Alexandr Moroz and Mark Ablovacky wanted to climb Ama Dablam while avoiding the normal route, at least on the way up. They decided to follow the most logical line on the West Face, which turned out to be one of the rare repetitions of the American Direct route.
Climbers are rarely lonely on Ama Dablam during the fall climbing season. Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism has granted 158 permits so far. Until now, all summiters have used the normal route, which is fixed along its entire length. The mountain will be open throughout fall and likely in winter too. But the story changes completely near the Southwest Ridge.
The lonely side
After acclimatizing on Mera Peak, Moroz and Ablovacky went to Ama Dablam, looking for a suitable line.
“We chose the West Face because it is visible from the normal-route Base Camp,” Ablovacky told ExplorersWeb. “That allowed us to check conditions and count on some nearby support in case of trouble.”
From a lodge near Base Camp, they checked the face, looking for the most obvious safe line that did not intersect with the normal route.
The quiet west side of Ama Dablam. Photo: Ablovacky/Moroz
“When the time came to climb, we walked under the peak until we stopped below the West Face and set our Advanced Base Camp at 5,500m,” Ablovacky said.
The climbers climbed alpine style in a single three-day push to the summit. No fixed ropes, no tracks. They used the normal route for the descent.
The route climbed in fall 2024 (in blue) and the descent (in red) down the normal route. Photo: Ablovacky/Moroz
The climb
The pair faced some difficult conditions, as a thin layer of ice covered the rock sections.
“Even when the climbing was simple (up to UIAA V), the terrain was quite sketchy,” the climbers said. We tried to progress on snow as much as we could.”
Mark Ablovacky during the climb. Photo: Alexandr Moroz
“The first day and the following morning were okayish, with climbing difficulties ranging up to WI4,” Ablovacky said. “But around midday on the second day, the weather changed drastically.”
Constant spindrift poured on their heads. Once, the powdery snow became a proper avalanche.
“Luckily, we were firmly holding with crampons and ice axes on good snow, and managed to handle the snow falling on us,” Moroz recalled. “[But] we had to crawl under the snow and find a place to shelter…We were lucky to find a crack at 6,480m, where we cut out a platform for the tent.”
The change of conditions forced the climbers to do a sharp turn to the right, under the Dablam (the characteristic hanging serac on the upper third of the face). Their route ran under constant sluffs of snow.
Looking down from the West Face of Ama Dablam. Photo: Mark Ablovacky
“The third day, October 22, when we pushed for the summit, included two added challenges,” they said. “We had to traverse to the left under the Dablam on quite thin ice. When we finally reached the upper ramps, they were overloaded with heavy, deep snow. We had to crawl on a 70-80˚ slope, sinking in 40-50cm of fresh snow.”
Loads of snow on the final ramps before the summit. Photo: Mark Ablovacky
At 3:30 pm, the climbers finally reached the summit. They started down the normal route but eventually deviated from the fixed ropes and returned to the tiny ice cave where they had spent the previous night. There, they bivouacked again.
Different conditions
Back in Base Camp, the climbers knew they had followed the American Direct line. However, they were surprised at how much the conditions differed from what the last team to repeat that route had experienced. That was Zdenek Hak and Jakub Kacha of the Czech Republic in 2021.
“We were surprised at their bivy spots,” Ablovacky said. “For us, it would have been impossible to stop there. And the American pioneers climbed it in winter, so conditions were even more different [for them].”
Alexandr Moroz on the summit, October 22. Photo: Mark Ablovacky
Glen Dunmire and Chris Warner opened the American Direct line in 1990. Warner confirmed to ExplorersWeb that their route was almost identical to the one he had followed.
“We took a slightly more direct line under the Dablam,” Warner explained. “After bivying in the crevasse at the top of the Dablam, we finished via the normal route. Also, we slept on top of the orange rock (lower down). Whereas the recent climbers turned left on snowy terrain, we tackled that rock buttress directly. I recall that Glen actually belayed me from the tent on that first buttress pitch.”
Otherwise, Warner was happy and proud to see his route repeated. “I feel honored, it’s so great that some badasses are climbing Ama in great style!” he said.
