Gasherbrum Iv

The weather conditions in the Karakoram remain difficult. German David Göttler and Italian Herve Barmasse had to give up their attempt on the almost-eight-thousander Gasherbrum IV. The two had originally planned to first climb the Southwest Face of the 7,932-meter-high mountain in the Karakoram for the first time. “For now, G IV must remain a dream climb,” writes David on Facebook. “Sad and frustrated we have been forced back to Base Camp by unpredicted snowfall. (The) Avalanche danger is too high.” Also the Spaniards Oriol Baro, Roger Cararach, Iker Madoz and Marc Toralles abandoned their summit attempt because of the bad weather and returned from Camp 2 at 6,500 meters. They had planned to reach the summit via the still unclimbed South Pillar.

Great Trip

Felix Berg’s summit selfie on Gasherbrum II

So far there have only been two successes on the Gasherbrum summits this season. German Luis Stitzinger and Italian Gianpaolo Corona reached the 8,080-meter-high summit of Gasherbrum I on 18 July, “after an ascent through calf deep snow, in alpine style and without using artificial oxygen,” as Luis reported on Facebook. Two days earlier Pole Adam Bielecki and German Felix Berg had reached the highest point of Gasherbrum II at 8,034 meters, also without bottled oxygen. “It was a great trip,” Felix tells me, now back with his family in Switzerland. “And this on a mountain that is normally overcrowded. In this respect, the weather was blessing in disguise.” For three weeks before it had snowed almost continuously. The commercial expeditions had not reached further than Camp 1 at 5,900 meters, there were no fixed ropes on the higher parts of the mountain.

Logical line

Adam Bielecki on the West Ridge

Actually Bielecki and Berg, together with Jacek Czech, another Poland, had also wanted to tackle Gasherbrum IV via a new route through the East Face. They had only wanted to climb Gasherbrum II to acclimatize. Because of the persistently bad weather, they changed their plans and decided to try a new route variant through the West Face in the upper part of the mountain. “The normal route up to Camp 3 at 6,900 meter is a beautiful straight line, but then it bends to the right,” explains Felix. “The West Face is actually the logical extension of this line up to the summit.” The fragile rock slabs in the wall were a problem for them, says the 37-year-old. “We couldn’t belay ourselves. We were roped up with some pseudo belaying between us. No one should have slipped or fallen.”

Fall into a crevasse during descent

The crevasse into which Felix fell

Berg and Bielecki reached the summit, traversed it and descended on the normal route. Jacek Czech and the Russian Boris Dedeshko, climbing up the normal route, had had to turn back earlier. On the way down to the base camp Felix Berg experienced a moment of shock. Shortly before the finish he fell 15 meters deep into a crevasse. Luckily, Boris and he were roped up at the time. “I was pretty lucky,” says Felix. “I just got a few bruises and a cut that needed stitches. But I got off lightly for a 15-meter fall.”

P.S.: I am now away for a good two weeks – actively relaxing in the Alps.

Broad Peak

For me, drones come right after leaf blowers. I find the noise generated by the increasingly popular flying machines extremely annoying. Drones sound like mutated giant bumblebees. Torture for my ears. But even I have to admit: On the eight-thousander Broad Peak in the Karakoram in Pakistan, a drone and the guy who flew it did a great job. Eight days ago, on 9 July, the 64-year-old Briton Rick Allen set off alone for a summit attempt. His teammates stayed in Camp 3 at 7,000 meters. When Rick didn’t return, they sounded the alarm because they feared Allen might have been injured or even died. Sandy Allan, who had already descended to base camp due to strong winds in the summit area, contacted the Polish Bargiel brothers in the nearby K2 Base Camp. Andrzej Bargiel is planning to ski the second highest mountain in the world from the summit to base camp for the first time this summer. His brother Bartek is filming the project – also using a drone.

Thanks to Dan Mazur and Co.

Sandy Allan (l.) and Rick Allen on Nanga Parbat in 2012

Bartek let it take off. With the help of the camera mounted on the drone, Sandy, Andrzej and Bartek were able to find Rick Allen’s exact position and to radio it to Camp 3. A seven-man rescue team, consisting of climbers from the expedition operator “Summit Climb”, managed to climb up to Rick and bring him back to Camp 3 in the dark. “Rick returned to Base Camp on 12 July safely thanks to Dan Mazur (the expedition leader of Summit Climb) and his Sherpas,” Allen’s expedition blog said. “After being examined by a doctor at Base Camp, Rick is okay all things considered and has a few superficial cuts and some frostnip.”

