Kangchenjunga, at 8,586m the world’s third-highest peak, is not enough for Peter Hamor. Yesterday, the Slovakian Mountaineering Association, SHS JAMES, announced that Hamor will try to traverse from Yalung Kang (8,505m) to Kangchenjunga’s main summit, with Romanian partners Horia Colibasanu and Marius Gane.
The news came as a surprise to everyone, including Colibasanu and Gane. Colibasanu, still at home in Romania, first learned of it from the news. “We had discussed some ideas, but I was not aware anything was fixed,” he told ExplorersWeb.
Colibasanu added: “Peter is already in Nepal, looking at Yalung Kang climbing permits and details. The traverse is indeed an exciting idea, but only feasible if the mountain’s normal route (which the team would use to descend) is in good condition.”
The planned traverse from Kangchenjunga’s BC to Yalung Kang, the massif’s main summit, and back down the normal route. Topo: SHS JAMES
In addition, the Romanian climber remarked that the Yalung Kang traverse would be done as a second climb, after summiting Kangchenjunga via its normal route. The route map shared by SHS JAMES shows the traverse from Yalung Kang to Kangchenjunga’s main summit. But if it is a secondary climb, it is not clear whether the three might eventually decide to change directions and head for Yalung Kang from the top of Kangchenjunga.
Other uncertainties
The expedition faces uncertainty in areas other than climbing. Colibasanu previously told ExWeb that his plans depended on the situation in neighboring Ukraine. At present, the Romanians have plane tickets for April 5. “However, we are still watching the situation on our border carefully…Our second largest town is just 300km from Odessa,” Colibasanu said.
Hamor previously completed all 14 of the 8,000m peaks without supplementary O2, including Kangchenjunga in 2012. On the other hand, Colibasanu and Gane would become the first Romanians to summit Kangchenjunga.
The highly experienced trio has done several high-altitude, no-O2 ascents. In 2019 and 2021, they attempted the still-unclimbed NW Ridge of Dhaulagiri.
