Tenjing Sherpa climbing Everest

The good weather window in the Himalayas is impressively long. Since this spring’s first ascent of Mount Everest on 13 May by the Sherpa team that had fixed the ropes up to the summit on the south side of the mountain, climbers have reached the highest point at 8,850 meters day after day. Several hundred summit successes have since been counted. Today, Tenjing Sherpa also succeeded, without bottled oxygen. The 26-year-old wants to climb directly afterwards the neighboring eight-thousander Lhotse, if conditions allow it. According to Iswari Poudel, managing director of the expedition organizer “Himalayan Guides”, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, just like Tenjing, reached the summit without breathing mask today. It was already Lakpa’s third (!) Everest ascent this season, Poudel said.

Colibasanu and Hamor give up

Horia Colibasanu (r.) and Peter Hamor (l.)

Briton Jon Griffith, who accompanied Tenjing Sherpa to the summit as a photographer and filmmaker, used bottled oxygen on his ascent. They see their expedition as a tribute to their friend, the Swiss top climber Ueli Steck who fell to death a year ago on the nearly-eight-thousander Nuptse. In 2017, Ueli and Tenjing had planned an Everest-Lhotse traverse without bottled oxygen via the Everest West Ridge. That’s exactly what the Romanian Horia Colibasanu and the Slovak Peter Hamor wanted to tackle this spring. They declared their expedition over today. The avalanche danger on the route was too great, Horia explained the decision. They had climbed up to an altitude of 7,500 meters.

Lämmle without breathing mask on Lhotse

Thomas Lämmle on top of Lhotse

Already last Sunday, the German climber Thomas Lämmle reached the 8,516 meter high summit of Lhotse, just eight days after his success on Makalu. “Same style: Solo, without oxygen and carried all equipment (tent, stove, food, sleeping bag, etc.) by my own,” ​Lämmle wrote yesterday on Facebook. For the 52-year-old from the city of Waldburg in Baden-Württemberg, Lhotse was the seventh eight-thousander after Cho Oyu (in 2003), Gasherbrum II (in 2005 and 2013), Manaslu (in 2008), Shishapangma (in 2013), Mount Everest (in 2016) and Makalu.

Three of the four world’s highest mountains in 25 days

Nima Jangmu Sherpa

An extraordinary feat was also achieved by Nima Jangmu Sherpa. The 27-year-old reached yesterday as the first woman from Nepal the 8,586 meter high summit of Kangchenjunga. Thus the Sherpani scaled within 25 days the three highest mountains in Nepal, which are three of the four highest in the world. On 29 April, Nima Jangmu had stood on top of Lhotse, on 14 May on the summit of Mount Everest – with breathing mask. In 2008, the Frenchwomen Elisabeth Revol had also scaled three eight-thousanders in one season. Only 16 days had lain then between her ascents of Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II, without bottled oxygen and Sherpa support.

Besides Nima Jangmu Sherpa, another female climber from the team of the Nepalese expedition operator “Imagine” managed a Kangchenjunga summit success yesterday: Chinese Dong Hong Juan stood on her 13th eight-thousander.

Update 25 May: According to Iswari Paudel, Managing Director of Himalayan Guides Nepal Treks & Expedition P. Ltd., Tenji Sherpa decided after his yesterday’s Everest summit success not to climb Lhotse and instead descend to BC.

Update 1 June: Billi Bierling told me that Tenjing had used bottled oxygen above the South Summit (8,750 m), Lakpka Dendi above the South Col (7,900m). Means: No Everest ascent without breathing mask this spring.

Tomek Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat

Do you already have aching muscles from keeping fingers crossed? Your pain could become even stronger. Because the summit bid of the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol that was expected already for Sunday is delayed. “We are in Camp 3, (it’s) windy (with speeds of)  about 100 km/h,” Tomek is quoted today on his Facebook page. “Tomorrow Camp 4, summit push (on) 25 January. Good weather (is expected for) that day.” In fact, the weather forecast for the summit at 8,125 meters predicts for Thursday the lowest wind speeds this week: between 15 and 25 km/h. Assuming this forecast is correct, it will be almost calm, however with minus 42 degrees Celsius quite cold, some clouds are expected. Mackiewicz and Revol climb without bottled oxygen.

