Valery Rozov (1964-2017)

One of the world’s most famous base jumpers is dead. Russian media report that Valery Rozov was killed in a wingsuit flight from the 6,814-meter-high Ama Dablam near Mount Everest. The exact circumstances are not yet known. Valery was 52 years old. Rozov had made headlines worldwide with his jumps from Himalayan mountains in recent years.

Record jumps

In 2013, he jumped from an altitude of 7,220 meters on Changtse and landed on the Central Rongbuk Glacier at the foot of the North Face of Mount Everest. In fall 2016, Rozov improved his own record for the highest wingsuit flight ever: Valery ascended to a height of 7,700 meters on the eight-thousander Cho Oyu and jumped from there down to the valley (watch the video below). And he did many more spectacular base jumps, e.g. from the six-thousander Shivling in the Indian Himalaya in 2012 or from highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro (5895 m), in 2015.

High fatality rate

R.I.P.

The sad list of fatalities after base jumps with the wingsuit now includes several hundred names. The most prominent victim from the extreme climbing scene was the American Dean Potter in 2015. Mountaineering legend Chris Bonington finds that there is hardly any difference in the kind of motivation of base jumpers and extreme climbers. “If you have the adrenaline junkies which we are and if you want to take that to the extreme and go out to the outer limits inevitably there is going to be a high casualty rate”, the meanwhile 83-year-old Briton told me in 2015. “And there is a high casualty rate amongst extreme climbers at altitude as there are amongst for instance base jumpers, wingsuit fliers and so on. I think it’s not people who have got a death wish. It’s something that people are turned on by the huge excitement, euphoria of taking your body and yourself to the absolute limit to achieve an objective.” Valery Rozov described it this way: “Each moment when your dream becomes reality is so special!”

Update 12 November: The Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times” reports that Rozov died after crashing into a cliff while he jumped from the mountain in a wingsuit.

Kenton Cool

Also the first foreign climbers have now reached the summit of Mount Everest. After on Thursday – as reported – nine Sherpas had prepared the way to the highest point on 8.850 meters with fixed ropes, on Friday the two Britons Kenton Cool (aged 42) and Robert Lucas (53) reached the summit, accompanied by the Sherpas Dorchi Gyalzen and Pemba Bhote.  Cool stood on the “Roof of the world” for the twelfth time. A few minutes after the British climbers, the Mexican David Liano Gonzalez (36) enjoyed his sixth Everest summit success, also led by a Sherpa: Pasang Rita.

All zippers and vents closed

Makalu

On the eight-thousander Makalu, not far away from Everest, evidence is growing, that the two Sherpas who had been found dead in Camp 2 at 6,700 meters have died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Dominik Mueller, head of the German expedition operator Amical Alpin, who has meanwhile called other group members, informed that there was light snowfall the previous evening. During the night wind came up and blew the snow to the bottom of the Sherpas’ tent. “Probably they didn’t notice this and one of the two experienced Sherpas began to melt snow in the morning”, Dominik writes in the Amical blog. “There was no proper ventilation due to the closed tent (all zippers and vents were not open) and due to the piled-up snow around the bottom of the tent.” This circumstance led to the deadly carbon monoxide poisoning, says Dominik, the two Sherpas fell asleep and died.

At the summit: Fiegl, Bluemel, Auer (from l. to r.)

For sure, it was an amazing highlight of alpinism, but a shadow falls across. At the end of October – as reported – the Austrians Hansjoerg Auer, Alexander Bluemel and Gerhard Fiegl first climbed the South Face of the 6,839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif in Nepal. Five previous expeditions, top climbers from Japan, Czech Republic and Slovakia, had failed to climb the wall. However, the success of the Austrian trio turned into a tragedy: While descending, Gerry, manifestly suffering from high altitude sickness, fell to his death several hundred meters deep, three days after his 27th birthday – while his friends were looking on in horror. A few days later, the search for Fiegl was abandoned.

Hansjoerg Auer sustained frostbite on six toes. Meanwhile the feeling in his toes has returned and he can climb again, the 31-year-old tells me. Next spring, he wants to set off along with his compatriot David Lama to a “cool, very difficult destination”. He doesn’t yet reveal, where it will be. I’ve talked to Hansjoerg about what happened in late October.

Hansjörg, you succeeded in making the amazing first ascent of the South Face of Nilgiri South. But on the descent your teammate Gerry Fiegl fell to his death. Does this tragic end make everything else fade into the backround?

At the moment of course yes, because only a positive outcome makes a mountain trip a good one. And Gerry’s death was the worst thing that could happen. Alex and I are trying to recall especially the ascent, when Gerry was still well. The line through the wall and the climbing was really outstanding.

On South Face at about 5,900 meters

Let’s first talk about this ascent. How were the conditions in the wall and which difficulties you had to overcome?

