David Göttler

They have two homes. German professional climber David Göttler and his partner Monica Piris spend the winter in Chamonix am Mont Blanc, the summer in Monica’s native northern Spain, between the towns of Bilbao and Santander, “where Spain is still really green”, David enthuses. This summer, as reported, Göttler had returned from Pakistan empty-handed. Bad weather had put a spoke in the wheel of him and his teammate, Italian Hervé Barmasse, on the 7,932-meter-high Gasherbrum IV in the Karakoram. Yesterday Göttler celebrated his 40th birthday in Spain – not in the mountains, but on the construction site, as he tells me, when I belated congratulate him: “I have finished my training room. So it was a good day.”

40 years, David, that’s a mark. Many ook back then on their lives or make plans for the future. You too?

For me it was just a normal birthday. However, you are thinking a little bit about the fact that now perhaps the middle of life has been reached. I don’t feel I’ve missed anything or done something wrong. But I’m also looking forward to the next 40 years. My father turns 79 next winter and is still every day en route in the mountains, paragliding, snowboarding or climbing. If I have only inherited a little bit of these genes, then I still have 40 more good years ahead. Especially in high-altitude climbing I can still do amazing things in the next few years. And I’m looking forward to it.

David with Ueli Steck (l.) in spring 2016

Did you yesterday also think of Ueli Steck, with whom you tackled Shishapangma South Face in spring 2016? Last year, he fell to his death on Nuptse – at the age of forty. Are you worried about overtightening the screw yourself one day?

I always try to deal with the risk very consciously – as Ueli did too, by the way.  I thought of him yesterday, but more with my future in mind: It would have been so nice to be able to plan new goals with him.

What goals have you set for yourself?

First I plan to run a marathon in the lowlands in a respectable time. I will probably do this at the beginning of December. In the longer term, for the next five years or so, I want to tackle some of the eight-thousanders. Gasherbrum IV, where Hervé and I were this summer, is also still on the list.

Yoga in base camp

Which eight-thousanders do you have in mind?

I have not yet decided in which order to approach them. But one of the eight-thousanders on my list is Kangchenjunga, where, on the fascinating north side of the mountain, my eight-thousander career began in 2003. I would like to make another attempt there. Then Nanga Parbat, a super exciting mountain, where I was already once in winter (in 2014 he had reached an altitude of 7,200 meters with Polish climber Tomek Mackiewicz). Mount Everest without bottled oxygen is also still a goal for me, even though there are so many people on the highest of all mountains. I would like to try out how the 400 more meters of altitude feel compared to the other eight-thousanders I have scaled so far (David has reached the summits of five 8000er so far: Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak, Dhaulagiri, Lhotse and Makalu). Also Gasherbrum I, which I viewed this summer from G IV, still offers many possibilities for new or unusual trips beyond the normal route.

With Herve Barmasse (r.)

You were with Herve Barmasse on Gasherbrum IV. What did you experience?

It was a super strange season in the Karakoram due to the weather. People may have been blinded by the news that there were more summit successes on K2 than ever before. But commercial climbing has meanwhile also reached K2: There are fixed ropes from the bottom to the top, many Sherpas are in action, breaking the trail and pitching up the camps. Almost all summitters used bottled oxygen. Things looked very different on the other eight-thousanders. On Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II, for example, only two climbers each reached the summit: Luis Stitzinger and Gianpaolo Corona on G I, Adam Bielecki and Felix Berg on G II. Bad weather and resulting adverse conditions on the mountain also made Gasherbrum IV difficult for us and prevented a real summit attempt.

How high did you get?

We reached our highest point during our acclimatization phase at 7,100 meters, just below the East Face. During the summit attempt we only got to Camp 1 at 6,000 meters. It snowed all night and still in the morning, there was no visibility. Because of too high danger of avalanches we then turned back.

En route on Gasherbrum IV

There were many other climbers besides you who returned home empty-handed too because of the persistently bad weather. As in the last years, the conditions in the classical summer season in the Karakoram were problematic. Shouldn’t one arrive later in the year because of the effects of climate change?

