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.

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.

Nanga Parbat

Joining forces is a recipe for success – also in mountaineering. You only need to recall the legendary first ascent of the Eiger North Face in 1938, when the Germans Anderl Heckmair and Ludwig Voerg and the Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek started their climbs as two teams of two, banded together in the wall and were successful. Also now on Nanga Parbat, two of the five expedition teams on the mountain have joined their forces in order to have better chances for the first winter ascent on the ninth highest mountain on earth. “Plan A – quick alpine style push – failed due to weather. Plan B – regaining acclimatization and climbing “alpine style like” – failed too due to Jacek’s health issue. By the way he is himself again. It’s time for plan C”, the Polish climber Adam Bielecki writes on Facebook.
Bielecki and his compatriot Jacek Czech are now going to cooperate with the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italian Daniele Nardi and the Pakistani Ali Sadpara. The international trio had announced to climb via the Kinshofer route, the normal route on the Diamir side of the mountain – in traditional style, means establishing high camps. Within the next three days, they intend to fix ropes up to Camp 3 at 6,700 meters, writes Bielecki.

“Nanga Dreamers” at 6,200 meters

Last week in their home country Poland, Adam and Jacek received an ironic honor for mountaineers, a “bronze egg”. They were “awarded” for calling their winter project “Nanga Revolution” without making clear what they actually mean by this – “a mountaineering revolution or an Islamic”. In contrast, the name of the Polish team on the Rupal side, “Nanga Dream”, appears clear – less, however, the add-on “Justice for all”. The “Nanga Dreamers” have meanwhile reached an altitude of about 6,200 meters on the Schell route.

Acclimatizing above 7,000 meters

Elisabeth Revol in icy high camp

The Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol have reached the highest altitude of all expeditions so far. The two “rubber ducks” – another strange team’s name – slept in Camp 3 at about 6,700 meters and planned to climb up to 7,200 meters for further acclimatization. Last winter, both had ascended to an altitude of about 7,800 meters on Nanga Parbat, when they were forced back by icy cold and wind. This height range was also reached by Txikon, Nardi and the Pakistani Muhammad Ali in March 2015: They lost their way on the Kinshofer route and had to descend because Muhammad suffered from high altitude sickness.

Winter world champion Poland

Twelve of the 14 eight-thousanders have already been climbed in winter, only K 2 and Nanga Parbat defied all attempts. Without doubt, Poland is the world champion in winter climbing on the highest mountains. Nine first winter ascents of eight thousanders were made by pure Polish expedition teams. In another case, a Polish climber was involved (Piotr Morawski on Shishapangma in 2005).
Denis Urubko has ensured that we now can say with complete justification that Polish climbers took part in all twelve (!) winter first ascents on eight-thousanders. The native Kazakh, then Russian, and recently also owner of a Polish passport belonged to the first winter ascenders of Makalu and Gasherbrum II, which were made by non-Polish teams. In the ironical climber’s awarding in Poland that I mentioned before, Urubko was also “honoured” – with a view to his new citizenship and his passion for winter ascents: He got a “red egg with hammer and sickle”.

Jacek Czech climbing on an icy slope

There will hardly be record temperatures on Nanga Parbat this winter, and if, then only low ones. “Unfortunately January weather on Nanga is extremely bad in comparison to the previous two years”, writes the Polish climber Adam Bielecki, who, along with his compatriot Jacek Czech, wants to climb on the Diamir side of the mountain via the Kinshofer route to the 8,125-meter-high summit, doing it in Alpine style: without bottled oxygen and without fixed high camps. “So far there wasn’t a single day with weather good enough to attempt a summit attack.” In the last few days, the thermometer dropped below minus 40 degrees Celsius. In addition, strong winds blew and it was snowing. These days, Bielecki and Czech want to climb up to a minimum altitude of 7,000 meters, “in order to regain acclimatization which would allow us to wait for better weather”. That sounds as if the two Poles can imagine not descending to Base Camp once more before their first summit attempt. Before traveling to Pakistan, Adam and Jacek had already acclimatized at the 6,893-meter-high volcano Ojos del Salado in Chile.

Descend to recover

Nanga Parbat

Tomek Mackiewicz from Poland and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol, just now shivering with cold in their camp at 6,000 meters, most definitely intend to descend to Base Camp to recover again. But first they want to climb up on the Messner route up to 7,000 meters on Friday, when conditions are suitable. The Pakistani Arslan Ahmed, the third member of the “Rubber Duck” team, has so far stayed back due to health problems. The trio wants to complete the Messner route, in Alpine style too. The route was opened up to an altitude of 7,500 meters by the South Tyroleans Reinhold and Hubert Messner, Hanspeter Eisendle and Wolfgang Tomaseth in 2000.