The two Britons Sandy Allan and Rick Allen had landed a coup in the Karakoram in summer 2012. At that time they were the first to reach the summit of Nanga Parbat via the more than ten kilometers long Mazeno Ridge. Allan and Allen had been at very high altitude for 18 days. In 2013, they had been awarded for this amazing ascent the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the Climbers”.

Bielecki and Berg on top of G II

Camp 3 on Gasherbrum II

Meanwhile, further summit successes were reported from the Karakoram: According to Polish media reports on Monday, 35-year-old Pole Adam Bielecki and 37-year-old German Felix Berg reached the 8,034-meter-high summit of Gasherbrum II. “We managed to traverse the summit – we reached it by the fragile and surprisingly difficult West Face and went down the regular route (via the Southwest Ridge),” Adam wrote on Facebook. Their companions Jacek Czech, also from Poland, and Boris Dedeshko from Kazakhstan had wanted to climb via the normal route, but had turned around at 7,500 and 7,800 meters respectively, said Bielecki. It was his fifth eight-thousander, for Felix Berg after Mount Everest (in 2004), Broad Peak (in 2014) and Cho Oyu (in spring 2018) the fourth success on one of the 14 highest mountains in the world.

First summit success on Broad Peak

Yesterday, ten climbers from the Austrian expedition operator “Furtenbach Adventures” according to their own words reached the summit of Broad Peak at 8,051 meters. The group had abandoned their first summit bid last week because the avalanche danger had been still too great at that time. The first summit attempts of this summer season have also begun on K2.

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.

A lot of snow on Gasherbrum II

A short snowfall break in the Karakoram – or, as Felix Berg describes it from Gasherbrum II with a twinkle in his eye “a small good-weather disturbance”. Time for the climbers to stuck their noses into the wind and to reconsider their plans. Dominik Müller, head and expedition leader of the German operator Amical alpin has decided to strike the tents on the 8,051-meter-high Broad Peak and to return home. “All the equipment from Camp 1 was recovered,” Dominik writes on Facebook today. “Just now it’s snowing again, and during our ascent there were some avalanches!” The porters have been ordered for Sunday.

Stitzinger: “Too much snow in the flanks and couloirs”

The Amical team led by Luis Stitzinger, who wanted to first climb the 7,082-meter-high Urdok Kangri II, threw in the towel too. “It’s been snowing for days since we arrived at the base camp. There is now half a meter of fresh snow, and up to one and a half meters at 6,000 or 7,000 meteres,” Luis writes on Facebook. “The route looks elegant, but there’s too much snow in the flanks and couloirs.” For the next three days more than half a meter of fresh snow is expected, says Luis adding that they’ll finish the expedition early: “I’ve never experienced such a season with so constant bad weather in the Karakoram.”

Like Russian Roulette

Alex Gavan (l.) and Tunc Findik (r.)

Snowfall has also increased the risk of avalanches on the other eight-thousanders in Pakistan. Continuing the ascent would be like “Russian Roulette”, Romanian Alex Gavan wrote three days ago. Alex and his Turkish team partner Tunc Findik had interrupted their activities on Nanga Parbat. The two want to climb the 8125-meter-high mountain without bottled oxygen.

Bargiel and Golab move to the K2

On the eight-thousander Gasherbrum II, the Poles Andrzej Bargiel and Janusz Golab declared their acclimatization over – “due to heavy snowfall. Time to move on to K2 base camp and focus on our main goal,” writes Bargiel on Instagram. The 30-year-old is planning the first complete ski run from the 8611-meter-high summit of K2. Last year, Bargiel failed on the second highest mountain in the world – because of bad weather.

Göttler and Barmasse want to climb G IV Southwest Face

Gasherbrum IV

The German climber David Göttler and the Italian Hervé Barmasse are probably glad to have made their way to the Karakoram rather late in the season. Both are still on their trekking. They definitely haven’t missed anything so far. Göttler and Barmasse want to first climb the Southwest Face of the 7,925-meter-high Gasherbrum IV – in pure Alpine style, i.e. without bottled oxygen, high camps and high altitude porters.

