In addition to the ongoing pushes on Kangchenjunga and Annapurna, the rope-fixing team on Makalu also intends to summit in the next day or two.
The Sherpa rope fixers with Seven Summit Treks are currently at Camp 2 but plan to reach Camp 4 tomorrow. Then they will top out on April 27-28, according to a company spokesperson.
Seven Summit Treks has a big team on Makalu this year: 20 foreign climbers and 17 Sherpa guides. Unfortunately for those following the 8,000m season, almost no one is posting on social media (a new trend?).
Fortunately, Yuri Contreras and Laura Gonzalez of Mexico are exceptions. They report that they reached Base Camp on Monday and Camp 1 today. It is unlikely that this newly arrived pair will be ready for this summit window. We don’t know, however, how acclimatized the rest of the team is.
Yuri Contreras and Laura Gonzalez, surrounded by Ecuadorians Karl Egloff, left, and Nico Miranda right. Photo: Yuri Contreras and Laura Gonzalez
The Alpenglow team, with leader Adrian Ballinger (on skis) and Ecuadorians Carla Perez, Karl Egloff, and Nico Miranda are also progressing but not quite ready for their no-O2 bids. Ballinger skied down from 7,000m yesterday.
“The snow conditions were better than they were on the way from C1 to ABC…still not good, not but quite as bad,” he wrote.
Egloff and Miranda have already set off today for Camp 2 at 6,600m, where they will spend two nights. If possible, they will then continue up to 7,500m, Eglof wrote.
Updates on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga
On Kangchenjunga, the rope-fixing team led by Mingma G is about to head for the summit, despite some snow flurries. Horia Colibasanu confirmed that he met Mingma G’s group at Camp 3 and helped them fix some ropes. The Romanian and partners Peter Hamor and Marius Gane then returned to BC in bad weather to recover before their no-O2 summit bid during the next weather window. On Annapurna, the rope-fixing Sherpa team is in Camp 4, while a number of clients are not far behind, in C3 or lower C4.
