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.”

David Goettler at their highest point (in the background the summit)

Only a few meters have been missing to the top, but they’ve climbed through the wall. David Goettler and Hervé Barmasse entered the Shishapangma South Face on Sunday morning and climbed in 13 hours to a point just below the 8,027-meter-high summit. “We found a last traverse of about ten meters and then five meters up to the summit too delicate due to the avalanche danger,” David writes to me after returning to the Base Camp. Originally, the 38-year-old German and his one year older climbing partner from Italy had planned to open a new route through the South Face. Like in spring 2016, when David had tried the same with the Swiss Ueli Steck, the weather conditions impeded the project.

In Ueli’s style

David Goettler (l.) and Hervé Barmasse (r.)

“We had only a very short weather window of about 24 hours with little wind and no snowfall,” writes Goettler. “That is why we decided to try to reach the summit in a very light and fast style via the Girona route.” The route was opened in 1995 by a Spanish team. Also in spring 2016, David had climbed with Steck this route, but only up to an altitude of 7,800 meters. Last February, Steck, Goettler and Barmasse had prepared for their expeditions with a joint intensive training camp in Nepal. On 30 April, Ueli had fallen to death on Nuptse. In their mind, he accompanied them through the Shishapangma South Face, says David: “It makes me happy that I made it to the top this time, in the style I’ve learned from Ueli. And that Hervé and I kept a clear head up there and forewent the last meters. These meters were simple, but in our opinion too dangerous in these conditions.”

“We want to return”

Another attempt to open a new route through the Shishapangma South Wall will not happen – at least not this year. “The weather forecast for the coming week until the end of the month is not promising. Around 27 May there will be less wind but snowfall,” writes Goettler. “That’s why we think that we have no chance for the new route. We will pack up here for this year. But we want to come back.” They both return home from Tibet satisfied, says David: “For Herve and me, it was one of the best performances we’ve ever done.”

Acclimatization climb for the Shishapangma South Face

David Goettler and Hervé Barmasse are waiting for their chance. For a good weather window, which allows them to enter the Shishapangma South Face where they – as reported before –want to climb a new route. In contrast to Mount Everest, where both sides of the mountain are overrun by hundreds of climbers, the 38-year-old German and the 39-year-old Italian are alone in their Base Camp on the south side of the Shishapangma. I sent David four questions.

David, at what stage is your expedition?

We have completed our acclimatization on 9 May. We stayed for one night on a 6,900-meter-high col (pass) to the right of Shishapangma. Now we are in the Base Camp and wait for a good weather window. We had a good look at the possibility of the new route from the Advanced Base Camp. It now depends on the weather.

David Goettler (l.) and Hervé Barmasse (r.)

How are the conditions on the mountain?

The conditions don’t seem to be so bad. They were very good on the col. Hopefully, they are just as well in the South Face. Since we want to tackle the whole thing in Alpine style, we have not yet been there.

How do you both work as a team? How is your mood?

The atmosphere is awesome and positive. We are both happy that we could sleep so well and without problems at 6,900 meters. The route up and down was a great test for the South Face. We have a lot of fun, and it’s kind of special for us to be here so alone.

When will it get really serious with the new route?

That’s hard to say. We are in constant contact with Karl Gabl (an experienced meteorologist from Austria) and hope for an early weather window. At the moment it has finally got warmer (before we had minus 13 degrees Celsius in the tent in Base Camp), and there is only little wind – however, unpredictable cloudiness and precipitation. Not much, but for us unfortunately five centimeters of fresh snow and zero visibility are really bad. Here are no fixed ropes or path markings that show us the way. Therefore, a bit of fresh snow can quickly turn into a serious danger when you are climbing in a 2000-meter-high wall.

Shishapangma South Face

This wall has enthused him. The second spring in a row, the German professional climber David Goettler will try to open a new route through the South Face of the 8027-meter-high Shishapangma in Tibet. After his failed attempt in 2016 with the Swiss Ueli Steck, the 38-year-old is now on the road with Hervé Barmasse. The 39-year-old Italian is a very experienced climber who has made headlines in recent years, especially with new routes on his home mountain, the Matterhorn. Hervé has also succeeded spectacular first ascents in the Karakoram and in Patagonia. Barmasse has not yet scaled an eight-thousander. I got a hold of Goettler on the phone, just before his departure to the Himalayas, on the way to the airport.

David, you’re just on your way to Nepal. What is your feeling?

David Goettler

I am very, very positive and totally motivated. I think I have rarely invested so much time, training and preparation for an expedition. There could be a new route on an eight-thousander. I’ve been on Shishapangma South Face last year and know what it looks like there, and it’s absolutely possible. I feel quite tense, but in a very positive sense.

You trained intensively in the Khumbu area in February, along with Hervé Barmasse and Ueli Steck. Has this special pre-training in Nepal proven successful from your point of view?

Only when we are back from the Khumbu in two weeks, I’ll be able to say whether it really has paid off as we hope. But considering how I felt at home in the mountains around Chamonix at 4,000 meters, I can already say that I feel a very positive effect.

Barmasse, Steck, Tenji Sherpa and Goettler (from l. to r.)