Urubko first climber in Camp 2

K2

Meanwhile, the climbers of the Polish winter expedition are making progress on K2. According to the Facebook page “Polski Himalaim Zimowy 2016-2020” (Polish winter climbing in the Himalayas 2016-2020), Denis Urubko has reached Camp 2 on the Cesen route at 6,300 meters and will spend the night there. Artur Malek and Marek Chmielarski are in Camp 1 at 5,900 meters, it says. K2, with 8,611 m the second highest mountain on earth, is the only eight-thousander that has never been scaled in winter so far.

After Pumori now Everest

On Mount Everest the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” and the two Nepalese Nuri Sherpa and Temba Bhote returned from their ascent of the 7161-meter-high Pumori – in their backpacks this small, but nice video:

This winter, Txikon and Ali, two of the three first winter ascenders of Nanga Parbat in 2016, want to reach the summit of Everest at 8,850 meters without breathing masks.

Tamara Lunger

It was close in two respects. Tamara Lunger only narrowly missed the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, then the 29-year-old South Tyrolean just escaped with her life. Just below the 8,125-meter-high summit, Tamara exhaustedly informed her Italian teammate Simone Moro that she would be able to climb up to the highest point but would not come down without help. Shortly afterwards, she turned around. Simone, the Spaniard Alex Txikon and the Pakistani Muhammad Ali (also known as “Ali Sadpara” – called after his home village) reached the summit without her. On the descent, Lunger lost her balance after jumping across a crevasse near the highest camp. She slid around 200 meters towards the abyss until she came to hold in loose snow with good luck. Meanwhile, the climber is back home in South Tyrol.

Tamara, first of all congratulations on your performance! Have you meanwhile recovered from the strains?

Thanks, Stefan. I must say that I have overcome the strains of the “near-summit” but not yet the consequences of my fall. My ankle is still swollen. I will get it checked up on Monday, but there is certainly something torn.

Tamara with Simone Moro

The weather on the summit day was perfect, but the path to the highest point was long, and you had to climb about 1,000 meters in altitude each on the ascent and descent. How high did you estimate the chance to reach the highest point before leaving Camp 4?

To be honest, I told Simone on the eve of our final push: “The summit is very close. We certainly will rock it!” I really knew it with absolute certainty. And even though it didn’t work for me, it was rather bad luck that I had a bit poorer physical condition on that day.

Simone said, you were just 60, 70 meters below the summit. How hard was it for you to decide to turn around?

Not at all. I had to vomit the whole day, and the strong wind had robbed much of my energy. When I got to my turning point and I saw Ali already on the summit waving to me, this one sentence suddenly crossed my mind: “If you climb to the top, you will never again see your loved ones.” Without hesitation, I turned around and got out because I knew I could slip and fall to death at every step from the summit to Camp 4. We had not even one meter of rope, so help wouldn’t have been possible, and the other team members were groggy too.

Ali (l.) And Simone (r.) on the summit

Although you had vomited in the morning of the summit day, you set off. Did you hope that the problems would disappear by and by?

Even before that, I felt that I hadn’t a good day in terms of my musculature, but I was still hoping that it would ease off. When I vomited for the first time, I felt almost free, but with every sip and with every bite it recurred, and I lost more and more of my power. I knew this would not change today.

Do you think that a lack of acclimatization caused your physical problems?

May be. After all, Simone and I had previously slept only one night at Camp 2 (at about 6,100 meters). But the whole ascent itself could have been the reason. I was hardly able to sleep because we four had only two sleeping-mats. And we still had to fix ropes from Camp 3 to 4 which took us time and energy.

On descent

The image of the different ascent routes, that Alex has published, shows that you left Simone’s and Alex’ route just below the summit and turned aside. Why?

