Luis Stitzinger

According to his own words, Luis Stitzinger has reached the 8,080-meter-high summit of Gasherbrum I in the Karakoram yesterday (Wednesday). He was on his descent, the 49-year-old German climber informed via Facebook today. For Luis, it is his eighth eight-thousander success after Cho Oyu (in 2000), Gasherbrum II (in 2006), Nanga Parbat (in 2008), Dhaulagiri (in 2009), Broad Peak (in 2011), Shisha Pangma (in 2013) and Manaslu (in 2017). He climbed all of them without bottled oxygen, six of them together with his wife Alix von Melle.

Success after all

Luis (2nd from left) the day before our summit bid on Kokodak Dome (in 2014)

As reported, Stitzinger had previously abandoned the planned first ascent of the 7,082-meter-high Urdok Kangri II because of the masses of fresh snow on the mountain. Luis had led the expedition of the German operator “Amical alpin”, in which Alix had also participated. While Alix turned back home along with the other members, Luis decided to tackle Gasherbrum I.

I am particularly pleased about his success, as we have a common past: In July 2014, Luis led the Amical expedition to Kokodak Dome, which ended with the first ascent of the 7,129-meter-high mountain in western China. Since then I can also call myself a first ascender. I never would have made it without Luis.

Death on 7000er in India

R.I.P.

Sad news is reported from the 7,416-meter-high Saser Kangri IV in the Indian part of the Karakoram: The search for Pemba Sherpa was called off after five days. The 45-year-old Nepalese had fallen into a crevasse when a snow bridge had collapsed.  It is believed that he fell into the icy meltwater at the bottom of the crevasse. Pemba had scaled Everest eight times and another five eight-thousanders.

Stitzinger on his ski descent from G I

Update July 24: Luis has published some details of his successful ascent of Gasherbrum I. According to his own words, he ascended together with 52-year-old Italian Gianpaolo Corona in Alpine style. On the summit day they had to break the trailthrough calf-deep fresh snow. After more than 13 hours they reached the highest point. Luis tried a ski descent from the summit, but had to interrupt it in the so-called “Japanese Couloir” due to too great avalanche danger. “A decision I found very difficult. After all, you don’t like to leave the fillet. But in this case there was no discussion,” reports Stitzinger and concludes:  “A happy ending to an extremely difficult season in the Karakoram: After several weeks of almost uninterrupted snowfall at the beginning of the season in June, many expeditions had to leave empty-handed. Even after the weather had calmed down again, the snow masses and the bad conditions allowed only a few summit successes on the Pakistani eight-thousanders as it has rarely been. So we are all the happier that we made it despite all this, just the two of us!”

Maurizio Giordano (1986-2018), R.I.P.

Third death of the summer season in the Karakoram: The Italian news agency ANSA reports that Maurizio Giordano died today after he had been hit by an ice chunk on the 7,925-meter-high Gasherbrum IV. The accident occurred at 6,300 meters when the 32-year-old and his team mates Marco Majori, Marco Farina and Daniele Bernasconi were on their descent from Camp 2. The four members of the Italian army expedition wanted to be the first to repeat the route via the Northeast Ridge opened by their compatriots Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri, who had first climbed Gasherbrum IV 60 years ago.

Three expeditions on the G IV

Gasherbrum IV

In the jubilee year, two more expeditions tackle the technically extremely demanding mountain in the Karakoram. Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech from Poland and German Felix Berg want to open a new route through the East Face. German David Göttler and Italian Hervé Barmasse plan to climb via the Southwest face for the first time. – Last Saturday, Canadian Serge Dessureault had fallen to his death on K2, the second highest mountain on earth. One week earlier, Austrian Christian Huber had died in an avalanche on the seven-thousander Ultar Sar.

Everest Southwest Face

What did Nobukazu Kuriki really intend on Everest? This question has been bothering me ever since the 35-year-old Japanese climber was found dead on 21 May at an altitude of about 6,600 meters. Nobukazu had made a secret of his exact plan in the weeks before. He wanted to climb through the Southwest Fall, his office said after Kuriki’s death. Solo and without bottled oxygen, as he had claimed for himself? If Nobukazu had only fulfilled one of these two conditions, he would have already made Everest history.

