R.I.P.

The two climbers Alberto Zerain and Mariano Galvan were most likely killed in an avalanche accident on Nanga Parbat. A rescue helicopter from the Pakistani army has now discovered an avalanche cone at the place from where the last signal from the GPS tracker was sent last Saturday. During two flights today the helicopter crew found no trace of the  55-year-old Spaniard Zerain and the 37-year-old Argentinian Galvan. “This situation unfortunately excludes the possibility of finding survivors,” said Alberto Zerain’s team.

Experienced eight-thousander climbers

Alberto Zerain (r.) and Mariano Galvan (l.)

Zerain and Galvan had wanted to reach the 8125-meter-high summit of Nanga Parbat via the Mazeno Ridge, which is about ten kilometers long and the longest ridge on the 14 eight-thousanders. On Friday last week, the Spaniard had last telephoned with his team. A day later, the GPS showed over six hours that Zerain and Galvan were moving across the ridge. After this, the locate point remained on the same spot. At some point, the signal from the GPS device died. Later, the GPS signal ran out.

In May, Alberto had scaled Annapurna in Nepal, his tenth eight-thousander. Mariano Galvan had reached the summits of seven eight-thousanders. Last spring, he had guided the Australian Allie Pepper on Lhotse. Pepper had not reached the summit because of health problems.

What was formerly Langtang Village

The first videos showing the disaster area provide pure horror: An entire village as erased. Except for a single house, standing directly at the slope of the mountain and being protected by an overhanging rock, a huge mudslide has destroyed or buried all buildings in Langtang Village. Until the earthquake ten days ago, about 200 people had been living in the village at about 3,500 meters, located on the very popular trekking route through the Langtang Valley. Hardly anyone survived. Around 100 bodies have been recovered, among the dead are also foreign tourists. It is presumed that at least as many corpses again are still buried under the mudslide. “It will be impossible to recover all the bodies”, said Gautam Rimal, an official in the Rasuwa district to the news agency Associated Press. Bad weather hindered the salvage operations. The number of registered deaths across Nepal has now risen to more than 7,500.

Everest season is de facto over

Everest Base Camp goes empty

In the light of tragedies such as in Langtang, reports that the climbing season on Mount Everest is de facto over, become a marginal note. As reported, the “Icefall Doctors” refused to rebuild the route through the Khumbu Icefall because they felt that the area was too dangerous due to the risk of aftershocks. The last commercial expeditions have left the Base Camp. The government has not yet officially declared the season finished, probably to avoid compensation claims. The permits, which cost $ 11,000 per expedition member, are still valid until end of May.

Last week China had closed all eight-thousanders in Tibet, including Everest, for fear of more quakes in the region. Thus for the first time since 1974, Everest could remain unclimbed in a year – unless climbers try it in fall. However, post-monsoon expeditions on Everest have gotten out of style in recent years.

South side of Mount Everest

This decision was really overdue. The Nepalese government finally decided that the permits to climb Mount Everest in 2014 remain valid until 2019. Shortly after the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall on 18 April 2014 that had killed 16 Nepalese climbers, the spring season de facto had been terminated. More than 330 foreign climbers left the highest mountain in the world, without having set foot on it. Even then government officials in Kathmandu announced that the permits for the 39 expedition groups would retain their validity for five years. However, the words were not followed by deeds. Instead, there were rumors about government plans to extend the permits only for groups. The climbing scene was outraged rightly. If in this case e.g. only one climber would have used the permit of 2014 to climb Everest in 2015, the other group members not in attendance would have been empty handed. Now, this regulation is apparently off the table.

Cheaper? No way!

Everest base camp

The climbers who had to leave Everest last year, could “come back with any company they want over the next five years”, said Nepalese Tourism Ministry spokesman, Mohan Krishna Sapkota. It seems unlikely that many Everest aspirants from last year will travel to Nepal to join the next spring season that will start in one and a half week. I think many awaited the government’s decision regarding the permits. Finally they had paid per person $ 10,000 for 2014. In any case, they’ll have to pay $ 1000 in addition now, because the government specified the fee for each Everest climber, regardless of whether he is traveling alone or in a group, at $ 11,000 form 2015 onwards. The authorities in Kathmandu sold the new regulation as discount, many media followed and spoke of “dumping prices” for Everest expeditions. This may be true for solo climbers, because they paid $ 25,000 so far. However, for groups of more than seven participants, and that’s the rule on Everest, it is more expensive since this year: $ 1000 more per member, as mentioned before.

Waiting for decision on helicopter flights

Also referring to the back and forth of the Nepalese government on the issue of the permits, the operators Peak Freaks from Canada and High Adventure Expeditions from the USA had canceled their Everest expeditions 2015. The US operator Alpenglow Expeditions switched from the Nepalese south side to the Tibetan north side of Mount Everest. Last year, the organizers had also requested to be allowed to use helicopters to transport materials to Camp 1 or 2. So far, the government has remained silent. “My feeling is that they will say no”, Guy Cotter, head of the New Zealand expedition operator Adventure Consultants, wrote to me.