It’s like a teen horror movie from the ’90s, where the guy with glasses enters the abandoned house and opens the door leading up to the dark attic.
Trouble ahead.
After their failed summit push two days ago, all the climbers have returned to Base Camp or are almost there — except for Ignacio “Nacho” Lucero of Argentina. He was the last to reach Base Camp this season and seems determined to have his go, conditions be damned. Minutes ago, he messaged Akhbar Syed, who is managing his Base Camp logistics. “I am ready to go for the summit,” Lucero said.
High avalanche risk stopped climbers two days ago at 7,500m on Broad Peak. Photo: Israfil Ashurli
Serious avalanche risk
The participants on the July 26 summit push stopped at 7,500m because of high avalanche risk. Fotis Theocharis reported that their hearts skipped a beat when unstable snow settled beneath their feet with an ominous boom. He even saw the crack signaling that a snow slab was about to let go.
Vitaly Lazo and Anton Pugovkin, both expert skiers, dug a pit and found a large section of unstable snow under the hardened slab. It made them retreat on the spot and descend carefully, taking all possible precautions.
Vitaly Lazo and Anton Pugovkin test the snow at 7,500m on Broad Peak. Photo: Fotis Theocharis
Israfil Ashurli of Azerbaijan and Saulius Damulevicious of Lithuania, who remained in Camp 3 last night, were not about to try again “unless conditions change dramatically, and there is very little chance [of that],” Damulevicious told ExplorersWeb.
Yesterday, they thought that Lucero would go down with them. However, the Argentinean decided to stay. “He is alone in Camp 3 and told us that he will return on July 30,” Damulevicius said from Base Camp, which they reached earlier today.
An added problem for Lucero: Buried ropes in hardened, slabby snow two days ago. Photo: Fotis Theocharis
As for Lucero’s decision to start a lonely summit push, the Lithuanian climber considers it “very risky”. He adds: “We also do not know the route’s condition above that [dangerous section at 7,500m], especially the big crevasse area and the traverse toward the col.”
Ignacio Lucero and Oro. Photo: Roberto Ramasso
Ignacio Lucero summited Gasherbrum II in 2019, but he is best-known for the heart attack he suffered on Manaslu in 2011. He was rescued and taken to hospital, where his condition worsened after a stroke.
During his long recovery, he counted on the friendship of his dog Oro, meaning gold. Oro eventually became quite the character on Instagram, since he went virtually everywhere with his owner. Unfortunately, Oro died last year.
RIP Oro.
Humongous set of balls on this guy I hope he has success and most importantly safe summit
Agreed: Most importantly, a safe descent!
Llega seguro,acá lo estoy esperando para la llegada de nuestro bebé, gracias por las palabras
Es mĂ gran hombre,vuelve seguro lo estoy esperando con el nacimiento de su hijo, gracias x la buena onda
Anyone has any news on Selena Khawaja?
Y ala vuelta lo esperamos para que nazca nuestro hijo!!! Salvador
Where is lucerno at this moment? Bad weather is coming in start with wind and snow high / rain at BC tonight.
I had to check this morning too to see if there are any updates. I’ve never heard of this man but it sounded like a one way trip.
That was also what I was thinking, hopefully he is (on his way) down.
I am also eagerly waiting to see how its going as its more dangerous currently than the K2 updates i read here
Is anyone going to rescue this guy?
Angela just wrote in another article that Lucero decided against a summit attempt and is descending. So no need to call for a rescue but geez these people are scary.
What a heart-warming story, please find out where this guy is and start a search and rescue mission if he is still up there. https://cumbresmountainmagazine.com/oro-pura-nobleza-de-los-andes/amp/