Looking into the abyss

What I did not know is that also mountains can play chess. “What we did not know is that the Mountain, in a very clever chess move, shifted its defensive emplacements much lower on its flanks in anticipation of our 2016 assault,” Bill Burke writes. “We were caught completely off guard.” As reported, the 74-year-old American wanted to first climb Burke Khang, the mountain which was named after him. Burke’s first attempt a year ago had failed in the summit area of ​​the 6942-meter-high mountain in the Everest region due to dangerous cornices. Now the insurmountable problems occurred at the lower Southeast Ridge.

New icefall

Deep crevasses

Naga Sherpa and Shera Sherpa, who should fix the ropes up to the planned Camp 2, found fragile cornices already on the Southeast Ridge. “One false step, and the cornice collapses, sending the Sherpas to certain death,” Bill describes the dangerous passage. However, the team was finally checkmated by a new icefall, with “massive crevasses, ice towers and fragile snow bridges”. Naga Sherpa estimated that 15 aluminum ladders would have been needed to cross the crevasses. The two Sherpas declared the ridge to be impassable and turned around. “I was in constant fear of my life,” Naga said. The six-time Everest summiter David Liano, who belonged to Burke’s team, wanted to gain an impression of the situation by himself. The 35-year-old Mexican also turned back at the icefall after he had tested a snow bridge and the ice had immediately started breaking when he had set foot on it.

No plan for another attempt – for now

Bill Burke in front of “his” mountain

“Round 2 goes to Burke-Khang,” Bill sums up the expedition. “In political parlance, this was a landslide victory. We never had a chance.” Nevertheless Burke still considers “his” mountain to be ascendable, but only “at the right time in the right conditions”. Before attempting to climb Burke Khang turns into an obsession or a crusade, he now pulls the brake. “In addition, age is taking its toll on my body,” says the 74-year-old, “and other adventures beckon.  So, for now, I have no plans to launch another Burke Khang expedition. But, I will never rule out another attempt.” And in the meantime we look forward to the the next defense strategy of the chess-playing mountain in the Himalayas.

Bill Burke in front of “his” mountain

“My mountain!” Bill Burke can say this, without anyone accusing him of hubris. Since 2014, the “Burke Khang” officially exists in the Everest region. The Nepalese government named the 6942- meter-high mountain in the Gokyo Valley after the US mountaineer. Bill Burke became a climber in the senior age after a successful career as a lawyer. Aged 67, he 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 announced that the still unclimbed almost seven-thousander near Mount Everest was now called Burke Khang. “I was never given a reason for this generous action“, said Bill a year ago in an interview on the website pythom.com. In fall 2015, Burke tried for the first time to climb the mountain which bears his name. The project failed just below the summit. Now the 74-year-old is taking a new run.

Planned route on Burke Khang

Team meber David Liano

“I’m looking at the mountain now and it’s just so beautiful,”Bill says in an audio message from Base Camp at the foot of Burke Khang. His Sherpa team has already begun to secure the planned route with fixed ropes. The team also includes the 35-year-old Mexican David Liano, who has already climbed Mount Everest six times. In 2013, he reached the 8850-meter-high summit twice within nine days, first from the south, then from the north side.

Too dangerous

Dangerous summit ridge

Last year, Bill’s expedition to Burke Khang had failed because of the dangerous conditions in the summit area. The US guide Sid Pattison and four Sherpas reached the strongly corniced summit ridge. “The first one was quite unstable looking and the one beyond was leaning towards us, overhanging and would have taken some very strenuous climbing to pass,” wrote Pattison. The team decided to turn around for security reasons. Burke was then waiting just below the summit ridge.

New ideas

“We succeeded in our quest as we climbed as high up the mountain as humanly possible,” Bill later resumed. “Within days of coming down the mountain, I was pondering new climbing routes and strategies. I have some ideas.” Maybe this time one of these strategies will work. If Bill then belongs to the first ascenders of his mountain, it would also be easier for him to explain why the mountain is called Burke Khang.

Kenton Cool

Also the first foreign climbers have now reached the summit of Mount Everest. After on Thursday – as reported – nine Sherpas had prepared the way to the highest point on 8.850 meters with fixed ropes, on Friday the two Britons Kenton Cool (aged 42) and Robert Lucas (53) reached the summit, accompanied by the Sherpas Dorchi Gyalzen and Pemba Bhote.  Cool stood on the “Roof of the world” for the twelfth time. A few minutes after the British climbers, the Mexican David Liano Gonzalez (36) enjoyed his sixth Everest summit success, also led by a Sherpa: Pasang Rita.

All zippers and vents closed

Makalu

On the eight-thousander Makalu, not far away from Everest, evidence is growing, that the two Sherpas who had been found dead in Camp 2 at 6,700 meters have died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Dominik Mueller, head of the German expedition operator Amical Alpin, who has meanwhile called other group members, informed that there was light snowfall the previous evening. During the night wind came up and blew the snow to the bottom of the Sherpas’ tent. “Probably they didn’t notice this and one of the two experienced Sherpas began to melt snow in the morning”, Dominik writes in the Amical blog. “There was no proper ventilation due to the closed tent (all zippers and vents were not open) and due to the piled-up snow around the bottom of the tent.” This circumstance led to the deadly carbon monoxide poisoning, says Dominik, the two Sherpas fell asleep and died.