From the distance, the South Face looks as if it is free from ice, but inside there is a lot of so-called “black ice”. We have chosen our route in the right part of the wall, which is actually a shady West Face in the South Face. Therefore, there was a lot of ice and it was a very steep climb – much harder than for instance on Khunyang Chhish East. [In 2013, Hansjoerg succeeded in first climbing the 7,400-meter-high mountain in the Karakorum, along with his brother Matthias and the Swiss Simon Anthamatten.] The first day was tough. We didn’t find a suitable place for bivouacking below 6,500 meters, so we crept into our bivouac sacks not until 5 p.m. On the second day, we climbed an about 6,780-meter-high spire, which was higher than we had suspected. Then we had to cross a very exposed, steep ridge, partly abseiling. After another bivouac we reached the top of Nilgiri South, after a relatively short, technically not too difficult climb.
The descent via the Southwest Ridge was more difficult than we had expected. It’s always difficult when you have to break the golden rule on high mountains to descend on the same route you climbed up before. But on Nilgiri South it was not possible because the ascent was too difficult. In addition, in the lower parts of the wall the risk of rock fall was so high that we didn’t want to expose ourselves to this danger a second time.

You had to bivouac three times during the ascent. Were you on your last legs when you reached the summit?

Alex and I felt good. On the first day, we were all on our limits, but the other two days of ascent did not take such a long time. But in the end everything revolved around Gerry. We tried to find a way so that it was possible for him in his state of health.

On Nilgiri Spire (6780 m)

On the summit, Gerry was suddenly in very poor health. Were you then already aware that he was probably suffering from high altitude sickness?

In the morning of the summit day we noticed for the first time that something was wrong with him. At first we thought he was just exhausted. There were only about 200 meters in altitude left. We hoped that the euphoria of the summit success would help him and that we could then descend as quickly as possible on the other side. Gerry was an excellent mountaineer and climber, but that was no longer the powerful Gerry, as we knew him. We had to bivouac again at 6,500 meters.

You then tried to organize a rescue by helicopter. What was the problem?

On the summit day, the wind speed was 45 kilometers per hour, the day after 70 km/h. In addition, it was very, very cold. Under these conditions, a rescue on such an exposed ridge was simply impossible.

After the bivouac you continued the descent. How did the accident happen?

At night it was really bad. We tried our best to help Gerry, we realized that it would become very close. The next morning Gerry felt okay and we continued our descent on the steep, icy ridge. We could not just abseil but had to climb down the ridge. At a supposedly easy point he fell into depth. In retrospect, it’s almost astonishing that Gerry in his poor health managed to climb down from nearly 7,000 to about 6,000 meters. I think that was due his great performance and ambition.

Route of ascent (r.) and descent (l.)

Why wasn’t Gerry roped up?

We were climbing in Alpine style, which also means reducing equipment. Then you’re used to go without rope in easier terrain, so that you get ahead faster. If you rope up in a group of three, you have to secure everything. On the Southwest Ridge of Nilgiri South you can’t walk with a short rope as you do in the Alps.

Did you immediately know that Gerry could not have survived the fall?

Yes. But in the beginning you don’t want to believe it. You sit down and don’t know what to do. You cry, walk another hundred meters, sit down again and cry once more. You probably will not understand it for the rest of your life but you try to accept it. The risk is part of our sport.

Do you believe that the disaster will change your own risk-taking?

I don’ think so. In recent years I have intensively dealt with the theme of danger. You just have to, if you climb even free solo as I do, for instance this year on Heiligkreuzkofel. [On this mountain in the Dolomites Hansjoerg climbed the difficult route “Mephisto” for the first time solo and without rope.] Of course, I can’t simply carry on with the agenda. Gerry was a good friend, I miss him. But I hope it will get better with time. My passion for climbing is just so strong that I’ll go on expedition again.

Route of the Austrian climbers on Nilgiri South

Anyone who has ever climbed a very high mountain knows about the dangers during the descent. Not the dangers of the mountain itself, but of your own body. Suddenly all adrenaline is used up, you feel the pain that you have pushed away during the ascent, you are exhausted, only want to get down quickly and run into danger of losing your concentration. It’s not for nothing that many accidents happen on descent – like on the 6,839-meter-high Nilgiri South in Nepal, where the Austrian Gerhard Fiegl fell several hundred meters into depth on Monday of last week and has been missing since then. As reported, the search for the 27-year-old was meanwhile abandoned.
According to the other two team members, Hansjoerg Auer and Alexander Bluemel, the trio earlier had “successfully reached the summit after climbing through the more than 1,500 meter high South Face”. It was the first climb via the difficult wall where several other expeditions had failed in the past few decades. At the summit they noticed that their friend Gerry was “very exhausted”, Hansjoerg and Alex say. Was it symptoms of High Altitude Sickness? Fiegl’s rapid drop in performance might indicate this. At that altitude, oxygen is pressed into the longs with around 40 percent less pressure than at sea level.

Unplanned bivouac

At the summit: Fiegl, Bluemek and Auer (r.to l.)