Nanga Parbat

The spring season on Nepal’s highest mountains has segued almost seamlessly into the summer season on Pakistan’s eight-thousanders. The first expedition teams have reached the base camps. The South African adventurer Mike Horn arrived on the Diamir side of Nanga Parbat a week ago. In the meantime, the 51-year-old and his teammates have already climbed up to 5,900 meters. Maya Sherpa is tackling the 8125-meter-high mountain too. In May, the 40-year-old Sherpani had had to turn back on Kangchenjunga at about 8,500 metres. Less than 100 meters of altitude difference had been missing to the summit. With the Romanian Alex Gavan and the Turkish Tunc Findik, two other well-known climbers have set off for Nanga Parbat. The 36-year-old Gavan, who failed on Dhaulagiri in spring, has so far scaled six eight-thousanders.  For the 46-year-old Findik, Turkey’s most successful high-altitude climber, Nanga Parbat would be his twelfth of the 14 eight-thousanders if successful.

Goal: Entering new territory on Gasherbrum

The Gasherbrum massif

The two Poles Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech as well as the German Felix Berg will be on the road in the Gasherbrum massif. The trio will acclimatize on the 8,035 meter-high Gasherbrum II, afterwards the three climbers will try to open a new route via the East Face of the 7925-meter-high Gasherbrum IV.  Another possible destination is the still unclimbed 6,955-meter-high Gasherbrum VII. In May, Felix Berg had summited the eight-thousander Cho Oyu in Tibet without bottled oxygen. In spring 2017, Bielecki and Berg together with the Canadian Louis Rousseau and the British Rick Allen had tried to climb the Annapurna Northwest Face, but had had to give up because of bad weather.

Eight-thousander No. 8 for von Melle and Stitzinger?

Alix von Melle (r.) and Luis Stitzinger

The German mountaineering couple Alix von Melle and Luis Stitzinger – both have seven eight-thousander summit successes on their account – also head for the Gasherbrum massif. The 46-year-old and her three years older husband want to climb Gasherbrum I, also known as Hidden Peak, in Alpine style from the south. They have their skis with them. Before that, Alix and Luis try to first climb the 7082-meter-high Urdok Kangri II with a team of the German expedition operator Amical alpin.  Luis will lead the group.

Several expedition teams pitch their tents at K2 (8,611 meter) and neighbouring Broad Peak (8,051 meter). As in summer 2017, the Pole Andrzej Bargiel has planned the first complete ski descent from the summit of K2, the second highest mountain in the world.

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.”

Xia auf der Everest-Südseite

In the fifth attempt, Xia Boyu made it. As Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, expedition leader and head of the Nepalese operator “Imagine Trek and Expedition”, wrote on Facebook, the 69-year-old Chinese was among 14 members of his team, who today reached the summit of Mount Everest at 8,850 meters. Among the summiteers was also Nima Jangmu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to scale Everest and neighboring Lhotse in one season. She had also been part of the Mingma-led team that had succeeded the first eight-thousander summit success of the spring season on 29 April on Lhotse.

He never gave up

For Xia Boyu finally fulfilled his lifelong dream to stand on the roof of the world. At his first try in 1975, his team had got into bad weather about 250 meters below the summit. The Chinese climbers had to spend two days and three nights at an altitude of 8,600 meters at temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius. The following night, at 7,600 meters, Xia left his sleeping bag to a teammate who had got into serious trouble. He paid his selflessness with severe frostbite, both legs had to be amputated. Later, he also fell ill with lymph node cancer. But Xia did not give up his hope of reaching the top of Everest. He began climbing again with prostheses – and returned to Everest in 2014. Because of the avalanche disaster in Khumbu Icefall killing 16 climbers Xia had to return home then empty handed, as well as in 2015 after the devastating earthquake in Nepal. In spring 2016, Xia failed due to bad weather about 100 meters below the summit.

Rope fixing team from the north on the summit too

Nordseite des Mount Everest

On Sunday, eight Sherpas had succeeded the season’s first Everest summit success. They fixed the ropes to the highest point, clearing the way for the commercial expedition teams. Mingma’s team was the first one to follow them. Also on the Everest north side, the ropes are now fixed to the highest point. This is reported by the operator “Climbalaya”. The Nepalese boy scout Anish Luitel was part of the successful team, it said. The 26-year-old wanted to climb Everest on behalf of all Scouts worldwide. For Anish it was the second Everest summit success after 2016.

Summit success on Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu

Another successful ascent is reported from Cho Oyu, where the German expedition leader of the operator “Summit Climb”, Felix Berg, one of his clients and Dawa Jangbu Sherpa reached the summit. In the run-up Felix had written to me that they wanted to ascend without breathing masks. Just over a week ago, a team of the US operator Alpenglow Expeditions led by Adrian Ballinger had reached the highest point of Cho Oyu – with bottled oxygen.

