With the stable weather, Dhaulagiri teams are heading up en masse, following the Sherpa route fixers and Andrzej Bargiel with his skis.
It remains to be seen how many of the climbers now heading for Camp 3 are doing a rotation or a full summit push.
During the late September snowstorm, only a small group outfitted by 8K Expeditions remained in camp. They spent hours shoveling snow from around their tents. Everything changed this past weekend.
“There’s a totally different vibe here in Base Camp, with helicopters buzzing all day as they bring in climbers and Sherpas,” Paul Clarke of Australia told ExplorersWeb. “14 Peaks Expeditions and Seven Summit Treks [the biggest outfitters in Nepal], have returned, and their camp looks like a little city now.”
Rotation or summit push?
14 Peaks leader Makalu Lakpa is checking conditions on the mountain, hoping to launch a summit push.
U.S. guide Benny Lieber, working with 14 Peaks Expeditions this season on Dhaulagiri, arrives in Base Camp. Photo: Benny Lieber/Instagram
Altipro Adventures has set a tight deadline for its small Dhaulagiri team: “With October already here, we’re aiming for an early summit push, and if conditions allow, to reach the summit before 15 October,” they wrote today.
Bargiel at the front
Attention is mainly focused on Andrzej Bargiel of Poland, who arrived at Dhaulagiri with his team on Friday. After a first night at the so-called Italian Camp, set up at 3,600m — lower and more comfortable than the average base camp — they headed up the mountain immediately.
Bargiel previously acclimatized in the Manaslu area. As he posted on social media, he reached 6,000m on a first acclimatization round on Manaslu. He recently posted some older pictures of snow-covered tents in Manaslu Base Camp, but he should be at Camp 2 on Dhaulagiri today and heading further up tomorrow.
Andrzej Bargiel and three other members of his team head for Camp 1 on Saturday. Photo: Paul Clarke
The Polish skier will not be alone: The rope-fixing team is also at Camp 2, after digging out the ropes buried in the snow and fixing 400m above Camp 2 today. Tomorrow, they plan to continue to Camp 3, 8K Expeditions Lakpa Sherpa told The Tourism Times.
As for Clarke, his partner Xenia Santha, and the rest of the 8K team, they waited one day to hear about conditions from those farther up the mountain. Once they received positive news, they set off today, planning to follow the rope-fixers to Camp 3.
Paul Clarke and Xenia Santha before leaving Dhaulagiri Base Camp earlier today. Photo: Santha/@outdoorpirate
Camp 3 decision tomorrow
Most climbers fit enough to go up might gather tomorrow at Camp 3, located at 7,300-7,400m. It is usually the highest camp on Dhaulagiri’s normal route. We’ll have to see who continues toward the summit from there.
Those trying to top out right away may suffer from insufficient rest and acclimatization before the extremely long summit day. There is no broken trail, and conditions are uncertain. On the other hand, the weather seems to be holding, and there’s a certain pressure to get your summit in as soon as possible: Outfitters tend to shorten expedition times to the minimum these days. The sooner they finish Dhaulagiri, the sooner they can dedicate their resources to Ama Dablam and other 6,000m and 7,000m commercial peaks.
Migration from Manaslu?
There was some question about how many of the 500 foreign climbers who applied for a Manaslu permit might have moved to Dhaulagiri. Asked about it, Clarke said he was not aware of anyone, but he knew that a number of climbers had booked for Manaslu-Dhaulagiri double-headers. They were among those newly arrived in Base Camp.
According to the October 1 update from Nepal’s Department of Tourism, there are 36 foreign climbers listed for Dhaulagiri. Two weeks ago, before massive snowfall thwarted plans for Manaslu climbers, there were 34 — so no significant increase so far. Factoring in a slightly higher number of Sherpas, there are likely 70-80 climbers currently on the mountain.
