It is taking longer than expected for climbers to reach the summit of Dhaulagiri, due to unstable weather and uncertainty about conditions above Camp 3. No one has set foot on those upper sections yet, but a large number of climbers are gathering in Camp 2, waiting for news from the rope fixers.
Today, Paul Clarke of Australia contacted ExplorersWeb from Camp 2. He and his partner, Xenia Santha of Hungary, arrived there on Tuesday and have stayed put, waiting for the right moment to go for the summit. “It seems we will have to wait at least two more days,” Clarke said. “Yesterday, I was able to push up to 6,500m, but then bad weather rolled in.”
The pair hopes to move to Camp 3 tomorrow, deposit some gear, then return to Camp 2. At the moment, they have set the morning of October 12 as a potential summit date.
Paul Clarke and Xenia Santha in their tent at Camp 2. Photo: Paul Clarke/@outdoorpirate
Massive push planned
The rope-fixing team stopped just above Camp 3, Clarke noted. “We have been the only ones remaining in Camp 2 for two days, but today, the rest of the team from 8K (three clients) and about five clients from Seven Summit Treks and 14 Peaks arrived, with lots of Sherpas.
Camp 2 on Dhaulagiri as seen from a drone. Photo: Paul Clarke@outdoorpirate
Makalu Lakpa, leader of the 14 Peaks Expedition and Seven Summit Treks teams, has just checked in on social media from “upper” Camp 2. “The rope-fixing team made good progress and…[are] now preparing for the summit push,” he wrote. “The snow conditions remain favorable, and we are closely monitoring the weather.”
Lakpa added that they will start toward the summit “if the weather gives [them] a suitable window,” suggesting that they remain on hold. The exact location of the rope fixers is unclear.
The weather on Dhaulagiri remains uncertain. “Yesterday, we had about 30cm of snow in the late afternoon/evening,” Paul Clarke said. “Today has been overcast and windy…probably around 40kph here in C2.” If it persists, that wind will likely increase higher up the mountain and could thwart any potential summit try.
Andrzej Bargiel
The Polish skier posted an update from Base Camp yesterday, after an acclimatization trip to 7,000m with Kuba Poburka and Pasang Rinzi Sherpa. “After spending the night at Camp 2, I skied all the way back down to Base Camp,” he wrote. “Now it’s time to rest and wait for the weather.”
Paul Clarke confirmed he saw Bargiel skiing down from Camp 2 on Tuesday, as Clarke worked his way up. It’s unclear whether the skier and his team are still in Base Camp or have gone back up the mountain.
An aborted climb
The second skier attempting Dhaulagiri, Borja Real of Spain, has aborted his climb. Real said that conditions on the mountain, especially between Base Camp and Camp 1, and at the traverse above Camp 3, are too dangerous for a ski descent in his chosen style: without supplemental oxygen, no Sherpa support, and carrying his own tent and supplies up and down the mountain.
Borja Real of Spain during a rotation to Camp 2 on Dhaulagiri. Photo: Borja Real
Real said the mountain is overloaded with snow in the upper sections and believes there is no time for it to settle. No one has yet ventured on the long traverse that crosses the upper section of the peak above Camp 3 or the snow couloirs leading to the summit ridge. The 30cm of fresh snow that Paul Clarke confirmed fell yesterday around Camp 2 will likely be an issue in those regions.
Dhaulagiri’s normal route with the three high camps currently pitched, and the final traverse, with the couloir to the summit ridge marked in red. Before supplemental oxygen became common on Dhaulagiri, climbers usually pitched a fourth camp. Photo: Ralf Dujmovits
Real mentioned he didn’t like the way logistics are organized on the mountain these days. He noted that some agencies are offering their clients airlifts to and from Camp 1 as shortcuts to the summit. On Dhaulagiri in the fall, the route from Base Camp to Camp 1 traverses some technical passages with rock sections and open crevasses. Camp 1 sits on the huge Dhaulagiri Col at 5,900m, which provides a suitable place for helicopters to leave and pick up passengers.
The glacier leading to the Dhaulagiri Col where Camp 1 is located, showing the snow-covered crevasses. Photo: Borja Real
