Spantik (the normal route

It was close, damn close. “We were very, very lucky,” writes Patrick z’Brun to me. The mountain guide was part of a Swiss team that escaped a tragedy by a hair’s breadth on the 7,027-meter-high Spantik in the Karakoram this summer. The day after their arrival, the climbers were just setting up their base camp. “Suddenly someone shouted ‘Rock, rock’,” reports Patrick. A large boulder rushed through a couloir directly towards the base camp. Nearly 200 meters ahead of the camp, the boulder divided into two pieces without them changing direction: “Two kitchen tents and a sleeping tent were sheer shaved off. The two rocks rushed past two climbers by a hair’s breadth.” According to Patrick’s words, an expedition member just managed to save himself by jumping behind a small wall on which the kitchen tent had stood. An eight-second video of the incident documents how lucky the group was:

“Definitely traumatized”

“As an emergency measure, we determined escape routes for each individual and established a permanent night watch,” writes Patrick z’Brun. “During the night there was another rockfall, but it did not cause any damage. The people (including the porters) were definitely traumatized and partly refused to go back into the tents.” The next day the Swiss climbed further up to take a look at the danger zone. “On site – at about 4,800 meters – we realized that this was only a prelude. Up there, there were still a lot of boulders waiting, and we discovered some cracks,” reports the 56-year-old, who had climbed Mount Everest in 2008. “It was only a matter of time before the next incident happened.” The Swiss packed up – and later found a nice alternative destination nearby: they succeeded in the first ascent of a 5633-meter-high summit, which they named “Swiss Sherpa Peak”.

A “good-natured mountain” so far

Mountain guide Patrick z’Brun

Spantik – first climbed by the Germans Reinhard Diepen, Edward Reinhard and Joachim Tietze via the southeast side in 1955 – has been a popular destination for commercial expeditions for years. Kari Kobler, whose company had organised the Swiss team’s trip this summer, described the seven-thousander to me as “a mountain that had been really good-natured so far”. It remains to be seen whether Spantik will continue to appear in the “Kobler & Partner” program in the future. An alternative location for the base camp and also a route variant are to be examined.

According to Patrick z’Brun, local porters pointed out that until ten years ago the base camp had regularly been pitched up further down the glacier and that even earlier, mountaineers had climbed via an eastern ridge directly to Camp 1 in order to avoid the danger zone.

Climate change sends its greetings

The risk of rockfall in the Karakoram has been increasing in recent years. “It is becoming more and more a problem due to climate change”, confirms Dominik Müller, head of the German expedition operator “Amical alpin”. “Areas that were still covered with snow a few years ago are snowless now, with more and more debris appearing.”

Being warned now

In the three days before their arrival at the foot of Spantik there had been heavy rain for three days, writes Patrick z’Brun. “We noticed (especially after the rockfall) that there were many stones lying around in the base camp. But we hadn’t thought too much about it.” But from now on, Patrick says, nobody can say any more: ‘You couldn’t know that.’

Tibetan north side of Everest

Now, also from the Tibetan north side, the first climbers out of commercial teams have scaled Mount Everest. Swiss expedition leader Kari Kobler reported that three of his clients reached the highest point at 8,850 meters today. On Monday, the team responsible for fixing the ropes via the Northeast Ridge to the summit, had finished their work. This had already happened a day earlier on the Nepalese south side. On Monday about 50 mountaineers had climbed to the highest point on the southern route. Among them was the Australian Steve Plain. The 36-year-old set a new time record for climbing the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of all continents.

And now the Triple Crown?

Steve Plain

Plain completed the collection within 117 days, achieving his goal of scaling the Seven Summits in under four months. Until then, the Pole Janusz Kochanski had held the record with 126 days. And Steve is not yet tired. Today, one day after their Everest summit success, he and British expedition leader Jon Gupta also scaled the neighboring eight-thousander Lhotse. Thus, for Plain and Gupta only the 7861-meter-high Nuptse is missing to complete the so-called “Triple Crown”, the ascent of the three highest peaks in the Everest massif within a season. Their first summit attempt on Nuptse had failed in early May, 200 meters below the highest point. “I didn’t name him ‘Strong Steve’ last year for nothing”, writes Tim Mosedale on Facebook about Plain.

Sherpa dies on Makalu, summit attempt on Dhaulagiri

Makalu

Meanwhile, a death is reported from the eight-thousander Makalu. According to the newspaper “Himalayan Times”, a 32-year-old Sherpa died of high altitude sickness in the base camp. He had worked for a Chinese expedition. On Dhaulagiri, 79-year-old Spaniard Carlos Soria and his team set off for their summit attempt. Carlos is tackling the 8,167 meter high mountain in western Nepal for the ninth time. Should he succeed this time, it would be his 13th of the 14 eight-thousanders. Besides Dhaulagiri only Shishapangma in Tibet is missing in Soria’s collection.

