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.

On Cho Oyu (8,188 m) in Tibet

China is closing Tibet for climbers for the rest of this year. “That is correct”, Dawa Steven Sherpa from the Nepalese expedition operator Asian Trekking confirms to me by email. “The Chinese authorities have decided not to issue permits for climbing in the autumn season in fear of further seismic activity telling that the mountains may be in a dangerous condition. They will issue climbing permits from 2016.” Furthermore, says Dawa Steven, the road that connects Nepal and Tibet, is still closed as it is under repair after the earthquake. “That means that equipment and logistics for the expeditions would not be possible to be transported via Nepal.”

Xi comes

Shishapangma (8,027 m) in Tibet

The Swiss operator Kari Kobler has abandoned the expeditions to the eight-thousanders Cho Oyu and Shishapangma that he had initially scheduled for next fall. Apart from the earthquake damage on the road to Tibet Kari tells me another reason for China not to issue permits: “The Chinese president will visit Tibet in the first two weeks of September.” 50 years ago, in September 1965, China had declared the previously occupied Tibet an “Autonomous Region”. The Chinese government will celebrate itself with some events in Tibet, probably with a large contingent of security forces to nip potential protests by Tibetans in the bud – especially when President Xi Jingping shows up in person. Foreign eyewitnesses have already been undesirable on similar occasions in the past. This is probably the main reason for giving no permits to expeditions next fall, as the example of International Mountain Guides (IMG) shows. Due to the earthquake damage in Nepal, the US operator had planned to travel directly via the Tibetan capital Lhasa to Cho Oyu, but did not get a permit too, with reference to the jubilee events in Tibet.

Alternative destination Manaslu

Manaslu (8,163 m) in Nepal

“Due to the current political fragility of Tibet we are unable to obtain guaranteed access for expeditions”, also the New Zealand operator Himalayan Experience informs. Himex has replaced the expedition to Cho Oyu by one to Manaslu in Nepal. The eighth highest mountain in the world is a popular alternative destination in case that China is closing the borders to Tibet. Already in fall 2012, many operators had offered expeditions to Manaslu instead of the cancelled one to the Tibetan eight-thousanders. The base camp at the foot of the “Mountain of the Spirit” might become crowded. Teams of many western operators (including the German operator Amical alpin) will set off to Manaslu in the upcoming post-monsoon period. Despite the earthquake with nearly 9,000 registered deaths and more than 22,000 injured, the Nepalese authorities have no doubt to issue permits for eight-thousander expeditions.

Update: Dan Mazur from the operator Summit Climb has informed me that they also have moved all their Cho Oyu and Shishapangma teams for this fall to Manaslu: “We were informed by our contact at the CTMA that because of the magnitude 8.1 devastating earthquake, the authoritative geologists in China surveyed the mountains. They decided that it is unsuitable to climb this year.”

Ceremony at Bhaktapur

When can you call it normality again after a state of emergency? Obviously it depends on the way of perception. “Nepal is safe, don’t worry! This is our clear message for today”, said Bhesh Narayan Dahal, head of the governmental department that is responsible for the preservation of the world heritage sites of Nepal, at the beginning of the week. Temples in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, which had been badly damaged by the earthquake on 25 April, were re-opened with a ceremony. But even the government seems to feel uneasy about it. There are plans to provide safety helmets for visitors. “We are urging the people to come to Nepal for holiday to help Nepal rebuild”, the new Tourism Minister Kripa Sur Sherpa said during the ceremony in Bhaktapur.

The disaster after the disaster

Trekking on the Annapurna Circuit

The country strongly relies on the income from tourism. If the tourism market slumps, it would be the disaster after the disaster. It does not need to happen. After all, there are trekking areas in Nepal that have been hardly affected by the earthquake. This applies, for example, to the Dolpo area in the far west of the country, most parts of the Annapurna Circuit, to Kangchenjunga trekking or Everest Base Camp trek that should be passable next fall too. Only the trekking routes in the particularly hard-hit regions Langtang and Gorkha should be out of the race.

Travel warnings barely updated

You won’t find a differentiated picture about the situation in the regions of Nepal on the websites of most Western governments. The foreign ministries of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Austria and Germany advise against all but essential travel to Nepal. Partially the travel warnings have remained unchanged for weeks. The advice of the US government was last updated on 1 May, Austria’s on 7 May – Germany’s on 26 May, i.e. more than three weeks ago.

