May 23rd, 2009 by admin

Lots more action today away from Everest once again with news on more summits, and the sad tale of another death in the Himalaya.

Lets start with the bad news first. Hungarian climber Levente Szabo lost his life on Manaslu after falling to his death on that mountain. Levente reached as high as 7800m before turning back for Camp 4, but along the way he slipped and fell. His body was found at 6800m where he was buried. My condolences to his friends, family, and climbing team. Two of his Hungarian countrymen did summit Manaslu however, with Zsolt Eross and Daniel Barna reaching the top of the 8156m peak. For Eross, this is his 8th 8000m peak.

On Everest’s neighbor Lhotse, there are more summits to report today, with the news that a slew of climbers have gone up the past few days, including Xavi Arias, Domhnall Dochartaigh, Roger Danks and Josette Valloton. Xavi reports that it was extremely cold at the summit, which took it’s toll on the climbers.

The Polish Team on Nanda Devi are reporting in today that that two of the climbers, Jarek Woćko and Daniel Cieszyński, have set off for the summit, following a short rest in BC. If the weather holds, it looks like they could top out in the next few days. Meanwhile, their teammates are all over the mountain fixing lines and making sure the camps are ready for their arrival. Great teamwork guys, and good luck on the summit push!

Over on Kangchenjunga, ExWeb is reporting that Edurne Pasaban and Alex Chicon have been successfully evacuated from base camp, and are now back in Kathmandu. They’ll return to Spain tomorrow, where they’ll be treated for severe frostbite in the Zaragoza hospital, which specializes in mountain medicine. After a similar experience on K2 a few years back, Edurne spent some time in the same hospital, recovering. Get well soon you two!

Finally, yesterday I reported that the Ski The Himalayas Team was packing up and heading home after an aborted summit attempt in the past few days. Two of the team members became ill, and conditions conspired against them to prevent the boys from reaching the summit of the 23,390 foot Baruntse. Ben Clark checks in with CNN to report on the lessons learned from this expedition and you can listen and watch on the video below. I love listening to Ben, both in these dispatches, and on The Rest of Everest, as he is so candid, straight forward, and always positive about his climbs, even when he doesn’t achieve the summits. Keep in mind, he, and his companions, Josh Butson and Jon Miller, did complete the first ski descent of the mountain, so they have a lot to be happy about. Nice work guys, and great job knowing when it was time to go back down and head home.

Embedded video from CNN Video

May 21st, 2009 by admin

While Everest continues to dominate the headlines, there is, as always, a lot of action to be had elsewhere as well. And if conditions are right on Everest, that means they are probably great on Lhotse too. ExWeb is reporting that there have been a rash of summits on Lhotse, where highlights include Gerlinde Kaltenbrunn claiming her 12th 8000 meter peak. That draws her even with Edurne Pasaban, who summitted, and has struggled, on Kangchenjunga these past few days. More on that shortly. Congrats to Edurne for a job well done.

Congratulations are also in order for Ralf Dujmovvits as well. With his successful Lhotse summit, he now has reached the top of all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks as well, and adds his name to the list that was expanded to include Denis Urubko last week. Awesome news here as well.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reminded that Edurne, Gerlinde, and Nives Meroi aren’t the only girls in town. Polish climber Kinga Baranowska did her nations climbing heritage proud by topping out on Kangchenjunga a few days back as well. She was just a short time behind Edurne and reached the top without supplemental oxygen, claiming the fourth summit by a woman on that mountain. Very well done Kinga! She also dedicated the climb to the memory of Wanda Rutkiewicz, one of the greatest climbers, male or female, ever. Wanda is also from Poland, and lost her life on Kangchenjunga a number of years back.

Staying on Kangchenjunga, Nives Meroi was hoping to add her 12th 8-thousander summit to her resume as well, but turned back when husband Romano Benet took ill. Romano began showing the early signs of HACE and they thought it best to turn back. Nives says that no summit is more important to her than Romano, and they are back in BC at this time. No word if there will be another attempt yet this season.

While Edurne Pasaban may have claimed her summit on that mountain however, it sounds like she payed a healthy price for it. She finally made it back to BC today, even though her summit was three days back, and she is reportedly exhausted and suffering from frostbite in two of her toes and her thumb. She will reportedly be airlifted from BC tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that everything comes out okay.

