Way back to basecamp

Ralf Dujmovits’ concerns were not deceptive. The day after he and his Polish companion Darek Zaluski had decided to cancel their winter expedition on the Diamir side of Nanga Parbat, they narrowly escaped an ice avalanche. The two climbers had just build down their Camp 1 at 4900 meters below the Kinshofer route and were on their descent when the avalanche went down. “We were very lucky!”, Ralf writes to me. The 52-year-old and Darek arrived in basecamp safe and sound. As reported Dujmovits had abandoned his plan to climb Nanga Parbat via the Messner route because of the high risk of ice avalanches.

Daniele’s second attempt

The basecamp on the Diamir side will remain empty only for about two weeks. Then the Italian Daniele Nardi will pitch up his tent there. The 37-year-old from the town Sezze near Rome will try to climb Nanga Parbat solo and in Alpine style via the Mummery ridge. He is starting his expedition so late because he wants to avoid competitive situations on the mountain, says Daniele: “I don’t want to climb with the idea to run on the mountain, the most important thing is the style.” Last winter Nardi had climbed on Nanga Parbat in a team with the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol. They had reached a height of 6000 meters.

First night in Camp 1

Simone climbing up to Camp 1

Meanwhile on the Rupal side the Italian Simone Moro and the German David Goettler are acclimatizing. The two climbed up to Camp 1 to spend a first night at 5100 meters. The Polish team “Justice for all”, the first expedition this season in Pakistan, had reached a height of 5500 meters already on 26 December.