I asked the German Foreign Office, whether there was any plan to publish a more differentiated assessment of the situation and if so, when. I thought it was a really clear question. But the answer was anything but clear. “The travel and safety advices and possibly travel warnings (…) are based on all available and trustworthy information that the Foreign Ministry has”, it was stated in Berlin. Travelers should be put in a position “to decide for themselves whether to undertake a journey or not. The Foreign Office is checking the travel and safety advices regularly, also those for Nepal. Current events (…) are taken into account immediately.”

Dominik Mueller: “Clients are extremely unsettled”

On Everest Base Camp Trek

If it was really like that, it would mean that there has been no development in Nepal during the last three weeks. Instead, we are getting day by day a clearer picture which areas were particularly hard-hit by the earthquake and which escaped even remotely unscathed. Furthermore Nepalese people work at high pressure to restore streets and trekking paths. “There are many regions in Nepal regions that you can travel to without any restriction and where is virtually no damage”, Dominik Mueller, head of the German expedition and trekking operator Amical alpin, writes to me. “Clients are extremely unsettled by such blanket travel warnings. This helps neither Nepal nor the travel industry and the operators. Reliable operators will not send clients to dangerous areas, but from today’s perspective, many parts of Nepal are safe and can be visited almost without restrictions.” Amical could operate all treks and expeditions in Nepal that were offered before the earthquake, says Dominik, “if clients decide to travel to Nepal.”

Pilots in continous operation

All climbers from the high camps on Mount Everest are safe. In the morning the last 17 climbers, who had been stranded at Camp 1 at 6,100 meters, nine Sherpas and eight foreigners, were flown down to the valley by helicopter. An official of the Nepalese Tourism Ministry said, more than 200 climbers had been rescued on Everest. It was the most extensive rescue operation in the history of high altitude mountaineering. According to department reports, at least 19 climbers, including five foreign nationals, have been confirmed dead in two avalanches. It seems that this figure also includes three Sherpas who reportedly died in the Khumbu Icefall during an aftershock on Sunday.

Messner: “Two-class rescue”

Reinhold Messner

Discussions were caused bay a statement of climbing legend Reinhold Messner. The 70-year-old South Tyrolean sees a two-class rescue in Nepal. “It’s cynical that there is such a hype about the climbers on Mount Everest, who can buy this climb for 80,000 to 100,000 dollars”, Messner said in a German radio interview. There were enough doctors and food on Everest, Messner added. Furthermore the mountaineers could fly out by helicopter. Elsewhere, the aid was needed more urgent: “A much bigger disaster happened in the Kathmandu Valley and in the canyons around the capital.”

That’s true, of course, but in contrast to this area, helicopter rescue on Everest has been established for several years. It just runs like clockwork. Furthermore, not all climbers who were rescued were rich men or women from abroad, but also less well-off Sherpas – many of them injured. Any rescue of a person, whether with a big or small budget, is good news. And I’m sure that the helicopter rescue pilots now fly on to other regions in order to help. My thanks and respect to all these pilots who were deployed tirelessly – and to all the others who lend their helping hands during the rescue.

German operator Amical abandons expeditions in Tibet

In the Chinese Base Camp on the Tibetan north side of Everest the discussions between Chinese officials and expedition leaders continue. An end of all expeditions is still possible. The Chinese government fears further aftershocks. The office of German expedition operator Amical alpin informed me, that its Everest expedition in Tibet was abandoned. Expedition leader Dominik Mueller wants to stay at base camp for the present and then accompany the Sherpas of his team back to Kathmandu. Amical also stopped his Cho Oyu expedition referring to an order of the Chinese government.

Kokodak Dome

Time so say hello again. I hope you didn’t worry about me, I am still alive. The reason why you did not read anything in English in my blog during the last weeks is that I was on expedition in the Northwest of China. Sorry, I was fully stretched climbing and writing my blog in German. I joined an AMICAL expedition to the previous unclimbed 7129-meter-high Kokodak Dome, also known as Kokodak II. The peak is part of the Kongur Range in the Kunlun mountains in the region Xinjiang. Kokodak I (or Kokodak Peak), which is 81 meters higher, was firstly climbed by a Russian team in 2006. Our expedition was led by Luis Stitzinger. The 45-year-old prominent German climber has already summited six 8000ers, five of them together with his wife Alix von Melle. Our team consisted of 13 clients from Germany and Austria – and of Chhongba Sherpa and Singi Lama, two Climbing Sherpas from Nepal.

