Marek Holecek of Czechia is back in Nepal with a typically ambitious new goal: a new route on the Southeast Face of Cho Oyu.
As in 2021 and 2022, Holecek will team up with Radoslaw Groh. Holecek’s partner in 2024, Ondrej Huserka of Slovakia, died on the way down from their highly exposed first ascent of the East Face of Langtang Lirung.
Somewhere up the SE face
From Gokyo, Holecek and Groh have set up Base Camp in the Khumbu Valley a day away. They are at the head of the Ngozumpa Glacier — according to Wikipedia, the longest glacier in the Himalaya.
Ngozumpa Glacier, on the South Side of Cho Oyu, Nepal. Photo: Marek Holecek
They have not yet decided on a specific line up the SE Face. As Holecek wrote, they are considering several options. For the time being, they are putting their Base Camp in order.
The Base Camp of the Czech expedition at the foot of the SE Face of Cho Oyu. Photo: Marek Holecek
Cho Oyu’s hardest side
Just a few expeditions have dared the South (Nepal) Side of Cho Oyu. It is steeper, longer, remote, and much more difficult than the normal route from Tibet. The last alpine-style climb here was Denis Urubko and Boris Dedeshko’s back in 2009. They opened a route up the Southeast Face, similar to what Holecek has in mind.
The routes opened so far on Cho Oyu’s South Side: Urubko and Dedeshko’s route in red, the Polish winter route in blue, the Austrian (Koblmueller) route in green, and the Russian 1981 route to the right, in yellow. Urubko’s route on the SE Face is closest to the still-unknown new ine that Holcek and Groh will attempt. Photo: Mountain.ru
A Russian team led by Andrey Vassiliev tried in 2023 and 2024. They first attempted the South-Southwest Ridge. Failing that, they tried to repeat the 1991 Russian route via the East Ridge.
A Nepalese team, proceeding in heavy expedition style, summited Cho Oyu via the South Side in 2024. They too climbed the South-Southwest Ridge route, but with a different approach from the Russians in 2023.
Radoslaw Groh
Holecek colorfully describes Groh as “a trained machine and a bulldozer of girls’ hearts, a volatile soul…And most importantly, a great partner, whose blood immediately rises in his veins when he smells those million-year-old mountain ladies.”
In a more measured way, one could describe the 36-year-old Groh as one of the most skilled alpinists in Czechia. He excels in several disciplines, including skimo racing, sport climbing, and, of course, high-altitude alpinism.
In 2024, Groh and his regular partner, Zdenek Hak, achieved the first complete ascent of Muchu Chhish, then the highest unclimbed peak open to climbers. Earlier this year, Hak and Groh opened a route on the Southwest Face of Hunza Peak.
Holecek and Groh have also shared several expeditions in the past. They attempted the formidable West Face of Masherbrum in the summer of 2022 and did a new route on Baruntse in 2021.
A high tolerance for risk
Holecek won a Piolet d’Or for his new route on Chamlang (7,319m) in 2019, together with Zdenek Hak. He leads an expedition a year, always picking highly ambitious goals and exposed routes. He posts regularly on social media, with a distinctively dramatic style. Holecek’s climbs are extremely committing and require a high tolerance for risk.
Holecek some days ago in Namche Bazaar. Photo: Marek Holecek/Facebook
