K 2 Base Camp

With this monarch is not to be joked. K 2, the “king of the eight-thousanders”, is moody and therefore dangerous. “This morning at 8:12 am, we saw (a) big avalanche coming from (the) Abruzzi route,” Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, head of the Nepalese expedition operator Dreamers Destination, writes on Facebook. The Abruzzi route, following the path of the Italian first ascenders in 1954, leads via the Southeast Ridge of the mountain (look at the picture below, route F). “We feel all (that) Camp 3 (at about 7,300 m) is swept away again. I am sure we have all our deposit near Camp 4 because our Sherpa team made it on (a) ice cliff, but it is likely sure that all the fixed ropes are washed away.” Tomorrow his Sherpa team will go up again to assess the situation.

Strong wind in the summit area

Russell Brice

According to Mingma, the weather forecast for the coming days is anything but rosy. “It shows snow at 8,000 m every evening and very high wind at (the) summit which delays our summit plan. (We are) Waiting for good weather to come.” It is the same with the other teams in the Base Camp at the foot of K 2, with an altitude of 8,611 meters the second highest mountain on earth. For many, time is slowly running out. Russell Brice, head of the New Zealand expedition operator Himalayan Experience, points out that his team has to leave the Base Camp on 4 August at the latest to catch the booked home flights. “We all know our backs are against the wall,” writes Brice. “But everyone is prepared to work hard, carry loads, dig tent platforms and the like and not just leave it for the Sherpas and HAP (Pakistani high altitude porters) to do.”

Sleepless nights

Routes on the Pakistani south side of K 2

Russell also points to the strong wind to be expected in the upper part of the mountain, which is unlikely to allow fixing ropes up to the highest camp at about 8,000 meters before 20 July. His team is climbing the Cesen route (on the picture route E), via the Southsoutheast Ridge. Brice is not quite euphoric about the situation. “So let’s see what happens in the coming days and what adventures lie ahead,” writes the 65-year-old experienced expedition manager who’s up to every Himalayan and Karakoram trick. “But I am sure this is going to involve many sleepless nights.” The king of the eight-thousanders is rarely granting summit audiences.

Collecting garbage on Everest

Such big garbage bags have guaranteed not yet been brought down from Mount Everest. The Expedition Operator’s Association Nepal (EOA) has delivered canvas bags, capable of holding 80 kilograms, to Everest Base Camp. They are to be used in particular for transporting old tents and garbage, which have accumulated in Camp 2 at 6,400 meters due to the premature end of the climbing seasons in 2014 and 2015, down to the valley. 80-kg bags are, of course, too heavy to be shouldered by porters and carried through the Khumbu Icefall to Everest Base Camp.

Two dollars per kilo

For this purpose, the helicopters are to be used that are currently transporting equipment of the expedition teams for the upcoming spring season to Camp 2. On the return flight to Base Camp they are empty and therefore can take back the full garbage bags. The New Zealander Russell Brice, head of the expedition operator Himalayan Experience, said, he was paying his Sherpas two dollars per kilo of trash they bring on their way back from Camp 3 (7,300 meters) or Camp 4 (7,950 meters) down to Camp 2. The “Eco Everest Expedition” run by the operator Asian Trekking has once again committed itself to bring down “old garbage, in addition to our own”.

Comparatively low deposit

South side of Mount Everest

For many years, the mountaineers have been obliged to dig or burn their organic waste. Recyclable material such as plastic or glass must be returned to Kathmandu as well as empty oxygen bottles or batteries. Any expedition team that breaches the rules risks not getting back their garbage deposit of US $ 4000. It remains to be seen whether this small sum – compared to the overall turnover on Everest – can really deter polluters.

Glacier melt reveals old garbage

Of course, there is also old garbage on the mountain, from times when environmental protection was still a foreign word. In addition, the increasing glacier melt on Everest as a result of climate change reveals tents or oxygen bottles from the 1990s or even earlier which the mountaineers had once thoughtlessly disposed in crevasses.