Impressed by the first glance

At the beginning of our expedition we spent three days in the beautiful Kyrgyz mountains near the old caravanserai Tash Rabat. We were sleeping in a yurt camp at 3000 meters and hiking up to a height of 4000 meters for acclimatization. Then we crossed the border to China and after a short stopover in the town of  Kashgar we headed to “our” mountain which is located right opposite the 7546-meter-high Mustagh Ata. After having arrived at the Karakul lake we took a first glance at Kokodak Dome. I was really impressed looking at this big mountain and at the route that we planned to climb.

Acclimatization climbs

Camp 1

Two days later we reached our basecamp at 4300 meters, the same place the Russians had chosen in 2006. A cairn reminded of their successful climb of Kokodak Peak. We were the only expedition on the mountain. During the next ten days, we made several trips further up, setting up an Intermediate Camp at 4850 meters, where we slept once for better acclimatization, then Camp 1 on an exposed ridge at 5525 meters and finally Camp 2 at 6300 meters. Chhongba and Singi were fixing ropes on the riskiest parts of the route. Above our Intermediate Camp, it steepened considerably, leading through scree fields into more and more snow-covered areas.

Like the Bianco Ridge

Snow ridge

Above Camp 1 we had to climb via a steep and exposed snow ridge comparable with the famous Bianco Ridge on Piz Bernina in Switzerland. Further up there were slopes with deep snow and we had to circumvent some crevasses and seracs. Up to about 6000 meters we followed, on the whole, the route of the Russians who had made the first ascent of the nearby Kokodak Peak in 2006, above Camp 2 we would enter new territory.

Starting into the unknown

Mustagh Ata at sunrise

The weather during the first one and a half weeks was perfect: sunshine, little wind, no snowfall. And the forecast predicted no change of conditions. So we decided to start our summit attempt from basecamp on 22 July. The stages were long and challenging, but we were in good shape and well acclimatized. As scheduled we climbed up to Camp 1 on the 22th and to Camp 2 on the 23th. The weather was still fine, we were enjoying the amazing view to Mustagh Ata and down to the valley. From Camp 2, we could not see the summit, only the next steep slope. Thus we could only hope that the snow up to the highest point was not too deep and that we would not be stopped by large crevasses.

Looking for the highest

On the summit

On 24 July we started at 3 a.m. In contrast to the previous days, it was cloudy and windy, but despite the early hour not too cold. Having climbed the first slope our team was dividing in three groups, in front our strongest climbers with expedition leader Luis, who were breaking the trail through the partly knee-deep snow. I belonged to the second somewhat slower group. “We can see the summit for the first time”, Luis told us via radio at about 8 a.m. That was rather prematurely, because further up on the slope he had to realize that there were three peaks at approximately the same level. They had to find out by GPS which was the highest. At 9 a.m. the first group reached the summit. We followed at 9.45, the third group at about 10.30.

Like a clockwork

Our successful team

When I was on top, clouds were passing the summit at a great speed. I had been hoping to take a view down to the Taklan Makan, but all I saw were clouds. There were strong gusts. Luis later estimated the speed at 60 to 80 kph. These conditions were not encouraging us to stay on the summit for a long time. We took some pics and hurried to climb down again. Some members of the first group arrived at the basecamp on the same day, the others and I followed the day after. All 16 members of the team have reached the 7129-meter-high summit of Kokodak Dome. “I was absolutely happy that all of us were on top”, said our expedition leader Luis. “Of course it’s twice as nice, because it was a first ascent. Our expedition has run like a clockwork.”

The names of all climbers (in alphabetical order): Chhongba Sherpa, Sven Deutschmann, Edith and Richard Goldeband,  André Guenzel, Josef Kirchner, Manuel Moeller, Stefan Nestler, Eva-Maria Ramsebner, Volker Schuhmann, Juergen Schuetz, Singi Lama, Luis Stitzinger, Johannes Strohmaier, Ursula Teichmann, Jan Wienands.

