Summits on 8,126m Nanga Parbat were expected tomorrow, but the Seven Summit Treks rope fixers were ahead of schedule and topped out today. Behind them came their clients, then a second commercial team, and finally, Polish skier Andrzej Bargiel, who promptly skied down to Base Camp.
Bargiel acclimatized last weekend on 6,608m Ganalo Peak, a subsidiary peak of Nanga Parbat. From this vantage point, he studied the best lines to ski down the mountain.
His ski descent happened so recently that at the time of writing, Bargiel and his team have not yet shared the news. However, Nepalese outfitters in Base Camp saw him skiing down and notified Nepalese media.
Sources told The Tourism Times that Bargiel had, as usual, not used supplementary oxygen. If confirmed, this will be the eighth 8,000m peak that Bargiel has skied, always without O2, and his last remaining 8,000’er in Pakistan.
We expect to hear details from his team soon.
Summit of Nanga Parbat at sunset. Photo: Seven Summit treks
Nanga Parbat mysteries
It’s hard to understand the Sherpas’ climbing strategy and the state of the Kinshoffer route on Nanga Parbat: In their wish to control the narrative, outfitters share fewer details each season. Even basic strategy seems out of bounds.
Earlier, Seven Summit Treks and 14 Peaks Expeditions suggested the Sherpa staff would set up Camp 4 so their clients could rest for a few hours and then summit tomorrow. In the end, they decided to finish Nanga Parbat early and summit today, without that fourth camp.
As for Bargiel, he shared pictures from Camp 2 yesterday, but Polish media reported that by then, he and Janusz Golab were already in Camp 3. For Bargiel, that meant a long summit day without oxygen, as Camp 3 is around 7,000m.
Commercial teams
Seven Summit Treks reported their entire group summited today, including Antonina Samoilova of Ukraine, Mindaugas Satkauskas of Lithuania, and Tao Hu of China, each with a supporting Sherpa (Lakpa Temba Sherpa, Dendi Sherpa, and Lakpa Sherpa), as well as Abbas Ali Mehdi of Pakistan.
Breaking trail in front of them were the five rope fixers: Mingtemba Sherpa, Pasang Dukpa Sherpa, Dawa Rinji Sherpa, Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, and Pasang Nurbu Sherpa.
Soon afterward, SST’s sister company, 14 Peaks Expeditions, reported its own summits. Their clients included Anni Katri Penttila of Finland, Ian Fraser of Ireland, Americans Rebecca Long and Alexander Joseph Hansen, and also American guide Bennie Lieber. The assisting crew included Phurbu Kusang Sherpa, Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Dorchi Sherpa, Kusang Sherpa, and Serjangbu Sherpa of Nepal, plus Mehboob Ali.
SST reported on social media that the rope fixers summited at around 11.30 am and the rest of the group about one hour later. However, there are no details yet, including the current location of summit teams. The preliminary plan was to retreat at least to Camp 3. None of the climbers was credited with summiting without bottled oxygen.
