Recent attention has focused on Manaslu, where a group of climbers set out from Base Camp for Camp 2 but turned back because of deep snow just above Camp 1.
But Nanga Parbat also had action. Here, Herve Barmasse had what he called “the hardest night of his life” at 6,200m, when he and David Gottler pitched their tent on Thursday in rapidly worsening weather.
“I learnt the real meaning of cold,” Barmasse told la Gazzetta dello Sport. He described -28ºC and a 50kph wind. Luckily, the pair managed to return to Base Camp on Friday, after three nights at altitude.
This was the climbers’ second acclimatization round up Nanga’s Rupal Face.
Also in Pakistan, Grace Tseng and Dolma’s Nepali team landed in Skardu yesterday and start the approach trek to K2‘s Base Camp shortly.
Grace Tseng’s Winter K2 expedition in Skardu. Photo: Alpine Adventure Guides Pakistan
Cho Oyu from Nepal
Meanwhile, the Nepali team under Gelje Sherpa, which will attempt a new route on Cho Oyu, continue their preparations in Kathmandu. Earlier this week, they had a first glimpse of the mountain from the air. “The temperature was less than -20˚C up there and the wind was pretty high,” Gelje Sherpa wrote on Instagram. “But the helicopter managed us to get close to the mountain so we could able to capture some good images and pick a Base Camp location.”
One of his teammates, Lakpa Dendi, shared some pictures from the reconnaissance flight. They give a sense of the huge task awaiting the Nepali team: frigid, white, steep, unforgiving.
Cho Oyu’s South Face on a sunny but windy day. Photo: Lakpa Dendi
Finally, on Everest, Jost Kobusch is playing the patience game. The weather is currently good, but the window is not as long as he needs. So the solo climber calmly waits for a longer spell of good weather to try and reach the base of the Hornbein Couloir at 8,000m.