North side of Everest in the last daylight

It could be a record season on Mount Everest. After the successful 2016 season, experts are expecting a run on the highest mountain on earth – especially since many climbers want to use their extended permits from 2014 (valid until 2019) and from 2015 (which will run out this year). In 2014, the season in Nepal had been finished prematurely after an avalanche accident in the Khumbu Icefall with 16 deaths. In 2015, there had been no ascents on both sides of the mountain due to the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

Dominik Mueller, head of the German expedition operator Amical alpin, will set off to Everest with a “small but strong team” on 8 April. Three clients, four Climbing Sherpas and he himself will try to reach the 8,850-meter-high summit via the normal route on the Tibetan north side. “I will use bottled oxygen because I believe that I can only support other people as best as possible when using a breathing mask,” says the 46-year-old. “Anyone who climbs Everest without supplemental oxygen is so preoccupied with himself that he probably has no resources left to look after others.” I talked to him about the upcoming season.

Dominik, with what expectations do you set off to the Himalayas?

Dominik Mueller

There will probably be more climbers, especially on the Everest south side. But on the north side too.

China has once more fueled the price spiral, by more than 30 percent. A permit for climbing Everest now costs nearly 10,000 dollars. What will be the effect?

This will affect not only Everest but Tibet as a whole, because clients will switch back to the Nepali side. I do not think it’s going to change much on Everest. With regard to the objective dangers, I consider the route on the north side as the safer route, although more logistics is needed. But for the other eight-thousanders in Tibet, it will mean that there will be much less climbers.

Many organizers still prefer the Nepali side because they consider China’s policies in Tibet to be more unpredictable. Do you share this reasoning?

It is not more unpredictable than it was eight or ten years ago. For me, the Chinese have been so far very reliable partners in Tibet. You could refer to what you had agreed on. This has always worked well. For example, only a few permits will be sold for Cho Oyu next fall. This was previously communicated. We decided, however, to go to Manaslu instead of Cho Oyu this fall.

The Nepalese side of Cho Oyu

Permit restrictions for next fall are reported not only for Cho Oyu, but also for Shishapangma. Have they told you a reason?

Obviously there will be a kind of event in Tibet this fall. The Chinese are afraid that there may be unrest and therefore want as few foreigners staying in Tibet as possible. I would have had the chance to get permits for Cho Oyu, but I would have had to confirm these permits already now. According to my information from China, only 50 permits will be sold for this fall. The advantage will be that you are quite lonely on the mountain. But there are also disadvantages. For example, you need manpower after heavy snowfall. If you are only with small teams on the mountain, you will have difficulties to secure the route.

Top of Everest (from the Northeast Ridge)

The Swiss expedition operator Kari Kobler has recently pointed out the corruption of Chinese politicians in Tibet. Do you have also problems with this?

There is, of course, corruption – not only in China, but also in other countries around the world, which we visit as climbers. It’s presumptuous to believe that we could change the whole world on this point. We must arrange with it. The only possible consequence would be to stop traveling to these countries. But in this case we would not be able anymore to give jobs to the ordinary people – like Sherpas, cooks or kitchen boys.

In the meantime, more and more Chinese mountaineers are appearing on the eight-thousanders, in Tibet and in Nepal as well. Is China the market of the future?

I don’t believe this for European operators. Chinese climbers will travel more likely with local agencies. I think it would also be difficult to unite Chinese and European clients in a team – just due to the language barrier.

Tibetan North side of Mount Everest

Climbing on an eight-thousander in Tibet is getting more expensive, not only on Mount Everest. According to documents available to me, the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) has significantly increased the prices for the climbing permits on Everest, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma, on average by more than 30 percent. Since the beginning of the year, the CMA claims 9,950 US dollars per mountaineer for the climb of the highest mountain on earth in case of four or more team members. So far the Everest Permit cost about 7,000 dollars per head. 7,400 dollars are now due for Cho Oyu, 7,150 dollar for climbing Shishapangma from the north side and 7,650 dollars for an ascent from the south side of the mountain. For smaller teams of up to three, the permit costs are even in a five-digit range: 19,500 dollars per person on Everest, 12,600 dollars each on Cho Oyu and Shishapangma.

Prices converge

For comparison: The Nepalese government requires 11,000 dollars for Everest in spring and  1,800 dollars for the other eight-thousanders in the country. However, this is the “naked” permit, while in Tibet some services are included, such as transportation to the base camp or the services of the liasion officer. Nevertheless, slowly but surely the expedition prices in China and Nepal are converging.

Market of the future

China has obviously discovered mountaineering as a growth sector. No wonder, after all more and more Chinese buy into commercial expeditions – not only in the local mountains, where they are forbidden to travel with foreign agencies. “China is the future market,” Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, head of the Nepalese operator “Dreamers Destination”, writes to me. “The Chinese have now started travelling and climbing in foreign countries.”

