After two team members summited on October 5, a second group from the Russian Dhaulagiri Expedition has gone quiet while pushing for the summit.
Expedition outfitter Pemba Jangbu Sherpa told The Himalayan Times that team leader Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko, and Dmitrii Shpilevoi have been out of contact since yesterday.
What we know
The team set off from Base Camp on September 30 toward Camp 1, ready to assess conditions after a major snowstorm that had lasted several days. In typical Russian expedition style, the climbers divided into smaller teams and took turns to pitch tents, fix ropes, and break trail through deep the snow. Finally, they launched their summit push on October 4.
One of the Russian team on Dhaulagiri last week. Photo: Russian Dhaulagiri Expedition
On October 5, the team reported that Denis Aleksenko and Artem Tsenzevintsky reached the summit just before 4 pm Nepal time. The team noted that the climbers had not fixed ropes on the upper sections, and the ridge was delicate.
More team members were in their high camp (Camp 4, at 7,400m), preparing to leave for their summit push. That was the last time they reported in.
The summit day
Summiter Aleksenko carried a live tracker that shows he is back in Base Camp today.
According to the device, Aleksenko reached the summit on Saturday, Oct. 5, and then descended to 7,400m. (Note that the tracker’s map shows him some distance from the summit point, but the altitude reading was higher than Dhaulagiri’s summit. Trackers can show some inaccuracies at altitude, and the maps are often misleading).
Aleksenko’s tracker shows his maximum altitude on Dhaulagiri on Oct. 5.
On Oct. 6, Aleksenko continued to Camp 1 on the Dhaulagiri col. He reached Base Camp the next day.
Aleksenko’s tracker today.
Second group missing
A six-man team planned to summit while Aleksenko and Tsenzevintsky descended. This team included expedition leader Alexander Dusheyko.
They last contacted Base Camp yesterday, October 6, at 11 am local time. According to outfitter Pemba Jangbu, climber Valerii Shamalo left the summit team at some point during the push and returned to high camp at 7,400m.
“The other five climbers have not returned to Camp 4, and their radios are inactive,” Pemba Jangbu said.
There are no other expeditions on Dhaulagiri. The Russians are alone and climb without sherpa support or supplementary oxygen.
