A 14-man Russian team is currently climbing Annapurna IV (7,525m). According to Elena Laletina from Russianclimb, they are on the east face. There are no further details about their route.
After the puja ceremony on October 22, the team divided into two groups and began work the following day. Both teams reached Camp 1 at 4,800m, and Group 1 spent the night there.
Annapurna IV (7,525m), Nepal. Photo: Dinesh Kazi
On October 24, Group 2 rested while the others climbed to Camp 2 at 5,470m. According to Afanasiev, huge quantities of snow cover the mountain. Above Camp 2, they had to dig a snow cave, then later returned to Camp 1.
At the moment they are progressing well, although some climbers need better acclimatization. “It is hot when it is sunny and very cold in the shade,” adds Afanasiev.
Annapurna IV, part of the Annapurna massif, is isolated from the other peaks in its group via a major col. Harald Biller, Heinz Steinmetz, and Juergen Wellenkamp of former West Germany made the first ascent of the peak on May 30, 1955. They did not use bottled oxygen.
Carrying supplies up the mountain. Photo: Oleg Afanasiev
Of the 98 total expeditions to Annapurna IV, only 32 have summited, including 27 parties by the northwest ridge. Others climbed the north face/east ridge route.
According to The Himalayan Database, 126 people have successfully made the summit. Of these, only seven used supplemental oxygen. Annapurna IV was last climbed on September 27, 2015.
Chumbu
A strong Czech team, led by Piolet d’Or winner Zdenek Hak, has just summited unclimbed Chumbu peak (6,859m). It lies in Nepal, just metres from the Tibetan border. Hak, Juraj Koren, Radoslav Groh, Jaroslav Bansky, and Petr Kejklicek reached 6,350m two days ago. Yesterday afternoon, they planned to bivouac a scant 80m below the summit.
“We’ll be down tomorrow,” messaged Hak from about 6,500m, after topping out. [Oct. 30 update: They safely reached Base Camp.]
The Himalayan Database registers only one attempt on Chumbu, by a South Korean team under Yoo Hak-Jae. No further details are available.
Pungi, Nepal. Photo: Kisuke Goto/Japanese Alpine Club
Pungi
Kisuke Goto and two other members of Japan’s Himalayan Camp team attempted Pungi (6,524m). Because of altitude sickness, they had to turn around at 6,150m. Goto mentioned a lot of snow on the mountain — not surprising, given the endless monsoon that has affected all the peaks in Nepal this autumn. He had planned the climb three years ago but had to delay it until now because of COVID restrictions. They plan to return to try again.
From left to right, Kisuke Goto, Taichi Kagami, and Masaki Adachi. Photo: Kisuke Goto
Although the spellings are similar, this peak is different from Phungi Himal (6,538m), where Russians Yuri Koshelenko and Aleksei Lonchinsky made the first ascent on October 28, 2017. The Pungi that the Japanese trio attempted remains unclimbed.
This autumn, many permits were issued for lesser-known 6,000m peaks, including Pungi, Sat Peak, Chandi Himal, Dogari Himal, Lachama North, Mansail South, Sharphu V, Sherson Peak 3, Jobo Rinjang, among others, according to the Department of Tourism.
