A new push begins tonight on Dhaulagiri, despite loads of fresh snow that could pose a danger on the higher sections.
Vitaly Lazo and Anton Pugovkin of Russia will attempt to summit and ski down the mountain tomorrow, while David Klein and Marci Nagy are scheduled to leave Base Camp in a few hours, five days after Nagy was reportedly flown to the hospital with a kidney stone.
Similar conditions, with half a meter of fresh snow, might prove too big a challenge for the only two climbers on Makalu, who are now pondering their options.
From excellent conditions…
The long weather window last week facilitated a significant number of summits on Dhaulagiri. After the rope-fixing team opened the route to the top on September 26, groups of climbers followed on September 20, 29, and 30.
Yet, two pairs of climbers using no supplementary oxygen and no personal Sherpas were not fully acclimatized at the time. Skiers Vitali Lazo and Anton Pugovkin were in Camp 2. David Klein and Marci Nagy of Hungary were also in preparation mode on October 3 when Nagy fell ill and required immediate evacuation. Klein accompanied him to the hospital in Kathmandu, acting as interpreter.
Meanwhile, the Russians launched their summit attempt, but they were warned of the approaching storm just in time. They turned around at 7,900m and quickly descended.
… to snow overload
On October 4, the weather changed, and an intense storm developed over a large part of Nepal, and high winds and heavy snowfall hit the peaks. The sun returned to the mountain by October 6, although winds have continued to blow hard at altitude. Forecasts predict the winds should decrease by the weekend, giving way to another beautiful window next week.
But what will the conditions on the mountain be like, especially the avalanche risk? Even at the best of times, Dhaulagiri can be avalanche-prone.
Weather forecasts for Dhaulagiri at summit altitude for the next several days, by Meteoexploration.com
When describing the Dhaulagiri route for ExplorersWeb’s Climber’s Guide, 14×8,000m summiter Ralf Dujmovits singled out the avalanche hazard, especially above Camp 2 and on the traverse between Camp 3 and the summit ridge. Last year, five Russian climbers died in an avalanche at around 7,100m during their summit push.
Current conditions will need careful assessment. The high winds may sweep away a lot of loose snow, but they may also create big wind slabs prone to sliding as climbers step on them.
Summit push tonight
One of the Russian skiers progresses on Dhaulagiri yesterday.
Lazo and Pugovkin seem to consider the conditions safe enough, as they started their summit push yesterday. They are carrying their gear, supplies, skis, and a tent.
After a night in Camp 2, they continued up today and have pitched their tent at 7,300m. From here, they will launch their summit push, starting tonight at 8 pm Nepal time.
“The place for the camp at 7,300m is uncomfortable, a steep slope of under 40 degrees,” Lazo reported today. “We had to dig out one-and-a-half meters of snow. Below us are the Sherpas’ tents. You can’t just dump the snow downwards, you’d bury them, so we had to throw it far out to the side.”
In their earlier partial ascent to 6,200m, the Russians had left the normal route and climbed a couloir that they realized was quite avalanche-prone but doable in last week’s conditions. It is not known which line the climbers followed on the current push, or which they will choose for the ski descent.
From the hospital to 8,000m
“After a scary medical evacuation due to a kidney stone — a renal colic — and a short hospital stay and rest, Marci Nagy decided to return to the mountain with David Klein to attempt the summit,” Laszlo Pinter reported on Hohatar.
He quoted Klein as admitting they are “not in the best of shape” and their acclimatization was “roughly the minimum to climb the mountain.” Moreover, if the reported diagnosis of a kidney stone is correct, Nagy would hardly be ready to venture up an 8,000m peak. Yet, they have decided to try nevertheless, leaving Base Camp tomorrow or Friday and summiting on October 12-13.
In addition to the Russian and Hungarian pairs, a small group of guided climbers are planning to edge their way from camp to camp and summit early next week.
Meanwhile on Makalu
Denis Aleksenko and Artem Tsentsevitsky are the only two climbers on Makalu this fall, and the recent blizzard has created scary conditions, as seen in the video below:
“We set up a camp at 6,600m and immediately headed down, making it back before dark, totally exhausted,” they reported. “Next, we will monitor the weather and make a decision.”
