Punctual climbers on Everest and Manaslu have started working from the very first day of winter.
Yesterday, Jost Kobusch set up a minimalistic Advanced Base Camp, as planned. Consisting of barely a tent, it sits on the upper part of the Khumbu Glacier, near the icefall leading to the Lho La. Today, he started up toward the col. His tracker recorded that he reached 5,670m.
Jost Kobusch’s position on December 22, on the way to the Lho La. The white tent in the green circle marks his last year’s C1. He has set a small ABC at the lower position marked by a blue-green dot. Graph: Reality Maps
In an interview with ExplorersWeb before leaving, Kobusch said that he would fix rope on some technical passages up the Lho La icefall, in case he had to descend in bad weather or in the dark, as he did last winter.
He only has two ropes totaling some 130m. On this second stage of his multi-year project, Kobusch is not aiming for the summit but for the Hornbein Couloir.
Kobusch will be completely alone on Everest, since the cook he hired will remain in the lodge at Lobuche, where the German climber has set up his headquarters. He will descend here intermittently to shelter from bad weather and recover between trips up.
Alex Txikon in Manaslu Base Camp, still under construction. Photo: Alex Txikon
Manaslu: early stages
On Manaslu, Alex Txikon estimated that it will take them a couple of days to sorting out gear and setting up Base Camp. Oswald Rodrigo Pereira also checked in from BC, and Txikon mentioned that Chhepal Sherpa is there too. It isn’t clear how the teams are organized, since each of them is trying to appear independent. However, they are all listed under a single climbing permit issued by Seven Summit Treks, and it is likely that everyone on the mountain will collaborate in order to have a summit chance.
In the past, Chhepal Sherpa has accompanied Alex Txikon on winter expeditions to K2, Everest, and Manaslu. Photo: Chhepal Sherpa