Mount Everest

Before the season, actually all agreed: Commercial climbing on Everest would hardly cope with another year with accidents and without summit successes. It turned out differently. More than 400 ascents via the Nepalese south side of Everest, more than 100 on the north side, five deaths in the summit area. Everything back to normal? Any problems to point out? I’ve asked some expedition operators, who were on Everest this spring. The first three have already replied: Phil Crampton, Adrian Ballinger and Russell Brice. There are some coincidences. But read for yourself!

Crampton: “Why not regulate the mountain like Chinese do?”

For Phil Crampton, born in UK, living in the US, it was the 14th and final season on Everest. He had announced in advance that his company Altitude Junkies would focus from 2017 on “less crowded” mountains like the eight-thousanders Makalu, Dhaulagiri and Kangchenjunga. Crampton himself has scaled Everest six times. This season, the Altitude Junkies team recorded 16 summit successes. Here is Phil’s balance:

Phil Crampton

“The Everest spring season was as normal as it could have been after the devastating 2014 and 2015 seasons. The mountain was not as crowded as usual this year but that still didn’t stop the bottlenecks on summit day from the crowds of climbers that were reported from May 19th. Expedition operators and the government are already talking in Kathmandu about the increased number of foreign climbers expected for the 2017 season as many people still have permits that will be honored from the previous two years. I continue to see climbers with inadequate high altitude experience on her flanks and most of these climbers are signed up with low budget less experienced operators. Everest climbers and their experience is not regulated by the government and it seems that anyone willing to pay the $11,000 permit fee is allowed to climb. Why not regulate the mountain like the Chinese government do requiring all Chinese nationals to have previously climbed an 8,000-meter peak before being issued a permit for the north side?”

Ballinger: “Trash on the mountain, inexperienced climbers”

Adrian Ballinger tried this spring along with his US compatriot Cory Richards to climb Everest from the north without oxygen. The world could follow their ascent in real time via Snapchat under the hashtag #everestnofilter. Adrian turned around at an altitude of about 8,500 meters when he noticed symptoms of altitude sickness. Cory reached the summit. Ballinger’s company Alpenglow Expeditions had a commercial team on Everest too. That’s what Adrian wrote to me:

Adrian Ballinger

“2016 was a great season for Alpenglow on Everest. 100 percent of our commercial team summited (four climbers, three Sherpa) in great conditions. The north side route was in great condition, and much safer than my experience of the south side the past eight seasons. The CTMA (China Tibet Mountaineering Association) rope-fixing was, for the most part, excellent. Issues on the mountain do exist and need addressed, primarily problems caused by low-budget operators without western guides. These problems included leaving trash and human waste on the mountain, accepting inexperienced climbers on teams, and utilizing other teams’ resources due to a lack of their own. None of these problems are insurmountable, but regulation and enforcement of commercial companies on the mountain is necessary.” 

Brice: “New Nepal operators with too little Sherpa stuff”

The New Zealander Russell Brice can also be satisfied with this spring’s season on the south side of Everest from his perspective as head of the operator Himalayan Experience. Six of his clients, including German Andreas Friedrich, reached the highest point. Russ has encouraged me to shorten his season record on the Himex website. That’s what I did:

Russell Brice

“After I saw so many people going to the summit on the 19th I was not surprised to see the events that unfolded later in the season happen. Like one news article headlines, it was back to “Business as Usual on Everest” but I really wonder if we never learn from our past mistakes! There are now many more new Nepal operators here, and we see that they have limited numbers of Sherpa staff, so often these teams are unable to offer any Sherpa support to get equipment up the hill or to actually fix ropes. It was a very democratic decision to have nine different teams being involved for summit rope fixing, but it was not efficient what so ever. It would have been better to have two or three companies involved with Sherpas who all know each other and who can work well together, and also who have one Sirdar or leader to follow the instructions from. This would mean that the rope fixing would be more efficient and subsequently would be done more quickly and therefore put the Sherpas in less danger.”

Phurba Tashi in front of his lodge

Phurba Tashi is a man of few words. The 45-year-old replies friendly but shortly. “This year, I will definitely not climb Mount Everest”, Phurba tells me when we sit down for a few minutes on a bench in front of his “Tashi Friendship Lodge” in the village of Khumjung. Actually, he has no time to talk to me because his family has gathered for a religious ceremony to commemorate Phurba’s parents who both died in the past six months. Some Buddhist monks have come to his Lodge. “The death of my parents is also the reason why I renounce the ascent this time,” says Phurba.