I tried to avoid the wind, in vain. My feet were already so cold, and I wanted to replace the batteries in my sole heating system. I had no chance, it was too cold, and I did not dare take off my mittens.

In what condition did you reach Camp 4?

I was beat, I had chills all night. The scary moments during my fall had cost me additional energy and nerves.

Successful team: Tamara, Simone, Alex and Ali (from r. to l.)

How do you feel about Nanga Parbat after your return to South Tyrol, which experiences did you gain?

It was a dream. Everything happened as it should happen. And a lot has happened within these three months. After Daniele Nardi’s departure, we all felt free. It’s not that I can’t stand him – on the contrary. But there was no harmony in Base Camp which was absolutely sickening. That wore me down. I must be free in mind when I want to do something. Afterwards the team was perfect, all four climbers were equal, and the weather was good. Then we only had to keep cool. I do not begrudge my team the success. I know what we have invested. And I’m very proud of myself that I had the courage to go with my gut. I see it as a gift to have this ability. And I will keep it like a treasure so that it will show me the right way again and again – my way.

Simone announced that he would stop winter climbing on eight-thousanders. And you?

It’s too early to tell.

Maya, Dawa Yangzum, Pasang Lhamu (f.l.)

They are a powerful trio on the mountain: On 26 July 2014, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, Maya Sherpa and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita were the first women from Nepal, who reached the 8611-meter-high summit of K2 in Pakistan. The second highest mountain in the world is also called “Savage Mountain” due to the difficulty of ascent and the high fatality rate. “We were the first Nepalese women on K 2! And it was not easy climbing this moutain. Only real climbers know how and why we climbed K 2”, Dawa Yangzum writes to me. Mountaineers had appreciated their performance in an appropriate way. They did not expect that from the Nepalese government anyway: “Mostly, the government, the ministry and all these people just know Everest and the Seven Summits. If we had climbed the Seven Summits, they would have made us a front page news”, says the 25-year-old. The government is in Dawa Yangzum’s bad books anyway.

Promised, not held

On top of K 2

The three Sherpani had difficulties in financing their expedition to K2. They are still sitting on debt. The Ministry of Tourism in Kathmandu had promised to contribute 500,000 rupees (about 4,800 US $). “We are still waiting for the money”, Dawa Yangzum complains. ”We do not understand these people. Nothing to say about them.”

There is a lack of money for their next scheduled project too. The three female climbers already scaled Mount Everest in previous years: Dawa Yangzum in 2012, the 30-year-old Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita in 2007 and the 36-year-old Maya Sherpa even twice: from the South in 2006, from the North in 2007. After having climbed successfully the first and the second highest mountain of the world, the trio wants to scale the third highest too, the 8586-meter-high Kangchenjunga in Nepal. The three Sherpani plan to climb via the normal route and to use bottled oxygen above 8000 meters – as they did on K 2 and Everest. “But we don’t have much time for fundraising”, says Dawa Yangzum. “If we are able to get the money, we are happy and can start anytime.” Perhaps the Sherpani should try crowdfunding.

Goal: More Nepalese women in mountain sports

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa

Dawa Yangzum grew up in the Rolwaling Valley, which is located north-east of Kathmandu, at the foot of the seven-thousander Gauri Shankar. She has made her marks not only as Sherpani climber, but also as an excellent ultra-marathon and mountain runner. For a year, she is married to Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, an experienced high-altitude climber and mountain guide, who stood on top of Everest ten times already. Dawa Yangzum successfully completed a mountain guide course at the end of 2014. Maya Sherpa and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita also earn money in adventure and outdoor tourism. They had to do pioneering work. “When we were beginners, it was a difficult time for us being female in outdoor activities. Meanwhile we are taken seriously as climbers”, says Dawa Yangzum. “We want to incourage other women to get involved in mountain sports too. It just takes time.”

P. S.: Since 1993, when Pasang Lhamu Sherpa scaled Mount Everest as the first woman from Nepal (and died on the descent), 23 Nepalese female climbers reached the summit of the highest mountain in the world.

