Charly Gabl

“I’ve got some more gray hair,” said Karl, called “Charly” Gabl. “It was terrible.” The world-famous meteorologist from Austria was talking about the freak weather on Mount Everest during this spring season, which had made predictions as difficult as rarely before. Once again, Charly had pulled numerous all-nighters to advise top climbers from all over the world who trust him almost unconditionally. “The one computer model showed two and a half meters of fresh snow during a week, another one no precipitation. Which one should I take?”

Traditional good weather window stayed away

Hans Wenzl was among those who reached the top of Everest without bottled oxygen

This year, there had been simply no longer period of good weather on Everest, the meanwhile 70-year-old told me when I met him last weekend at the trade fair “Outdoor” in the German town of Friedrichshafen. “Normally we have a few days in a row between 15 and 25 May without jet stream, with relatively high temperatures and best conditions, this time not. Instead cumulus clouds, in the morning sunshine, in the afternoon again and again precipitation.” How unpredictable the weather was this season, proved the last weekend of May: Eight climbers set off towards the summit without bottled oxygen. Only three of them reached the highest point without using breathing masks, in worse weather than predicted.

Father-to-children relationship

Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the balance of climbers he had been advising, said Gabl. Thus the blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer had reached the top of Everest, the German David Goettler had climbed through the Shishapangma South Face. “Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro were insofar successful that they did not have to make the Kangchenjunga traverse and returned home healthy.” Charly fears with the extreme climbers. “They’re friends. I have almost a father-to-children relationship to them. I look after them, I am happy if they are successful and stay healthy.”

Climate change says hi

K 2

Gabl is again advising some climbers during the current summer season on the eight-thousanders in Pakistan, among others on K 2, the second highest mountain on earth. Do the summit aspirants – like in the past years – have to reckon with high temperatures in the Karakoram? “I believe that the generally accepted climate warming, which Donald Trump has not yet noticed, does affect mountains and glaciers,” replied the meteorologist. “Rockfall has increased.” Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had already pointed out after their failed attempts on the Pakistani south side of K 2 some years ago that the Abruzzi Spur, actually the normal route, had become life-threatening, said Charly, adding that also the Cesen Route via the Southsoutheast Ridge, which was considered to be safer, “is meanwhile with all guns blazing. There is rock and icefall. The climate warming doesn’t stop at any mountains of the world.”

Thomas Laemmle on top of Mount Everest

He has a written proof. The China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) certificated that Thomas Laemmle reached the summit of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen on 23 May. As reported before, the German was among a handful of climbers who made it to the highest point at 8,850 meters without breathing mask this spring. “Finally, I took four breaths per step,” Thomas writes to me from Kathmandu, where he is waiting for the flight home. “But I was not at my limit. I was able to enjoy the climb, because it was almost windless and relatively warm. Unfortunately, the summit was wrapped in a cloud.”

Planned proposal

Per SMS and picture

On the top of Everest, he was even able to take off his gloves and write two SMS, says the 50-year-old. In one of them he asked his girlfriend Heike for her hand. The marriage proposal was not spontaneous but planned for a long time: “Otherwise I would not have had the sign with me.” Later Thomas took a picture of it on the highest point on earth. Actually, Laemmle had already planned to climb Cho Oyu and Everest without oxygen in 2015. “After four weeks the earthquake in Nepal put a spoke in my wheel,” writes Thomas.

Two summit attempts on Cho Oyu

Training on Kilimanjaro

This year again the sports scientist, who is living in the German town of Waldburg in Baden-Wuerttemberg, first went to Cho Oyu for acclimatization. Previously he had already breathed thin air on 5895-meter-high Kilimanjaro in March. He had reached the summit of the highest mountain in Africa three times within a week. On Cho Oyu, he made two summit attempts along with a friend, Laemmle reports. The first one on 7 May ended at 7,500 meters, the second one on 13 May in difficult conditions at 7,850 meters. “My friend was aware that we had only the first half of May for climbing Cho Oyu. I did the guiding for free.”

