Carlos Soria on Dhaulagiri

The probably fittest of all seniors among the high altitude climbers must still wait for his 13th eight-thousander. Because of too much snow on the mountain Carlos Soria declared his expedition on the 8,167-meter-high Dhaulagiri for finished. During the ascent of the 78-year-old Spaniard and his companions to Camp 1, some avalanches had swept down not far away from the climbers, Carlos indicated on Facebook, adding that the high risk of avalanches would continue in the upper parts of the mountain. Moreover, the fixed ropes which they had laid before had been buried by fresh snow. “Because of all these adversities, we have no choice but to abandon our Dhaulagiri expedition for this season,” said Soria. A first summit attempt had failed one and a half weeks ago at an altitude of about 7,800 meters, because Carlos and Co. had missed the right route while the fog had become stronger.

Two are still missing in his collection

Dhaulagiri

Carlos holds the age records at K 2 (65 years old), Broad Peak (68), Makalu (69, there he climbed solo and without bottled oxygen), Gasherbrum I (70), Manaslu (71), Lhotse (72), Kangchenjunga (75) and Annapurna (77). On Dhaulagiri, he has now failed seven times, most recently last spring. The 8027-meter-high Shishapangma is also missing to complete his eight-thousander collection. If he succeeds, Carlos would be by far the oldest man who stood on all 14 eight-thousanders. This “record” is held by the Polish climber Piotr Pustelnik, who scaled his last eight-thousander in 2010 at the age of 58.

Summit wave rolls on Manaslu

Manaslu (l.) and Pinnacle East (r.)

After all, Carlos had Dhaulagiri almost for himself this fall. On Manaslu, which is not far away, nobody can claim this at the moment. About 500 (!) climbers have pitched their tents in the base camp there. On Monday last week, the first summit successes had been reported from the 8,163-meter-high “mountain of the spirit”. Yesterday and today, several teams posted on the social networks that they had reached the highest point too. And the big summit wave is now rolling. Among those who set off for their summit attempt, are the German couple Alix von Melle and Luis Stitzinger. Both have so far climbed six eight-thousanders, five of them together. Yesterday, a 46-year-old British had died on Manaslu. After he had abandoned his ascent due to symptoms of severe high altitude sickness, he passed away on the descent somewhere above 6,000 meters.

K 2

I felt as if I was close to K 2 but in fact I was quite far off. After the return from our first ascent of the 7129-m-high Kokodak Dome I found out the real distance between the two mountains: 300 km as the crow flies. Not just around the corner. Because of my expedition I (and thus possibly also you as a reader of my blog) missed what was going at the second highest mountain in the world during this summer.

32 on one day

Anniversary years seem to make summit successes more likely on K 2. But perhaps it is also simply because there are more climbers on the mountain in those years. In 2004, the Golden Jubilee year of the first ascent of K 2 (on this occasion I also visited the base camp), 51 climbers reached the highest point at 8611 meters. This summer, 60 years after the first ascent,  it was only short of the record: 48 summit successes, 32 of them on 26 July, are quite a view, considering that there have been several summer seasons on K 2 like that of 2013 without anyone standing at the top.

All-female?

In K 2 base camp

There were six women among the K 2 summiters in July: the Nepalese Dawa Yangzum Sherpa , Pasang Lhamu Sherpa and Maya Sherpa, the South Tyrolean Tamara Lunger, Chinese Luo Jing and the New Zealander Chris Jensen Burke (who also has an Australian passport). It is a matter of debate whether the success of the three Sherpani counts as an “all-female summit”. The National Geographic magazine reports, that three male Sherpas accompanied the women to the summit.

On the same day, 26 July, the Czech climber Radek Jaroš was on top. The 50-year-old, who climbed without bottled oxygen, completed his eight-thousanders collection, as first Czech ever. Jaroš is only the 15th, who climbed all 14 highest mountains in the world without breathing mask.

Hot feet

K 2 from above

In 2012 at the Annapurna, his 13th eight-thousander, he had lost some toes by frostbite. Now at K 2, almost the opposite happened to him. The heating coils in his expedition shoes ran hot. “When we were on our way to the summit, other climbers were kicking against the ice for better blood circulation in their feet. They felt could at their toes and tried to avoid frostbite”, Jaroš said. He had done the same, “but only to avoid to burn my toes.”

Death in Camp 4

There was one death in this K 2 season. The Spaniard Miguel Angel Perez died in Camp 4 at 8200 meters. Previously, he had reached the summit and then, apparently already suffering from high altitude sickness, bivouacked above the camp. Perez, climbing K 2 as his ninth eight-thousander, was 46 years old when he died. R.I.P.

P. S.: The attempt of the Austrian top climbers David Lama, Hansjoerg Auer and Peter Ortner Hans Jörg Auer to climb firstly via the Northeast Face of the 7821- meter- high Masherbrum (once called K 1 by British surveyors) has failed. The trio returned ​​in the lower part of the wall due to high risk of avalanches. “Climbing the Northeast Face of Masherbrum will be like nothing one of us three has ever experienced”, David Lama writes on his website. “Something completely new and so difficult it’s hard to imagine success.”

Economic factor Mount Everest

Nepal sees his mountain luck run out. “The government must frame policies to gain a competitive edge”, a report by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said which was quoted in the “Himalayan Times”. The neighbouring countries had started aggressive campaigns to attract more climbers. India had offered a discount of 50 per cent on climbing fees, Pakistan had waived off royalties for all peaks below 6500 meters, the report said. Nepal is charging fees for mountains which are much lower, e.g. for 5500-meter-high Chhukung Ri, a popular trekking peak in the Khumbu region.

Online visa applications

Last year 298 expeditions came to Nepal, twelve less than in 2012. The revenue from climbing fees fell by more than seven per cent to 3,91 million US-Dollar. Ang Tshering Sherpa, former long-time president of the Nepalese Mountaineering Association, sees the reason for this in the parliamentary elections last November. The tour operators were fearing strikes or even violence that might leave their clients stranded for days, Ang Tshering said. The government in Kathmandu has just made a first step to friendliness towards customers by launching an online application system for Nepal.

Everest makes the cash tills ringing

The data of the tourism ministry show how much the country is depending on expeditions to Mount Everest. The permit fees for the highest mountain on earth made 80 per cent of the revenue. There was a large gap to the 8000ers Lhotse (4,5 per cent) and Manalsu (4,2 per cent) in second and third place. Considering the outstanding importance of Everest it is little wonder that all discussions in Nepal about stricter rules for climbers have fizzled out.

6000er before climbing Everest

Recently, Ang Tshering Sherpa said in an interview with the German newspaper „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“, there would be almost no changes for foreign climbers on Everest in 2014. They would only have to get a special permit by the tourism ministry if they want to make a record attempt on Everest. That was recommended by a commission with Ang Tshering. Furthermore it had proposed that mountaineers from Nepal should have climbed at least a 6000er before getting a permit for the highest mountain. In recent years there have been complaints about poor climbing skills of some Sherpas on Mount Everest.