As COVID numbers in Dhaulagiri Base Camp rise sharply, climbers view the outbreak differently. Purnima Shrestha, currently in Camp 2, considers the situation down in Base Camp “nothing serious”.
“We all had RDT tests and are feeling good so far,” she wrote.
Antonios Sykaris, also in C2, speaks of many evacuations from COVID. Others, he said, “became frustrated or feared to get sick as well and gave it up.” He estimates that 25 climbers, including Sherpas and foreigners, have joined the summit push.
Meanwhile, 82-year-old Carlos Soria has set aside climbing for the time being to focus on helping with the emergency. “The situation in Base Camp is crazy!” Soria told ExplorersWeb by phone today. “Right now, we have 19 new sick people.”
Today, 90 more testing kits arrived at Base Camp. They have already used 30 and found 12 new positives.
The helicopters that brought the kits have evacuated five sick climbers, likely including Sophie Lavaud, Ang Kami and Dawa Sangay.
Carlos Soria at Dhaulagiri Base Camp today. Photo: Luis M. López
No word yet from Mena and Pérez
Soria also shared some concern for Topo Mena and Carla Pérez. The Ecuadorians reached Camp 3 yesterday, climbing alpine style, with no ropes and in one go from Base Camp. They have not checked in with Base Camp since yesterday. According to their plan, they should have reached the summit or turned around today. “Tommy Joyce stopped in Camp 2, and I guess he is still there,” Soria said.
If the pair are descending, they will eventually meet a large number of climbers (mainly from Seven Summit Treks and Pioneer Expeditions) along the normal route. These groups have reached Camp 2. Tomorrow they will spend a second night there, while Sherpas open the route to Camp 3. They will try to reach the summit on May 11.
In addition to Shrestha and Sykaris, others in Camp 2 include Moeses Fiamoncinni, Stefi Troguet, Dominic Trastoy, Waldemar Kowalewski, Vibeke Andrea Sefland, and Viridiana Alvarez. Jonatan García, originally teaming up with Troguet, is in Base Camp.
News is also expected soon from the Slovak-Romanian team on the NW Ridge. Peter Hamor, Horia Colibasanu, and Marius Gane left yesterday for Camp 1 and hoped to move up to Camps 2 and 3. They will then check the exposed sections on the summit ridge. If the route is possible, they will go for the summit.