Only at Base Camp

High winds on Everest (today)

He has reached the highest point on earth already 21 times. Together with Apa Sherpa (who has long since ended his mountain career), Phurba Tashi is holding the record for the most Everest ascents ever. Aged 28, he was on top for the first time, in 2013 for the last time to date. In some seasons Phurba ascended Everest double or even triple. This spring, he will stay at Base Camp to coordinate the work of the Climbing Sherpas – for the New Zealand expedition operator Himalayan Experience. “I have already worked for Russell Brice, head of Himex, on 30 to 40 expeditions,” says Phurba, adding that this spring the team consists of only six clients.

Black year does not apply to climbers

Earthquake damage: Stupa in Khumjung

“I think that there will be summit successes this season,” says Phurba. “This winter we had little snow. And the Icefall Doctors do a good job.” The Buddhist lamas predicted a bad year for the Sherpas, but that does not apply to climbers, Phurba continues: “Maybe I try to ascend again in 2017 – if everything fits together.” I want to know whether he is itching to be the exclusive Everest record holder. “No, the record means nothing to me,” Phurba replies. “It is much more important to come down healthy again. Finally, I have a wife and five children, I have to feed them.” Then Phurba Tashi says goodbye. He has to return to his family. When a short time later one of the monks comes to fresh air, I ask him if the predicted black year for the Sherpas really does not apply to climbers. The monk laughs and says: “Everything is good. They are welcome to climb up.”

Coconut with hair

The Yeti skull

In Khumjung, I also marvelled the famous “Yeti skull”. It is stored in a safe in the Gompa, the small monastery of the village. For 250 rupees (about 2.50 euros) an old employee of the Gompa, who powers the keys, opens the safe for a moment. And there it is, next a few butter lamps: the supposed skull of the alleged Himalayan monster – and looks rather like a coconut with hair.

P.S.: Maybe I won’t send any reports for a few days. I want to trek to the 5380-meter-high Gokyo Ri to enjoy the magnificent panorama – if the weather is good. Then, of course, I will show you some nice pictures.

Russell Brice

He is the doyen of the western expedition operators. The New Zealander Russell Brice has been leading expeditions to the Himalayas since 1974. Hardly any of his colleagues has so much experience as the 63-year-old head of Himalayan Experience, not only in organizing trips to the eight-thousanders but also in dealing with the authorities. It is something that has almost been forgotten, that Russell at an earlier age was an excellent high altitude climber – and an Everest pioneer: Along with the Briton Harry Taylor he first climbed the Three Pinnacles on the Northeast Ridge in 1988.
I wanted to know what Brice thinks about the current situation in Nepal:

Russ, for this spring Himalayan Experience is offering expeditions in Nepal to Mount Everest and Lhotse. How great is the demand?

Very small numbers compared to past years.

Do you notice an impact of the events in 2014 (avalanche in Khumbu Icefall) and 2015 (earthquake and avalanche that hit Everest BC) on your client’s attitude?

Yes very much so, many people want to see a safe and successful season before they book. So the 2016 season will be quite important as an indication that we can still climb Everest relatively safely.

South side of Mount Everest

In 2015, the Nepalese authorities announced stricter rules for climbers on Everest – restrictions on age (denying access to climbers younger than 18 and older than 75), a minimum of high mountaineering experience (at least having scaled a 6,500 m peak) and physical requirements. What do you think about this?

Nepal authorities are always making announcements but then it takes them forever to actually formalise. Yes I think that it is a good idea to make a minimum and maximum age limit as this can stop some ridiculous pursuit by some.

To climb 6,500m means nothing. You can climb a relatively easy summit like Aconcagua and this would be admissible, but a more difficult summit like Denali is not admissible. Do you think the Nepal authorities have any idea if people have climbed these summits or not, of course not, and they do not take any interest in any case, and most people will just lie. Much better to ask that Everest climbers have climbed another 8,000m summit before Everest, and then the Nepal authorities actually have a chance to check.

