Project Possible: SUCCESS on Shishapangma for #14!!!
Demonstrating incredible determination and physical strength, Nirmal Purja completed his summits of the 14 peaks over 8,000-meters in 189 days. Nirmal Purja posted that he and three teammates made the summit of Shishapangma at 8:58 am hrs local time. On 9:21 PM, October 28, 2019, he posted on Twitter: At 8:58 hrs local time, Nirmal Purja and his team reached the summit of Shisha Pangma. Team Members includes: Mingma David Sherpa, Galjen Sherpa and Gesman Tamang. A GPS track was provided as they crested the false summit and photos later showed them on what is believed to be the true summit after crossing the 100-meter/300-foot, knife-edge ridge or potential the “Iñaki route”, but we need to hear directly from the team. Records Also notable was Mingma David Sherpa who became the youngest climber to summit all of the 8000ers at 30 years-old. A few pictures are emerging now that the team is back in Kathmandu: They had difficult conditions on the way to the summit as shown in this video between Camps 2 and 3: Critics and Supporters As usual with these types of projects, there is criticism and it’s perhaps useful to examine their viewpoint. The primary points include: Use of supplemental oxygen Using helicopters to fly between peaks Climbing on the standard routes Possibly only reaching the fore summits on both Dhaulagiri and Manalsu However, to be accurate, others who have summited all 14 also used planes and helicopters to fly between peaks, including Ed Viesturs, who did just that to link Everest and Broad Peak to leverage his acclimatization. And 22 of the 41 who have bagged all 14 used supplemental oxygen on at least one, if not many, of the 8000ers. As for standard routes, Nirmal Purja certainly did his fair share of breaking trail while fixing the ropes to the summit putting him and his teammates first for the season, including on Dhaulagiri. Finally, demonstrating his humanity, he participated in four rescues during the project. On the summit question, this is a real issue in the world of mountaineering, but primarily for those claiming records. Sometimes snow conditions make reaching the true summit suicidal. And then there are honest mistakes. Multiple climbers seeking all 14, have had to return to achieve the tue summit after believing they had reached it previously. That said, knowing this history, surely Nirmal Purja understood the challenge on the most notorious peaks like Manaslu, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat, and even Cho Oyu, so we are left to take his word, GPS tracks, and summit photos as proof. For me, what was most impressive about his achievement was his ability to recover so quickly. While benefiting from his Nepali genetics and Gurkha training, it was still an amazing feat to achieve back to back summits of Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu in just 48 hours! A few days after getting both Gasherbrum I and II, he moved to K2 just as everyone else was ready to abandon it due to avalanche danger. But Nirmal Purja and team went on to fix the ropes to the summit opening the route for other climbers that year, albeit aided by winds that cleaned the obvious avi danger. Then, just 24 hours later, they summited Broad Peak. Finally, there was his ability to raise money, find sponsors, and stay focused throughout the project while dealing with family illness and permit politics. All in all, Nirmal Purja put the “Possible” in “Project Possible.” I’m impressed with his accomplishments and hope others will see it for a fantastic feat and be inspired to pursue their own Project Possible. What do you think? [poll id=”32″] Project Possible Nirmal Purja’s project was to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. To achieve his timeline, he needed to summit Shish by November 23. By summiting on October 28th, he summited all 14 in 189 days or 6 months, 6 days. According to his site, Project Possible wanted to use the project and associated publicity: “to provide important opportunities for local Sherpas and guides to forge a career in the mountains and will promote the homeland of the Gurkhas among the 8,000m mountains. The project aims to raise awareness for a number of significant causes, most notably for UK military charities, supporting Nirmal Purja’ colleagues who may have been wounded, injured and/or who suffer mental health issues. Equally, the support for Nepalese children’s charities and orphanages dedicated to education and wellbeing is of paramount importance, not forgetting raising crucial awareness of climate change and global warming.” These are the 8000ers Nirmal Purja and various members of his team summited: 1. Annapurna – April 23 2. Dhaulagiri – May 12 3. Kanchenjunga – May 15 4. Lhotse – May 22 5. Everest – May 22 6. Makalu – May 24 7. Nanga Parbat – July 03 8. Gasherbrum I – July 15 9. Gasherbrum II – July 18 10. K2 – July 24 11. Broad Peak – July 26 12. Cho Oyu – September 23 13. Manaslu – September 27 14. Shishapangma – October 28 In 2013, Korean climber Kim Chang-ho set the previous record for all 14 in 7 years, 10 months, 6 days. And before Kim, the record was set in 1987 by Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka climbing all 14 in 7 years, 11 months, 14 days. Nirmal Purja was born in the Dhaulagiri region of Nepal at an altitude of 1,600-metres/5,250-feet. He joined the Gurkhas in 2003 at age 19 and spent 10 years in the secret world of the UK’s Special Forces. He left the Gurkas in 2019 to begin the project. He founded Elite Hiimalya Adventures and now will lead guided climbs across the world’s highest peaks. Sincere congratulations to Nirmal Purja and the team. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Project Possible Update: Shishapangma Summit Bid Underway
Nirmal Purja and the team are fighting high winds and tough route finding as they make their way towards the summit of Shishapangma. They were scheduled to be on their final push on Tuesday, October 29. No update as of this post. Shish is the lowest of the fourteen 8,000-meter peaks at 8,027 meters/26,335 feet located totally within Tibet. As usual, they are climbing in one push, aka alpine style, bypassing any acclimatization. He posted an update on Twitter from October 26: Yesterday, we had a pretty tough day. We climbed for 15 hrs non stop in an extreme weather conditions with the wind speed of more than 75 km/hr. Spent more than 3 hrs finding the way/route on the glacier. And this video: The weather looks extremely cold temperatures but high winds with no precip. Background The crux will be the final climb across the knife-edge traverse. As shown in this image from edviestures.com, the main summit is in the right distance. The ridge is about 100-meters/300-feet long leading to the true summit which is only about 15-meters/ 45-feet higher than the central summit. It should take about an hour for Nirmal Purja to cross, then he has to return the same way. These are the usual camps: Base Camp (BC) 5000m, 16,400 feet: BC – ABC 9 miles, 6 hours start of the trip, 4 hours end of the trip Advanced base camp (ABC) 5600m, 18,375 feet: ABC – C1 3.7 miles, 8 hours the first time, 6 hours thereafter (one way) C1 6400m, 21,000 feet: C1 – C2 .6 miles, 4-5 hours C2 7100m, 23,300 feet: C2 – C3 .6 miles, 3-5 hours C3 7500m, 24,600 feet: C3 – Summit .6 miles, 7 hours See my previous post for details on the climb. Your Opinion [poll id=”32″] Project Possible Of course, we all know Nirmal Purja’s project is to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. In order to achieve his timeline, he needs to summit Shish by November 23. If he summits on October 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days. These are the 8000ers Nirmal Purja and team have summited thus far: Annapurna – April 23 Dhaulagiri – May 12 Kanchenjunga – May 15 Lhotse – May 22 Everest – May 22 Makalu – May 24 Nanga Parbat – July 03 Gasherbrum I – July 15 Gasherbrum II – July 18 K2 – July 24 Broad Peak – July 26 Cho Oyu – September 23 Manaslu – September 27 The other members with Nirmal Purja for Shish includes Mingma David Sherpa, Gesman Tamang, Gyalzen Sherpa and Jangbu Sherpa. In 2013, Korean climber Kim Chang-ho set the current record for all 14 in 7 years, 10 months, 6 days. The previous record was set in 1987 by Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka climbing all 14 in 7 years, 11 months, 14 days. Best of luck to everyone! Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything NOTE: I apologize for connection problems with the website. I am in the process of moving to a faster server and, obviously, it has not goe well. I appreciate your patience as I strive to provide a fast, reliable website. Feature image is courtesy of Ed Viesturs: Veikka Gustafsson on the knife-edge ridge to Shishapangma Main Summit April 30, 2001 – Himalayan Quest Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants book
Project Possible Update: Shishapangma Summit Schedule Set