You will spend two weeks in Nepal before you travel to Shishapangma in Tibet. What exactly are you planning to acclimatize?

We don’t want to spend such a training-intensive time as in February, when we really did a lot of mountain running. Instead, we seek to manage our resources a bit. But of course we will hike and climb. In February, we deposited our equipment in Chukhung [village at 4,730 meters in the Khumbu area]. There we will pitch up our “Base Camp”. From there we will definitely climb Island Peak [a technically relatively easy 6,180-meter-high mountain] again and cross the usual passes. But we will not do anything really challenging. We save this for Shishapangma.

Last year, you traveled to Shishapangma South Face along with Ueli Steck, now with Hervé Barmasse. The same geographical destination – also exactly the same sporting goal?

I want to realize last year’s idea to open a new route through the Shishapangma South Face now with Hervé. That’s our goal. In 2016, due to the unstable weather, it ended with two one-day attempts. I hope we will have more stable weather in Tibet this spring, so that we can seriously try to climb this new route – and hopefully succeed.

Steck and Goettler in Shishapangma South Face (in 2016)

You were speed climbing last year. Do you take more time now?

We can not be so fast on the new route. It is technical terrain, the key passage which you can recognize on pictures is quite far up. We plan to climb the wall within about three days. This means that we will have automatically no longer this high speed, because we need tent, sleeping bag, mat, cooker and food. This is a big millstone around our neck and makes us slower. It will not be possible to climb this technically challenging route and descend in one day.

Do you consider, as Ueli and you did last year, to traverse the summit and descent on the north side of Shishapangma?

We want to descend on the south side – also because I know two descend options from last year. This is much easier from the logistic point of view. A traverse is not our priority issue.

David on the Shishapangma ridge

Do you believe that your chances have increased because you’ve been there last year?

Definitely. For such challenging goals, you may have to invest two or three years to get to know the conditions better. I think, I now have a much better feel for the wall. I know exactly what awaits us there. This is mentally an advantage. In addition, I could train accordingly.

But you can not influence the weather.

Of course not. I always quarrel with it, because I invest so much in the preparation and try to eliminate all the uncertainties. But in the end, I’m going to engage with a game where I can not control many components, like the weather or the conditions. If such a thing happens like the earthquake in 2015, there’s nothing you can do.

The rules have not changed: No matter how well prepared or fit I am, in the end it depends on whether we get a weather window of three or four days to make a real attempt. On the one hand, I am a bit bothered by it, on the other hand it is exactly what defines expedition mountaineering, that you don’t have such a kind of certainty.

Herve Barmasse

You will be now on expedition with Hervé for the first time? Do you have good chemistry?

Yes. It’s just good to be en route with an Italian, because you always have fun. We are about the same age and we have many similarities in life. We’ve known each other for a long time, we’ve trained together. However, we’ve never done such a great thing like this before. But I have a great feeling. I think we work very well as a team. This will be very important this time. Besides Hervé and me, only a cook and a kitchen boy will be in Base Camp. It will be even lonelier than, for example, on Nanga Parbat in winter. I am already looking forward to experiencing this unfiltered, pure expedition feeling in such a small team.

Barmasse, Steck, Tenji Sherpa and Goettler (from l. to r.)

What a high-caliber training group! The Swiss Ueli Steck, the Nepalese Tenji Sherpa, the German David Goettler and the Italian Hervé Barmasse have been preparing themselves for their expeditions in spring in the village of Chukhung in the Everest region for ten days. Steck and Tenji Sherpa plan to traverse Mount Everest and Lhotse. No one has yet managed to do this without bottled oxygen. Goettler and Barmasse want to open a new route via the Shishapangma South Face in Tibet. In the course of the training, mountain running was at the focus. “I ran three times from Chukhung (4,730 meters) to Island Peak (6,180 meters),” writes Ueli. He had climbed and run a total of about 12,000 vertical meters over a distance of around 150 kilometers. “My body and my soul feel great,” says Steck. “I really enjoy being here in Nepal with such good friends. Just climb and run and nothing else.”

“Personal experiment”

Ueli (l.) and Tenji on the summit of Island Peak

Currently, the four climbers are continuing their training program in the area around Namche Bazaar, the 3,440-meter-high main village of the Khumbu region. They will then return to Europe for four weeks. An unusual form of preparation. “It is a personal experiment of us all,” answers David Goettler to my concerns that acclimatization effect could get lost in the meantime. “At home we want to sleep as often as possible as high as possible or to climb.  We are almost sure that it will lead to a faster acclimatization when we’ll return for our actual expeditions in April. We’ll see whether the plan works out.”

Hervé’s dream

Training for Shishapangma South Face

In spring 2016, David and Ueli had been stopped by bad weather in their attempt to open a new route via the Shishapangma South Face. “The South Face really fascinated me, and I just want to go back there,” writes Goettler. “Hopefully we will have better weather this year!” Due to his Everest-Lhotse project, Steck was not available as climbing partner this time, so David has teamed up with Hervé Barmasse. The 39-year-old is a very experienced climber who has made headlines in recent years especially with new routes on his home mountain, the Matterhorn. Hervé has also succeeded spectacular first ascents in the Karakoram and in Patagonia. Barmasse had two major surgeries last year. “He is back in the game,” writes David about the Italian, who has so far never stood on top of an eight-thousander. “It remains my dream to climb my first eight-thousander on a new route,” Hervé had told me in November 2012. This may not have changed.

