As we reported earlier, Eneko and Iker Pou, Fay Manners, and Andres Marin are currently at the Trango Towers in Pakistan. Their main objective is the Great Trango Tower.
Today, Andres Marin wrote that a respiratory illness has affected everyone on the team. They’re currently recovering in Base Camp.
However, a few days ago, during their acclimatization, they managed to establish a new mixed route on the southeast face of Little Trango Tower, a.k.a. the Nameless Tower. According to Marin, it’s a relatively short route compared to the overall giant scale of that place. But it featured “high-quality climbing…on challenging terrain.”
The climbers at work. Photo: Austin Schmitz
They named the route “Dommage Pas De Fromage” (Pity, No Cheese). Marin said that every pitch felt hard as they are still acclimatizing.
He added that they want to dedicate the route to the late Line Van Den Berg.
Unexpected bad news
Late?? Yes, this very sad news came from the Swiss Alps today.
Yesterday, the bodies of three Dutch mountaineers were found at the foot of the Jegi Glacier. They had been missing since last Thursday when they were heading toward the Grosshorn in the Swiss Alps. They had likely died in an avalanche.
The investigation is ongoing. Initial reports said the victims were two men, aged 32 and 40, and a 30-year-old woman. The Dutch press announced today that the woman was the outstanding climber Line Van Den Berg.
Line Van Den Berg and Fay Manners made the first female ascent of the difficult “Phantom Direct” route in the Grandes Jorasses in Jan. 2022. They completed that amazing feat in 31 hours, in a single push.
Now, apart from their illness, Manners and the team are coping with the loss of a partner and friend.
Line Van Den Berg. Photo: Line Van Den Berg
