Unexpectedly strong winds have halted summit-bound teams in Camp 3 on Dhaulagiri. Hungarians Szilard Sujajda and David Klein, who are climbing without O2, and Nirmal Purja’s Elite Exped team are sitting tight for now.
Despite optimistic forecasts, the wind battered the upper slopes, arriving just after Purja’s team had set off from Camp 3. The Hungarian climbers were about to follow them up.
Klein reported 60-80 kph winds, with gusts reaching 100kph. The wind forced Purja and his crew to turn around. Once back at Camp 3, they struggld to keep the wind from ripping away their tents.
“The support team in Base Camp could barely hear the climbers, who had to yell into the radio in the middle of the roaring gale,” Laszlo Pinter reported on Hohatar.
A cloudy day on Dhaulagiri last week. Photo: Szilard Suhajda
There are no fresh reports from the Elite Exped team, including Adriana Brownlee, whose tracker has not updated since last night in Camp 3.
Conditions on Dhaulagiri
Last week, snow fell heavily on Dhaulagiri, but the wind had not been too strong. A sunny day on October 1 allowed over 30 climbers to reach the summit. Further summits followed on October 3. British climbing guide Jon Gupta and his client also tried to summit on October 3, but excess snow forced them back.
As far as we know, this summit push only involved the Elite Exped team and the Hungarian duo. However, there could be more climbers arriving in Base Camp soon. Some climbers may have rotated to Dhaulagiri after climbing Manaslu.
Update: New information suggests that the weather has improved today. Seven Summit Treks report that Pasang Nurbu left Base Camp at 11 am on October 6 and reached the top very quickly, in under 24 hours.
Seven Summit Treks’ CEO Chhang Dawa Sherpa also mentioned that 24-year-old Dawa Yangzum, a member of the Elite Exped team and the first Nepalese woman to become an IFMGA guide, has summited too.
However, conditions were too tough for the Hungarian climbers without supplementary O2. They have announced that they will retreat “with a sore heart”.
Dawa Yangzum.
