After some good days on mountain, all Nanga Parbat teams retreated to BC because of bad weather. ‘Snow and terrible conditions’ are expected to ease a bit, starting from today.
It’s shaping into a ‘usual’ Nanga Parbat winter season. With goals of early-winter alpine ascent spoiled, all teams are busy in gaining (or retaining) acclimatization, route opening, ropes fixing and hauling gear to high camps. Their progress is frequently interrupted by snow and bad weather.
After some good days on mountain, all Nanga Parbat teams retreated to BC because of bad weather. ‘Snow and terrible conditions’ are expected to ease a bit, starting from today.
5700m on Kinshofer Route
Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech have opened the route till 5700m. As conditions deteriorated, the two climbers deposited gear beneath Kinshofer Wall and retreated to Base Camp on Sunday night.
Adam and Jacek started the climb on January 1st; a day after greeting Alex Txikon, Ali Sadpara and Daniele Nardi at BC. Excessive snow (more than a meter deep in some sections) slowed their progress and thy had to retreat halfway through C1. On January 2, they made it to 4900m and established C1.
The Polish duo faced more challenging conditions on third day, as they made first foray towards C2. They encountered hard and frail ice above C1. After free solo climbing till Kinshofer Couloir, they simul-climbed throughout the day. At around sunset, they were at approximately 5700m. They made a deposit and retreated to C1 and eventually BC. It has been snowing in the region since yesterday.
Alex Txikon, Ali Sadpara and Daniele Nardi hauled around 70 Kg of gear to C1 on Saturday, using sledges in lower portion and backpacks later. Weather forecast predicts improved conditions on Tuesday and the trio doesn’t want to waste any time. “After two days off, tomorrow will return to action!”
Acclimatization on Ganalo Peak
Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger arrived in Pakistan early and wanted to acclimatize on Spantik before attempting Nanga Parbat. However, the situation turned ugly while they were on the way to mountain. Apparently, the porters (carrying loads to BC) started demanding a lot more money (5x more, says Simone Moro) than agreed wages, due to unstable snow and difficult conditions. The Italians were unable to accommodate the surprise cost.
After reaching BC on December 27th, the two climbers immediately went up for acclimatization on Ganalo Peak – right next to their planned route on Northeast side. They spent two nights at 5500m and touched 6000m along a partially icy ridge. “The view from our top point had been amazing. We saw all the Diama Glacier and our climbing route that we call Messner-Eisendle as they had been the first to try and discover it in the summer 2000.”
It appears that acclimatization is going well for Elisabeth Revol, Tomek Mackiewicz and Arslan Ahmed too. “We are back in the basecamp after an acclimatizing first round to the camp 1.” Arslan messaged on January 1st. We know that Elisabeth and Tomek also spent at least one night at 5500m (probably on Ganalo Peak).
Fewer Updates from Schell Route
Justice for All team has sent some photos and videos from Rupal side. However, they are unable to communicate on regular basis due to high voice/data costs. “Satellite internet is extremely costly – we are looking for sponsors willing to cover that burden in exchange for regular video/photo updates.”
Nonetheless, a member of the team Pawel Dunaj carries SPOT tracker and sends periodic location updates. It appears that he has been in Base Camp since past couple of days, after reaching approximately 5900m.
“}