Two and half months before the beginning of the spring season, these new regulations have not yet come in effect – as little as the promised extension of 2015 climbing permits. Are you annoyed at the government’s apathy – or maybe used to it?

Yes totally I am extremely disappointed in the lack of effort by the government to distribute earthquake funds to those who need help, and the lack of interest to try and rebuild the tourist industry. So easy to make statements and then do nothing.

I heard that there will be a climbing permit credit for those that were on expeditions last year, for two years, but again this has not been passed at parliament level, and we have no details of how it will be implemented. So how can we pass this on to our members.

Last year we got our previous permit credits at 8 o’clock the night before we left for BC at 06.00 the next morning. So it was us as operators who took a big risk in bringing these members to Nepal, with no support from the authorities.

North side of Mount Everest

Despite of the fact that there were no summit successes from the Nepalese side of Everest in the past two years, you don’t switch over to north. Why not?

I am not geared up to operate in Tibet, but also still do not trust the Chinese authorities like Tibet was closed again this last autumn season. When Tibet was closed 3 days before I was supposed to go there in 2008 I lost a quarter million dollars, I cannot afford to have this happen again.

But also I need to try and help the Nepal people as much as I can, the government certainly isn’t.

The situation in Nepal is still difficult – also due to the continuing blockade of the Nepalese border with India. Do you look forward to the upcoming spring season with optimism or mixed feelings?

I am ashamed and embarrassed that the new Nepalese government has not been able to resolve the embargo after so many months. I am also very worried that it will not be resolved by the time that the climbing season starts, and this is going to have a big impact on us as operators with the cost of food, fuel, transport and the like.

I am not looking forward to the next season, but we need to be there and be positive, because if the local authorities cannot offer that, then we had best do our best. Too many people rely upon us to bring tourists to Nepal, so we need to do our best to try and rebuild this business.

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

This year’s first summit successes on Manaslu are reported: Chhang Dawa Sherpa, head of the Nepalese operator Seven Summit Treks, said that nine foreign mountaineers and six Climbing Sherpas summited the eighth highest mountain on earth this morning. More teams are on the way up and plan to reach the highest point at 8,156 meters on Thursday or Friday. Dan Mazur from Summit Climb tweeted from Camp 4 at 7,450 meters announcing to climb towards the summit tonight. Rainer Pircher from Amical alpin is in Camp 4 too. Dominik Mueller, head of Amical, and his clients are spending the night at Camp 3 at 6,800 meters and want to climb up to Camp 4 on Thursday.

Some teams said: Too risky

Other teams like those of Himalayan Experience and Altitude Junkies had abandoned their Manaslu expeditions in the past few days due to avalanche danger in the upper parts of the route and a troublesome big crevasse below Camp 4. On Tuesday a group of Sherpas had been able to fix rope across the crevasse. Keep your fingers crossed for all climbers who are still on the mountain!
More than 100 mountaineers had applied for permits to climb Manaslu this fall. Thus it was probably the only mountain in Nepal with a halfway normal climbing life after the devastating earthquake on 25 April that had killed almost 9,000 people.

Manaslu, “Mountain of the Spirit”

“Come back! So that Nepal can make a comeback.” So you could overwrite the appeals of those who are living from tourism in Nepal or have to do with it. The trekking and expedition operators from abroad send a signal that they want to realize most of their trips that they had planned for the post-monsoon season before the earthquake hit the country on 25 April. “The devastating earthquake has shaken the life in Nepal, but slowly life is returning to normality”, Dominik Mueller, head of German operator Amical alpin, wrote.

Manaslu expeditions take place

Neither the offered trekkings in the Khumbu region around Mount Everest were threatened nor those in the area around the eight-thousanders Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and Kangchenjunga, Dominik said. Massive damage was noticed at lodges on the way around Manaslu. But this trip would also be possible because Amical had not planned it as a lodge trekking but as a tent trekking. According to Dominik, the expedition to the 8163-meter-high Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain on earth, will be operated too. This also applies to New Zealand expedition organizer Himalayan Experience. “I am operating Manaslu as usual”, Russell Brice, head of Himex, wrote to me.