Finally, the Ski the Himalaya team has posted another update on their website with news of a second summit bid by Josh and Ben. Earlier in the week the two men expended a lot of energy getting their third teammate, Jon Miller, of the mountain when he took ill, and it caught up with them a bit, with Josh hitting the wall on the second trip up. Without hesitation, they turned around and went back down, the expedition is over, and they’re heading home. While they did not reach the summit on Baruntse, they did make the first ski descnet of that mountain, and I know that they had a blast while they were there, summit or no. And that’s what mountaineering is all about. Great job guys!

May 19th, 2009 by admin

While all eyes are trained on Everest, and the teams making their push, the rest of the Himalaya has seen plenty of action as well, including summits on other mountains over the weekend.

Lets start on Kangchenjunga, where Edurne Pasaban topped out over the weekend, earning her 12th 8000m peak in the process. That puts her, at least momentarily, in the lead to become the first woman to nab all of those mountains, but Italian Nives Meroi is also on the mountain, and should summit in the next few days as well, giving her her 12th peaks of the 8-thousnders as well. And, lets not forget Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who is in C3 on Lhotse, and looking for her 12th in the next few days too. If all goes according to plan, they should all have just two mountains left after the spring season.

On other mountains in the range we’re told that high winds have had an impact. On Manaslu for instance, teams were forced to stay in C3, although a weather window is expected to open tomorrow, clearing the way for the summit. The team attempting the West Pillar of Makalu were also forced back due to high winds as well. This was their second attempt, and they’d like to make a third, if time and weather permits. The Spanish team on Cho Oyu is also calling it quits after another failed attempt. They went as high as C2, but high winds prevented them from going higher. They’re now going home, a bit disappointed.

The Lhotse-Everest Traverse team, who left C4 last Friday, turned back from the summit and returned to BC, but are preparing to go up again. Apparently weather turned for the worse as the afternoon wore on, and they felt it best to go down and wait for a new opportunity. When they make their next attempt, they’ll find fixed ropes almost to the summit, courtesy of the other Kazakh team they were climbing with.

The Polish Team on Nanda Devi continues to work away on the mountain as well. They’re into their third week now, and have shared some great photos from BC, ABC, and further up the mountain itself. The team hopes to complete their summit push soon, and the weather is reportedly very good.

Finally, the Ski The Himalaya team has posted an excellent account of their first descent of Baruntse. You may recall that last week I posted that the team had turned back just below the summit and skied down the mountain for the first time. They promised more details and they delivered. Ben Clark’s dispatches are always fun to read, and this one doesn’t disappoint either. The team is hoping to make one more push to the summit before coming home as well.

May 17th, 2009 by admin

Sorry about the lack of updates today, but the day job had me confined in a single meeting for ten hours, and I’m just now catching up on a few things before I go pack my back for Chicago where I’ll be hanging out with the Gadling blogging crew for the weekend. But before tha happens, I wanted to post a couple of quick stories.

First up, ExWeb is reporting that Denis Urubko has topped out on Cho Oyu today, claiming the first summit on that mountain of the season. For the Kazakh climbing legend this is his 14th 8000m peak, which means he has added his name to a very elite list of men who have claimed all of those summits. Denis went up the unclimbed South East face on Cho Oyu in a single push, alpine style, and is reportedly safe and sound back in BC. Congrats Denis! Well done!

On Everest, things are proceeding according to plan, with teams still moving up the mountain and getting into position to take advantage of a possible weather window this weekend. Summits are expected to begin taking place this Sunday and Monday, although teams are keeping an eye on the winds, as they could kick up in the next few days, preventing summits once again. On the North Side, it looks like Summits could be in order for the end of next week, possibly starting on the 21st.

Meanwhile, the Ski The Himalaya Team is back in BC after turning back below the summit. They promise more information soon, but you can checkout the video interview from CNN below. They did make the ski descent they had hoped for, even though they didn’t top out, but they aren’t quite done with Baruntse yet, and intend to go back up for another attempt on the summit via a different route.

Embedded video from CNN Video

May 15th, 2009 by admin

Another day on Everest and another day stuck in BC, waiting and watch the weather reports. Forecasts right now are still looking at the weekend at the earliest before another weather window opens, so until then, the climbers wait for their chance. The Peak Freaks are boldly claiming that the “Summit Push Is On” as they hope to begin moving up the mountain tomorrow to be in position to take advantage of the weather window. They have their eyes on reaching the summit on the morning of the 18th, which is next Monday. IMG doesn’t tip their hand at all, but hint that the weather is showing signs of improvement as well, indicating that they’ll be ready to go up soon too. Similarly, the Adventure Consultants Team indicates that they are making final preparations today to begin their climb as well. So, it looks like things are looking up, both literally and figuratively. There should be a lot of news on the weekend.