Tuesday, October 29, 2019, might be a history-making day in the world of mountaineering given that Nirmal Purja and the team have now established their Shishapangma summit schedule. As usual, they are climbing in one push, aka alpine style, bypassing any acclimatization. In order to achieve his timeline of seven months for all 14 of the 8000ers he needs to summit Shish by November 23. He posted on Instagram and Facebook: Now it’s confirmed that, we will be heading for the summit bid on the 29th. Tomorrow early morning, we will leave for camp 2. 28th we are planning to reach camp 3. 29th – “the summit day”. The weather looks acceptable with extremely cold temperatures but marginal winds with no precip. Of course, the crux will be the final climb across the knife-edge traverse. As shown in this image from edviestures.com, the main summit is in the right distance. The ridge is about 100-meters/300-feet long leading to the true summit which is only about 15-meters/ 45-feet higher than the central summit. It should take about an hour for Nirmal Purja to cross, then he has to return the same way. If he summits on the 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days. These are the usual camps: Base Camp (BC) 5000m, 16,400 feet: BC – ABC 9 miles, 6 hours start of the trip, 4 hours end of the trip Advanced base camp (ABC) 5600m, 18,375 feet: ABC – C1 3.7 miles, 8 hours the first time, 6 hours thereafter (one way) C1 6400m, 21,000 feet: C1 – C2 .6 miles, 4-5 hours C2 7100m, 23,300 feet: C2 – C3 .6 miles, 3-5 hours C3 7500m, 24,600 feet: C3 – Summit .6 miles, 7 hours See my previous post for details on the climb. Your Opinion [poll id=”32″] Project Possible Of course, we all know Nirmal Purja’s project is to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. In order to achieve his timeline, he needs to summit Shish by November 23. If he summits on October 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days. These are the 8000ers Nirmal Purja and team have summited thus far: Annapurna – April 23 Dhaulagiri – May 12 Kanchenjunga – May 15 Lhotse – May 22 Everest – May 22 Makalu – May 24 Nanga Parbat – July 03 Gasherbrum I – July 15 Gasherbrum II – July 18 K2 – July 24 Broad Peak – July 26 Cho Oyu – September 23 Manaslu – September 27 The other members with Nirmal Purja for Shish includes Mingma David Sherpa, Gesman Tamang, Gyalzen Sherpa and Jangbu Sherpa. In 2013, Korean climber Kim Chang-ho set the current record for all 14 in 7 years, 10 months, 6 days. The previous record was set in 1987 by Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka climbing all 14 in 7 years, 11 months, 14 days. Best of luck to everyone! Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Project Possible Update: Nirmal Purja at Shishapangma Base in Bad Weather and a Toothache
Nirmal Purja and the team have arrived at Shishapangma’s Base Camp. He has a toothache and is holding at base camp for now: It’s pretty chill for sure here in #shishapangma base camp. I’m having a massive trouble with my wisdom tooth. It’s BLODDY so painful and it’s getting me fever. Yes I have been brushing my teeth and have been using dental floss too. I hope once I start the climb the voluntary pain of climbing in extreme high altitude mountain will supersede this involuntary pain. Unlike many big exped, I had no luxury of having doctors or physiotherapist etc etc. I am hoping I will be ok on my final phase of the mission. On my side you can see my climbing buddy @mingma_david_sherpa , he’s also suffering from cold. Anyway not to worry, we have the good weather coming soon; we will deliver our promises AS ALWAYS 🙌🏽🙏 NOTE: This was posted a few days ago but lost during a server transition: Nirmal Purja and the team have arrived at Shishapangma’s Base Camp. They are experiencing difficult weather at the moment putting at risk his aspirational goal of summiting all 14 in six months. In order to achieve a timeline of six months for all 14 of the 8000ers, he needs to nab Shish by October 22! To hit his original seven months, the date is November 23 which he will most certainly make. He posted on Instagram and Facebook: Much love to all my friends and followers from the #Shishapangma base camp. Plan is to head out to advance base camp tomorrow and play as it comes. The weather seems to be extremely horrendous but I’m sure, we will have an window. He posted these videos: The Camps Their exact strategy remains known only to them but they will most likely climb in Alpine style to try to reach the true summit. These are the usual camps: Base Camp (BC) 5000m, 16,400 feet: BC – ABC 9 miles, 6 hours start of the trip, 4 hours end of the trip Advanced base camp (ABC) 5600m, 18,375 feet: ABC – C1 3.7 miles, 8 hours the first time, 6 hours thereafter (one way) C1 6400m, 21,000 feet: C1 – C2 .6 miles, 4-5 hours C2 7100m, 23,300 feet: C2 – C3 .6 miles, 3-5 hours C3 7500m, 24,600 feet: C3 – Summit .6 miles, 7 hours See my previous post for details on the climb. Your Opinion [poll id=”32″] Project Possible Of course, we all know Nirmal Purja project is to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. In order to achieve his timeline, he needs to summit Shish by November 23. If he summits on October 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days. These