Climbers on Nanga Parbat reached Camp 3 today, despite tough conditions from the lack of snow. Still, that was the easy part. Now they need to decide whether to face uncertain forecasts and an extremely long summit day in order to follow the Sherpa rope fixers, or to wait another day.
The winds are strong, but they are not cold. Several climbers have commented on how warm it is at altitude.
Windy Camp 3
Horia Colibasanu is still in Camp 3. He was planning to move his camp higher today, but changed his mind and stayed at 6,650m for a second night.
“The wind is starting to blow…It would be too risky to head up at night, without oxygen, in these conditions,” he said.
Instead, he will set off at 8 am, carrying his tent and supplies. He still intends to set up a fourth camp.
Allie Pepper and Mikel Sherpa are also in Camp 3, with the Australian climber admittedly exhausted after climbing long sections on rock and bare ice, front-pointing on her crampons. “[That] destroyed my feet and legs,” she said. “There were falling rocks too, which was terrifying.”
Allie Pepper’s tracker shows that she moved from Camp 2 to Camp 3 on Nanga Parbat today.
Pepper and Mikel Sherpa have their Camp 3 tent at 6,800m, a little higher than Colibasanu. Still, it is a long way to the top, so they, too, plan to move to Camp 4. However, not everyone is following the same strategy.
Rope fixers, others go tonight
As we have mentioned recently, outfitters are providing little or no information about progress on the mountain. We don’t know, for example, if the ropes are fixed beyond Camp 3 or if there are tents at the altitude of Camp 4. Most climbers are communicating with home via their InReach devices, but not every home team shares that news on social media. However, Pepper’s does, and she has reported that a group of climbers is leaving tonight and will go all the way to the summit behind the rope fixers.
These climbers are relying on supplemental oxygen and the strength of their guides to endure the long hours ahead. The summit is nearly 1,300 vertical meters above and also a long way horizontally.
Yet, the hardest part will be the descent. The tired summit climbers will probably need to rest and rehydrate at Camp 4, if tents and supplies are properly in place.
Dorota Razinska-Samocko of Poland is also in Camp 3 and confirms the difficult conditions getting there and pitching a tent.
“It took us [two hours] to make the platform,” she texted. She and the group she is with intend to go for the summit tonight.
