The Kangchenjunga team is back in Kathmandu. Their climb produced Kangchenjunga’s first fall season summits since 2004. It also brings Tseng Ko-Erh of Taiwan and Gelje Sherpa of Nepal one step closer to their respective goals.
Gelje Sherpa
Gelje Sherpa aims to become the youngest climber to complete the 14×8,000’ers. He still needs Broad Peak, which he could climb next summer, and Cho Oyu. Cho Oyu is logistically tricky. Unless he gets permission to enter Tibet, he will have to climb the more difficult Nepalese side. To break the record, he needs to top out on both mountains before spring 2023.
To avoid controversy, Gelje may also want to climb Manaslu’s main summit. He has climbed to the summit ridge, stopping at what had become the usual summit point, but he had not reached the true summit. From 2022, Manalsu’s foresummits will not be considered summits by the Himalayan Database.
Tseng Ko-Erh
A cup of tea and a smoke back in Base Camp. Photo: Tseng Ko-Erh
Tseng is the first Taiwanese woman to summit Kangchenjunga. Over the last six months, she has placed herself at the forefront of Taiwan’s mountaineering scene. She has summited four 8,000’ers in those six months, has climbed five in total, and now looks set to kick on.
On Instagram today, Tseng says she will attempt K2 next winter! She also mentioned Nanga Parbat but did not say when she planned to climb it. It will be interesting to see how her K2 plans shape up. Pakistan’s Jasmine Tours has a notice on their website offering winter expedition logistics to the Savage Mountain, but this is more likely to be trekking and Base Camp support. A few teams have shown interest in K2 this winter, but nothing is confirmed.