are the 8000ers Nirmal Purja and team have summited thus far: Annapurna – April 23 Dhaulagiri – May 12 Kanchenjunga – May 15 Lhotse – May 22 Everest – May 22 Makalu – May 24 Nanga Parbat – July 03 Gasherbrum I – July 15 Gasherbrum II – July 18 K2 – July 24 Broad Peak – July 26 Cho Oyu – September 23 Manaslu – September 27 The other members with Nirmal Purja for Shish includes Mingma David Sherpa, Gesman Tamang, Gyalzen Sherpa and Jangbu Sherpa. In 2013, Korean climber Kim Chang-ho set the current record for all 14 in 7 years, 10 months, 6 days. The previous record was set in 1987 by Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka climbing all 14 in 7 years, 11 months, 14 days. Best of luck to everyone! Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything Feature image is courtesy of Ed Viesturs: Veikka Gustafsson on the knife-edge ridge to Shishapangma Main Summit April 30, 2001 – Himalayan Quest Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants book
Nirmal Purja Travels to Shishapangma for Number 14
Its official, Nirmal Purja has a permit to climb Shishapangma to achieve his self-imposed timetable of November 23 to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. He posted on Instagram and Facebook: With full of mix emotions ; I feel very humble, thankful and proud today. Finally me and my team has got the permit to climb Shishapangma. I would like to thank the government of Nepal for approaching China on my behalf for this project and I would also like to thank the government of China for considering my application and allowing me to climb Shishapangma this year. Equally, I would like to thank the Ministery of foreign affairs Nepal, Department of Tourism, Embassy of a China in Nepal , NMA, CTMA, TMA and all my friends who helped me ( you all know who you are ) to make this happen. Thank you to all for taking this “Bremont Project Possible” as OUR project. My heart and soul is full of joy with mixed emotions. Now, you have given me the opportunity, I will deliver my promise. I’m looking to complete this project within 6 months. I love you all and big thank you to my wife @sus_xox for bearing with me and being that “strong woman”- Without your support I wouldn’t have come this far. Shishapangma Getting to the true summit of Shisha is not a foregone conclusion, even for a team as skilled as Nirmal Purja. Shish is the lowest of all the 8000-meter peaks standing at 26,335 feet or 8,027 meters. It’s the only 8000er that stands alone in Tibet. Everest, Lhotse, and Cho Oyu are on the border with Nepal while Kangchunga shares the border with India. Shishapangma was first climbed by a Chinese team in 1964. I estimate there have been around 350 summits and over 30 deaths placing it the middle for deaths/summits on the 8000ers. In 1999 Americans Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges died in an avalanche and last year on May 3rd, 2018, well-regarded Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov disappeared during an attempt. About 30% of all expeditions reach the true summit which is two more hours of climbing to cover an additional 46-feet/ 14-meters from the central summit. However many climbers claim a summit with the lower one as demonstrated by Luo Jing who falsely claimed her last 8000er when she only reached the central summit. From my own experience in September 2007, Shish is extremely accessible as you can drive to base camp. The lower route crosses a glacier with a series of up and down climbs of 20 to 30-foot tall ice towers called penitentes. Next is a straightforward climb up a 30-degree snow slope to reach Camp 1 then another long traverse across a snowfield to Camp 2 and then up an avalanche-prone slope to Camp 3. Then the real climbing begins with a steep climb up fairly rough snow-covered rock wall to the Central summit before crossing a knife-edge snow-covered ridgeline to the true summit. We only made it C3 and stopped when we received a weather forecast calling for high winds and heavy snow for the next 30 days! Base Camp (BC) 5000m, 16,400 feet: BC – ABC 9 miles, 6 hours start of the trip, 4 hours end of the trip Advanced base camp (ABC) 5600m, 18,375 feet: ABC – C1 3.7 miles, 8 hours the first time, 6 hours thereafter (one way) C1 6400m, 21,000 feet: C1 – C2 .6 miles, 4-5 hours C2 7100m, 23,300 feet: C2 – C3 .6 miles, 3-5 hours C3 7500m, 24,600 feet: C3 – Summit .6 miles, 7 hours Project Possible Of course, we all know Nirmal Purja’s project is to summit all 14 of the 8000ers in seven months. In order to achieve his timeline, he needs to summit Shish by November 23. If he summits on October 29th, he will have summited all 14 in 190 days. These are the 8000ers Nirmal Purja and team have summited thus far: Annapurna – April 23 Dhaulagiri – May 12 Kanchenjunga – May 15 Lhotse – May 22 Everest – May 22 Makalu – May 24 Nanga Parbat – July 03 Gasherbrum I – July 15 Gasherbrum II – July 18 K2 – July 24 Broad Peak – July 26 Cho Oyu – September 23 Manaslu – September 27 The other members with Nirmal Purja for Shish includes Mingma David Sherpa, Gesman Tamang, Gyalzen Sherpa and Jangbu Sherpa. In 2013, Korean climber Kim Chang-ho set the current record for all 14 in 7 years, 10 months, 6 days. The previous record was set in 1987 by Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka climbing all 14 in 7 years, 11 months, 14 days. China had demanded that all foreigners must be out of Tibet no later than October 1 fearing protests around China’s National Day which commemorates the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Additionally, China had said no climbing on Shishapangma a few months ago after a string of deaths and accidents on the lowest of the fourteen 8000ers. They officially have stated they believe the mountain had become too dangerous to climb but most likely that was just an excuse to keep people out of Tibet. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Autumn 2018 Himalayan Climbing: Summits, Missing Climber, Skiing Lhotse
This last week has been the pinnacle for the 2018 autumn climbing season across the Himalayas in Tibet and Nepal. Sadly a Czech climber is missing after summiting Manaslu and the long-coveted ski descent of the Lhotse Couloir is apparently completed but not confirmed. Big Picture – Weekend Update This week will wrap up the volume teams leaving a few small, mostly independent climbers still attempting their peak. One point about this season I’ve noticed is that there are many, many, many small teams lead by Sherpas out of Nepal. The old-guard of western guides are here and there but most of the volume include Chinese and Indian climbers supported by Nepali companies. All of this is a continuation of a trend that stared over five years ago of local climbers – throughout the world – establishing credible guide services to cater to the growing demand. Often they compete on price but that is also changing with many local guides charging the same as long-time western outfits. In any event, it has become more and more difficult to track 30 teams with 5 people each than 10 teams with 15 people each. I do the best I can but will certainly miss mentioning some climbers and guide services. As a follow-up to the regulator issues experienced by several teams on Everest this past spring, Summit Oxygen tells me that there have been no failures since that event in May on other 8000-meter peaks. Garett Madison told me his SO kit performed fine on K2 in July. Shishapangma- Summits and a New Record for 8000ers 7 Summits Club‘s Sergey Larin, guide and head of their expedition on Shishapangma from Tibet noted their summits “Today at 8:30, Sergei Larin, Zygmunt Berdychowski and Igor Smirnov, that is, all members, as well as all the Sherpas climbed to the top of Shisha Pangma” It’s unclear if they made the true summit as that is rare to cross the extremely dangerous and heavily corniced summit ridge. Seven Summits Treks claimed more summits on 29 September 29 with 1 Spanish climber, 2 from Chile and 3 Sherpas. Luo Jing Cheng who became first Chinese to summit all 14 8000-meter peaks in a record time of 6 years, 11 months and 25 days breaking South Korean Kim Chang Ho time of 7 years, 10 months and 6 days. She summited Shish with Norbu Sherpa” She comes the 41st person to compete the 8000ers according to Wikipedia. This is a nice interview with her in China Daily. Congratulations to her! UPDATE: According to this report no one reached the true summit of Shish so they cannot claim to have summited all 14 of the 8000ers. Its a shame they felt they needed to name such a false claim when there were other climbers who video them turning back. It brings into question many of this tam others summit claims. Cho Oyu – Summits 7 Summits Club‘s Lyudmila Korobeshko noted summits on Cho-Oyu on September 28. Their team included: Dmitry Ghinkulov, Irina Zisman, Lyudmila Korobeshko and three Sherpas. They noted about the Sherpas and weather “without whom the expedition would have been much more difficult. In principle, we were lucky with the weather. Although not everything was so simple. The wind was strong, it was cold. And also we got a night in a traffic jam due to the large Chinese team. ” Tracee Metcalfe summited Cho Oyu along with Namgyal Sherpa and Phurba Tashi. You may recognize Phurba as being the long time Sidar for Russell Brice, who didn’t run a trip this autumn under his Himalayan Experience company. Rene Bergsma and Hirohisa Suzuki also summited. Their trip was run by Active