After 13 precarious days on 7,710m Mount Jannu, Sergey Nilov and Dimitry Golovchenko have decided to head down, just 400m from the summit.
The short window of good weather is expected to close tomorrow, with more snow and high winds in the forecast. With their food and fuel likely depleted, a summit bid came with great risk.
Yesterday, the pair climbed to 7,300m to access the southern shoulder, just below the final summit block. Today, they began their complex descent. Currently, there’s no news about how the first part of their downclimb went.
The Russians will follow the south ridge toward the southwesterly side of the mountain, following the route of the 1962 first ascent, which takes in the Jeunes and the Yamatari Glaciers. A member of their support team will meet them on the Yamatari Glacier. Together, they will then head down the Gunza Valley to the village of Ghunsa, at 3475m.
The proposed descent route, shown in orange. Photo: www.mountain.ru
Sergey Nilov and a well-bearded Dmitry Golovchenko in Kathmandu. Photo: mountain.ru