Very Icy

Simone Moro on the ridge of Ganalo Peak

The Italian duo Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro is also planning to reach the top on this slope of the eight-thousander, which so far has never been scaled in winter. Both have now completed their acclimatization on the 6608-meter-high Ganalo Peak in the Nanga Parbat massif. The fourth team on the Diamir side of the mountain – the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italian Daniele Nardi and the Pakistani Ali Sadpara – has pitched their Camp 1 on the Kinshofer route at 4,850 meters. “The highest and steepest slopes look much more icy than last year”, writes Alex. On the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat, the Polish “Nanga Dream” team, which is led by Marek Klonowski, climbed up to a height of about 6,000 meters on the “Schell route”.

No race?

For the coming weekend, calm winter weather is expected on the ninth highest mountain on earth: no snowfall, less wind, temperatures around minus 30 degrees – a good chance to work their way further up. Simone Moro doesn’t want to speak of a race for the first winter ascent of Nanga parbat: “Everybody has the same goal and it isn’t ‘who is the first on the summit’ but try to do climb till the summit. Whoever will be able to do, first, second or tenth, would realize a dream that had been tried and dreamed from the best high altitude mountaineers of the last 30 years.” I think any climber on Nanga Parbat would probably sign this statement, but do they all really think that way? It can hardly be opposed that each winter expedition that failed – meanwhile more than two dozen – has increased the prestige value of the project. And thus the market value too.

Andie MacDowell with a real groundhog

What are Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell actually doing this winter? Perhaps the two Hollywood stars are traveling to Pakistan to shoot a remake of their blockbuster “Groundhog Day” that is set in the world of high altitude climbers. After all, the same match on Nanga Parbat is repeated year after year: Several expeditions arrive at the different base camps to climb the “Naked Mountain” for the first time in winter. And again and again they return home exhausted and empty-handed two months later. 27 expeditions ended this way. This winter, another five teams will tackle the 8,125-meter-high mountain, which is – apart from K 2 – the only eight-thousander which has never been climbed in the cold season. Two of the current climbing teams have the Murray/MacDowell pattern – even if the name of one of these expeditions sounds more like a Disney movie.

Rubber ducks

Elisabeth Revol in Camp 4 at 7,000 meters

The male lead in the “rubber duck” team is played by Tomek Mackiewicz. For the sixth year in a row, the mountaineer from Poland is trying to first climb Nanga Parbat in winter. For the third time, he will be doing this along with the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol. Last winter on the Diamir side of the mountain, both reached an altitude of about 7,800 meters before extreme cold and strong winds forced them back. “When I reached out, I could ‘feel’ the summit with the touch of my finger. It was very close”, Revol said then. This year, the Pakistani Arslan Ahmed Ansari is completing the team. The “rubber ducks” want to finish the Messner route, climbing it in Alpine style. In 2000, the South Tyroleans Reinhold and Hubert Messner, Hanspeter Eisendle and Wolfgang Tomaseth had opened this route up to an altitude of 7,500 meters.

Powerful engine

Tamara and Simone in Manaslu base camp

The other “Groundhog Day” team will also try to climb this route. “I want to see if the route Denis Urubko and I had identified as possible during the winter of 2012 is the right one”, says Simone Moro. The Italian is a real specialist for winter expeditions. He made three first winter ascents on eight-thousanders so far: on Shishapangma (2005), Makalu (2009) and Gasherbrum II (2011). The 48-year-old will tackle Nanga Parbat for the third time. The 29-year-old South Tyrolean Tamara Lunger takes the female role in this team. Last winter, Tamara and Simone went for the first time on a joint expedition. Masses of snow forced them back on Manaslu. Although they had not even climbed further up than Camp 1 at 5,700 meters, Tamara returned home with a smile in her face, says Moro and praises his rope partner’s performance: “Tamara has an engine that I have seen in very few men.”

Familiar faces

Nanga Parbat (seen from Diamir base camp)

Some of the climbers of the three other teams who try to climb the mountain this winter seem to have a special Nanga Parbat engine. Among the nine members of the Polish “Justice for all” expedition, who want to climb the Schell route on the Rupal side of the mountain, are some repeaters. This also applies to the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italian Daniele Nardi and the Pakistani Ali Sadpara who are familiar faces on Nanga Parbat. They want to use the Kinshofer route on the Diamir side – in traditional climbing style, i.e. with high camps. The fourth member of this team is the Polish climber Janusz Golab, who – along with his compatriot Adam Bielecki – had climbed the eight-thousander Gasherbrum I for the first time in winter in 2012.
Janusz is going to meet his former climbing partner in Nanga Parbat Base Camp: Bielecki, who was also among the climbers who, in 2013, first climbed Broad Peak in winter, will be accompanied by Jacek Czech. The two Poles also want to climb the mountain on the Kinshofer route, however in Alpine style.
Thus everything is prepared for a new episode of “Groundhog Day” on Nanga Parbat. But maybe this time there will be the kind of happy ending that Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell have submitted in their Hollywood blockbuster.