“The time has come,” texted Uta Ibrahimi from Camp 2 yesterday. She is one of the climbers on Kangchenjunga, the third-highest peak on Earth, who are currently heading for the summit.
They plan to reach Camp 3 today, rest briefly, and then set off on a very long summit push. There will be no Camp 4, and the fixed ropes end before the summit area.
Uta Ibrahimi before leaving home in Kosovo. Photo: Uta Ibrahimi/Facebook
Kangchenjunga is the last peak on Ibrahimi’s 14 8,000m list. She tried the mountain last year, but the weather gave the teams no chance. The only 2024 summits happened later, after most groups had retreated. Now, she is going for it the first chance she has. Since it is only early May, if the push fails, she’ll have plenty of time to try again.
Ibrahimi’s last InReach SMS came yesterday from Camp 2. Currently, there are no further waypoints on her tracker. But the tracker of Catherine Vulliez of France, also on the summit push, located her today at 7,384m, the altitude of Camp 3. Check our Kangchenjunga Climbers’ Guide with Nives Meroi and Romano Benet here.
Naila Kiani of Pakistan is also on Kangchenjunga, but it is not clear whether she has joined this first push. If she succeeds, it will be her 12th 8,000’er.
Location of Catherine Vulliez on Kangchenjunga, on May 8, 2025. Graphic: Garmin InReach
The ropes: Purja
Nirmal Purja of Elite Exped is leading the rope-fixing team. Yesterday, he sent back news to Base Camp that he had never seen the route in such a difficult state.
“The conditions above camp have been extremely tough, with deep snow and challenging terrain — more crevasses than usual,” he wrote on social media.
Purja noted that the rope fixers have used around 11,000m of rope so far, but they have not reached the highest point.
Rapidly worsening weather on Tuesday forced them to turn around “just 30–40m from the summit area…to prioritize the safety of the team,” he said.
They are now all safely back in Base Camp, so it seems he and his clients will launch their summit push later.
