71), Lhotse (72), Kangchendzönga (75) and Annapurna (77). He is joined on this climb organized by Seven Summits Treks by Luis Carcavilla (Spain), Luis Mifuel Lopez (Spain) & Boyan Petrov (Bulgaria). Boyan is after his 10th 8000ers. Dhaulagiri Skiing! According to my friend Laszlo Pinter, an Italian-Swiss duo is trying to climb and ski/snowboard Dhaulagiri. Davide Gerlero, Carlo Alberto Cimenti and the Swiss Matthias Koenig have already arrived in Nepal. They want to dedicate the descent to their late friend Luca Borgoni, 22, who fell off the Matterhorn this July and died. He was presumably training/skyrunnig and slipped. He was the one who initiated the expedition, and got money for it by winning the Mountopia video contest. The oney was passed on to Gerlero. This would be the first full descent of the mountain from summit to BC. The Czech David Fojtik skied it in 2009, but missed the top 20 metres, plus another 500 metres between C3 and C2. Manaslu – 270 climbers! The route is fixed to Camp 3 and conditions are reported fairly normal thus far. The mountain is crowded to be sure. Manaslu is advertised as “easy” by guides trying to lure climbers into attempting the world’s 8th highest peak. They fail to mention that it has a death to summit ratio higher than Everest and Cho Oyu at 82 deaths with 1,134 summits or 7.2%. Cho Oyu is 1.4% (the safest of the 8000ers) and Everest is 3.7%. According to the Himalayan Times, there are 135 foreigners with permits this year from 11 teams including Adventure Peaks, Adventure Consultants, 7 Summits Club, Seven Summit Treks, Summit Climb, Satori Adventures, Mountain Experience, Climbalaya Treks, Ascent Himalaya, Himalayan Guides and Snowy Horizon Treks. Seven Summits Treks with a huge 60 members posted about their Sherpas fixing the route to Camp 2. They cater to the low cost members from India and China and provide basic support. This formula has been very successful for them thus far. Nga Tashi, Ngima Dorchi, Damai Sarki, Lakpa Temba, Vinayak Jung Malla & Tenje Chumbi Sherpa successful fixed the rope up to an altitude of 6,800m approx. (Camp 3) via standard NE Route and planning to go higher in fews days as all climbers will soon arrive to the basecamp. This year Seven Summit Treks have 60 individual climbers who will be attempting to the summit among them 22 climbers (Chinese, Iranian, Indian and South Korean) reached to the Sama Gaon today by Heli flight. #dhaulagiri The team of Carlos Soria has descend down to Basecamp of Mt. Dhalulagiri I after acclimatizing for couple of days between CI and CII. (Ming Temba Updated) Stay connected for further updates. Himalayan Experience is also running a trip in 2017 along with several other western companies. Himex has been guiding Manaslu since 2008. They have combined their base camp with Adventure Consultants but are climbing separately on the the mountain. In spite of Brice saying he was no longer going to base camp for his Himex’s climbs, he is at Manaslu this Autumn. Brice comments on crowds and conditions: But around us, there are many new camps that we do not normally see here, so hundreds of Sherpas have been busy building tent platforms in new locations. So it would appear that it is indeed going to be a busy season. It is rumoured that there is at least 300 western climbers and about the same number of Sherpas here this season, although there are only a few of these climbers here at BC at the moment. I am sure there will be a big influx of climbers in the coming days. Looking at conditions I see less avalanche activity than normal, and what headwalls that are visible are only about 1m deep, which would indicate that there was not much snow up high on the hill during the monsoon season. But there are many more runnels in the snow up to about C2 (6,300m) which would tend to indicate that it has been raining a lot up to this altitude. The small glacier just behind the BC is even smaller and is now
Autumn Himalayan Climbing Begins