Ueli Steck at the IMS in Bressanone

If “The Fast and the Furious” had been a film about climbers, Ueli Steck could have played the leading role. The Swiss is just extremely fast. The Eiger North Face in two hours and 22 minutes, the 82 four-thousanders of the Alps within 61 days, solo via the Annapurna South Face to the 8091-meter-high summit and back in 28 hours, through Shishapangma South Face within ten and a half hours – for good reason Ueli is nicknamed “The Swiss Machine”. As if he had a tuned engine inside like the cars in “The Fast and the Furious”. Just recently, Steck has returned from India. I met him at the International Mountain Summit (IMS) in Bressanone in South Tyrol and talked to him about his tendency to speed, about aging and his next plans.

Ueli, you just turned 40 years old and you were not at home. How did you spend your birthday?

I was climbing along with my wife on Shivling in India (a 6,543 meter-high extremely shapely and challenging mountain in the north of the country). It was a very nice trip and a proper celebration of my 40th birthday.

And you have given yourself a summit success?

Yes, we had great weather. Within seven days we were standing on top of Shivling. It was perfect.

There has just been a mountain drama on Shivling: Two Polish mountaineers died.

When I went to Bressanone today, my Indian liasion officer sent me the bad news via Whatsapp. I just thought: Not again! We were together in base camp, really nice guys. It’s just sad. You always ask yourself: Why? Greg (Grzegorz Kukurowski) died because he suffered from high altitude sickness. You think that is not necessary anymore. Why does this happen again and again? I find it sad, on the other hand it annoys me.

Steck on top of Eiger

Back to you. Aged 40, other people are getting slower. But I feel like you’re getting even faster.

At the moment it is still going uphill. (He laughs) You have to accept your age and not be sad that it is not like it was 15 years ago. I need a bit more rest, more time for recovery. But you can also see it positively: I have now more time to sit on the sofa. I think, age is just a matter of attitude.

You’ve always been fast on the road, but I feel like you’ve discovered speed in a new way.

I‘ve optimized it a bit and targeted my training on it. I know I can still put some peaks for the next four, five years.

Fast en route

Last spring, when you were trying to climb Shishapangma South Face via a new route along with German David Goettler, you both always seemed to be running fast. First you did it like crazy to acclimatize, and then you continued to run via the South Face.

We were always on the road. This is what I like. We said from the beginning: We want to climb and not to sit in Base Camp doing nothing. We wanted to move and have fun. And we succeeded in doing this.

You have carried equipment during your climb. Fast and light, this makes you more vulnerable.

You have to be careful. We were already on the summit plateau, bad weather was coming from behind, but there was still blue sky in the front. Then you can go ahead. But you know you have no margin. If you push forward and climb to the top, and then the storm comes and you have to bivouac, you are dead. Because you haven’t any suitable equipment. So you just have to be careful.

This is a topic that is on my mind. At the moment there is a trend to run with sneakers from the valley to the summit of Mont Blanc. People see it and think it always works. But you cannot go up there every day with sneakers. I think we need to sensitize people to this problem. When is it possible, when not, and when do you better turn around?

You have to be careful when climbing. It has now taken me and my wife seven days to climb Shivling. This is possible, but of course you are not fully acclimatized. You have to be aware that if you have headache and it’s getting worse, you have to go down. And if you do not, someone dies. You can be fast, light and efficient, but you have to be aware of the risks and dangers.

Ueli Steck on Annapurna South Face

Do you benefit from your great experience as an extreme climber, who has, after all, been able to celebrate his 40th birthday?

Logically, and I can play that out. Especially when I climb in high altitude. I have done so many expeditions, I know exactly where I am, what I have to do and how much I can push. But you also have to be able to turn around. There was no endless discussion on Shishapangma between David and me. We both have a lot of experience and know what it means if you go too far. Then you will not come back one day. If you have experienced so many times climbers dying, you are much more conscious of this than someone who does it for the first time and says: “It’s snowing, well. We’ll go on, we’re not softies!”

Will you now travel more frequently with your wife to the Himalayas?

We have already made a lot of nice expeditions together. Nobody knows that. We are on holiday. And our agreement is that I don’t make it public. We will continue to go together on expedition. As long as possible.

Ueli and Tenji (r.) on the summit of Everest in 2012

Are you telling me your next project?

I want to try again the Everest-Lhotse traverse.

I certainly don’t need to ask whether with or without bottled oxygen.

The project is not interesting with bottled oxygen at all.

Will you do it alone or with a partner?

The idea is to climb with Tenji Sherpa as a team of two. (He joined Steck during his climb of Everest without breathing mask in 2012. Tenji also accompanied Ueli in later expeditions in Nepal.)

Will you try to be successful early in the season to avoid the crowds on the route?

