Valentyn Sypavil of Ukraine has posted details of his long summit day on Dhaulagiri. He followed Imagine Nepal’s rope-fixers until they ran out of rope at around 7,850m. For a while, they all just sat on the snow, not knowing what to do.
Then Christine Vogondy of Switzerland, on her third attempt on Dhaulagiri, stepped forward. “She called us weaklings and told us there was no turning back. Girls always know how to motivate!” Sypavin wrote.
Lakpa Wonjuk, Valentyn Sypavin, and Iryna Galay on the summit of Dhaulagiri: Photo: Ungdi Sherpa
According to Sypavin, Lakpa Ongjuk Sherpa (with Pioneer Adventure) took his ice axe and went on ahead up a couloir to the summit ridge and then to the top. Sypavin followed him. Then came Ukrainian Iryna Galay, supported by Nima Ungdi. As for Vogondy, Dhaulagiri became her 12th 8,000’er.
An underestimated peak
“Honestly, I underestimated this mountain — that was my mistake,” Iryna Galay told ExplorersWeb. “I thought it would be an easy climb, but Dhaulagiri turned out to be one of the hardest mountains of my life.”
Galay said she had never had such brutal weather as in Base Camp, with six days of heavy snowfall followed by another seven days of strong wind. This included about two days where the wind exceeded 160 kph. “I had never seen wind like that before,” she admitted.
As she sees it, the weather decides everything on this mountain, and they were lucky: The high winds blew off the excess snow, improving the conditions a lot.
Iryna Galay on the summit of Dhaulagiri. Photo: Iryna Galay/Instagram
Dhaulagiri is a tough mountain with avalanche-prone slopes and a sobering history of accidents and deaths. The tough route includes a long traverse and a tricky highest point, which summit teams often mislocate. It might have one of the lowest summit rates of the 14×8,000’ers. Few climbers succeed on their first try. Carlos Soria of Spain, for instance, has attempted it over a dozen times and never summited.
Nepali duel
That first group of climbers reached the top between noon and 1 pm. Nirmal Purja, his client Ksenia Shapovalova of Russia, and guide Lakpa Tenjen Sherpa summited at 3 pm. According to their photos, they fixed ropes to the top (there were no ropes in the first group’s photos). Purja climbed without oxygen and notes that Dhaulagiri marks his 50th 8,000m success.
Purja is trying to complete all 14 8,000’ers three times. After this Dhaulagiri climb, he now only has Gasherbrum II and Cho Oyu to go. His closest contender, Sanu Sherpa, also summited Dhaulagiri on April 18 and is likewise two peaks away — Cho Oyu and Shishapangma — from completing his third round.
Unsupported climbers remain
The big commercial teams will now move to another mountain, but Dhaulagiri is not totally deserted. Domi Trastoy and David Nosas of Andorra are in Camp 2 today, acclimatizing for an unsupported, no-oxygen attempt.
Domi Trastoy of Andorra at Camp 2 (6,400m) on Dhaulagiri today. Photo: Domi Trastoy/Instagram
Mexicans Badia Bonilla and Mauricio Lopez are also on the way to Dhaulagiri, after guiding a group to Everest Base Camp. Both pairs have hired only Base Camp logistics with Seven Summit Treks.