Everest basecamp

The base camp on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest is getting empty. Government officials denied that the climbing season on the highest mountain in the world was officially ended. “The ones who want to leave will leave and those who want to continue climbing would not be stopped or threatened,” said Tourism Minister Bhim Acharya after a crisis meeting at the basecamp, where he had tried to convince the teams to continue the expeditions. The Sherpas had assured him that there would be no trouble, he said.

Threats of a small group of Sherpas

Previously, there had been reports of threats of some Sherpas. “The ambience at basecamp is becoming increasingly tense. There is a small group of renegade Sherpa from peripheral teams who are threatening violence towards anyone who chooses to stay and climb”, wrote Monica Piris, expedition doctor in the team of Alpenglow, that had declared its expedition ended before the arrival of the government delegation. Similar comments were made by the German reporter Juliane Moeckinghoff in her Everest diary. She is accompanying the blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer.

Other teams cancel their expeditions 

International Mountain Guides (IMG), Adventure Consultants, RMI Expeditions, Jagged Globe and Peak Freaks also abandoned their Everest expeditions. All show their compassion with the Sherpas on the death of 16 Nepalis in the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall last Friday. At the same time they point to the organizational difficulties that have arisen because many Sherpas have already left the basecamp or refuse to return to the mountain.

Too few Sherpas left

“The Icefall route is currently unsafe for climbing without repairs by the Icefall doctors, who will not be able to resume their work this season”, Eric Simonson wrote about the reason to end the IMG expedition. “We have explored every option and can find no way to safely continue the expedition.” David Hamilton and Tom Briggs of Jagged Globe argued the same way: “We are cancelling the expedition as there is no prospect of replacing our Sherpas and because there aren’t now sufficient Sherpas in basecamp to fix ropes on the mountain and make it safe to climb.” According to the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism the climbing permits of the teams to leave, remain valid for five years.

Update April 25: Obviously, Himalayan Experience and Altitude Junkies have meanwhile cancelled their Everest expeditions too. Asian Trekking is also going home. “We have also decided to leave base camp”, writes Dawa Steven Sherpa to me. “ We are amongst the last left in base camp.”

It is still unclear when the climbing season on Everest will continue – and if at all. Alpine Ascents International (AAI) is the first of the big Everest players that has called off its expedition. “We have all agreed the best thing is to not continue this season’s climb, so that all can mourn the loss of family, friends and comrades in this unprecedented tragedy”, AAI writes on its website. Among the 16 avalanche victims of last Friday were five Sherpas working for AAI. They also supported the U.S. climber Joby Ogwyn, who planned to make the first wingsuit flight from the summit of Everest. Discovery Channel has meanwhile cancelled the live TV broadcast of the jump that was originally planned for 11 May. The team of Adventure Consultants that had lost three members in the avalanche has also decided to go home.

Boycott threat

The Nepalese government has been coming under public pressure after the avalanche disaster on Everest. It’s announcement  to pay an emergency aid of 40,000 rupees (about US $400) to the victims’ families invoked disbelief at the Sherpas. The mountain guides, the high altitude porters and the basecamp staff presented a list of demands and threatened to boycott all further work on the mountain. Among other things, they require that the government establishes a relief fund in which it shall pay 30 percent of the royalties from the climbing permits. That would be a million dollars this year. The local staff of the Everest expeditions also demand that they will not derive any disadvantages if they do decide not to return to the mountain this season because of the avalanche accident.

According to the Nepalese government 334 mountaineers from 41 countries have pitched their tents at the foot of Everest this spring. More than 400 Nepali support staff, mostly from the Khumbu region, is working for the 31 expedition teams.

Donations for the victims’ families

I had already informed you, that you can donate for the families of the avalanche victims via the Sherpa Support Fund of the American Alpine Club. Furthermore, Dawa Steven Sherpa informed me about the “Juniper Fund” that was founded by the US climbers Melissa Arnot and David Morton. Both have climbed Everest several times and support with their relief fund “individuals, families and communities in underserved countries adversely impacted by their work for the mountain-based adventure industry”.