I am relatively relaxed. If you are a climber, you can also go up off the trail. Even at Hillary Step you can turn right if you want. I will not let me put under stress.

Ueli Steck and David Goettler in Shishapangma South Face

It was one of the most exciting climbing projects of this spring’s season in the Himalayas. Swiss top climber Ueli Steck and German David Goettler initially planned to open a new direct route through the South Face of 8,027-meter-high Shishapangma. But they were not able to put it into practice. They “only” climbed the so called “Corredor Girona” route, opened by a Spanish team in 1995, up to the ridge at 7,800 meters and in their last attempt the route of the British first-ascenders of the South Face in 1982, Doug Scott, Alex MacIntyre and Roger Baxter-Jones, up to 7,600 meters. Even though they failed to climb a new route, Ueli and David didn’t return empty-handed from Tibet. I called the 39-year-old Swiss and the 37-year-old German in their hotel in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.

Satisfied, disappointed or some of both? How do you feel after this expedition?

Ueli Steck (l.) and David Goettler

(David) More satisfied. Of course, you think: If the weather and the conditions had been a bit more on our side, we certainly would have reached the summit. This is slightly shining through. But the more time passes, the more positive is our view on the expedition. We have learned a lot, we were constantly on the move, we were not sitting idle. Compared with other expeditions, we’ve done a lot.

Actually you had planned to climb a new route through Shishapangma South Face. What was the main reason that you failed?

(Ueli) If you want to make such a first ascent, you need stable weather for at least two to three days. But we just never had. If you try it nevertheless, maybe you are able to climb 300, 400 meters high but then you have to abseil again. Therefore, it was unrealistic. But you must be clear about it: If you want to make a first ascent on an eight-thousander, in such a wall, many things must fit together. You must also have the courage to go there more than once, to try again and again and wait for good fortune.

Windy South Face

When you were at the foot of the wall for the first time, you told me that the conditions were looking really good. When did you realize that it would not be possible?

(David) Actually until the end, the last weather window around 22 May, we had the option to start climbing the route, if there had been three or four days of good weather. To the end we had deposited all our climbing equipment in ABC (Advanced Base Camp). And til the end we believed it would be possible. When we were at the foot of the wall for the first time, the conditions looked really perfect. There was only too much wind and it was brutally cold. Towards the end of the expedition, before the last weather window, it proved to be just too unstable. Even Karl (Gabl, meteorologist from Austria), who provided us the weather reports, said he had never experienced such a wet and unstable pre-monsoon time in Tibet – on the side of the Himalayas, on which it is normally rather dry. So, actually this dream disappeared at the end.

At your last attempt, you chose the route of the British climbers who first climbed the South Wall. Had you already written off the new route at the time?

(Ueli) At the end the weather window lasted just only half a day. So the decision was clear to focus on the British route. At this time, we did not know whether we might stay longer. Theoretically, we could have waited for another weather window until the end of the month. But in the end it made no sense.

Difficult conditions

Quick and light – that was your tactics. What does it presuppose?

(Ueli) First of all, the basic fitness of both must be right, otherwise it’s impossible. If you are not trained enough to climb 2,000 meters high at this altitude and in this technical area, it is impossible. But you must also be willing to play the game uncompromisingly. There is no “Maybe I’ll take even a sleeping bag and a stove with me”, so that you could still bivouac. You have to be able to say: We don’t take anything with us, maybe it works or not. You must also be aware of how exposed you are. Both times we were forced to decide: Now we have to descend, otherwise it will be uncomfortable and dangerous. You are limited. You can not just wait and go to the summit the next day.

Except for you, no one was on the south side of Shishapangma. Did you enjoy the solitude?

(David) That was really one of the very special things on this eight-thousander expedition. The Base Camp lies on a meadow with a small lake in front of it, an awesome beautiful place. And we had it for ourselves. We also did not have this pressure when several teams are climbing the same route on a mountain, what can influence each other in their decisions and easily leads to more pressure. Being without all this, has been really luxury for both of us. We enjoyed it very much.

You have been together on the road for two months now. Under these circumstances it’s possible to jar on each other’s nerves. Did you ever have a kind of cabin fever?

David on the Shishapangma Ridge

(David) No, it was totally relaxed. We got on well because we work very similar in many ways, and because we were always on the move. On our rest days, Ueli bouldered, I did Yoga. So everyone let off steam. And then we went back to the mountain. There were almost no days when we were sitting idle so that a cabin fever could have occurred. For me, it was something new on an expedition to be always on the move. For Ueli it’s normal. But I think he enjoyed it too.

Have you postponed or canceled your project of a new route through Shishapangma South Face?

(Ueli) Never say never! If you want to do something like this, you must have the courage and accept that it is necessary to keep the ball and that it probably will not work the first time. I would rather say it is postponed.

Have you grown as a team so close that you say: We will do it once again?

(David) Yes, for my part. (Both laugh)
(Ueli) It was awesome. We were together on expedition for the first time, and it worked so brilliant. We will hopefully make many more expeditions together. I’ve rarely experienced that it worked so well with a partner and, moreover, both have the same attitude.

