Dhaulagiri: A Few Decide to Remain

When Carlos Soria heard that all international flights out of Nepal had canceled until the end of May, his first reaction was to leave. However, after thinking it over and changing his mind more than once, Soria and some others have decided to stay.

“We are going to enjoy the mountain in its perfect solitude and keep a bit of hope for a summit chance,” Carlos Soria wrote.

Soria’s partner, Luis Miguel López, is realistic. “The mountain is in very poor condition, but we’d rather be here than move to Kathmandu and increase the problems they already have there,” he said. “And we can’t discard the possibility of a final summit attempt in the future.”

Three Sherpas and Base Camp crew remain with them.

Bad weather has arrived at Dhaulagiri Base Camp. Photo: Carlos Soria

 

Carla Pérez and Topo Mena also remain in Base Camp. They are not making any final decision for now. “We are checking weather forecasts to see if there’s any chance of a [summit] attempt again,” Mena wrote earlier today. “[We are also] keeping a pulse on the COVID situation in Nepal and how that will affect our journey.”

Forecasts show bad weather at least for the next seven days.