If it is early September, it must mean a migration to the big mountains of Tibet and Nepal, however for 2017, the Tibetan high peaks will be quiet. The Chinese have closed climbing throughout Tibet due to a “meeting” being held in the area. As usual the real reason remains elusive adding to the uncertainty to climbing in Tibet on any mountain in any season. Cho Oyu The world’s sixth highest peak at 26,907’/8201m, closed for 2017, is the second most popular 8000er after Everest with over 3,500 summits. Everest now has over 8,000 summits. For many years, the Chinese government has made getting to Cho Oyu a gamble with random border closures and unannounced bans on climbing due to fears of protests involving Tibet. Cho Oyu is generally regarded as one of the most “attainable” 8000 meter peaks with a straightforward climb to a huge flat summit and a dramatic view of Everest. It is often used as a climber’s first 8000 meter climb or as prep for Everest the next year. Manaslu – 270 climbers! Similar to Cho Oyu, Manaslu is regarded as attainable and in recent years has seen a dramatic increase in traffic with the closures on Cho Oyu. According to the Himalayan Times, there are 135 foreigners with permits this year from 11 teams including Adventure Peaks, Adventure Consultants, 7 Summits Club, Seven Summit Treks, Summit Climb, Satori Adventures, Mountain Experience, Climbalaya Treks, Ascent Himalaya, Himalayan Guides and Snowy Horizon Treks. With almost the same number of Sherpas and support staff as foreigners, it will be quite crowded once again in 2017. In 2016 Seven Summits Treks, the dominate Nepali owned and based guide service, posted they had 130 members and Sherpas for the 2016 season including a 60 member Chinese team. This is astounding in that the largest year ever, 2011, Manaslu saw 140 total summits. Since 1956, Manaslu has had 980 total summits. Himalayan Experience is also running a trip in 2017 along with several other western companies. Himex has been guiding Manaslu since 2008. Rain on Manaslu I summited Manaslu in 2013 and can attest that it is one of the most rainy/snowy base camps in all the Himalayas. An excellent update from the small Adventure Peaks team at bae camp: There has been a theme the past few days – drizzle, rain, persistent rain, driving rain, wet rain, proper rain and most recently snow. It has rained consistently for 4 days now and today is the first time that we have ventured outside our little camping area. Having explored the lower valley, it was finally time for us to make the hike up to base camp. We were pretty lucky because we had an early start so it only mizzled on us as we trekked up to base camp and it was only after lunch it properly started to rain. The overhead conditions were better than the underfoot conditions. Mud. In Fact mud and a combination of yak and horse poop. We were caked in it by the time we got to base camp. A pair of wellie boots were probably more appropriate if the truth were known. Despite both overhead and underfoot conditions, the trek to base camp was fantastic. Initially through the rhododendrons and then up the steep slopes and ridges which took us to base camp. Base camp is big – which is probably a very good thing judging by the amount of teams that will be attempting Manaslu this season. We didn’t really see much the first couple of days due to the low cloud and rain (have I mentioned that?) and today has been the first opportunity to explore camp. We are somewhere in the middle and every hour it is changing, with tents being erected left, right and centre. We have yet to see the sun and we are yet to see Manaslu. We are just passing time to be honest, letting our bodies acclimatize. Phil is already on his 4th book and Roberto, who says that he never sleeps back home, has done nothing but sleep. Nothing has happened above base camp as far as we are aware so our progress is hampered until the weather clears up and the mountain can start to be worked upon. Until that happens, we’ll just be chilling out to the best of our abilities. Dhaulagiri – 7 Climbers 78-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan will be on Dhaulagiri trying to complete his quest to summit all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks. He posted on Facebook: The rains have finally stopped in the dhaulagiri! The #expedicióncorreos has gone out today to [camp] 1 AND 2 to spend three days of acclimatisation. Here you are preparing the high food, an important task, because you have to choose well; because in addition to providing the maximum energy you also have to motivate and raise your appetite, because, with height, this one loses a little . He attempted Dhaulagiri in the spring of this year but was turned back by weather. If he summits Dhaulagiri, he will only have Shishapangma, the only 8000er fully located in Tibet, to summit. His seven person team is the only team on Dhaulagiri this autumn. Everest/Lhotse – ?? climbers There are reports of Lhotse attempts this season but no reported teams attempting Everest from Nepal but I never say never when it comes to Everest. As I previously mentioned China has closed all climbing in Tibet, this includes Everest for that side. Best of luck to all this autumn season. 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