Alex Lowe in 1995 (l., with Conrad Anker)

Glaciers are constantly moving. And so they spit out one day what they once swallowed. Climate change, which makes glaciers melt faster, is speeding up the process. In recent years there have been more and more reports from around the world that bodies of dead climbers were discovered after many years. Whether on Mont Blanc, on the Matterhorn, on Mount Everest – or now on the eight-thousander Shishapangma in Tibet. The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation announced that Swiss Ueli Steck and German David Goettler had discovered the bodies of two climbers in blue ice during their acclimatization for Shishapangma South Face. The melting glacier would release the corpses soon. The description of clothes and packs left no doubt that it was the bodies of Alex Lowe and David Bridges, it was said.

Pilgrimage to Shishapangma

Along with their compatriot Conrad Anker, the two Americans had been caught and buried in an avalanche in the South Face of Shishapangma on 5 October 1999. Only Anker had been able to free himself from the snow masses, badly injured. Lowe, at that time 40 years old and one of the best climbers in the world, had planned to ski down the South Face. Bridges had joined the team as a cameraman. Later Conrad Anker married Lowe’s widow Jennifer and adopted the three sons of the couple. “Conrad, the boys and I will make our pilgrimage to Shishapangma,” Jennifer Lowe-Anker said, after she had received Ueli’s and David’s message. “It is time to put Alex to rest.” And Anker added: “After 16 ½ years this brings closure and relief for me and Jenni and for our family.”

Ueli Steck (l.) and David Goettler

He couldn’t stop thinking about it. When the Swiss top climber Ueli Steck solo climbed the South Face of 8027-meter- high Shishapangma in only ten and a half hours five years ago, he discovered a possible new direct line. This spring, the 39-year-old – along with the 37-year-old German professional climber David Goettler – returned to the 2000-meter-high wall to have a try at the new route. If everything works perfectly, they plan to descend from the summit via the north side, thus traversing the eight-thousander.

Before heading off to Tibet, Ueli and David acclimatized in the Everest region in Nepal – including trail-running over extremely long distances. I sent them five questions to their Base Camp at the foot of Shishapangma South Face.

Ueli and David, the pictures which you published on Facebook in recent weeks, remind me of Speedy Gonzales or Road Runner, two cartoon characters of my childhood: continuously in high speed mode, because hunted. At the same time each of you let us know that the other is really, really fit. Honestly, who of you is actually rushing whom? Or from what are you trying to escape?

Fast en route

Question back, who of us is Speedy Gonzales and who is Road Runner? We are not at all on the run. We just have a lot of fun together! It’s fun to be together on the road. We both know that we are similar fit. No one must prove or hide anything from the other. We have a great positive energy in the team. It just works. And it creates an ingenious dynamics!

Most high-altitude climbers do acclimatizing  according to the motto: Conserve your strength so that you have enough power left for the actual goal. Instead, you have run in the Khumbu region a distance of 57 kilometers over several passes in 12 three-quarter hours. What is the logic behind this high-speed acclimatization?

Most climbers do high altitude mountaineering as in the days of Messner. I personally (Ueli) do not see much progress. Of course you have to be careful, because e.g. at 5,000 meters, the regeneration takes longer, and actually each climber behaves very individually in high altitude. Kilian Jornet (a professional Spanish ski mountaineer and mountain trail runner), for example, believes that you can run 50 kilometers every day! I am still far away from that, but it shows what could be possible. In the end you just have to know your body. And everyone has to make decisions for himself and to assess how high his personal performance is, and how fast he is able to ascend or move in high altitude. We both have considerable experience in high altitude and can check out what can be optimized without actually losing all our power.

You have pitched up your Base Camp below Shishapangma South Face. How are the conditions in the wall where you want to climb a new route?

We have already been at the bottom of South Face. Quite simply, it looks awesome. Now we hope it remains like this until the suitable weather window opens.

What will be the main focus of your planned first ascent, possibly including the traverse of the mountain: the aesthetic of the line, difficulty, fun…?

Ueli’s route through Shishapangma South Face that he climbed in 2011

The route speaks for itself. A direct logical line on an eight-thousander, that’s truly fascinating. In the first place we want to climb via this route to the summit and go home healthy. We’ll see how fast we are, this depends on the technical difficulties. We will belay normally, with rope and pitons. It doesn’t matter whether we need two days or one or three. But we are not very motivated to spend as many nights as possible on the mountain. The traverse would certainly be the icing on the cake.

Last Monday was the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Nepal. How have you experienced the people in the Himalayas during the past weeks?

People got used to the aftershocks and the situation. It’s impressive how the Nepali have got accustomed to the little tremors, which also happened again when we were traveling in Khumbu. But they have no other choice than to take it as it is. And it’s really great how everything is back to normal and works.

David Goettler (© The North Face)

This year, the Tibetan north side of Mount Everest works like a magnet to German professional climbers. David Goettler has announced that he also wants to climb the highest mountain in the world from the north this spring, along with his German friend Daniel Bartsch and the Canadian Raphael Slawinski. “If everything runs perfectly, we want to try a variant or a new route. Others have to decide how it is called at the end”, the 36-year-old tells me on the phone. The planned ascent route runs near the normal route, first on the left, later crossing it between Camp 2 (7500 meters) and 3 (8300 meters), leading to the “Great Couloir” (also called Norton Couloir). “This would allow us to avoid possible traffic jams at the rocky steps on the normal route”, says David. The trio wants to climb without Sherpa support and without bottled oxygen.

