A Russian team has begun its summit push on one of the biggest mountain faces in the Himalaya — the South Side of Cho Oyu. But the hardest part is yet to come.
“On our last foray up the mountain, we reached 7,700m, some 250-300m below the summit ridge,” leader Andrey Vassiliev told Explorersweb.
After that, they rested for five days in the village of Gokyo. Now they are heading for the top.
The team’s progress so far on the 1991 Russian route of the South Side of Cho Oyu. Photo: Andrey Vassiliev
The Russians have set their high camp at 7,300m on a flat, safe place, Vassiliev explained. Then they fixed ropes until 7,700m.
“We are still very far from the summit,” Vassiliev admitted. “The East Ridge is the most difficult and technical part of the route.
Following 1991 route
The team is following the route opened (and never repeated) by another Russian expedition in 1991. The line goes directly up the face to the wickedly difficult East Ridge of Cho Oyu at some 7,900m.
The section of the route from Camp 3 at 7,300m to the summit ridge. The climbers then turn left and work their way along the highly technical ridge. Photo: Andrey Vassiliev
At least three nights
Traversing the summit ridge involves long, technical climbing at an altitude of 8,000m.
“This is the main challenge for us, especially considering the strong winds from Tibet,” Vassiliev said. “In the most optimistic scenario, we will need at least three nights on the main ridge.”
The four climbers are all proceeding without supplementary oxygen. They will carry a tent but no sleeping bags. They’ll just try to rest in their down suits with a synthetic blanket over them.
The ridge is hard all the way, but the real crux is what the Russians call the Hall: a vertical wall on the final rocky ridge that they must rappel down and climb up again. That section stopped many expeditions before 1991, and the successful Russian team faced serious difficulties there.
Unless the Ukrainian team attempting Makalu is still on the mountain (they were due to finish around now but have not updated in a while), the Russians are the last group on 8,000m peaks in Nepal.