Only one Southwest Face success without breathing mask

Nobukazu Kuriki (1982 -2018)

Since the first ascent by the British Doug Scott and Dougal Haston in fall 1975, only about 30 climbers have successfully climbed the Southwest Face – only once without bottled oxygen: Jozef Just was the only climber of a four-man Slovak team to reach the summit in fall 1988. During the descent he and his three other team mates died. There had never been a serious solo attempt on the steep and dangerous Southwest Face before Kurik’s entry into the wall. The Slovak Vladimir Strba had announced that he would tackled it solo in spring 2017, after he had had to turn back in the wall the year before with his compatriot Zoltan Pal at 7,200 meters. However, Strba then switched to the normal route. The 48-year-old died of high altitude sickness on the South Col after climbing up to the South Summit at 8,750 metres without breathing mask.

How sick was Kuriki really?

Against this background alone, Kuriki’s chances of success had to be rated as extremely low – even if he had been in top form. However the Japanese wasn’t. After arriving at base camp, he suffered from severe cough and fever. Two days before he died, Kuriki said he still had a slight cough, adding that it was almost gone. Kuriki entered the wall and pitched up his tent at 7,400 meters. There he assured by radio that he would be careful. He must have gotten worse at night. The next morning, his team informed that Kuriki was ill and was therefore descending. After that, there was no sign of life from him. Members of the camera crew, who were to film his ascent from the slopes of Nuptse, searched for him and finally found Nobukazu. “Considering condition of his body, it can be assumed that he probably slipped 100 to 200 meters,“ Kuriki’s office said.

Having set the bar even higher than lower

Kuriki at 6,800 m in the Everest North Face in fall 2016

Did Kuriki really believe that he could master the Southwest Face? The Japanese climber Ken Noguchi told the newspaper “Asahi Shimbun” that he doesn’t think so: “It seems to me that at some point, his goal was no longer about stepping foot on the summit but exposing himself to the toughest conditions imaginable and sharing that with people.” Also on his seven previous attempts on Everest, six of them in fall, Kuriki often seemed to overestimate his abilities. In 2012, he suffered severe frostbite during an attempt via the West Ridge. Nine of his ten fingers had to be amputated. Nevertheless, he returned to Everest, first to the normal route on the south side, where he was alone in 2015, then to the North Face, finally to the Southwest Face. Instead of setting the bar lower, Kuriki even increased his ambitions.

Unrealistic goals

“He would have had a good chance of ascent without oxygen if only he had taken the Southeast Ridge (the normal route),” said Yasuhiro Hanatani, a climber and friend of Nobukazu, “but that would have meant not doing it solo.” Obviously Kuriki was also under pressure. A Japanese friend of mine told me that the local media had lost interest in the 35-year-old over time because he always made big plans that realistically did not promise success. Maybe Nobukazu Kuriki finally overtightened the screw – which often ends deadly on the highest mountains on earth.

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.”

Tendi Sherpa on Lhotse

The fast double pack connecting the highest and the fourth highest mountain on earth becomes more and more popular. This spring season, several climbers scaled the 8,516-meter high Lhotse, after they had been on the 8,850-meter-high summit of Mount Everest a day earlier. The new “Seven Summits” record holder Steve Plain from Australia and Brit Jon Gupta started the line on 14/15 May (see the video below). The Nepalese expedition leader Tendi Sherpa and US climber Mat Wood managed the feat on 18/19 May. Finally, on Sunday/Monday, the American Matt Moniz and his Argentinian mentor Willie Benegas followed.

In his father’s footsteps

The 20-year-old Matt continued a family tradition: In spring 2012, his father Mike Moniz and the Nepalese climber Chewang Lindu had stood on the summits of Everest and Lhotse within 24 hours. In 2011, the American mountain guide Michael Horst was the first to reach the highest points of the two neighboring eight-thousanders within one day. 20 hours and 20 minutes had lain between his two summit successes.

Two Sherpas die on Everest

R.I.P.

One day after the death of Japanese Nobukazu Kuriki, two more Everest fatalities are reported. According to the “Himalayan Times” newspaper, published in Kathmandu, a Sherpa guide fell into a crevasse near Camp 2 (6,400 meters). He could be rescued alive, but later died in Namche Bazaar, the main village of the Everest region, said a representative of the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism.