Ama Dablam

The US operator Alpenglow Expeditions offers his clients discounts for its fall expeditions to Nepal. For those who book by the end of June, the expedition to the seven-thousander Ama Dablam will be cheaper by ten percent, the expedition to the eight-thousander Makalu by five percent. “Mass cancellations of travel to Nepal will be devastating to the country’s destroyed economy”, it says on the Alpenglow website.

Problems in Langtang area

A delegation of the DAV Summit Club, that had travelled to Nepal to take an on-site look at the situation in the trekking areas, has meanwhile returned to Germany. “Trekking tourism in the Everest region can take place without stint from October”, the members of the Summit Club group said in a first report. The same applies to the Annapurna area where the earthquake damage should be repaired by October. There was almost no damage in the regions east of Everest and west of Annapurna, the Summit Club said: “However, the Manaslu region, the Langtang area and the neighboring Tsum Valley have been affected strongly. No trekkings are to take place in these regions in fall.”

Goodwill Ambassador

The new Nepalese Tourism Minister Kripa Sur Sherpa has nominated 14 well-known climbers from around the world as “Goodwill Ambassadors” who are to promote Nepal – including the South Tyrolean Reinhold Messner, the Japanese Junko Tabei (the first woman who scaled Everest), Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing Norgay (the sons of the men who made the first ascent of Everest) and Ralf Dujmovits (the first and so far only German climber who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders).

P.S. Sorry, that I did not post more articles during the last days. (As a sports editor) I was too busy covering the FIFA crisis. Take a look at this video that was made by the German climber Jost Kobusch a few days ago in a village in Nepal:

Russell Brice

The decision of the Nepalese Government to extend last year’s Everest permits until 2019 came late, very late. “The Everest season starts in a few days, my staff are already on their way to Base Camp, so our planning has been going on for months”, Russell Brice, head of the New Zealand expedition operator Himalayan Experience, writes to me. “Food, oxygen and equipment are already in the Khumbu and members will be arriving in Kathmandu as from Monday next week.” He has some members that were at Everest last year coming back this year, says Russ. There is no sign of euphoria in his words about the decision to prolong the permits. “For the Nepalese government to take so long in making this decision is detrimental to Nepalese tourist business and devastating to employment opportunities for local people and the local economy.” It is unacceptable, says Brice, “that operators like us take the risk and continue with our planning, at huge financial risk.”

Small paper

The 62-year-old New Zealander has been leading expeditions to the Himalayas since 1974. Due to his strong experience, in a way Brice is something like the voice of the foreign expedition operators. He obviously doesn’t believe any more in the competence of the responsible persons in Kathmandu: “From a government that cannot rewrite the National Constitution for Nepal after nine years, what does one expect? So we are lucky that they could ‘push’ through a small paper in one year.”

Russell Brice

He kept silent for weeks, but now he has found very clear words. “This is my 20th year of operations for Himalayan Experience but never before have I experienced such a variety of emotions as I did this year” writes Russell Brice at the beginning of a five-part series of reports about what happened on and around Mount Everest this spring. At this point I can only sum up the content but you should really take time to read Russell’s first hand reports in its full length. The owner and expedition operator from New Zealand was at Everest Base Camp when the devastating avalanche went down over the Khumbu Icefall and killed 16 Nepalese climbers on 18 April. “It appears that there was already a traffic jam in this area at the time of the avalanche, so it is not surprising that there were so many killed and injured.”

Where did the money go?

More than 150 people were in the Icefall at that time, Brice estimates. He commends all people who got involved in the rescue operation that started quickly after the avalanche: “To see so many people running up the hill un-hesitantly putting themselves in danger in order to help others is most creditworthy.” Russell blames the Nepalese Tourism Ministry for the fact that on the day of the avalanche there were only three of 39 Liason Officers at Base Camp. “Remember that each Liason Officer is paid $ 2,500 plus travel expenses so we as expedition teams have just paid a little under $100,000 for nothing which begs the question as to where did this money actually go?”

