Posted: Jan 21, 2010 02:13 pm EST
"We have decided to pack up and return home," reports David Falt today.

The climbers report a super-dry wall on Kwangde (see image). "We can't obtain a new permit in time to try another peak as our window closes on Saturday. We did not get to climb but we have had a great time and a new friendship has been forged," David added.

Falt will be back in Himalaya in July to try Latok north ridge while Vasso, who actually is expecting a kid in a few weeks, hopes to go to Lhotse.

Over at Tawoche, Renan Ozturk and Corey Richards battled their own demons below the unclimbed South Central Buttress.

"Following your instincts isn’t really an option because your instincts tell you not to leave the ground," they wrote. "But conversely, not leaving the ground isn’t a viable option either…because fighting your desire to climb leaves you more miserable than the climbing itself."

"We think about friends we’ve lost in the mountains and wonder if they were feeling the same thing the last morning they crawled from their respective tents. There is a massive question mark that hangs gloomily above the whole situation, and this morning is no different."

At 3 am though, the two donned their gear and headed out into the great black. "And before we know it, the sun warms our backs and we are high above the valley floor on new terrain. The fear melts and melds with joy to create a hybrid emotion that feels almost tangible. Like my friend Colin Moorehead says, 'Climbing is the truth'.”

David Falt and Vassiliy Pivtsov hoped to attempt a new route on Kwangde Lho's technical north face (6187m).

Renan Ozturk and Corey Richards are aiming for the unclimbed South Central Buttress on Tawoche (6501m).

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