Gelje Sherpa’s support team in Kathmandu confirms that the team has set off toward the summit of Cho Oyu around midnight, Nepal time. At last word, at 6 am Nepal time, Lakpa Dendi’s tracking device located him at almost 7,400m.
We will update as we receive further news.
Earlier today, Lakpa Dendi’s tracking device placed him at 7,100m. Gelje Sherpa’s tracker was once again not updating properly, although its highest point registered shows 23,200 feet (7,075m), similar to Lakpa Dendi’s.
They remain 500m below the col between Cho Oyu’s East Ridge — supposedly, their route to the summit — and Tenzing Peak. They have a long way to go in a strong wind to reach the summit.
Gelje Sherpa’s tracker shows him at 23,200ft (7,075m) earlier in the evening of February 20.
A wider view of Gelje’s track today shows that he and his team have a long way remaining to the summit of Cho Oyu.
With this latest news of a summit push, Gelje’s team seems to be following their original plan. They need to summit tomorrow, during a short pause in the wind: One forecast from Kathmandu suggests that the winds will drop to 15kph to 25kph until midday on February 21. However, multimedia models show extremely high summit winds every day, with no lessening.
Forecast for Cho Oyu, by Meteoexploration.com
Pioneer Adventure’s partner, Ngaa Tenji Sherpa, said that the Pioneer team proceeded toward Camp 2 yesterday. They were to try for Camp 3 today. He also shared a new route map, which reinforces the idea that they are following the mountain’s long SSW Ridge, which has never been climbed before.
Pioneer Adventure’s route up the SSW ridge on Cho Oyu. Photo shared by Ngaa Tenji Sherpa
Jost Kobusch: It’s really windy
Very strong winds are also buffeting Everest, just 20km east of Cho Oyu. “The clear sky is misleading,” Jost Kobusch warned. “It remains brutally windy.” The German soloist continues to wait for a chance to climb again.
Jost Kobusch on a clear, windy night. Photo: @terragraphy
“The weather forecast promises that the jet stream will hit the mountains more irregularly over the next few days, so there might be a small window to climb, after all. This is something I have to keep an eye on…[But] in the end, the goal is not to reach the summit, but to survive.”
K2 team to the end of the ropes
On K2, the team climbed all the way from Base Camp to Camp 2 yesterday. Today’s goal was Camp 3, although that will require hard work since the route is not fully fixed.
Mingma Gyalzen and Grace Tseng at K2’s Base Camp just before leaving. Photo: Summit Karkaoram
“The weather reports are not fully favorable until [February] 22..so either February 23 or 24 could be summit day,” outfitter Summit Karakoram reported.
Forecast for the summit of K2 by multimodel Meteoexploration.com