Everything must match

Norton Couloir

According to the words of David, initially Gerfried Goeschl had the idea for this route. The Austrian has been missing on the eight-thousander Gasherbrum I in Pakistan since March 2012 when he tried to climb that mountain in winter. Later, the Canadian Louis Rousseau, a former expedition partner of Goeschl, followed the Austrian’s Everest idea, Goettler explains. Rousseau withdrew from the expedition on short notice, but agreed that the other three climbers should try it without him. “It depends very much on the conditions. Only if everything runs perfectly, we can realize our dream”, says David. He expects that they are able to take a good view into the planned route very soon and decide then whether it makes sense to try it. “If not, we won’t take up this idea and will switch to the normal route. If the three of us will reach the summit without oxygen then, we would be pretty happy too.”

“Secret weapon“ Slawinski

The mountaineer from the town of Munich has already climbed five eight-thousanders, most recently Makalu in May 2013. At that time, Daniel Bartsch stood on top too. “He is my best friend. We are a very experienced team. We know each other since school times”, says David. He was not yet on expedition with Raphael Slawinski. In 2014, the Canadian and his compatriot Ian Welsted were awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar for climbers”, for their first ascent of 7040-meter-high K 6 West in the Karakoram. “He’s our secret weapon for difficult mixed terrain. There he seems to be unbeatable”, Goettler says about the Canadian.

Rather from the north

Last year, David wanted to climb Everest from the south without bottled oxygen, but had to leave empty-handed because of what happened after the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. “I was very disappointed about last season and all the things that happened in Nepal”, David recalls. “I wanted to spare myself the uncertainty of what may happen there this year. I think it’s better to wait a season or two until the situation turns normal again.”

As previously reported, the German professional mountaineers Ralf Dujmovits, Alix von Melle and Luis Stitzinger also want to reach the summit of Mount Everest from Tibet without bottled oxygen. In addition, Thomas Laemmle, at first leader of a commercial expedition to Cho Oyu, announced, that he later would turn to Everest to climb it without breathing mask.

David Goettler

More than 300 Everest dreams are gone. As many climbers returned home empty-handed after their expeditions had been cancelled after the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall on Good Friday. One of them was David Goettler. The 35-year-old from the German town of Munich had wanted to climb the highest mountain in the world via the normal route on the Nepalese south side without bottled oxygen. Goettler was still acclimatizing when he heard the first still inconsistent reports about the avalanche. “Initially, I hoped that I might still be able to make an attempt”, David told me on the phone. Therefore, he first continued his acclimatization program. “But when I was on the summit of Island Peak (6000er in the Everest region) and wanted to sleep below the highest point, the news came that my expedition and all others would be cancelled.” He returned to Kathmandu.

“David, what made you abandon your project completely? You could have gone to the base camp and try to climb through the icefall by yourself.

Adrian Ballinger of the expedition operator Alpenglow, on whose permit I was listed, flew from Kathmandu to the base camp and spoke with his Sherpas. He also asked them if I could come. After having led his clients with bottled oxygen to the summit, Adrian intended to make an attempt without oxygen, together with me. But the Sherpas told him fairly clearly that there was a small but apparently very influential Sherpa group that threatened violence to anyone who would climb higher than the base camp. Also the base camp staff was threatened, e.g. our cook was told that his family would be hurt. I can never accept this and I do criticize it strongly.

That was just a small group. Most Sherpas were mourning. I can understand every single of them who says that he does not want to climb Everest this season. I do accept it and would never force anyone to fix ropes for me. But as a climber I still want to have the opportunity to consider the risks and then decide for myself whether I go or not. But after we had been told that there was no desire that anyone would climb, we ended our project too. This is an atmosphere in which I feel uncomfortable and in which I do not want to climb.

Mount Everest (from Kala Pattar)

In 2013, some Sherpas attacked Ueli Steck and Simone Moro in Camp 2. Now a  small group threatened violence and exerted pressure. Violence has become a topic on Everest. Do you think that the Sherpas have to tackle this problem because there is obviously a split in their community?

They must solve the problem in any case. These threats and the readiness to use violence are poisoning the atmosphere. The Sherpas are shooting themselves in the foot, they will realize quickly what happens if no more expeditions come. Especially the Sherpas of this small violent group, who work for operators who do not insure their employees sufficiently, would be the first who lose their jobs. I do not know how they would react then.

Last year I got the feeling that most people expected that the Nepalese government should tackle the problem. That did obviously not work. What role can and should the government play at all? Is it not rather the responsibility of the climbing community to solve this problem by itself?