The Ski The Himalyas Team would like to see the weather change in their favor as well. They’ve been stuck in the tent for the past four days, waiting and wondering when they’ll get a crack at the summit on Baruntse as well. They note that on the first clear day they’re going to be heading up to the summit, which seems to indicate that they feel pretty good about where they are at on the mountain, and their chances of topping out. Of course, they intend to ski bak down as well, so the fun is just getting started.

In other news, ExWeb is reporting that there are two Kazakh teams at C3 on Lhotse at the moment, and both intend to make their summit bids tomorrow. One of those teams will just settle for bagging this peak, while the other will continue on with their attempt at the Lhotse-Everest Traverse that we’ve been hearing about for the past few months. Both teams will also skip a night at C4 and just make their summit bid without stopping. Those Kazakhs are crazy that way.

The news from Manaslu isn’t great either. Apparently the weather remains bad with snow falling nearly continuously. Teams are holding out for a new round of weather forecasts with the hope that a window will open, but time is running short, and many are ready to pack it in and go home if they don’t see a break in the weather soon.

Finally, on Cho Oyu, the story is similar with bad weather, high winds, and cold temps. Teams are back in BC, after going up to C2, as well, and no one has managed to summit yet this season. ExWeb seems to indicate there is growing frustration on the mountain as well.

Hopefully the weather breaks for the entire region soon. A month from now, the monsoon will likely be in full force, and these teams deserve a shot at their respective summits. With a little luck, they’ll all get the opportunity before it’s too late, and it’s time to go home.

May 13th, 2009 by admin

As you know doubt have heard by now, the predicted weather window on Everest slammed shut over the weekend, with high winds and cold temperatures hitting the upper slopes of the mountain. A number of teams were preparing to make their summit bids late last week, with an eye on reaching the top tomorrow, but as of now they are all off the mountain, and safely back in Base Camp, eagerly watching the weather reports, and wondering when they’ll get another crack at it.

The First Ascent Team details what is happening in their latest video, available below. They talk a bit about their disappointment and frustration with being in BC when they’d rather be climbing, but they understand as well as anyone the need to be safe. They also reveal that their weather sources say that the next weather window is shaping up to begin around the 17th of the month, which is next Sunday, so for now, they’ll make that their target.

The IMG Team was actually attempting to reach the summit earlier today, and according to Alan Arnette, they climbed above the Yellow Band before bad weather turned them back. The IMG dispatches say the team returned to C2 safely and were descending back to BC to rest.

The Peak Freaks report that it is snowing on Everest today, but in a glass half-full approach, they also see that as a good thing. Snow will allow them to create steps on the Lhotse Face, making the climb safer, as they’ve mostly been dealing with ice up until now. They also speculate that the Monsoon may have come early, although that seems highly unlikely. They are probably just experiencing some typical precipitation that has been long overdue.

The Adventure Consultants Team is back in BC as well, but they’re returning from the opposite direction of most others. While some teams were planning their early summit bids, the AC squad went down valley to Pheriche for a little rest. They’ve returned to base camp now, and are waiting and watching along with everyone else.

As a side note on Everest, anyone else think that David Tait is laughing and relaxing right about now? You may recall that David climbed up the mountain behind the five Sherpas who finished setting the fixed ropes last week, and claimed the first summit of the season fro a westerner. He came down in one piece and is now done for the year, while the rest of the poor schmucks sit in BC waiting and watching. For all we know, David’ back in Kathmandu, kicking it at the Rumdoodle, a frost beer in hand, and laughing at the others.

Moving away from Everest for a moment, we have some updates from other expeditions in the region. Over on Nanda Devi, the Polish Team has established their base camp and are now scouting the mountain for the best approach. It has been several days since their last dispatch however, and it is quite possible that they have established a couple of high camps by now as well.

Finally, our friends on the Ski The Himalaya Team continue to make progress on Baruntse continue to make progress as well. They are now above 21,500 feet, with Camp 3 firmly established, following a very long technical climb. The team is hoping to complete this new route to the 23,390 foot summit before stepping into their skis and gliding back down the mountain. If all goes as planned, they could be making their summit bid later this week.