Mountain‘s Shinji Tamura As I reported last week, many other teams summited Cho including Climbing the Seven Summits lead by Tendi Sherpa. Mountain Madness had summits, apparently scoring a rare summit all to themselves. Also, on 25 September Adventure Consultants summited. IMG said they had 12 people on the summit on September 29 saying “it was a perfect day with clear skies and very little wind.” Alpenglow made the summit with a small team and posted “Cant express how much I love what these guys are feeling right now! alpenglowexpeditions first team of the season just summited Cho Oyu, the 6th tallest mountain in the world! It was a perfect day with no wind and huge views of #everest from the summit. Now comes team 2, trying for the summit (and maybe a little ski) today! Stay tuned and congrats to all.@estebantopomena” It also looked like Caroline Gleich who climbed with Alpenglow, got a Two-fer with a summit and a husband! She posted “ “He said yes at 26,906 ft./ 8201m on the summit of Cho Oyu, with Everest and Lhotse in the background! It takes a strong man to support a woman like me. I knew you were husband material before this trip, but sharing this expedition sealed the deal. Rob Lea, you are so patient and kind, especially when you took care of me when I got sick, never complaining about the possibility of abandoning your summit attempt to make sure I was ok. I knew you were a keeper when you emptied my pee bottle and carried down the wag bag we shared. Sharing a month long expedition with your significant other is one of the most intimate experiences. There are highs and lows, and you get to see a person’s true colors. Rob, I’m so happy for our journey ahead!” Kobler reports they had summits on September 29 “the night was clear and not very cold, which suited us very accommodating. Only shortly before the summit got us a wind showed us how cold it could be at this level. About nine o’clock in the morning, seven of the nine participants were standing on the summit of the 8201 meter high Cho Oyu. Six participants conquered the summit with oxygen and defeated the summit without oxygen. Unfortunately two participants had to turn at an altitude of 7800 m. The performance of these two participants must be respected but in spite of everything, because they were
Missing Climber on Shishapangma
Bulgarian Boyan Petrov (45) is reported missing on the only 8000-meter peak fully within Tibet, Shishapangma. The working assumption is that he left for the summit, alone, and never made it. He left base camp with other climbers on 29 April but choose to stay when others left as the weather detoriated. He was spotted near Camp 3 by teammates at base camp using a telescope according to Facebook posts from his home team, Khalifa Himalayan Expedition, in Bulgaria. At this point he was climbing solo, no radio and without supplemental oxygen – his normal style for 8000ers. On May 5, a search team consisting of a Ukrainian climber and three Sherpas went to Camp 3 at 24,278 feet and found his tent with the flaps open and his sleeping bag filled with snow suggesting he had not been in the tent for days. Much of the information is being released by Hungarian mountaineer Dávid Klein, who is also on Shishapagma. There are about ten climbers on the 26,335 feet this Spring. Boyan’s wife, Radoslava Nenova, posted on Facebook that he has been missing for days and certainly made an attempt to get to the top because his tent was at Camp 3. She believes he had reached another camp where there were food and fuel. “He has everything he needs to survive,” she told Bulgarian National Television. The Chinese Mountaineering Association has officially declared him missing. A search team began a search on Monday, May 7. I met Boyan on K2 in 2014 as I was descending from the summit and he was ascending K2 near the Black Pyramid. We chatted for a moment about the conditions and he told me he had just summited Broad Peak. I looked at this young man with total admiration. He was strong and confident, and of course, not using supplemental oxygen. We had kept in touch over the years. Boyan is considered the most successful Bulgarian high-altitude alpinist. His mountaineering history is quite impressive with summits of ten of the fourteen 8000 meters mountains, all without supplemental oxygen. He had planned on going to Everest immediately after Shishapangma and then Cho Oyu in the autumn. He is a two times cancer survivor and a diabetic. Petrov work life is well documented as a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. He is also a specialist in wildlife in caves, according to his website. This site is the best to follow any breaking news. I wish the best for him. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything