What was meant to be a celebratory day of summit news has developed into a tense situation on Annapurna. One climber is missing after falling into a crevasse, and several others are struggling with extreme cold in the higher camps.
The helicopter meant to search for Anurag Maloo of India between Camp 3 and Camp 2 couldn’t take off in the bad weather. Three Sherpas on foot carefully examined the area where he disappeared but couldn’t locate him, Online Khabar reported. But that’s not all.
Word among climbers is that Maloo slipped and fell because an anchor gave way and the fixed rope to which he was clipped came loose. There are no details about the present state of the route. Many climbers are spending the night in Camps 3 and 4, between 6,500 and 6,800m.
Route repair needed
Naila Kiani, Shehroze Kashif, and other members of Seven Summit Treks summited today in extremely cold conditions. Now back in Camp 4, exhausted after a 24-hour summit day, they heard the news of Maloo’s accident. Tomorrow, they will need to climb back down through the same maze of seracs and crevasses. Oswald Pereira and Bartek Ziemski of Poland are also in Camp 4.
Jonathan Lamy and his Sherpa guide ChongBi have managed to lose some altitude and are now in Camp 3, at around 6,500m. This will be their second night at altitude since they summited on Sunday. Lamy wrote on his InReach that he has some frostbite in both feet.
“I have managed to get some food and drink…but I MUST go down tomorrow,” he wrote.
If there are delays or if Lamy’s condition worsens, an alternative would be a helicopter rescue at Camp 3. Such a long-line evacuation took place in 2021. Gesman Tamang led the rescue from Camp 4 for three stranded Russian climbers. Check a video here.
Multimodel weather forecast for Annapurna at summit altitude this week, by MeteoExploration.
This time, however, the weather is not expected to cooperate. Winds will increase through the week, and snow should begin falling again.
We will report on further news as it happens.
