Teams hurried today to the summits of Dhaulagiri and Cho Oyu to seize the last hours of a remarkable weather window that is closing as we write these lines.
Since last weekend, summit news has come daily from Dhaulagiri — a significant feat for the usually tricky mountain. Most commercial climbers are done, but some independent climbers remain: skiers Vitaly Lazo and Anton Pugovkin of Russia have rotated to Camp 2 and are currently back in Base Camp. Hungarian climber Narcy Nagi was evacuated from the mountain due to severe stomach pain, and his climbing partner, David Klein, accompanied him to act as a translator. Klein might return once Nagi has been treated and is recovering.
Piotr Krzyzowski of Poland summited this morning after a fast ascent. Dhaulagiri I marked his 10th 8,000m peak without bottled oxygen or personal Sherpa support. He has just reported a difficult descent back to Camp 2 in whiteout conditions. As the weather forecasts confirm, it’s the end of the long weather window.
Forecast for Dhaulagiri’s summit, by Meteoexploration.com
Cho Oyu
A first group of climbers summited Cho Oyu yesterday from the peak’s normal route in Tibet. Among them was the Furtenbach Adventures team, with leader Dave Watson waving a flag on the summit honoring the late rock singer Ozzy Osbourne. Mingma Tenzi Sherpa also summited, thereby completing his 14×8,0000’ers quest. It is not clear whether Tenzi, a Winter K2 summiter and a partner at Elite Exped, was guiding at the time. On previous expeditions, he has led Princess Asma Al Thani of Qatar.
The Adventure Consultants team is at Camp 1, and Madison Mountaineering’s group has just returned from that first camp.