Terribly cold

Thomas, in the background Cho Oyu

Well-acclimatized, Thomas reached Everest Base Camp on 16 May. His plan: regeneration below 5,700 meters regenerate and then directly the summit attempt. To avoid being stuck in traffic jams on the Northeast Ridge – “About 100 climbers were waiting in the wings.” – Laemmle, in consultation with the Austrian meteorologist Charly Gabl, decided to make his final summit push on 23 May – two days after the date that most of the other mountaineers on the north side of Everest had chosen. But there were also some traffic jams on 23 May, says Thomas: “Until sunrise on the ridge at 5.30 a.m., I was terribly cold due to lack of oxygen. My boot heater was running on full blast. Then I finally found a sunlit rock on which I could wait until the jam at Second Step had dissolved.” There were two more short jams behind this key point. Finally, he reached the summit at 2 p.m. – as last climber from the north side. An hour later, Thomas started his descent.

Concern for fingers and toes

Certificate of the Tibetan Mountaineering Association

In the evening, in Camp 3 at 8,300 meters, it began to snow, and snow penetrated into the tent. “Shortly thereafter, the stove was not working any more,” says Laemmle. “I had no chance to do something against dehydration. In order to prevent a pulmonary edema, I spent the night sitting in the tent and awake.” When it got warm again the next morning, he managed to light the stove and melt snow for half a liter of water. However, because strong wind was predicted, he finally breathed bottled oxygen. “I thought the risk of frostbite due to dehydration and strong wind was too great,” writes Thomas. “I decided to use the emergency oxygen to save fingers and toes from frostbite during the descent.” At an altitude of 7,400 meters, the bottle was empty. From there, he continued to descend without supplementary oxygen again.

Not on the list

Lammle’s success will hardly be listed in Everest statistics as an ascent without bottled oxygen because he used a breathing mask on his descent. It doesn’t make any difference to Thomas. He will return home physically unharmed. And after all, he has a certificate that he made it to the summit of Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen.

Charly Gabl

“I’m retired, but not tired or unhappy”, says Karl, called “Charly” Gabl. “You should not slow down from hundred to one. As on the road, that would be fatal.” Four years ago, the Austrian meteorologist retired, but the 68-year-old weatherman is still advising many professional climbers during their expeditions in the Himalayas or Karakoram. “I’m doing this voluntarily. For example last summer, I advised the Huber brothers on Latok I where they did not succeed due to the warm weather and were almost killed by an ice avalanche”, Gabl told me when I met him at the Alpine Trade Fair in Innsbruck last weekend.

“No one is immune from stumbling”

The Austrian team led by Hansjoerg Auer that first climbed the South Face of the 6,839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif at the end of October, had previously seeked advice from Charly too. On the descent – as reported – Gerry Fiegl, obviously suffering vom altitude sickness, lost his balance and fell to death. The weather was not to blame for the accident, says Gabl: “There was no precipitation, it was sunny, even though there was a strong wind. But stumbling is always possible.” Charly cites the example of a mountain guide colleague who fell to death on Annapurna Fang, a secondary peak of the eight-thousander, because his crampons entangled in his gaiters.“No one is immune from stumbling. This is one of the the biggest dangers in the mountains”, says Gabl.

Most accidents while hiking

The Tirolyan should know. For ten years now, he has been president of the “Austrian Council for Alpine Safety”. More and more people are killed in mountain accidents in the Alps. This is mainly due to the fact that so many people are going to the mountains, Gabl explains, adding that their number has finally increased tenfold since the 1950s. “Most of the dead are hikers, half of them dying after heart attacks. But it is precisely the hikers who are predestined to slip or stumble.”

Travel to Nepal!

Summit of Sarbibung (centre)

Why do professional climbers still contact him to get weather forecasts? “Because I am a high altitude climber too and know what the point is”, says Charly Gabl. In 1970, he skied down Noshaq (7,492 m), the highest mountain in Afghanistan, for the first time ever. “I have scaled almost 50 summits higher than 5,000 meters so far”, says the famous weatherman. Three years ago, he, aged 65, climbed to the top of Putha Hiunchuli (called Dhaulagiri VII too, 7,246 m) in Nepal (where, incidentally, I myself had to turn around in 2011, about a hundred meters below the summit). Just recently, Charly was back in Nepal again and reached the highest point of Saribung Peak (6,328 m), during a trek through the ancient kingdom of Mustang. “What a beautiful summit”, Charly enthuses about his trip to Nepal. Despite the devastating earthquake six months ago, the infrastructure was working properly, says Charlie. Everything was well organized. “I can only say: Guys, travel to Nepal! During these 18 days, I and my wife ensured jobs for ten people. This is very important.”

