At Manaslu Base Camp, the climbers are getting some rest and hoping to have a new summit chance before it snows too much. “We would have needed just one more day,” said Alex Txikon. The Spaniard did not add any details but he did mention that the five-men team “suffered from cold, hunger, and fear” to get that far.
“Before planning any further, we must see how much snow falls,” said a cautious Simone Moro. On the recent summit push, Moro lent his crampons to Iñaki Alvarez and returned to Base Camp for a spare pair, intending to head back up. However, the Italian climber changed his mind after receiving a new forecast from Karl Gabl, who predicted worsening weather throughout the weekend. “Gabl was not wrong,” said Moro, who filmed the heavy snow blanketing Base Camp yesterday.
Laila Peak
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the Polish team on Laila Peak are in Camp 1. Tomorrow, they will scout the area above 5,000m, then return to Base Camp. The four-man team includes the first winter summiter of Gasherbrum I, Janusz Golab.
Alex Txikon and Jose M. Fernandez first climbed Laila Peak in winter in 2013. While their climb is widely accepted (including by Polish climbers), some quarters have discussed whether it was a true summit, since Txikon and Fernandez admitted that they stopped about 10m shy of the highest point after climbing the upper section in very deep snow. At the point where their GPS indicated 6,100m (Laila is officially 6,096m), the climbers feared that they might be about to step on the summit cornice, which could collapse under their weight. After shooting some photographs, they swiftly retreated.