Martin Szwed on Everest

German climber Martin Szwed informed me today about another fatality on the Tibetan north side of Everest. On the way up, “an Indian climber died in front of our eyes at the height of the ‘Mushroom Rock’ (8,550 meters),” the 36-year-old wrote to me this morning. About 20 climbers had seen the dead on this day, said Martin, adding that he had tried in vain to clarify the man’s identity in the base camp. Meanwhile, Mingma Gelu Sherpa, managing director of the expedition operator “Seven Summit Adventure” announced that the dead was a Nepalese Climbing Sherpa of his team. He died of a stroke. According to his own words, Szwed reached the summit of Everest on Saturday, completing his collection of the “Seven Summits”, the highest mountains of all continents.

Nobukazu Kuriki (1982 -2018)

The Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki has been found dead today on Mount Everest. The 35-year-old had reported yesterday from Camp 3 at 7,400 meters via Facebook. It was hard, said Kuriki, assuring he would be careful. This morning, his team informed that Nobukazu was in bad shape and that he was descending. Later, he did not respond to radio calls. His camera crew climbed up and found Kuriki lifeless near Camp 2.

Fever in Everest Base Camp

Kuriki en route to Everest in April

The Japanese had pre-acclimatized in his homeland by hypoxia training, then in Nepal did a very fast ascent of the 6038-meter-high Chulu Far East in the Annapurna area and subsequently trekked through the Khumbu to Everest Base Camp. Arriving there, he suffered from a strong cough and fever. He still had a slight cough, but it was almost gone, Kuriki had said two days ago on Facebook.

Solo and without bottled oxygen

Kuriki at 6,800 m in the Everest North Face in fall 2016

It was already Nobukazu’s eighth attempt on Everest. He had set his mind on climbing the highest mountain in the world without bottled oxygen and solo. In 2017, the Japanese had planned to climb through the Everest North Face. Because of the poor conditions in the wall, he switched from the north to the south side late in the spring season – with the aim of ascending via the West Ridge and the Hornbein Couloir in the upper part of the North Face to the highest point at 8850 meters. Bad weather prevented his project. In previous years, Kuriki had tried six times in vain to climb Everest in fall: five times from the Nepalese, once from the Tibetan side (in 2016).

Only one complete finger

After his Everest attempt in fall 2012

In October 2012, the Japanese had made headlines worldwide when he had tried to reach the summit via the West Ridge. The then 30-year-old said that he had to turn back at about 8,000 meters because of a storm. On his descent, Kuriki sent an emergency call. Sherpas climbed up to him, and the Japanese was flown by rescue helicopter from Camp 2 at 6,400 meters to a hospital in Kathmandu. Kuriki suffered severe frostbite. Nine fingers had to be amputated; only stumps were left – and only one complete thumb. The handicap did not stop his ambition to climb Everest – quite the contrary.

Dujmovits: “No Harakiri guy”

Kuriki (l.) and Dujmovits (r.) in spring 2017

“I have not experienced him as a Harakiri guy or as a daredevil,” says Ralf Dujmovits, who – as reported – is currently staying with his partner, the Canadian climber Nancy Hansen for a scientific study in a hypoxia chamber of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne for a month. Ralf had met Kuriki on the Everest north side in spring 2017. “He was pleasant, very open-minded and well organized. And he really listened to me.” On Dujmovits’s advice, the Japanese had finally given up his plan to ascend via the North Face. I ask Ralf whether Kuriki was obsessed with Everest. “When you do things like that, you have to be a little bit obsessed with an idea,” says Dujmovits. “He always wanted to be alone on the road, that says a lot about him.”

Willie Benegas (l.) and Matt Moniz (r.)

All’s well that ends well. Today, 20-year-old American Matt Moniz and his mentor, 49-year-old Argentine Willie Benegas, reached the 8,850-meter summit of Mount Everest. “0459 Summit! We’re on top of the world,” Matt tweeted. On Wednesday, the two climbers also want to scale neighboring Lhotse (8,516 m) , the fourth highest mountain on earth. As reported, the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism had considered revoking Moniz’ and Benegas’ climbing permits. The reason: They had skied down the Lhotse flank during an acclimatization climb – without having a so-called “ski permit”. However, only a few knew about the existence of such a special permit. After about 150 Climbing Sherpas had campaigned for Matt and Willie in an open letter to the Ministry of Tourism for Matt and Willie, the people in charge gave in talking about a “very innocent mistake”. The way for today’s Everest summit attempt was free.