May 9th, 2009 by admin

Despite the long update yesterday on everything that is going down in the Himalaya, there is still plenty more to say today, beginning on Baruntse where the Ski The Himalayas Team has moved up to C2 at 20,000 feet, and are beginning the next phase of their climb, making an alpine style first ascent on an unknown route. They don’t make any mention of their intended summit day, noting that they don’t know how hard or how long the climb will be at this point. Baruntse is a 23,390 foot peak that they intend to make the first descent on skis as well.

Over on Kangchenjunga, Korean climber Oh Eun-sun has claimed the first summit of the season on that mountain, amidst very high winds. Edurne Pasaban has reached C3, where she will wait for two days and pray that the winds die down before making her own summit bid. The Spanish team was said to be concerned for the Koreans due to the conditions, and were standing by to assist if needed. So far, no word of any issues.

Denis Urubko and climbing partner Boris Dedeshko have set their sights on a new route on Cho Oyu, making an alpine style attempt on the South East Ridge. The two very experienced climbers are making a go at the mountain now, but ExWeb reports that they left their sat phone behind, so there will be no word of their progress until they’re up and back. Good luck guys!

Of course, Everest remains the focus with summit days just ahead. The mood on the mountain remains a bit muted today thanks to the death of the Sherpa in the Icefall yesterday. Alan Arnette is reporting that some teams are still forging ahead as planned, hoping to summit on the 12th, while others re-evaluating the schedule and watching the weather. It seems like the middle of the month will now be the target date from both the North and South sides of the mountain.

Finally, as further proof that the First Ascent Team are by far the most well covered and closely followed team on the mountain this year, I came across this story over at MacWorld.com, a site that covers Macintosh Computers and other products from Apple. It seems that the team and the production crew following them, have been using MacBook Pro laptops and iPods on the mountain, which has garnered the already over exposed rockstar climbing team even more coverage.

May 5th, 2009 by admin

The calendar has turned to May, and while the rest of the world is dealing with the dreaded swine flu, in the Himalaya there is an altogether different ailment they are dealing with. it is right about this time each year that a nasty case of summit fever hits, and it seems to be indiscriminate in who it affects.

It seems Dhaulagiri may be the latest mountain to feel the impact, as ExWeb is reporting that Czech mountaineer David Fojtík topped out over the weekend, and completed the first summit of the season on that mountain by skiing most of the way back down. It is also reported that an unnamed Korean climber also reached the summit, although one of his teammates was not so lucky, and suffered severe hypothermia and frostbite on his descent back down the couloir. Congrats to the first summitteers of the season on Dhaula!

Meanwhile, things are really heating up on Everest’s South Side, where Alan Arnette is reporting that the lines could be fixed to the summit as early as tomorrow, with Sherpas reaching the summit for the first time in 2009. The prediction is that the weather will turn bad after that, stranding the teams in BC while they wait for the first window of the season, which is expected to come early next week. Everything is in position, and the stage is just about set. It is nearly go time on Everest.

Alan also reports of another significant development on Everest that should hopefully make the mountain safer this year and in years to come. It seems that fresh bolts have been dropped into the Yellow Band, a notorious bottleneck on the mountain, and new lines have been put into place. There will now be a rope for climbers going up, and climbers going down, which should help to move things along a bit more quickly. It is also reported that the guides who installed the new lines, Willie Benegas and Adrian Ballinger, also cleared out a lot of old rope that was just hanging on the face. That should greatly improve the route as well.

You may have heard that an avalanche hit Everest over the weekend, and you can checkout some video of it from the First Ascent Team below. Fortunately no one was hurt, but it sure looks scary enough. The Peak Freaks are reporting more ice slides today, and can’t help but wonder if global warming has anything to do with it. Speaking of the First Ascent team, Ed Viesturs and Peter Whittaker went up the mountain yesterday and established Camp 3 at 23,400 feet, where they also waited out the storm that hit over the weekend.

Finally, the Boys of Baruntse are taking a much deserved rest day today following a few days of scouting the mountain. They received a dusting of snow as well, but everyone is in good spirits and health, and they are preparing to make their assault on the 23,390 foot mountain, along a new route, and then make the first ski descent as well. Of course, they’re capturing the entire thing on video for future episodes of The Rest of Everest too! Can’t wait.

May 1st, 2009 by admin

As we sit on the edge of May, you can feel that we’re also on the edge of lots of activity in the Himalaya. Teams are moving up and down Everest, making their last acclimatization runs, and the Sherpas are busy working on the final fixed lines, laying the ground work for plenty of action to come in just a few short weeks.