My thoughts are with the 16 dead Nepalese from Mount Everest (R.I.P.) and those who mourn them.

Last metres to the summit of Makalu

Many are familiar with the view of Makalu, without being aware of it. On pictures taken from the summit of Mount Everest in direction of the Southeast Ridge you see in the background the shapely fifth highest mountain on earth. Just a few kilometres linear distance are lying between the two 8000ers, but actually they are worlds apart. This spring the headlines concerning Everest were overturning: first the brawl in Camp 2, then the 60-year-anniversary of the first ascent. Because of this I lost sight of an expedition of four German and a Swiss climber to Makalu.

Siegrist left expedition

David Göttler, Michael Waerthl, Hans Mitterer, Daniel Bartsch and Stephan Siegrist wanted to climb the mountain in Alpine style via the challenging west pillar. Siegrist had to cancel the expedition because he got severe headaches and vision disorders,  possibly due to a skull fracture that he had a few years earlier. The other four abandoned their original plan and ascended via the normal route. Waerthl returned because of icy fingers about 200 metres below the summit. The other three climbers reached the highest point at 8485 metres.

I reach David Göttler on the phone while he is on the way home from the Bregaglia Valley where the mountain guide from Munich has led two clients. In recent years the 34-year-old mountaineer was repeatedly on expedition with Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits. With Gerlinde he i.a. ascended Dhaulagiri in the 2008 and Nuptse in 2012.

On top: Mitterer, Goettler, Bartsch (f.l.)

David, on 21 May you, Hans Mitterer and Daniel Bartsch stood on the summit of Makalu. Was it a perfect summit day?

We had been climbing fast. We were extremely fortunate because only we and a Finnish climber (Samuli Mansikka) were up there. The weather and snow conditions were perfect: almost no wind, normally warm for such a high 8000er, which means not too cold. It was incredible. It would be nice if every summit day was like this.

Makalu was your fifth 8000er. How do you classify this ascent in your personal ranking?

Especially the last stage up to the summit is challenging. There were only old fixed ropes, which you really don’t want to use. It was certainly one of the more demanding climbs.

On your summit day a large group of climbers of commercial expeditions turned back about 200 metres below the highest point. Afterwards some of them complained that contrary to the agreement the Sherpas had not secured the final passage to the summit with fixed ropes? What was the problem?

We caught up with the group that had started much earlier at 3 a.m., about 8200 metres high. When it got light the Sherpas said that they had not enough ropes to fix the route and that all should turn back. They had already been climbing for a long time. Maybe it was a wise decision of the Sherpas, at least for a majority of their clients. Perhaps they used the lack of ropes only as an excuse. I proposed to fetch up ropes from below to fix the last 200 metres. I had about 40 more metres of rope in my backpack. The Sherpas totally blocked my proposal and meant that it would take too long. But I can only speculate what was really going on there, and therefore I have reservations about commenting it.

Originally, you wanted to climb Makalu in Alpine style via the west pillar. Then Stephan Siegrist, one of your team members, had to cancel the expedition because of health problems. Why have you abandoned your plan then – four climbers remained and you were a powerful team?

There were several reasons. Without Stephan we were a strong man down. In addition the conditions were brutal: glare ice. You don’t get ahead. During the exploration of the west pillar we had to secure some lower passages which were really flat, due to glare ice. Above the rock was fragile. We weighed our options. The chance to reach the summit via the west pillar was minimal, the chance via the normal route relatively well.

You were three of only seven climbers who reached the summit this spring. Have you experienced Makalu as a lonely mountain?

Yes, compared to my last expeditions to Lhotse and Nuptse where I pitched up my tent in Everest Base Camp. I have never had such a beautiful basecamp like ours below the West Pillar of Makalu. It was below the basecamp of the normal route, green, with views of Lhotse, Everest, Makalu and Baruntse. We were alone in our camp, on an 8000er! Also on the mountain, I did not feel that many climbers were on the route. We enjoyed meeting these people and chatting with them. We had much fun with the Sherpas on the normal route. It was always a friendly and nice atmosphere.