Bulgarian dies in camp 3

Since this spring’s first summit success on 13 May, north and south side summed, nearly 500 ascents have been counted. Meanwhile, there was another death on Everest. A 62-year-old Macedonian collapsed in Camp 3 and died. It was the fifth death this season on the eight-thousanders.

Further summit successes at Kangchenjunga

Kangchenjunga

On the 8,586 meter high Kangchenjunga today at least eleven climbers reached the highest point. The team of the expedition operator “Asian Trekking” was led by Dawa Steven Sherpa. Last Wednesday, as reported, five mountaineers had stood on top of the third highest mountain in the world, including the German Herbert Hellmuth. Maya Sherpa, who had tried to be the first Nepalese woman to scale Kangchenjunga, had to turn around at about 8,500 meters. She was too late, too tired and bottled oxygen run out, reported the 40-year-old on Facebook.

Nepal’s three highest mountains in one season?

Nima Jangmu Sherpa (r.) and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (l.)

In the next few days, Nima Jangmu Sherpa will also tackle Kangchenjunga. The 27-year-old will be accompanied by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, head of the operator “Imagine”. If she reaches the summit, she would have accomplished the feat of climbing the three highest mountains in Nepal and thus three of the four highest peaks of the world within one season. On 29 April, Nima Jangmu stood on top of Lhotse, on 14 May on the summit of Mount Everest.

Soria will leave Dhaulagiri

Spanish “oldie” Carlos Soria has declared his Dhaulagiri expedition over. The 79-year-old had climbed up to 7,250 meters with his team. Strong wind had prevented a further ascent. Next fall, Carlos wants to tackle Shishapangma, which is also still missing in his eight-thousander collection besides Dhaulagiri. For spring 2019, Soria is already planning his next attempt on Dhaulagiri. It would be his tenth.

Update 21 May: Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas also reached the summit of Lhotse, a day after they had scaled Mount Everest.

Tibetan north side of Everest

Now, also from the Tibetan north side, the first climbers out of commercial teams have scaled Mount Everest. Swiss expedition leader Kari Kobler reported that three of his clients reached the highest point at 8,850 meters today. On Monday, the team responsible for fixing the ropes via the Northeast Ridge to the summit, had finished their work. This had already happened a day earlier on the Nepalese south side. On Monday about 50 mountaineers had climbed to the highest point on the southern route. Among them was the Australian Steve Plain. The 36-year-old set a new time record for climbing the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of all continents.

And now the Triple Crown?

Steve Plain

Plain completed the collection within 117 days, achieving his goal of scaling the Seven Summits in under four months. Until then, the Pole Janusz Kochanski had held the record with 126 days. And Steve is not yet tired. Today, one day after their Everest summit success, he and British expedition leader Jon Gupta also scaled the neighboring eight-thousander Lhotse. Thus, for Plain and Gupta only the 7861-meter-high Nuptse is missing to complete the so-called “Triple Crown”, the ascent of the three highest peaks in the Everest massif within a season. Their first summit attempt on Nuptse had failed in early May, 200 meters below the highest point. “I didn’t name him ‘Strong Steve’ last year for nothing”, writes Tim Mosedale on Facebook about Plain.

Sherpa dies on Makalu, summit attempt on Dhaulagiri

Makalu

Meanwhile, a death is reported from the eight-thousander Makalu. According to the newspaper “Himalayan Times”, a 32-year-old Sherpa died of high altitude sickness in the base camp. He had worked for a Chinese expedition. On Dhaulagiri, 79-year-old Spaniard Carlos Soria and his team set off for their summit attempt. Carlos is tackling the 8,167 meter high mountain in western Nepal for the ninth time. Should he succeed this time, it would be his 13th of the 14 eight-thousanders. Besides Dhaulagiri only Shishapangma in Tibet is missing in Soria’s collection.

Lhotse (in the sun)

The early eight-thousander bird catches the worm. Mingma Gyalje Sherpa once again lived up to his reputation as an early starter and booked the first eight-thousander summit success of this spring season on the 8516-meter-high Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world. “We are on Lhotse summit now,” wrote the 32-year-old on Sunday morning on Facebook. “Thanks to ‘Madission‘ team for their hard work till 7800m and our team for further hard work till summit. Imagine Trek & Expedition team rocks.” Mingma is the head and expedition leader of the Nepalese operator.