ExWeb starts the updates off today with the news that the Lhotse-Everest Traverse Team are on the move and expect to spend the night in C3 today before carrying the last of their supplies to C4 tomorrow. They’ll spend the night there, then descend one final time. From there, they’ll make a go at it on the next weather window, with the plan that they’ll summit Lhotse, then trek across the ridge to Everest, where they’ll top out one final time, before descending back down the mountain. This one should be fun to watch.

On Everest’s South Side there is poor weather in the forecast, with snow expected tomorrow, which may strand a few teams in BC before making their next rotation up the mountain. Most are on their way to Camp 3 for the acclimatization process, where they’ll spend the night before one final hike back down the South Col. From there, it’ll just be a matter of resting up, and watching the weather.

The North Side is facing it’s own set of issues, as more teams are arriving on the mountain, but suffering from acclimatization issues of their own. Thanks to the fancy new road that was built to base camp for the Olympic Torch Team last year, teams are arriving faster than ever, but are also finding themselves ill equipped to deal with the altitude and finding themselves out of breath when they do get there. At least one team has gone back down the mountain to regroup already as well.

In other parts of the Himalaya, teams are preparing to make their bids. On Kangchenjunga for instance, Edurne Pasaban has gone up to Camp 3 and cached supplies, while other teams have moved up as well. On Makalu, a large Korean team is building the high camps and fixing the lines, while a lone female team member stays in BC, and awaits her shot at going up. Over on Dhaulagiri there have been rumors of a summit push going on now, but there have been no confirmations of this or word of successful summits just yet, while the word from Cho Oyu is that BC is quiet with relatively few teams there this season.

Finally, our friends on Baruntse, who are attempting to climb a new route, then make the first descent on skis checked in with CNN again yesterday. Check out the video below.

Embedded video from CNN Video

April 29th, 2009 by admin

It’s been another busy couple of days in the Himalaya, where things continue to progress on mountains all over the region.

Probably the biggest news out of the Himalaya is that it looks like the summit of Manaslu could well be a busy place tomorrow, with potentially 20 people topping out. ExWeb is reporting that summit bids were turned back yesterday when climbers reached a 300 foot vertical ice wall at 7100m. The wall is described as very technical and demanding, requiring teams to put up new fixed ropes, which slowed down the progress. It was too late in the day yesterday for that to happen, so the ropes were installed today, and everyone will take their shot at the summit tomorrow. Good luck everyone! Climb safe!

ExWeb is also reporting that Joe Puryear and David Gottlieb have reached the summit of Lunag Ri, and have also safely returned to base cam, completely the first ascent of that mountain. The 6907m mountain was the highest unclimbed peak in the Himalaya that was also permissible to climb. There are other, taller, unclimbed mountains, but no permits are issued for them due to cultural or religious restrictions. Congrats to Joe and David for the for reaching the top and getting back down in one piece.

Switching focus over to the Big Show, Alan Arnette is reporting that weather conditions have changed on Everest, with high winds shifting to the area, blowing things all over the mountain. On his Everest 2009 page, Alan talks to Michael Fagin of EverestWeather.com, who tells us to expect the warmer than normal temperatures on Everest to continue into May, but that it is far too early to say if the mid-month weather window will open up as expected.

The Peak Freaks posted a new blog update, and they weigh in on the windstorm hitting the area. The whole team is currently back in BC, and there is a real fear that the high winds will blow C2 off the mountain. For now though, they’ll have to sit and wait and see what happens. They also report that their weather sources are telling them to expect heavy precipitation beginning around the first of May.

Meanwhile, the IMG team, who updated their dispatches this morning, with the news that their Sherpa team is now up at C3, where they are caching supplies, including three more tents. They also note that winds have died down some today, making it a bit more comfortable on the mountain.

Finally, Ben Clark, Josh Butson, and Jonathan Miller, the team that has targeted the 23,390 foot Baruntse in their attempt to Ski The Himalayas reached base camp on Friday. Ben calls it the most spectacular BC he’s been in since first coming to the Himalaya seven years earlier, with great views of Lhotse, Everest, and Makalu. Ben also reports that everyone is feeling great, and are ready to go, but that they are taking a little down time to rest and acclimatize before they start scouting the mountain. If all goes well, in a few weeks time, they’ll be making their way up to the summit, and then making the first descent by skis as well. Sounds like fun!