Nanga Parbat

The Taliban attack on the basecamp at the Diamir side of Nanga parbat has left even Pakistan experts stunned. „We have been caught cold“, Eberhard Andres told me. He is working for the German trekking agency Hauser Exkursionen and is responsible for trips to Pakistan. „It was really the first time that something like this has happened.“ Last weekend Taliban terrorists had attacked the Diamir basecamp and killed eleven climbers: three Chinese, three Ukrainians, two Slovaks, a Lithuanian, a Nepalese and a Pakistani. The attack was of „a completely new quality“, Dominik Müller, head of the agency Amical Alpin, said to me. Swiss expedition organizer Kari Kobler is shocked as well: „We knew that Pakistan can be a dangerous place. But not in the north!“ All of them expect negative consequences for mountain tourism in Pakistan, which had just began to get back on its feet after lean years as a result of the tense political situation. 

Nanga Parbat expedition 2014 will be cancelled

„The assassination changed the whole situation,“ Kari Kobler said. „This is really bad for Pakistan.” He has heard that the army would send 70,000 more troops to the region. „But that’s just a drop in the ocean.“ Kari told me that he fortunately had no clients on Nanga Parbat just now. „We will cancel the planned expedition to the mountain in 2014. You can not do that.“

Hauser has to react more quickly. Actually on 8th July a group should start to Pakistan to trek around Nanga Parbat. „It doesn’t make sense now to take any risk on Nanga Parbat“, Eberhard Andres said. He is in contact with the clients to look for alternatives. „But it would be wrong to say we close the chapter Pakistan for years.“ According to Andres trips to Pakistan were „fully booked“ in 2013. The fascinating mountains of the Karakoram had increasingly been considered as an insider tip among trekkers and as an alternative to the classic routes in Nepal. „It has gotten about that one did not feel endangered on the spot.“

Police escort on Karakoram Highway

But this feeling could now be lost on Nanga Parbat. „We have to wait and see what the Pakistani government is doing,“ Dominik Müller said. The head of Amical had visited Nanga Parbat previously three years ago and had felt the situation in the Diamir valley to be problematic. „There were conflicts between the clans.“ Dominik said, there was no military post in the region. „An officer was referred to us but didn’t accompany us to the mountain.“ Due to this experience Müller had not taken Nanga Parbat into the Amical program for 2013. „For me the region seemed to be too hot.“ Dominik told me that this year for the first time all expedition groups had got police escorts on the Karakoram Highway in the area around the town of Chilas near Nanga Parbat.

If possible by plane

The organizers from Germany and Switzerland point out that the situation in the more northern areas, around the other four 8000ers of Pakistan, is still safe. The local agencies were now trying to take all mountaineers and trekkers from Islamabad directly by plane to the city of Skardu and back – instead of using buses on the Karakoram Highway. The German Foreign Office has issued a „partial travel warning“ after the attack on Nanga Parbat. The goverment in Berlin advises tourists „to inform themselves fully on the current security situation with Pakistan’s tour operators and authorities before traveling to Gilgit-Baltistan.“

Shishapangma (8027 m)

The sad news from the Himalayas don’t stop. On the 8000er Shishapangma in Tibet a German climber died of a high altitude cerebral edema. The expedition agency Amical alpin informed that the climber from the Bavarian region Chiemgau had belonged to a group of six members who, together with expedition leader Thomas Laemmle and their Climbing Sherpa Pasang, had reached the 8013-meter-high central summit of Shishapangma on 10th May. While descending the climber at first had shown symptoms of a high altitude pulmonary edema.

Abseiled down to 7500 metres

„An immediate treatment with emergency medicine as well as the descent initially showed little effect,” Amical said. Thomas Laemmle, a sports scientist very experienced in high altitude medicine, decided to send the other members ahead to the lower camp. He wanted to lead down the altitude-sick climber slowly, on short rope. The following night the climber also showed symptoms of a cerebral edema. Laemmle administered an emergency medicine immediately. Until next morning he was able to abseil the climber to a height of 7500 metres. But the efforts to save the mountaineer’s life were unsuccessful. „A tent and bottled oxygen were already on the way up the mountain, but on 11th May at 11:23 he died in the arms of the expedition leader”, Amical announced.

Everest ascent cancelled

Due to the rescue Thomas Laemmle also got a high altitude pulmonary edema and frostbites at his toes. „Both are not so bad – now I’ve been in a hospital in Kathmandu – but an ascent of Everest without oxygen will not be possible”, Laemmle wrote in his blog. He had already reached the main summit of Shishapangma on 30th April. Initially Laemmle wanted to climb four 8000ers within four months: after Shishapangma he planned to scale Mount Everest and afterwards in the Karakoram Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I. Laemmle now wants to recover and set off for the two Gasherbrums on 8th June.