Although commercial teams abandoned the 8,000’ers this week, fall mountaineering in the Himalaya is far from over. In fact, the best expeditions continue. It’s just that we hear very little about them.
Alpine-style teams rarely communicate except briefly with friends and family. It is only after they return — and not always then — that they share the story of their climbs. Yet it’s worth keeping an eye on the following eight teams, waiting for the moment that they decide to speak.
Manaslu West Face
After some days of acclimatizing amid the Manaslu crowds, Helias Millerioux, Charles Dubouloz, and Symon Welfringer are back on the other side of the mountain. After reaching Camp 3 on the normal route, they are now fully acclimatized and ready to try the highly difficult West Face, in a single alpine-style push.
Jannu
On Jannu, a U.S. team is attempting the NW Face, and a Spanish team will try the East Face of Jannu East (7,450m). Both reached Base Camp three weeks ago and have not shared news since then.
Langtang received Topo Mena wrapped in clouds. Photo: Topo Mena/Instagram
Topo Mena is in the Langtang region with fellow Ecuadorians Roberto Morales and Joshua Jarrin. They have not revealed their plans beyond that they are heading for “a place where very little is known, other than a few tales of epics.”
Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langestein with Climbalaya staff in Kathmandu, before heading for Dhaulagiri II.
Dhaulagiri II
Boris Langenstein and Tiphaine Duperier of France are currently on Dhaulagiri II, hoping to climb and then ski down from the summit. They are outfitted by Climbalaya Treks & Expeditions.
Phungi
Taichi Kagami, Goto Kisuke, and Masaki Adach of Japan are attempting the first ascent of Phungi (6,524m), a peak located southeast of Manaslu, the Alpymon blog reports.
The Japanese pick up their climbing permit for Phungi. Photo: Goto Kisuke
Garhwal Himalaya
In India’s Garhwal Himalaya, the Polish team has split in two and set up their Base Camps in the neighboring valleys of Gangotri and Kedar.
Wadim Jablonski, Jakub Radziejowski, and Ondrej Huserka will start from Kedar Lake (4,700m) and climb 1,600 vertical metres in two days.
Adam Bielecki in the town of Gangotri, before the approach trek. Photo: Polish Mountaineering Association
Meanwhile, Adam Bielecki, Damian Granowski, Kacper Kloda, Mateusz Grobel and Mateusz Wieckowski camped on the Gangotri Glacier, surrounded by 6,000m peaks and completely isolated. As the Polish home team explained, cell phones and satphones are both banned in the area.
Not surprisingly, given these restrictions, we’ve heard nothing from the Huber brothers either. Alex and Thomas Huber set off toward Garhwal at the beginning of September.