We discussed this topic in base camp. Maybe we really shouldn’t climb during these “old school weather windows” when the best conditions used to be in the past. Climate is changing. Not only high precipitation, but also too hot and dry summers are rather bad for many climbing projects. I think we might really have to experiment in the future and travel to the Karakoram at other times. In the classical summer season it seems to become more and more difficult.

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.

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.

Gasherbrum IV (Northwest Ridge on the left)

Great success for Luka Lindic and Ales Cesen in the Karakoram: According to the website “Altitude Pakistan”, the two Slovenian climbers reached on Tuesday the North Summit of Gasherbrum IV, which is about 20 meters lower than the 7932-meter-high Main Summit. It took Luka and Ales three days to ascend via the Northwest Ridge. It was only the fourth ascent of the route, which had been opened by the Australians Greg Child and Tim Macartney-Snape and the American Tom Hargis in 1986. “Altitude Pakistan” reports that heavy snowfall made the descent of the two Slovenians even harder. They arrived at Base Camp yesterday. “happy, exhausted and emaciated”.

Extremely challenging

Initially, 28-year-old Lindic and 34-year-old Cesen had wanted to climb through the G IV-West Face (also called “Shining Wall”), but gave up their plan due to the difficult conditions in the wall. The almost-eight-thousander Gasherbrum IV, the sixth highest mountain in Pakistan, is considered technically extremely demanding. In 1958, the Italian climbers Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri had made the first ascent via the Northeast Ridge.

For acclimatization on an eight-thousander

Lindic (r.), Cesen and Prezelj (l.) in Courmayeur in 2015

For acclimatization (!) for G IV, Lindic and Cesen had scaled the 8051-meter-high Broad Peak on 29 June. It had been the first summit success on an eight-thousander in the Karakoram this season. Both belong to the young generation of very strong Slovenian climbers. In 2015, they were awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of mountaineering”, along with their compatriot Marko Prezelj for their first ascent of the North Face of the 6,657-meter-high Hagshu in northern India.

Nanga Parbat

The Karakoram remains unpredictable. The climbing season in Pakistan is slowly but surely coming to an end – and the number of summit successes is manageable. On Nanga Parbat the Spaniard Ferran Latorre, the Frenchman Hélias Millerioux and the Bulgarian Bojan Petrov reached the highest point at 8,125 meters. “Seven intense days, but it was worth it,” tweeted Latorre (see also the video below). It was the 13th eight-thousander for him, he climbed all of them without bottled oxygen. Now only Mount Everest is still missing in the collection of the 45-year-old. Ferran wants to tackle it in spring 2017. Bojan Petrov has scaled so far eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world. Nanga Parbat was after Annapurna and Makalu his third eight-thousander this year.

Avalanche on K2

The season on K2, with a height of 8,611 meters the second highest mountain on earth, will probably remain without any summit success. After an avalanche had completely destroyed Camp 3 at 7,315 meters four days ago, the commercial expeditions began to strike their tents on the “King of the Eight-thousanders”. Thank goodness the climbers were still below Camp 3, when the avalanche swept down.

An 8000er for acclimatization

Gasherbrum IV

Eight summit successes were reported from the 8,034-meter-high Gasherbrum II. On Broad Peak, so far only the two Slovenians Luka Lindic and Ales Cesen have reached the highest point at 8,051 meters – very early in the season and as acclimatization (!) for an even more ambitious goal: climbing the West Face of the 7932-meter-high Gasherbrum IV. The “Shining Wall” has been climbed only twice: for the first time in 1985 in Alpine style by the Austrian Robert Schauer and the Pole Wojciech Kurtyka and in 1997 by a Korean team. Lindic and Cesen belong to the young generation of very strong Slovenian climbers. In 2015, they were awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of mountaineering”, along with their compatriot Marko Prezelj for their first ascent of the North Face of the 6,657-meter-high Hagshu in northern India.