While Everest and the summit push on Annapurna garner most of the attention, commercial expeditions are taking place on all Nepal’s 8,000’ers this month. It’s clear that commercial 8,000m climbing is growing every season.
More peaks are available, and more resources are needed to service them. This suggests why only the biggest operators can compete. Smaller outfitters must find a specific market niche or disappear.
Expeditions are now so big, and the information about them is so scattered and irregular that we no longer follow every single climber on the mountain. We are trying at least to keep up with no-oxygen attempts, which are relatively rare these days, even on the “lower” 8,000’ers. We also follow notable climbers and unusual projects. Here is a short roundup of the action on three of those peaks.
Makalu
A strong Sherpa team with 14 Peaks Expedition hurried up the mountain and summited Makalu on April 10. Lakpa Sherpa, known as Makalu Lakpa because of his eight summits of the mountain and because he was born in the area, led the charge. Immediately afterward, he moved to Dhaulagiri to lead the rope fixers there. He will then return to Makalu, as he explained on social media:
A group of commercial climbers didn’t immediately follow the rope fixers up Makalu. Currently, they are celebrating their puja ceremonies to seek the favor of the mountain gods before heading to Camps 1 and 2 on their first rotations. One of these is a Polish team led by Jarek Zdanowicz.
A Kazakh team led by 14×8,000m summiter Vassiliy Pivtsov is also ready to go. Pivtsov’s long-time climbing partner, Maxut Zhumayev, is acclimatizing on Mera Peak and will join the team shortly. Jam McManus of Ireland is also on the mountain but says he will be off-grid until the expedition ends.
Dhaulagiri & Kangchenjunga
There are currently two small teams on Dhaulagiri, including Afsaneh Hesamifard of Iran, Klara Kolouchova of the Czech Republic, Sajid Ali Sadpara of Pakistan, and some Russian members of Alex Abramov’s 7 Summits Club.
Most climbers are still on their approach trek to Base Camp for 8,586m Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak and the farthest from Kathmandu. The hike is long and demanding but spectacularly beautiful, even for a country with a glut of impressive scenery.
An internet connection is rare in this isolated area. Information will have to come from climbers using InReach and who choose to make their messages public.
Among the expected climbers on Kangchenjunga are Adrian Hayes of the UK and Uta Ibrahimi of Albania-Kosovo, who is about to finish her 14×8,000m list.