Summit of Annapurna I

Unpredictability is an essential part of adventure. And the more ambitious a mountain project, the greater is the uncertainty as to whether it really ends with a success. Thus the Italians Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro, who had planned to traverse the four summits of the Kangchenjunga massif without bottled oxygen, had to turn back without having reached a single summit. Two attempts ended at 7,200 meters, because Simone suffered from stomach ache. The German Thomas Laemmle returned empty-handed from Makalu, after four (!) failed summit attempts without supplemental oxygen and Sherpa support, always forced back by bad weather. And on the Northwest Face of Annapurna, the 33-year-old Pole Adam Bielecki, the 63-year-old Briton Rick Allen and the 36-year-old German Felix Berg had to capitulate halfway. “It was completely the right decision to turn around,” Felix tells me. “On the day of our descent, there was heavy snowfall. It would not have been possible with the weather.”

Alternative destination searched and found

Bielecki, Berg, Rousseau, Allen (from l. to r.)

From the beginning, the expedition was star-crossed. After the arrival in Kathmandu the team, at that time still including the 40-year-old Canadian Louis Rousseau, had to change their plan at short notice. Originally, the four climbers had wanted to open a new route through the Cho Oyu North Face, but the Chinese refused to issue entry visa for Tibet for all those who had stayed in Pakistan for more than a month without a break during the last three years. The difficult search for an alternative destination goal began. “Where can you find a beautiful wall on an eight-thousander?”, asked Felix and Co. They decided for the rarely tried Northwest Face of Annapurna, with the goal of finding a new, direct route to the summit. A first attempt to scale Tilicho Peak near Annapurna for acclimatization failed due to bad weather. Then Rousseau had to return home because his time budget for the expedition had run out. Bielecki, Allen and Berg managed in the second attempt to reach the summit of Tilicho Peak and finally tackled the Annapurna Northwest Face.

Tent torn, sleeping bag lost

On the second day in the wall

“We had food for eight days when we entered the wall,” says Felix. “It was continuously about 50 degrees steep, never less than 40 degrees. We had difficulties to find bivouac places.” For the first night, they managed to pitch up their tent on a small platform so that they at least could sit in a row next to each other. For the second bivouac, they had to use a small, sloping rock sledge at 6,500 meters. “By contrast, the sitting bivouac of the previous night had been luxurious,” Rick Allen wrote. “A portaledge would have been more appropriate than a tent,” says Felix. The tent tore, and through the hole, one of the sleeping bags fell into the depth. This was the final signal for turning around. Back in the Base Camp, the three climbers wanted to leave for Kathmandu. But first there were no helicopters available. “They were all on Everest, for rescue flights,” says Felix Berg.

After all, there was a helicopter that brought Bielecki, Allen and Berg back to Kathmandu. “It was an extremely spontaneous expedition,” says Felix. “But even though we were a rather mixed bunch of climbers, we got on and worked together very well. For sure we were not the last time together en route.”

Annapurna

The good weather window predicted for the coming weekend has not only led to a huge number of teams starting their summit attempts on Mount Everest. Also on other eight-thousanders climbers have left the base camps. On Makalu, for example, the German Thomas Laemmle, who is climbing solo and without bottled oxygen, has today pitched up his tent already far up, on Makalu La at 7,400 meters. On Dhaulagiri, the 78-year-old Spaniard Carlos Soria and his team-mates are planning to reach the summit on Sunday. On Annapurna, the Pole Adam Bielecki, the Briton Rick Allen and the German Felix Berg have started their summit attempt on Wednesday.

“Difficult Action”

Annapurna Northwest Face

As reported before, the trio wants to open a new route through the rarely climbed Northwest Face of the 8091-meter-high mountain. The fourth climber previously involved in the project, the Canadian Louis Rousseau, returned home at the beginning of May, because his time available for the expedition had run out. After he had left, Adam, Rick and Felix succeeded, in the second attempt, an ascent of the 7134-meter-high Tilicho Peak in order to continue their acclimatization. “We gained a glimpse of the NW face of Annapurna, our next objective”, Felix Berg wrote in his blog.

According to Felix’ girl friend, yesterday’s weather on Annapurna was “not ideal” with a lot of wind. In addition, the three climbers reported a lot of snow and avalanches. They bivouacked on a small ice plateau in the wall at about 6,000 meters. “Difficult action, as expected,” it was said. “Quite exciting.” So keep your fingers crossed!

