Tomek Mackiewicz

Will his “Never again Nanga Parbat” turn into a “Now more than ever”? The Pole Tomek Mackiewicz announced that he would return to the Base Camp on the Diamir side. After their summit attempt two weeks ago, that had failed at an altitude of about 7,300 m, Tomek and his French team partner Elisabeth Revol had departed. Mackiewicz had said in an interview that after his seventh faild attempt he would definitely not try again to climb the ninth highest mountain in the world for the first time in winter and that he would perhaps even say finally good-bye to the Himalayas and the Karakoram.

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Some recovery days later that sounds quite different: “There is still a chance and I’m super acclimatized” Tomek wrote from the town of Chilas, located on the river Indus, nearly 50 kilometers from Nanga Parbat. Mackiewicz doesn’t clarify what exactly he is planning: “Secretly “ The Polish “ice warrior” (thus Polish winter climbers on the highest mountains in the world have been called for decades) apparently has regained his motivation. However, he has not enough Money. Tomek launched a crowdfunding campaign with the aim of collecting the equivalent of around 25,000 euros.

“Good communication”

Meanwhile in Base Camp on the Diamir side, Italian Daniele Nardi has denied that there are unbridgeable differences between him and the Spaniard Alex Txikon. “We have a good communication”, Daniele wrote on Facebook. He recalled that he had been on expedition with Alex already four times and that they together had reached an altitude of 7,830 meters on Nanga Parbat in 2015: “This year, I have considered him to be more than just a partner”, said Nardi. “We will find the best solution.”

Today a big avalanche swept down the Diamir slopes of Nanga Parbat. Watch the video that Simone Moro made:

Broad Peak in Pakistan

“It’s just too exciting”, says Dominik Mueller. The head of the German operator Amical alpin has called off all its expeditions and treks in Pakistan that were originally planned for the summer of 2015. “Due to the uncertain situation in Pakistan and the conflicts that flare up time and again in the areas around Gilgit and Chilas, we have reluctantly decided to take this step”, it says on Amical’s website. “We are worried about the violence of the Taliban, various subgroups and not least of religious factions. Thus we had no option.”

Warning of foreign ministries

Dominik Mueller

For this summer, Amical Alpin initially had offered commercial expeditions to the eight-thousanders Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak in Karakoram, as well as the popular trekking route across the Baltoro Glacier to Concordia with the return over Gondogoro La, a 5650-meter-high mountain pass. “It was damned hard for me to take this decision”, Dominik tells me on the phone. “The military offensive against the Taliban has increased the risk of terrorist attack”, says the 44-year-old and refers to such warnings of the foreign ministries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The demand for eight-thousander expeditions in Pakistan has been rather low, says Dominik. Many clients asked him about the security situation in the country: “I preferred to communicate openly instead of blandishing the problems and having to blame myself afterwards.” He says, he doesn’t know if other operators are also thinking about canceling their expeditions to Pakistan in 2015.

Wait and see

He might have taken another decision, if flights to the north of the country could be guaranteed, says Dominik. But it is more often the rule that flights are cancelled and therefore expedition and trekking groups have to go by jeeps or busses via the Karakoram Highway, through crisis areas such as around the town of Chilas. “We will monitor the situation and hope that the new ‘High Altitude Police Unit’ will be fully launched until next year, perhaps leading to an improved situation that allows us to offer mountain adventures in Pakistan in good conscience again”, it says on the website of Amical alpin. In June 2013, eleven mountaineers were killed by Islamist terrorists at the base camp on the Diamir side of Nanga Parbat. Tourism in Pakistan has collapsed in recent years because many tourists stay off for fear of terrorist attacks.

Update 24 March: The Broad Peak expedition of the German operator DAV Summit Club was cancelled too. “Due to the security situation, not enough people signed up for it”, says product manager Christoph Schnurr.

Police escort for mountaineers

Safety first on Nanga Parbat. “All the time we were driving on Karakoram Highway, we had a police escort,” says Ralf Dujmovits. “In front and behind of us there was a pickup each with two policemen sitting on a bench on the loading area. They held their Kalashnikovs in firing position.” Ralf calls me from Chilas, a small town on the Indus, about 50 km as the crow flies from 8000er Nanga Parbat. Because the baggage of his Polish companion Darek Zaluski did not arrive in time they had to stay in Islamabad one day longer than initially planned. On Saturday Ralf and Darek want to distribute the loads to their porters, who then shall set out to Diamir basecamp. “I think I will stay in Chilas tomorrow, because I still have to complete some formalities”, says Ralf. “If everything goes as scheduled, we will arrive at basecamp in three days.”

Policemen will stay in basecamp

At this place terrorists had shot eleven climbers at the end of June. The Diamir side had kept closed for expeditions all summer long. Dujmovits and Zaluski will be the first climbers who set up their tents at Diamir basecamp after the assassination. “Two to three policemen will accompany us”, Ralf reports. “And they will probably stay in basecamp throughout the expedition.” Ralf wants to use the first weather window to start a summit attempt. As reported the 52-year-old German has acclimatized on Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America, for three weeks. Darek Zaluski will accompany him only in the first flatter glacier sections which are heavily crevassed. Above 5000 meters Ralf wants to climb solo. There have already been 17 winter expeditions to 8125-meter-high Nanga Parbat, all failed.