Hans Kammerlander on Manaslu

That’s it. Hans Kammerlander closes the book Manaslu. “I had a nice, very good time here on this mountain. That was worth it,” said the 60-year-old South Tyrolean, after he and his North Tyrolean team partner Stephan Keck had decided last weekend to abandon their late fall expedition to the eighth highest mountain in the world (8,163 m). “I have made peace with Manaslu. Above all, I’ve finished this part of my way. That was what I had planned. It was never really about the summit itself. That would have been a highlight at best.”

High avalanche danger

Above camp 1 (© Stephan Keck)

The two climbers were on Saturday on their way to Camp 2 at 6,600 meters, when they, in Stephan Keck’s words, “sunk in the powder snow up to the armpits”: “I probably do not have to explain to anyone how strenuous, slow and therefore dangerous it is to move under these conditions.” Because of the snow masses and the consequential high avalanche danger, they pulled the emergency brake. “If we tried it, it would have been Russian roulette and probably all of us would have lost our lives,” Kammerlander said.

Coping with trauma

His team partner also realized that Hans’ main goal was to cope with his Manaslu trauma of 1991. Kammerlander had taken the decision to end the expedition “quite relaxed”, Stephan Keck wrote in his blog: “It becomes clear that he rather wanted to return to Manaslu itself than to scale his 13th main summit of an eight-thousander.”

With ups and downs

Too much snow on Manaslu (© Stephan Keck)

On an expedition led by Kammerlander 26 years ago, his two friends Friedl Mutschlechner and Karl Großrubatscher had been killed in severe weather during a summit attempt. Hans had declared at the time that he would never return to Manaslu. He now revised his decision for shootings for a film that is to be released in the cinemas in November 2018 – “a portrait of my life, with ups and downs,” as Kammerlander had told me last spring.

No further attempt

Even if a summit success of Kammerlander more than a quarter of a century after the 1991 tragedy would had given the film a special point, the film crew will nevertheless return with impressive footages: of a base camp that was no longer overcrowded like just a few weeks earlier, of a lonesome Manaslu in a snow dress – and of a protagonist who returns home safe and sound and has made peace with the “Mountain of the Spirit”. Kammerlander definitely ruled out another summit attempt next spring.

Alex Txikon

Alex Txikon throws in the towel. His second summit attempt failed too – and so did the entire winter expedition. The 35-year-old Basque and his Sherpa team decided in Camp 2 at 6,400 meters not to ascent further up. Instead, they packed up and returned to Everest Base Camp today. “It really would have been suicide to go on,” Txikon told his team by satellite phone. “As the head of the expedition, I should not endanger the lives of my companions. And not my own.” Nevertheless, the decision to abandon the summit attempt was not easy, Alex admitted.

Minus 40 degrees Celsius

In the Khumbu Icefall

According to Txikon, the wind had not calmed down in the past two days as previously hoped. Again and again there had been gusts at speeds of up to 70 km/h, with temperatures around minus 40 degrees Celsius, “felt lower than minus 50 degrees due to the strong wind”. For Thursday morning, gusts of up to 115 km/h were expected, said Txikon. High time to return.

Txikon wants to come back

74 days after the departure from Spain, the Basque declared his attempt to climb Mount Everest in winter without bottled oxygen to have definitively failed. He wants to return to Kathmandu as soon as possible, rest there for a few days and then return home. In his first summit attempt three weeks ago, Txikon and Co. had reached Everest South Col at 7,950 meters before the storm had forced them to descend. “This year it was not meant to be,” Alex said. “This mountain in winter requires a lot of respect and does not allow any follies.” Despite his failure, Txikon has not yet buried his Everest dream: “There will be more opportunities, and then I will return and try it again in a pure style.”

“Swimming time on Manaslu”, Elisabeth writes on Facebook: “Snow, snow, snow…”

And again snow wins. French climber Elisabeth Revol and her companion Ludovic Giambiasi have abandoned their winter expedition at Manaslu. This is reported by the Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times”. Heavy snowfall and strong winds in the high camp forced Elisabeth Revol to give up, Rishi Bhandari, head of the Nepalese expedition operator Satori Adventures, told the newspaper. The French team has already broken off their base camp and descended to the village of Samagaon. According to Bhandari, Revol had reached an altitude of 7,300 meters at Manaslu and had planned a summit attempt for Tuesday.

Heavy snow is not uncommon

In case of success Elisabeth Revol would have been the first woman to have reached the 8,163-meter-high summit in Nepal in winter. Heavy snow is not uncommon on Manaslu. An attempt by the South Tyrolean Tamara Lunger and the Italian Simone Moro in winter 2015 had also failed due to the snowmasses on the mountain. In January 1984, the Polish climbers Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski had succeeded the first winter ascent of the eighth-highest mountain on earth.

Ralf is coming down

The decision was not taken ​​lightly. “After a careful weighing up of the risks – we had climbed up the glacier in deep snow for two hours again – I have decided to abandon the expedition“, Ralf Dujmovits writes in his final report of his winter expedition to Nanga Parbat. His Polish companion Darek Zaluski is supporting the decision, says Ralf: “I had expected a certain level of risks climbing up the Diamir side in winter, especially on the Messner Route. But not these incalculable risks that I ‘m not willing to take. The serious accident on K 2 in 2008, when a part of the large serac above the bottleneck broke, was one of many examples of accidents by ice avalanches that could have been prevented.” In 2008 eleven climbers had lost their lives on the second highest mountain of the world.

Like a sword of Damocles

Seracs (circles), depot (x), Camp 1 (little circle)

Ralf and Darek are thinking that it is too risky to climb underneath two mighty seracs which are hanging over the lower part of the Messner route like a sword of Damocles. “Both are torn towards the edge of the ice barrier and overhanging”, writes Ralf. “Exploring the route further up and of course also during a summit attempt and the descent it would be necessary to spend a lot of time in the direct line of slope.” Both climbers want to break down their camp at 4900 meters tomorrow and then leave the base camp in a few days. Their cook Essan has invited them to visit his family in Aliabad in the Hunza valley.

“Hard, wild and beautiful adventure”

All’s well that ends well – Darek is happy

Even if he could not realize his dream of climbing Nanga Parbat in winter, Ralf gives a positive review of the expedition: “We had a good, very cold and adventurous time here on Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan”, writes Ralf. He and Darek “got on very well, in a really friendly atmosphere” with Essan, kitchen helper Karim and the three police officers at basecamp. The policemen were detailed to protect the expedition after terrorists had shot eleven climbers at Diamir basecamp last summer. With his expedition Ralf had also wanted to send the message not to turn our backs to the region after the terrible murder attack. “I’m leaving with nostalgia. It was a hard but also wild and beautiful adventure. My best wishes for 2014, the most important is health and to have people who love you. Hush raho! (In Urdu: Be happy!)“

Good luck and success!

When I talk to Ralf via satellite phone he adds that he is still convinced that his idea of a very fast winter expedition on the Diamir side with prior acclimatization on another high mountain could work. “But you need a lot of luck, and the conditions on the mountain have to fit,” says Ralf. “The idea is feasible, but I have to reflect in peace whether really I shall be the one to do it someday.” Ralf wishes the two winter expeditions on the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat “good luck and success”.