By train to base camp

Construction work along the road to Cho Oyu

The Chinese authorities are investing massively in infrastructure in Tibet. The road from the capital Lhasa to the 5,200 meter high Everest Base Camp – formerly on many sections only a dirty road  – has meanwhile been paved completely. “As a tourist attraction, it’s one of the coolest roads I’ve seen anywhere on the planet,” the US expedition operator Adrian Ballinger enthused in spring 2016.
In the town of Gangkar, also known as Old Tingri, a huge mountaineering center is to be built by 2019, including a landing site for helicopter rescue flights. In Tingri, also an incineration plant is currently being built, the Swiss expedition operator Kari Kobler writes to me. Within three to four years there should be a railway connection close to Shishapangma Base Camp, Kari adds.

Unpredictable policy

North side of Everest in the last daylight

The 61-year-old is an old hand on the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. Kobler has been organizing expeditions there for many years. Kari believes that the big changes will take place only in the coming years. “Up to now Everest has been very quiet, and we had an almost familiar relationship on the north side,” says Kobler, referring to the lower number of peak climbers, “only about 30 percent of the guests on the south side”. However, corruption is still a big problem, says Kari: “It’s incredible how autonomously Chinese politicians are operating in Tibet.” Shouldn’t the Tibetans be autonomous in China, according to the official version of the government in Beijing?
Despite higher prices and political uncertainties, Kobler does not think about switching to the Nepali side. The objective dangers are larger on the south side of Mount Everest, says Kari: “From my point of view, it is only a matter of time before something bad happens again. That’s why I prefer the unpredictable policy to of unpredictable dangers.”

North side of Everest in the last daylight

“It was a good season,” Nishma Khadgi writes to me. She is responsible for marketing at Asian Trekking, the leading expedition operator in Nepal. “Things are largely normalized and morale of climbers and sherpas are positive which make us optimistic for the future seasons.” According to the Nepalese Tourism Ministry, this spring 456 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest from the south side of the mountain, 199 were climbers from abroad. The official figures from the north side are still not available.

Nepalese Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and Swiss Kari Kobler are two other expedition leaders who have responded to my request to tell me their personal record of this spring’s Everest season. Mingma was on the south side, Kari on the north side. Both are now staying in Pakistan, where they lead expeditions to K 2, the second highest mountain on Earth. And they have another thing in common: Both expedition leaders scaled themselves Mount Everest in May.

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa: “No traffic jams”

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa is the head of Dreamers Destination, an operator for expedition and trekking, based in Kathmandu. The 30-year-old has climbed seven eight-thousanders and made headlines with his solo ascent in the West Face of the 6685-meter-high Chobutse in fall 2015. This is his record of Everest spring season:

“This year Everest was great. I made my 5th time on summit, and I think this year was the easiest summit. It snowed a lot in the beginning that covered all the rock and ice. The most popular rock spots like the Yellow band, Rock Band, Juniper Spur, Triangular Face and Lhotse face were covered by snow which made it very easy to walk and climb.

The Sherpa team fixed the rope at an early date. Previously more summit bids used to be after 15 May, but this year many teams summited before that date. That decreased the traffic jam. In addition, there was no giant rock on Hillary Step as it was covered by snow. So it was comparatively easier and there was no jam at all.

As the government of Nepal extended the permits of 2015 for 2016 and 2017, it didn’t affect the number of climbers on 8000m mountains. I had a team of eight members, four on Everest and four on Lhotse, with 1:1 respective Sherpa. Obviously it was not good luck on Lhotse with no summit at all. Three of my clients made successful Everest summit on 20 May, and there were very few people on that day. The teams chose different summit dates starting from 13 to 22 May. Thanks to fixing the route early, this ran very smoothly.” 

Kobler: “All on the same day, horror!”

Kari Kobler (l.) with his team

Kari Kobler stood on top of Mount Everest for the sixth time. Along with the 61-year-old head of the expedition operator Kobler & Partner, six of his Sherpas and two clients reached the highest point on 8850 meters, including German Stefan Sieveking (born 1946), “presumably the oldest German on the summit of Mount Everest”, as Kari writes. The Swiss has encouraged me to help myself with a cutout of his summary at the K&P website. Here it is:

“After the installation of the fixed ropes from 10 until 13 May had not worked, Sumdjock (of the Tibet Himalaya Expedition Company that employed the rope-fixing team), suddenly informed everyone, that the weather on 19 May would be perfect for going to the summit. Suddenly the mood became very hectic in the Base Camp and ABC (Advanced Base Camp)! The Chinese, Russians, Japanese and Indians all wanted to summit on the same day; the horror, the horror! Several cases of frostbite, snow blindness and other minor ailments resulted from reckless behavior. However, this year there have not been any serious injuries and no casualties on the north side of Mount Everest!

We held off on our summit push. It was not an easy decision. Yet, experience taught me, that sometimes being a little patient is the best thing to do. The waiting was worth it, because 23 May was the best summit on Everest in 2016. The ascent was just perfect. It had snowed the previous night, which meant that the rock ledges, which have to be traversed and which are somewhat difficult, were perfectly covered in snow. I had the privilege to make a new trail to the summit which of course made me very happy. On the summit I stood alone with Pemba and so I could truly enjoy the simply astounding view.”