Upper slopes on Cho Oyu

The good news first: The finished spring season in the Himalayas has shown that coordinated rescue operations for climbers in serious trouble are also possible in Tibet. For example, the Chinese authorities even allowed the use of Nepalese rescue helicopters in the case of the Bulgarian Boyan Petrov, missing on the eight-thousander Shishapangma. At the same time, a team consisting of three Sherpas and three Chinese climbers, was searching for Boyan directly on the mountain’s slopes. Unfortunately in vain. But the cooperation between Nepalese and Tibetan rescuers could have set standards for the future. Also on the 8,188-meter high Cho Oyu, a three-person Chinese-Tibetan rescue team was deployed immediately after an emergency call. Now for the bad news: As with Petrov, there was no happy ending in this case too. And the world hasn’t heard about it either –till today.

“His body is still there”

Atanas Skatov on Cho Oyu

The Bulgarian climber Atanas Skatov informed me that a South Korean member of his team died in Camp 1 on 15 May. Skatov had climbed Cho Oyu on 13 May without bottled oxygen – for the 40-year-old it was his sixth of the 14 eight-thousanders. Like him, the young Korean was a member of the team of the Nepalese expedition operator “Satori”, wrote Atanas. “I was the last person to talk with him on 14 May at 1 pm in Camp 2 at 7,150 meters.” At that time, the Korean was in good shape and said that he wanted to follow Skatov to Camp 1 later. According to Atanas, however, he did not arrive there. The team’s expedition cook then alerted the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA). That same evening, three rescuers arrived and ascended to Camp 2 on 15 May. Skatov had already gone to the Tibetan city of Tingri at that time. “In the evening I was informed that the rescuers had found the Korean in Camp 2 and helped him to descend to Camp 1. That’s where he died. And his body is still there,” wrote Skatov.

Expedition operator confirms the reports

R.I.P.

A French climber largely confirmed this information to Billi Bierling from the chronicle “Himalayan Database”: the Korean had been “very unwell” and “apparently” had died in Camp 1 on 15 May. At that time, the German expedition leader Felix Berg of the operator “Summit Climb” was already on his return journey after his summit success (also without bottled oxygen). But his group had also met the Korean on the mountain. “When we came down from the summit, he turned around at about 7,850 meters,” Felix wrote to me. Later it was said that the Korean was still in Camp 2, two versions were circulating: He had run out of strength and had problems to descend. The other one, according to Felix, was: “He wants to make another summit attempt – without descent!” I have asked the expedition operator Satori several times for a comment and today finally got a reply: The 28-year-old Korean Park Shin-yong had passed away on Cho Oyu on 16 May, Rishi Bhandari, head of the company, wrote to me: “We are unable to save him because he was so weak and tired.”

South side of Mount Everest

Mount Everest was scaled for the first time in this spring season. Today, eight climbers from Nepal reached the highest point at 8,850 meters after climbing up on the south side of the mountain. Pasang Tenjing Sherpa, Pasdawa Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, Jen Jen Lama, Siddi Bahadur Tamang, Pemba Chhiri Sherpa, Tenzing Gyaljen Sherpa and Datuk Bhote fixed ropes up to the summit, paving the way for the clients of the commercial expedition teams.

“Man without fingers” on top of Annapurna

Kim Hong-bin

The summit success of South Korean Kim Hong-bin is reported from Annapurna. For the 53-year-old, it is the twelfth eight-thousander. In 1991, Kim suffered severe frostbite at Alaska’s highest mountain, 6,190-meter-high Denali, and all ten fingers had to be amputated. He was accompanied on the Annapurna by four Sherpas.

No trace of Petrov

R.I.P.

Meanwhile, the partner of the Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov, who has been missing for ten days on the eight-thousander Shishapangma, has asked to stop the search for the 45-year-old above Camp 3. That’s too dangerous for the rescuers, Radoslava Nenova wrote on Facebook. Reportedly, the Sherpa team nevertheless wants to climb up to the summit on Monday if the weather permits. Petrov had set off for a summit attempt on 29 April, alone and without bottled oxygen. He had already scaled ten of the 14 eight-thousanders without breathing mask. He is the most successful high altitude climber of Bulgaria.

Rescue helicopters from Nepal at the foot of Shishapangma

Nobody puts it bluntly. But to be honest, the hope of finding the most successful Bulgarian high altitude climber Boyan Petrov alive on the eight-thousander Shishapangma in Tibet is beginning to fade. On 3 May, nine days ago, the 45-year-old was last seen by telescope from the base camp. Since then, there has been no trace of Boyan. Bad weather had delayed the rescue operation for days. On Saturday, two helicopters of the Nepali company Simrik Air, specialized in rescue operations, started to search for Petrov. Without success. What the crew members found, photographed and filmed as “suspicious objects” near Camp 3 at an altitude of about 7,300 meters, turned out to be stones and rocks when the material was subsequently viewed. The helicopter teams had to return to the Nepalese capital because the fuel ran out. “We are standby at Kathmandu for the same mission,” Simrik Air said. Also the rescue team on the slopes on the mountain, three Sherpas and three Chinese climbers, have not yet found Petrov. The rescuers were spending the night in Camp 2. On Sunday, the search is to be continued.

On top of ten eight-thousanders

Boyan had set off for a summit attempt on 29 April, alone and without bottled oxygen. Petrov has already climbed ten of the 14 eight-thousanders, all of them without breathing mask. In the past two years alone, he had succeeded five summit successes on the highest mountains in the world: In 2016 on Annapurna, Makalu and Nanga Parbat, in 2017 on Gasherbrum II and Dhaulagiri. Petrov works as a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and is a specialist in wildlife in caves. The climber has survived cancer two times. As a result of chemotherapy, Boyan has been suffering from diabetes for 18 years.

Shishapangma

There is still no trace of Boyan Petrov. As reported, the most successful Bulgarian high altitude climber has been missing for days on the eight-thousander Shishapangma in Tibet. The Bulgarian government has joined the rescue operation. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said they were in constant communication with the authorities in Nepal and China, as well as with Petrov’s family. According to Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, a helicopter suitable for flights in high altitude is now available to search for the 45-year-old. Directly on the slopes of the mountain, a rescue team of three Chinese climbers and three Sherpas is in action. Despite bad weather, the rescuers had climbed to Camp 2 at 6,900 meters, it said.

Nothing is impossible

Boyan Petrov about three weeks ago

Petrov had set off on 29 April for a solo attempt without bottled oxygen. Six days ago, on 3 May, he was last sighted by telescope from the base camp, roughly at the level of Camp 3 at about 7,300 meters. Last Saturday, another team arrived at the high camp and found Boyan’s half-open tent, with his sleeping bag inside. Petrov has already scaled ten of the 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen. His partner Radoslava Nenova still hopes that Boyan is alive and can be rescued: “In a world full of possibilities, do not tell me something is impossible,” she wrote on Facebook. So keep your fingers crossed for Boyan!

Update 11 Mai: Two helicopters of the Nepali company Simrik Air , which is specialized on mountain rescue, flew to Tibet to Shishapangma Base Camp today. They are to be involved in the search for Petrov.

Boyan Petrov some weeks ago in Kathmandu

The most successful Bulgarian high altitude climber, Boyan Petrov, has been missing for several days on the eight-thousander Shishapangma in Tibet. This was confirmed today by his partner Radoslava Nenova on Facebook. According to her, a search for Petrov is to begin tomorrow. Previously, the team of the Hungarian climber David Klein reported that the 45-year-old Bulgarian had set off on 29 April for a solo attempt without bottled oxygen. On 3 May, last Thursday, Petrov was seen from base camp by telescope at the level of Camp 3. On Saturday, an Ukrainian and three Sherpas reached Camp 3 at about 7,400 meters and found Boyan’s semi-open tent with his sleeping bag, covered in snow. Obviously, Petrov had left for the summit.

Ten eight-thousanders without breathing mask

Shishapangma

Petrov wished to scale his eleventh eight-thousander, the 8,027-meter-high Shishapangma, like the ten others before without breathing mask. Subsequently he wanted to move on to Everest. In the past two years alone, Boyan had succeeded five summit successes on the highest mountains in the world: In 2016 on Annapurna, Makalu and Nanga Parbat, in 2017 on Gasherbrum II and Dhaulagiri. Petrov works as a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and is a specialist in wildlife in caves. The climber has survived cancer two times. As a result of chemotherapy, Boyan has been suffering from diabetes for 18 years.

Burke Khang

The very big point was missing. The 6,942-meter-high Burke Khang was successfully first climbed – but Bill Burke, the man after whom the mountain in the Gokyo Valley near Mount Everest is named, was not at the top. According to the Nepali expedition operator Asian Trekking, the Northern Irishman Noel Hanna and the Sherpas Naga Dorje Sherpa, Pemba Tshering Sherpa and Samden Bhote reached the summit of Burke Khang on Thursday. Bill had ascended up to Camp 1 but had decided not to climb higher, it said. Bummer! He would have deserved to be among the first ascenders, just only because of his persistance. For the fourth time – after in fall 2015 and 2016 and in spring 2017 – the 75-year-old American had traveled to Burke Khang. The previous attempts had failed due to bad weather or dangerous conditions on the mountain.

Late career as high altitude climber

Bill Burke

Bill had become a climber in the senior age after a successful career as a lawyer. Aged 67, he had scaled Mount Everest from the Nepalese south side, aged 72, from the Tibetan north side. Four days before his second Everest coup, the government in Kathmandu had announced that the then unclimbed almost seven-thousander near Mount Everest was now called Burke Khang. “I was never given a reason for this generous action“, Bill said in an interview on the website pythom.com in 2015.

Hanna was eight times on top of Everest

Noel Hanna, who was now successful on Burke Khang, is an experienced mountain guide. The 50-year-old, who was born in Northern Ireland and lives in South Africa, has scaled Mount Everest eight times, twice with his wife Lynn. They were the first couple to reach the highest of all summits both from the north and south. Noel has scaled the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of all continents, and is also a successful ultra mountain runner.

Summit successes on Dhaulagiri

Dhaulagiri

After the Spaniard Carlos Soria had failed on the 8,167-meter-high Dhaulagiri this fall, summit successes have now been reported from the seventh-highest mountain on earth. On 29 September, the Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov stood on the top of Dhaulagiri. For the 44-year-old, it was his tenth eight-thousander. Two days later, on 1 October, the Russian climber Yuri Kruglov and Ang Phurba Sherpa as well as a little bit later Dendi Sherpa reached the summit.