I come to Nepal and pay my permit to the government and not to the Sherpas. So I would hope that the government and the SPCC (Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, the management of the Everest National Park) forward this money to the Everest region, or at least that a greater part of it reaches the Khumbu. Each hydroelectric plant, each bridge, each school, each hospital in the Khumbu area is sponsored from Germany, Italy, the United States and other Western countries. I wonder, and I think the most Sherpas also do: Where exactly is the money from the permits for 300 and more climbers, $ 10,000 each? On the other hand, it should go without saying that each client opts for an expedition operator that treats its employees responsibly. If I had decided to take the lowest bidder, I could have saved about 5000 Euros. But I did not know this operator, I did not know which kind of insurance he had for his stuff and how he treated his employees.

The Sherpas  – the “Ice doctors”, the high altitude porters and the Climbing Sherpas –  are risking their necks in the Khumbu Icefall. Do you understand that they are asking to be paid better for their dangerous jobs?

Their work must be paid in a way that both sides agree. That’s where I am absolutely of the same opinion as the Sherpas. But they need to negotiate the payment before the work starts. Each Sherpa signs a contract with his agency, in which is written exactly how much the amount of insurance is in case of death, how many times he has to climb through the Khumbu Icefall and how much money he gets. If I work as a mountain guide in the Alps and accept a job at Mont Blanc, I also know that there is the slope of Tacul where several other guides have already been killed by avalanches. Nevertheless, I do it for a certain sum of money which I negotiate in the run-up. I know what to expect. Just the Sherpas do know what to expect in the Khumbu Icefall. I was there in three different years, and it always dangerous to the same extent. This year’s disaster was that there were so many climbers at the wrong time in the wrong place. But that could also have happened in all previous years. I also know that I might be killed at the slopes of Mount Tacul. But I cannot strike only because an avalanche has come down and say: Now I want twice as much money, because it’s twice as dangerous. The Sherpas who work on Everest are clever, not uneducated. They have been already there and will return again, because they know it is very well-paid work. If they want more money, it’s okay too. But they should negotiate it before.

North side of Mount Everest

For the first time since the start of commercial expeditions on Everest, a season has ended prematurely. Do you think that the big operators will now switch to the north side?

I very much doubt. In one year’s time much will be forgotten. I also do not know if it would be the better choice for commercial operators to go to the north side. There are disadvantages, too. The Chinese government can tell from one day to the next: The mountain is closed now because the Dalai Lama has visited any country. In addition, the possibility to rescue climbers who are in trouble are by far not as good as on the south side, where rescue flights by helicopter to camp 2 are usual. On the south side I also sleep at a lower height in the last camp. I really don’t know which is the lesser of the two evils for a commercial operator.

I hope that the Nepalese south side will work well again, in the sense that the Sherpas, the expedition operators and the individual climbers cooperate and respect each other so that everyone can climb, in all variants.

What about your ambitions on Everest?

I still want to try Everest, at least once. If it is really true that the permit remains valid for five years, I will certainly return to the south side.”

David Goettler(© The North Face)

That was a short home leave. Just one month after his return from Nanga Parbat David Goettler has packed his bags again. His goal this spring: Mount Everest. “To climb Everest via the normal route without supplemental oxygen is challenging enough. That would be interesting”, David had told me last August when I had asked him whether the highest mountain in the world was an attractive goal for him. Now the 35-year-old climber is putting this project into action. He wants to climb Everest via the normal route on the Nepalese south side of the mountain, David writes me while trekking from Lukla to Namche Bazaar. “Without bottled oxygen and high porters.” I want to know whether he is a member of a team. “I and 600 others … ;-)”, replies Goettler. “As a team, I have only myself !”

At 7200 meters on Nanga Parbat

David at the summit of Nuptse in 2012

The mountaineer from the town of Munich has already climbed five eight-thousanders, lastly Makalu in May 2013. Previously he was often in a team with Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits. In 2012 with Gerlinde, he succeeded in climbing the 7861-meter-high Nuptse within sight of Mount Everest. Early March this year – as reported – David’s attempt failed to make the first winter ascent of the 8125-meter-high Nanga Parbat in Pakistan along with the Italian Simone Moro. But after all, the German reached the Mazeno ridge at 7200 meters with the Polish climber Tomek Mackiewicz. No one went up higher on Nanga Parbat this winter. Even though he has been in thin air for two months then, David has to acclimatize again. The effect disappears within seven to twelve days in the lowlands. In this respect, David’s home leave has actually taken too long.

David during his summit attempt (© The North Face)

David Goettler is not only a fast climber, but also a speed responder. After I had written the report about the failed summit attempt on Nanga Parbat, I sent an email with some questions to the 35-year-old climber in Pakistan. I really didn’t expect a rapid response, because David had just arrived back at base camp and should actually need time to recover. However, an hour later I got the acoustic signal for a new message. His answers are rather brief, writes Goettler, “I’m still half on the mountain ;-).” Read it for yourself!

David, once again it was not to be. What a pity! A lack of your determination was not the reason.

No, I felt fit. But we also knew or noticed that the terrain up there was really challenging. This means that you must have still a lot of strength and concentration for the descent. In combination with only one reserve day  concerning the weather we decided that it was too close.

Have you agreed quickly or discussed at length?

We did agree immediately.