Six times in the death zone

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa

Also in spring 2017, Mingma had made the first summit success of the season, then on Dhaulagiri. At the end of the year, he had entered the death zone six times: on Dhaulagiri, Makalu, K2, Broad Peak and twice on Nanga Parbat. Four times he reached the summit (Dhaulagiri, Makalu, K2, Nanga Parbat), the fifth ascent on Broad Peak is disputed. This spring, he had set out to lead two Chinese clients to the top of Lhotse and five more to the summit of Everest. Part one of the plan is ticked off.

Fallen to death in his tent

R.I.P.

Meanwhile, the first death of the climbing season on the eight-thousanders is reported from Dhaulagiri. According to the newspaper “Himalayan Times” the body of the Italian climber Simone La Terra was found at 6,100 meters. A storm gust had blown the tent, where the 37-year-old had been staying, into the depth, it said. La Terra had already scaled five eight-thousanders.

Elisabeth Revol in a French hospital

The ridge is narrow at the highest mountains in the world, between luck and danger, between life and death. On Thursday of last week, Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz reached the 8,125-meter-high summit of Nanga Parbat. Elisabeth was the first woman to succeed a winter ascent of this eight-thousander, Tomek the first Pole to set foot on the highest point of Nanga Parbat in the cold season. In the seventh attempt Mackiewicz had finally fulfilled his big dream. For Revol, it was the third attempt, all together with Tomek. The two climbers did not have time to enjoy the second winter ascent of Nanga Parbat on the summit. They were late, it was already 6 pm local time and dark. That was still the smaller problem. “Tomek told me ‘I can’t see anything any more’,” Elisabeth reports from a French hospital, where her severe frostbite on her hands and feet is being treated. “He hadn’t used a mask because it was a bit hazy during the day and by nightfall he had ophthalmia (an inflammation of the eye). We hardly had a second at the top. We had to rush to get down.”

Tomek’s condition deteriorated rapidly

Nanga Parbat

Revol descended ahead, Mackiewicz followed clinging to her shoulder. Tomek’s condition deteriorated rapidly. The 43-year-old suffered from breathing trouble and frostbite. He was no longer able to reach their last high camp. Therefore, the two climbers ran for shelter in a crevasse at about 7,200 meters. At sunrise, “blood was streaming“ from Tomek’s mouth – a sign of an acute life-threatening high altitude edema. Elisabeth made several emergency calls, and some came through.

“They told me,‘If you go down to 6,000 metres, we can pick you up, and we can get Tomek at 7,200 meter’,” says Revol. “It wasn’t a decision I made, it was imposed on me.” To Mackiewicz, she remembers simply saying: “Listen, the helicopter will arrive late afternoon. I must go down, they’ll come to get you.”

Hallucinations with consequences

Denis Urubko (l.) and Adam Bielecki (r.)

However, bad weather delayed the rescue operation. Elisabeth had to spend also the next night in a crevasse, at 6800 meters. She was so exhausted that she hallucinated: She was convinced someone would bring her hot tea if she gave a shoe in return. For five hours, she spent in her icy refuge without a shoe and suffered heavy frostbite. When Revol heard a helicopter, but found that it could not land because of the strong wind, she decided to continue descending – with wet gloves and frostbite on her feet. She did not know then that Denis Urubko and Adam Bielecki were climbing up towards her, reports the 37-year-old. At about 3 am in the morning she reached a camp on the Kinshofer route. “And then I saw two headlamps arriving. So I started to yell. And I said to myself,‘OK it’s going to be ok,“ recalls Elisabeth. “It was incredibly emotional.“

Decision about life and death

Tomek Mackiewicz, R.I.P.

