Deep snow is forcing Alex Txikon’s group to struggle for every inch. Fixing the route as they go, they have camped for the night at 6,750m. Simone Moro, meanwhile, ponders his options in Base Camp.
Txikon wants to make the best out of the good conditions expected tomorrow. He plans on setting Camp 4 at 7,000m and fixing the route to 7,400m. Then the climbers will rest and head off at 10 pm local time toward the summit.
Unfortunately, less-than-ideal weather is on tap for Monday. Winds of 50kph should sweep the summit in the early morning, then decrease, but more snow could come in the evening. That is acceptable for Txikon. “We are fine so far,” he told Base Camp, adding that if it doesn’t get any worse than predicted, “we could have a couple of days to continue working.”
About the Author
Angela Benavides
Senior journalist, published author and communication consultant. Specialized on high-altitude mountaineering, with an interest for everything around the mountains: from economics to geopolitics. After five years exploring distant professional ranges, I returned to ExWeb BC in 2018. Feeling right at home since then!
Simone went down on Friday for crampons. Did he go back up or just stayed in BC? This is starting to sound like a comedy hour: one guy from the team heroically struggles for every inch in the icy gale while the other guy gives away his equipment and goes back down to the dining tent to ponder his options while his partner fights for survival…Cool selfies though! I guess while the Sherpas are working hard, Simone rests and ponders. I thought that they were “all in it together”. Sounds like the nameless Sherpas are doing the heavy lifting (no… Read more »
Almost like a Hollywood movie.
Vertical Limit 🙂
It’s unlikely their remains will even be found, my guess is they were swept away by avalanche
What are you talking about?
I think he is talking about Sadpara and his missing party on K2