Ralf (during his first exploring trip)

That was not for the faint-hearted. “We have set off two big snow slabs”, says Ralf Dujmovits via satellite phone after returning to basecamp. In addition a large avalanche went down. “That has finished Darek off.” His Polish friend Dariusz Zaluski was pretty much in the bag, he had retreated into the tent immediately. After the night in the tent at 4900 meters Ralf and Darek had climbed up through the icefall on the Messner route. “We have made good progress”, says Ralf. “At 5500 meters we have made a depot. The location is also good for a camp.”

Up to the hips

Way back to basecamp

The way back was not only worrying but extremely exhausting. “The tracking job downwards was harder than upwards. Again and again we broke into snow holes up to our hips.” Because it has begun to snow again and the wind is still blowing strongly, now one or two rest days are planned at basecamp. Also the next time Ralf wants to climb up to the depot together with Darek. “The crevasses filled with snow make the lower part of the route very dangerous. You have to move roped up.” For the first days of the new year meteorologist Charly Gabl is predicting lower wind speeds and “partly cloudy, sunny and dry” weather. The temperature at the summit is expected to increase from minus 44 degrees Celsius on New Year’s Day to minus 38 degrees.

No competition

Ralf has no contact to the Polish winter expedition on the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat. He is considering neither the Polish climbers as competitors nor Italian Simone Moro and German David Goetler, who meanwhile have arrived in Pakistan too. “I have previously asked Simone and David which route they want to take”, says Ralf. “Under no circumstances I wanted to get into a competitive situation. I had my plan for a winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with prior acclimatization on Aconcagua in mind for many years.”

P.S. Ralf has not yet transmitted new images. Therefore I took these pictures taken during his first exploring trip.

Ready packed, for nothing

It is in the nature of plans that they sometimes have to be knocked on the head. Actually Ralf Dujmovits and Darek Zaluski wanted to climb up the Diamir face of Nanga Parbat today to bivouac at an altitude of 4850 meters and to look from there for a first camp on the Messner route. But this did not happen. When the two climbers met in the morning at the appointed hour, Darek told Ralf that it would be better if he stayed in basecamp. The climber from Poland has been infected by a gastrointestinal virus, a diet with rice and tea was necessary. “Meanwhile he’s already much better”, says Ralf in the (Pakistan) evening via satellite phone. “If the weather is fine, we could move up tomorrow.”

Snowfall all day

Minus 18 degrees Celsius

The temperature is still minus 18 degrees Celsius in the tent, outside of course a few degrees colder. His body has apparently got a bit accustomed to the permanent cold, says Ralf: “It’s crazy. On the first day at basecamp I was really cold when I made a satellite phone call outside. Now I’m sitting here without gloves.” Throughout the day it has been snowing, “not much, but constantly, about 15 centimeter of fresh snow.” Also because of the poor visibility an ascent to the planned bivouac site would have made little sense today. Finally, the 52-year-old climber wants to see exactly “how to come through the large ice barrier” before starting into the labyrinth of crevasses.

Storm at the summit

Cook Essan (l.) and kitchen helper Karim

The wind at basecamp is hardly worth mentioning, says Ralf. “But above it is blowing very strongly.” This is in line with the prediction of the Austrian meteorologist Charly Gabl who is supplying the climbers on Nanga Parbat with weather data. According to Gabl the wind at the 8125-meter-high summit will become a major storm within the next few days, with wind speeds up to 120 kilometers per hour. On the top of the mountain temperature is currently minus 43 degrees Celsius, says Gabl. Ralf realizes that he probably has to wait for a while until his first summit attempt: “The only solution is wait and see.”

P.S. Members of the Polish winter expedition on the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat have meanwhile climbed up to a height of 5500 meters.