That applied also for the two rescuers. “It was a miracle,“ says Denis Urubko in an interview with desnivel.com. First, they got Revol in a tent and cared for her, then they rested until dawn from their exhausting speed climb. According to Denis, the rescue team was faced with a dilemma: “At that moment, we had to make a decision: either help Elisabeth to survive – or climb on, with very little hope of finding Tomek.“ After they had been informed by Revol about Tomek’s condition, and in addition, even worse weather was expected for the upcoming day, the rescuers decided with heavy heart not to continue the ascent and focus instead on the rescue of the Frenchwoman. They escorted Revol further down. At 4,800 meters, a helicopter landed and finally brought Elisabeth to safety. The search for Tomek was declared over because the rescue team saw no chance to find the 43-year-old Pole alive. She wants to “recover as soon as possible“ and then visit Tomek’s children, says Elisabeth. Mackiewicz leaves behind his wife and three children. For Tomek’s family, a fundraising was launched.

Given their all

For sure, a discussion will start now. Questions will be asked, like these: Should have Elisabeth and Tomek given up the summit and turn back earlier? Could the rescue operation have begun earlier? Would not a chance have existed to rescue Mackiewicz alive? Many who have never been on a high mountain will speak up now and do the moralizer. I think this should be answered: Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz have made their decisions self-responsible and only called for help when it became clear that they could not save themselves by their own efforts. In a short time and very unbureaucratically, a rescue operation was organized. The Pakistani helicopter pilots and the four climbers of the Polish K2 winter expedition, who were flown to the Nanga Parbat, risked a lot and gave their all to save Revol and Mackiewicz. All persons involved in the action are to be given thanks. That in the end only the Frenchwoman survived, but Tomek stayed forever on the mountain of his fulfilled dream is tragic, but was under the circumstances probably impossible to prevent. The ridge is narrow at the highest mountains in the world.

Ueli Steck (1976-2017)

Ueli Steck is dead. Fallen to death somewhere on Everest. Incredible. I can not believe it. What has happened? The exact circumstances are not yet clear. The body of the 40-year-old was found somewhere between Camp 1 (at 6,100 m) and 2 (6,400 m). Steck climbed solo on Nuptse, slipped and fell about 1,000 meters deep, reports the Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times”. In the past week, Ueli had reported via Facebook on a “quick day” climbing from Base Camp up to 7,000 meters and back again. The attached photo showed him with trailrunning shoes. Typical Ueli, I twittered with a twinkle in my eye – and the thought: Only one like him gets away with this, “The Swiss Machine”, the “Speedy Gonzales” among the high-altitude climbers, undisputedly one of the best.

Accepting risk

Ueli Steck above Camp 2 on Everest

I’ve often met Ueli or phoned him. He did not shy away from the risk, but he was not a reckless gambler. So his probably biggest coup, the solo climb via the Annapurna South Face in fall 2013, had even driven him into a deep personal crisis. He felt that he had overtightened the screw with this project because he had not really been able to control the hazards. Risk management was a topic he was dealing with. “When we climb mountains we try to take good decisions and not to run too much risk. In the end, however, we just have to make it clear that once we go to the mountains, no matter on what level, we risk an accident”, Ueli once told me. “For me, it’s only either black or white. Either I just accept it or not. If I don’t accept it, I can’t go to the mountains. But climbing and all the experiences when I do it are simply too important for me and give me too much. Therefore I accept the risk.“

“My dream“

Fast en route

Five weeks ago, before Ueli left for Nepal, we talked to each other. He was looking forward to returning to Mount Everest. He had checked off his traumatic experience there in spring 2013 – the attack of a Sherpa mob in high camp against him, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith. He looked forward optimistically. His project, the Everest-Lhotse traverse was ambitious, just typical Ueli: via the rarely climbed West Ridge and the Hornbein Couloir to the summit, then down to the South Col and (via the variant opened in 2010 by the native Kazakh Denis Urubko) to the 8,611-meter-high summit of Lhotse – as always on his eight-thousander projects without supplemental oxygen. “That would be my dream,” said Ueli, still a realist: “There must be perfect conditions and the weather must be good and stable. I think it’s important to have ideas, but in the end you have to decide on the mountain what is possible and impossible.”

On the same wavelenght

On a narrow ridge

We agreed to talk to each other again if he would have completed his acclimatization phase on Everest. Now we will never again do it, neither about his projects and dreams nor about anything else. That makes me sad. Not only because he was a great climber, but also because I felt we were tuned to the same wavelength. Ueli will be missing, my thoughts are with his wife Nicole and his family.

“People say, a cat has nine lives. How many lives do you have?” I once asked Ueli. He took the time to answer: “Oh, how many lives? I have already been very lucky a few times. But I don’t count these experiences because that makes you just crazy.”