“At the summit, we were still lying in each others arms and rejoiced over the successful first climb of the South Face”, says Auer. “But within a short time the situation turned extremely tense due to Gerry’s condition.” A few hundred meters below the summit, the three climbers decided to bivouac. Down in Base Camp, the photographer Elias Holzknecht tried to organize a rescue operation. However, strong winds made helicopter flights impossible. The next morning, Gerry’s condition seemed to have improved slightly, the trio continued their descent. Later, at around 2 p.m. local time, Fiegl lost his balance on the Southwest Ridge and fell around 800 meters into depth while his friends were looking on in horror.

Helicopter search two days later

Hansjoerg and Alex climbed down to Base Camp. Heavy snowfall hampered the search that was started immediately, only two days after the accident a helicopter was able to take off. The search for Gerry was unsuccessful. On 1 November the other expedition members returned to Austria. “At the moment when a longtime friend falls to death before your eyes, everything else becomes unimportant”, says Hansjoerg Auer. “Our joint expedition could not have taken a worse end.” As well as Auer, Alexander Bluemel is “very sad about the loss of our friend. But nobody can take me away the memory of the intense time I experienced with Gerry.”

One of the best

Last Thursday, Auer, Fiegl and Bluemel had set off to first climb the South Wall of Nilgiri South. According to a first statement of Auer they were successful and reached the summit on Sunday. The accident happened during the descent, Fiegl obviously slipped. Further details are not yet known. Gerhard called “Gerry” Fiegl is among the best young climbers in Austria. In March, he opened – along with his friend Hansjoerg Auer – a new difficult mixed route in his home Oetztal. In 2014, Gerry and the South Tyrolean Simon Gietl climbed to the summit of the legendary granite mountain Fitz Roy in Patagonia within only 21.5 hours (look at the video).

Fiegl also often climbed along with Alex Bluemel, for instance in 2013, when they did some amazing climbs in Alaska.

PS: Yesterday I deliberately refrained from disclosing the identity of the fallen climber. Austrian media were less restraint and now Gerry’s name is also mentioned in other countries. My thoughts are with the Austrian climber, his family and friends.

Nilgiri South

Sad news from the Austrian expedition to the South Face of the 6839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif in Nepal: A spokesman of the Austrian Foreign Office confirmed to me that one of the three climbers who had started their first summit attempt last Thursday was missing. According to him, the climber slipped during the descent and fell about 800 meters deep while his two team mates were looking on in horror. The two climbers descended to Base Camp. Fog and snowfall hampered the helicopter rescue operation. The search was going on, the spokesman said. He gave no details about the climber who fell into the depth adding that they were in touch with his relatives.

The well-know Austrian climber Hansjoerg Auer and his compatriots Alexander Bluemel and Gerhard Fiegl, both mountain guides from Tyrol, had tried to first climb the South Face of Nilgiri South. The Foreign Office spokesman said, he did not know whether the three climbers were on their descent from the top or turned back before reaching the summit.
The mountain was first climbed on 10 October 1978 by a Japanese expedition that was led by Kazao Mitsui, the climbers ascended from North via the East Ridge to the top. In 2003, Japanese climbers succeeded in opening a new route via the West Col and the North Face. Since the 1980s there have been several attempts by Japanese, Czech and Slowenian climbers to reach the summit of Nilgiri South via the South Face but all failed. The most successful was the try of the Slowenian team led by Tadej Golob who climbed up to an altitude of 6,600 meters until they were forced back by strong winds, fog and snowfall.

Update: A representative of the Nepalese Tourism Ministry told AFP that the missed climber was 27 years old. Hansjoerg Auer is four years older. Although the name of the victim is already circulating on the Internet, I will publish it only if it is confirmed.

Dean Potter (1972-2015)

One of the most extreme among the extreme athletes is dead. The 43-year-old American Dean Potter died in a wingsuit accident in Yosemite National Park, his 29-year- old compatriot Graham Hunt too. Both had jumped from Taft Point, an almost 2,300-meter-high view point on Saturday. Their bodies were found near a notch in a rocky ridgeline on Sunday morning. Obviously both crashed into a rock. Basejumping and wingsuit flights are prohibited in Yosemite National Park.

Always on a narrow ridge

Potter never cared about standards or what others said or thought. He was an extreme. Limits existed for him only in the sense that he wanted to overcome it. As a climber, he made two first-time solo ascents of legendary routes in Patagonia in 2002: Dean solo-climbed the “Supercanaleta” on Fitz Roy and the “Compressor Route” on Cerro Torre. But Potter’s main playground was Yosemite. On the granite walls there, he set new speed records, made free-solo-climbs or high-lined over abysses without any backup.

“Free as a raven”

Potter also fueled debates by taking his dog “Whisper” in a backpack on his basejumps and climbs. “I’m basically socially inept and can barely accomplish many rudimentary tasks of getting along in our modern world. My artist mind and athletic body leave me stranded much of the time”, Dean wrote three weeks ago. “I really don’t know how I’ve survived? Maybe it’s because I admire and study the adaptability of the forest creatures. I long to be as free as a Raven, away from cluttered normalcy and modern ‘needs’ such as screen time and conference calls. Somehow I’ve made a life of dipping my toes in icy water, feeling the lift of fresh clean air and the pull of planets overhead. Sure I lack a lot but it’s equally for sure that I Fly Free.”