After Simone had to quit because of stomach trouble, you were suddenly in a two-climber-team with Tomek Mackiewicz. Had you to change over to this new situation?

Fore sure, it’s something different when you are suddenly climbing with another partner. Simone and I were a well-established team, and we have worked together well.

How hard was it for you to turn around so far up on the mountain?

These are not easy moments. Your mind is telling you that you are doing the right thing, but on the other hand you are thinking about whether a little more risk would be responsible.

What do you take back home as experience from three failed summit attempts on Nanga Parbat?

A time of intense moments, the loneliness and the incredible dimensions up here.

It was your first winter expedition to an eight-thousander. Can you imagine to try it again?

Right now it’s too early to say. But I had a very good time here, so why not?

The expedition is coming to an end. After eight weeks on the mountains, what are you looking forward to most of all?

To a time without wooly hat and long johns, but the most to my girlfriend!

Moro (l.) and Goettler in high camp (© The North Face)

Endurance, strength, good conditions on the mountain, luck with the weather. These are the essential ingredients for a successful summit menu on Nanga Parbat. Everything has to fit together. If only one ingredient is poor or even lacking, you can forget the menu. The third summit attempt of the two expedition teams on the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat is on. Five climbers are trying their luck: the three Poles Tomasz Mackiewicz , Pawel Dunaj and Jacek Teler, the Italian Simone Moro and the German David Goettler. Tomasz is  already staying in Camp 3 on about 6700 meters. David has reached the lower  Camp 2.5. “The wind is dropping, and he is out the clouds”, reports Emilio Previtali, who is holding contact with David and the other summit aspirants from basecamp by radio. The five climbers want to set up Camp 4 above 7000 meters. From there – if everything fits – they will try to reach the 8125-meter-high summit on Saturday.

Having escaped the avalanche

Daniele was very lucky

Meanwhile on the Diamir side of the mountain, the Italian Daniele Nardi has experienced how narrow the ridge between luck and tragedy is, on which climbers are balancing on Nanga Parbat in winter. Being on the Kinshofer route Daniele paused when, not far from him, a serac collapsed. Instinctively Nardi grabbed his backpack and fled sideways. The right decision: Doing this the Italian escaped the main impact of the avalanche : A dish of snow in the mouth, more did not happen to him. Lucky you! Daniele wants to climb Nanga Parbat solo via the Mummery rib. It reminds of the British mountaineer Albert Frederick Mummery, who in 1895 on Nanga Parbat made the first serious attempt ​​to climb an eight-thousander. His body and those of his two companions have not been found until today.

David Goettler in basecamp (©The North Face)

Do the winter climbers find Nanga Parbat a hard nut to crack? A Polish expedition is on the 8000er in Pakistan for eight weeks now, an Italian-German Team for over six weeks. In the past week the second summit attempts of both teams failed. Simone Moro and David Goettler reached Camp 3, but returned because of the bad weather. I sent some questions to David in basecamp. The 35-year-old climber from the town of Munich replied promptly:

David, the second summit attempt was also unsuccessful, you stopped at 6800 meters. How difficult was it for you to turn back again?

This time it was a little harder. Because the weather was not so bad when we decided to turn around. But we knew that it wouldn’t work, and thus it was definitely the right decision. Also because it was really very cold! When we were still descending, clouds came in and it began to snow. Up on the mountain we would have had problems to orient ourselves. And on the following day the strong wind would have thwarted any summit attempt. All in all we have saved valuable power and avoided frostbite.

What about Simone’s and your morale, after six weeks on the mountain and two failed attempts. Is there any risk of cabin fever?

The morale is still tiptop! No danger of cabin fever or something else – which does not mean that it is easy for me to wait. On the contrary, I think that is the most difficult part of an expedition.

The team led by Tomek Mackiewicz has been on the mountain even two weeks longer than you and Simone. What do you think, how long will your Polish friends stand it?

Perhaps they’re even more persistent. I think they are like us: Everyone here will be happy to get home again. But we all want to climb this mountain. Therefore we do accept waiting!

Staying as long in high altitudes saps your energy. How fit do you feel yet?

I still feel good and fit. The day before yesterday I made a training ascent to ABC (advanced basecamp) and back. It took me only 38 minutes to climb up and 15 minutes to come down. That feels good when you are spending so many days in BC (basecamp). Weather permitting, I am also doing my daily yoga exercises in BC. I think we can recover well because of the low altitude of our BC.

Evening in high camp (©The North Face)

When are you planning your next summit attempt?

If I only knew! We must be patient, at the moment there is not good weather window in sight.

In your home a proverb is saying: “Three times is divine”. Are you hoping that this is also true for winter mountaineering at Nanga Parbat?

Of course! That would be the jackpot … but everything here is Inshallah.

Do you have to reach the summit to see this winter expedition as a success?

That’s why I came here. But I still know that our chance to get on top is very low. And I’m already more than satisfied!

Apart from K 2, Nanga Parbat is the only eight-thousander which has still not be climbed in winter. After your experiences on the mountain, do you now understand better why so many top climbers have already failed on Nanga Parbat?

I already knew that the rules in winter differ from those in summer. But sure, now, playing this game, I can understand it even better.