Unlike the Manaslu fiasco, where local outfitters were unwilling to wait and closed the mountain due to bad conditions, climbers on Dhaulagiri will bide their time until the approaching cyclone passes. They will then recheck conditions, still hoping to climb.
“A great deal will depend on how much snow the cyclone brings, how stable the mountain is afterward, and whether the route can be safely reopened,” Paul Clarke of Australia told ExplorersWeb from Base Camp.
There are 34 foreign climbers with a permit for Dhaulagiri. Clarke estimates that so far, about 20 foreigners and 35 Sherpas have reached the mountain.
Dhaulagiri Base Camp this year. Photo: Paul Clarke/@outdoorpirate
Route to Camp 2
The rope fixing is a joint effort by the companies operating on the mountain, led by “Makalu” Lakpa Sherpa of 14 Peaks Expeditions. So far, the Sherpas have fixed up to Camp 2.
The original plan was to fix the route quickly, then launch a summit push tomorrow and Thursday, before the weather worsens. However, as on Manaslu, evening snowfalls have left a lot of fresh snow at all altitudes.
That, and the approaching cyclone, prompted the Sherpas to retreat to Base Camp. “Today, quite a few Sherpas are heading up to Camps 1 and 2 to bring equipment down before it is buried or lost in the expected snowfall,” Clarke said.
Retreat
Makalu Lakpa shared his team’s plans today: “We will wait for one week, and on September 29, we will reassess the situation, check fresh forecasts, and decide what to do next,” he said. Lakpa confirms they were going to retrieve all their equipment from the higher camps.
Tomorrow, Dhaulagiri will be mostly deserted, as the bigger teams airlift their clients to Pokhara or Kathmandu. Clarke and his climbing partner, Xenia Santha of Hungary, have decided to ride out the storm in Base Camp.
“We are independent climbers, with 8K providing our Base Camp services,” Clarke explained. The Australian has climbed five other 8,000’ers. This is his second attempt on Dhaulagiri, which he and Santha hope to climb without supplemental oxygen. The pair will have one supporting Sherpa for both of them during the climb, to help in case of trouble and to carry backup oxygen for emergencies.
The forced layover during the storm is troublesome for no-O2 climbers, but for Clarke and Santha, it may prove positive. Before traveling to Nepal, the climbers acclimatized by reaching almost 7,000m on Khan Tengri in Kyrgyzstan. Once in Nepal, they trekked to Dhaulagiri Base Camp over French Pass, at approximately 5,400m, instead of flying.
However, they had not yet completed a rotation on Dhaulagiri due to unsafe conditions. If an accelerated summit push had taken place this week, they would have been forced to use oxygen. Now, they hope there will be enough time after the storm to complete a proper rotation before attempting the summit without gas.
Paul Clarke and Xenia Santha (at right) with some Base Camp partners at the foot of Dhaulagiri. Photo: Paul Clarke