Laila Peak

The summer season in the Karakorum has not even really kicked off, but the first death is already reported. Italian Leonardo Comelli lost his life on Thursday while making a ski descent from the 6,096-meter-high Laila Peak, said Karrar Haideri, spokesman of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. At his first attempt to ski down Laila Peak, Comelli crossed his skis, lost his balance and fell 400 meters down rugged terrain to his death. According to Haideri’s words, the other three team members were able to retrieve the body. Comelli came from the small town of Muggia located in the province of Trieste. With 16 years he started rock climbing. Later he made his mark as an ice climber, mountain skier and alpine photographer.

Eyecatcher Laila Peak

The British climbers Simon Yates, Sean Smith and Mark Miller had made the first ascent of Laila Peak via the western flank in 1987, doing it without a permit. The six-thousander is one of the most striking mountains in the Karakoram, it rises up like a perfectly shaped pyramid of granite. Every hiker who – like I did in 2004 – is crossing Gondogoro La, a 5614-meter-high pass towards the end of the Baltoro trek, will not forget the view of Laila Peak: a beautiful mountain but extremely steep and challenging too.

Thomas Laemmle in Chinese Base Camp

Who could say no? On the summit of Mount Everest at 8,850 meters, Thomas Laemmle popped the question to his partner, via GPS messenger: “Heike, will you marry me?” Her answer was not (yet) spread on the Internet. Thomas today reached the highest point on Earth via the normal route on the Tibetan north side – without oxygen. For the 50-year-old from the German town of Waldburg in Baden-Wurttemberg Everest is the fifth eight-thousander he has scaled. Previously, the high altitude climber and sports scientist from the Allgaeu region had successfully climbed Cho Oyu (in 2003), Gasherbrum II (in 2005 and 2013), Manaslu (in 2008) and Shishapangma (in 2013). This spring Laemmle had abandoned a summit attempt on Cho Oyu due to bad weather.

“Tremendous feeling”

North side of Everest

Juergen Landmann was another German on the summit of Everest today. “It is a tremendous feeling,” Juergen said in a radio interview that he gave via satellite phone at the top. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Landmann had abandoned his original plan to climb without bottled oxygen. The 46-year-old from the municipality Langenwetzendorf in Thuringia had scaled Cho Oyu in 2013. A year later, he reached the 8035-meter-high foresummit of Broad Peak in Pakistan.

One dead and two missing Indians

From the south side of Everest, another death was reported, the third within three days. Indian Subhas Pal died while descending from the South Col, apparently from exhaustion. The fate of two other members of the Indian Expedition is still unclear. They are reported missing – which is elusive in light of the heavy traffic on the normal route during the good weather window. This spring so far more than 350 climbers have reached the summit from the Nepalese south side.

Makalu

How could that happen? Two Sherpa mountain guides who were working for an expedition of the German operator Amical alpin died in Camp 2 at 6,700 m during a summit attempt on the eight-thousander Makalu. Other group members found the two Sherpas lifeless in their tent in the afternoon. “We can only speculate,” Dominik Mueller, head of Amical, tells me. “We suspect that they cooked in their closed tent without providing adequate ventilation and then died of carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Small error with fatal effect?

Dominik is shocked and can’t find an explanation how the accident could happen. “I knew them. They were very experienced Sherpas”, says Mueller. “They were also rested after some days in Base Camp, not stressed. It happened without any external influence. I suspect that they made a small mistake which had a fatal effect.” The head of Amical stresses that it is too early to make a definitive statement about the cause of death. He wants to talk to the other expedition members to get more information. According to Dominik, the Amical expedition group on Makalu, with a height of 8,485 m the fifth highest mountain in the world, included four Sherpas – and nine western climbers: “They are all very experienced. Therefore they wanted no expedition leader and take care of everything by themselves.”

Carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas cookers in a tent is rare, but happens now and then – also in the Himalayas. Just before the disaster on Mount Everest in spring 1996, yesterday 20 years ago, Arita Sherpa and Chuldum Sherpa, who belonged to the team of the New Zealander Rob Hall, were not able to take part in the summit attempt that later ended so tragically. They had suffered a carbon monoxide poisoning while cooking on the South Col and were not able to climb.