“It’s over – the mountain is impossible to deal with,” reported Carlos Soria from Dhaulagiri BC yesterday.
“The Polish team is leaving today; Kari Kobler’s will follow tomorrow,” he added. “A Japanese climber and three Sherpas are retreating too.”
The news hardly comes as a surprise, as conditions reported had not improved since a seven-member Sherpa team was caught in an avalanche on September 19. Dawa Geljen Sherpa perished in the accident.
“Three other climbers are remaining here though, and they’ll be soon joined by two more currently on their way from Manaslu,” Soria noted. “They want to try, it’s their call but, as for us, we are 100% on our decision – and so are the Sherpas. They all want to go down, although some of them may be forced to keep climbing [by teams still wanting to give the summit a try]. They are scared: an avalanche caught seven of them some days ago, and conditions are now even worse.”
“It is true, my knee is not the best at the moment but that is not the reason why I am leaving; I am heading back due to bad conditions on the mountain and out of respect for my Sherpa team.”
“It’s been my ninth attempt, I know it too well. But I am delighted to have made the right decision. I am happy and looking forward to returning next spring (hopefully with some sponsorship). One day we will reach that summit up there!”
Photo: YoSuboConCarlosSoria