David Goettler

On Everest, about 10 km linear distance away, at the end of April Sherpas attacked  European top climbers Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith. Has that news gotten around to you?

We were doing some climbing to acclimatize. We had just pulled a Sherpa out of a crevasse into which he had fallen. He thanked a hundred times and said we had saved this life. We didn’t feel that way, for us it’s quite normal to help each other. Then we came down to the basecamp, and our kitchen team heard in a small radio the message that was broadcasted by the local ‘Khumbu Radio’. Incredible, we asked ourselves: What must have happened that the situation could escalate like it did?

Like the three climbers on Everest you were climbing on Makalu without Sherpa support. How did the Sherpas behave towards you?

They have always been nice. When we turned to the normal route, they asked: ‘What are you doing here now?’ We told them that we had decided to climb up via the normal route. For their work in the lower parts of the mountain we paid them with some ice screws and ropes. That brought this matter to a close. We have always helped each other. For example, we passed on the weather forecast. The Sherpas provided us with other informations. It was a pleasant, friendly cooperation.

Do you think that the relations between Sherpas and professional climbers are sustainably clouded by the Everest incident?

I don’t hope so. I’m not afraid to travel again to the Khumbu region. I firmly believe that the good relations will continue. I think Everest is a very special terrain where extremes collide. Compared to Makalu and other mountains Sherpas on Everest are under enormous pressure:  A lot of money is involved, so many climbers are on the mountain, and they expect that the fixed ropes are laid quickly.

By next spring season a team of the Nepalese government will stay in Everest basecamp to control whether the climbers comply with the rules. Do you think that all the problems will be solved by this measure?

I don’t think that all problems will be solved. The question is whether the dispute really escalated because rules were broken or whether unwritten laws on Everest were interpreted in a different way by the Sherpas on the one hand and Western climbers on the other hand.

The real problem that there are too many climbers on the route is very difficult to resolve. If you would stop climbing with supplemental oxygen, the whole thing on Everest would regulate quickly, and there would be no more problems. But you cannot dictate that. Whoever wants to try his luck there, in whatever style of climbing, shall try and be happy. It’s up to each climber.

Is it still an attractive target for you to climb Everest?

Yes. To climb Everest via the normal route without supplemental oxygen is challenging enough. That would be interesting.

Why didn’t he go home?

The young Frenchman – so far a dark horse in high-altitude mountaineering – announced that he wanted to reach the 8125 meter summit solo and in alpine style, and afterwards would snowboard down. He later described in his blog more often, how bad his health was. „Today, I’m losing blood from my intestines. It’s great…”, Joel wrote on February 3, adding that he knew how to handle it. He ignored the logical consequenz of ending the expedition: „I prefer to stay here, even in storms, till the last moment.” On February 6, he wrote a last short post in his blog. Then he disappeared. Was it hubris, arrogance or loss of reality that did cost him his live? Or was he finally just unlucky?

Why did they separate?

Probably we won’t get answers to these questions regarding Joel. But maybe we get a clearer view in the case of the two missing Polish climbers on Broad Peak. Adam Bielecki and Artur Malek, who summited the mountain on March 5 together with Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski, later returned to basecamp safely. After their return from Pakistan Adam and Artur maybe can answer the questions which came into my mind: Why did the four climbers reach the summit between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. local time, so late that they were forced to descend into the dark? Why did they separate? Why did Berbeka and Kowalski need almost eight hours to reach the pass on 7900 meters, three times longer as usual. Why didn’t Berbeka use his walkie-talkie? Why didn’t they have a light tent for bivouacing?

But in the end there will be left room for speculation – as in winter 2012, when the Austrian Gerfried Göschl, the Swiss Cedric Hählen and the Pakistani Nisar Hussein disappeared on Gasherbrum I. Too often climbers in the Himalayas and Karakorum take the secret of their fatal accident to the icy grave.