Gheychisaz on top of Lhotse

The Iranian climber Azim Gheychisaz, by his own account, reached today the 8516-meter-high summit of Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain on earth – thus completing his 14 eight-thousander-collection without breathing mask, as his team said on Facebook. According to the mountaineering website “Altitude Pakistan”, there are still questions marks over his ascent of Manaslu in 2012.

Annapurna Northwest Face

Time for plan B. Since China has not issued visa for Tibet this spring for climbers who have been staying in Pakistan for more than a month at a time during the past three years, the Canadian Louis Rousseau, the Briton Rick Allen, the Pole Adam Bielecki and the German Felix Berg had to re-plan. The team was surprised by the new Chinese regulation in Kathmandu. In 2015/16 Bielecki had tried unsuccessfully a winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, Felix Berg had climbed Mustagh Tower in the Karakoram in summer 2016. So the previous plan to open a new route through the North Face of Cho Oyu, located in Tibet, became impossible. The quartet was looking for an alternative destination in Nepal and found it.

Direct route to the summit

Rousseau and Co. opted for an attempt in the rarely climbed Northwest Face of the 8091-meter-high Annapurna. In 1985, Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander had climbed through a large part of the wall, but had taken in the upper section the Northwest Ridge up to the summit. The upper triangle has also remained unexplored in later attempts to climb directly through the wall. “Now let’s go to the summit,” says Felix Berg.

“Perfect team spirit”

Tilicho Peak for acclimatization

The days of uncertainty were hard, the 36-year-old German writes to me: “As soon as the decision was made, everything happened very quickly. The wall is impressive, probably higher than the North Face of Cho Oyu, and the Annapurna is legendary – so the motivation comes quickly by itself.” All team members are “very enthusiastic”. This is confirmed by Louis Rousseau. The mood is good, “a lot of jokes”. “We’re really motivated,” writes the 40-year-old. “Perfect spirit in the team. All focus on Annapurna now!” First, Louis, Felix, Rick and Adam want to climb the 7134-meter-high Tilicho Peak in the Annapurna area for acclimatization.

Cho Oyu North Face

There is still potential for climbing highlights even on the “top sellers” among the eight-thousanders. This applies not only to Mount Everest (up to now more than 7500 summit successes), but also to the second most climbed eight-thousander, Cho Oyu (more than 3500 summit successes). This spring, an international team of four, led by Louis Rousseau, plans to open a new route through the North Face of the sixth highest mountain on earth, in Alpine style. For the 40-year-old Canadian, it’s a comeback on the eight-thousanders after a break of five years. In 2012, Rousseau had been searching on Gasherbrum I for his longtime climbing partner Gerfried Göschl from Austria, who had remained missing after a winter attempt on the mountain in Pakistan. In 2011, Rousseau had scaled Gasherbrum II, his third eight-thousander after Broad Peak (in 2007) and Nanga Parbat (new route along with Göschl in 2009).

In memory of Göschl

Louis Rousseau

The North Face of Cho Oyu in Tibet was first climbed by Slovenians in fall 1988. Since then, there have only been two more successful attempts on the north side. “The proposed route will start from the base of the north wall and will go directly up an untouched section in the center,” Louis writes to me. “I truly don’t know,” Rousseau answers my question of their chance of success. The North Face is steep and almost unexplored, says Louis: “We will know more about our chance when we will see the face for the first time and of course everything will mostly depend on the weather and the climbing condition.” He is already dedicating the project to his deceased friend Göschl: “Like an heritage, I still have in my possession all the ideas Gerfried and I had planned.”

Old warhorse

Besides Rousseau, the team includes the Pole Adam Bielecki, the Briton Rick Allen and the German Felix Berg. The 33-year-old Adam Bielecki was one of the winter first ascenders of the eight-thousanders Gasherbrum I (in 2012) and Broad Peak (in 2013). Rick Allen is an old warhorse who is up to every mountain trick. Along with Sandy Allan, the 63-year-old Scotsman succeeded in traversing the 10-kilometer-long Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat in 2012. For this milestone, the two Britons were later awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the climbers”. Felix Berg, now 36 years old, was in 2004 the youngest German climber who had summited Mount Everest until then. “We are a great team,” Felix writes to me. “Personally, I am motivated by exploring unknown territory, by adventure – all the more astonishing that this opportunity is offered on the highly frequented Cho Oyu.”