“Corrupt people”

Rescue helicopter over the Khumbu Icefall

“Without consultation” the Ministry sent a large military helicopter to Pheriche to collect the bodies of the victims and take them to Lukla for further identification by the police, the 61-year-old reports: “A job that the Liaison Officers at Base Camp should have been able to do. Then the military helicopter had a mechanical fault so apparently had to stay overnight causing total indignation to the grieving families.” Russell excoriates the Ministry, especially the current Under Secretary Madhu Sudan Burlakoti: “Sometimes we have a good person who wants to understand whilst at other times like right now we have corrupt people who do not want to be helpful. Having been to several meetings in the past week with the Under Secretary, I am appalled by the lack of understanding, the conceited and abusive manner that this man deals with my staff and others of considerable repute.”

Same faces, same problems

Mount Everest (from Kala Pattar)

The expedition operator from New Zealand confirms that some Sherpas in Base Camp were ready to use violence. Russell asked his Sirdar Phurba Tashi if the Sherpas were still prepared to climb on Everest and Lhotse. “He told me that they all were, but advised that it would be unwise for Himalayan Experience to continue with the expedition as word was around that other Sherpas would break the legs of our staff and would firebomb our Kathmandu offices if we continued. It was with deep concern and reluctance that I eventually decided that it was best to cancel our expeditions.” Brice accuses certain Sherpas of having poisoned the atmosphere not only this spring but also after the avalanche on Manaslu in fall 2012 which killed eleven climbers and in the dispute with Simone Moro and Ueli Steck in spring 2013. “I see the same faces causing problems.”

They did not respect the agreement that each team should be able to make its own decision to climb or not, and that there should not be pressure put on teams, says Russell. “For this I have totally lost the respect of that particular Sherpa community that pushed these events through and hijacked the Everest season.”

Facing difficult times

After weeks of negotiations with the Tourism Ministry in Kathmandu the New Zealander is disenchanted. “This is the very best opportunity that the Ministry has ever had to make meaningful and progressive changes that will be appreciated by the Sherpa community and would demonstrate to the international community that they are serious about administration of this important tourist business”, writes Russell Bruce. “But no, they have done nothing, which is disappointing. What is even worse is that they are now embroiled in corruption, lies and deceit.” Russell expects that Nepal is facing difficult times. “It is now hard for the climbing and sponsorship community to have faith in the administration of mountaineering tourism in Nepal, the long term effects will probably be quite drastic and this will have an effect on the amount of employment of the local community; not only Sherpas, but hotels, airlines, food suppliers, porters, lodges, taxi drivers and even post card sellers.”

Russell Brice

In spring 2012 Russell Brice put the brakes on. The probably most experienced operator of commercial expeditions to Mount Everest cancelled his expedition, because he considered the conditions in the Khumbu icefall and on the Lhotse face as too hazardous. „The danger is certainly past my parameters“, Brice said. Russell has been leading expeditions to the Himalayas since 1974. For this spring his agency Himalayan Experience offers Everest South Side again. I asked the 60 years old New Zealander per email: 

„Russell, last year you cancelled your Everest expedition due to dangerous conditions and crowds of climbers in the route. Most likely this won’t change this season. But for all that, what has motivated you to come back?

I cancelled because of dangerous conditions, and not because of crowding. Crowding we as operators can deal with between ourselves. I disagree, I do not expect the conditions to be as bad as last year again this year. I feel that last year was a very special year because of the lack of snow and the stone fall. 
I have clients who still want to climb Everest and they still want to go with a safe operator, so of course I will return this year. I also have a responsibility to establish work for the local people of Nepal.

Do you think it’s possible to minimalize the risks to a responsible level?

Climbing Everest or for that matter any mountain in the world involves risk. How to manage this is important, we cannot change the environment, but we can change how we react as climbers.

For many years you offered expeditions from the Tibetan side of Mount Everest. Were you tempted to return to the north side after your experiences on the south side in 2012?

No, not really, the political environment on the Tibet side is not so stable either. I would prefer to deal with the natural circumstances rather than the political ones.

After ten people died on Everest in spring 2012, prominent climbers demanded to limit the number of climbers, for example by requiring another 8000-m-peak-climb before someone can get a permit for Everest. What do think of these proposals?

Yes, we have been promoting these ideas to the authorities for many years, not just after last year. But it is one thing to propose such things and another for the authorities to listen and change rules.“