Charly Gabl

“I’ve got some more gray hair,” said Karl, called “Charly” Gabl. “It was terrible.” The world-famous meteorologist from Austria was talking about the freak weather on Mount Everest during this spring season, which had made predictions as difficult as rarely before. Once again, Charly had pulled numerous all-nighters to advise top climbers from all over the world who trust him almost unconditionally. “The one computer model showed two and a half meters of fresh snow during a week, another one no precipitation. Which one should I take?”

Traditional good weather window stayed away

Hans Wenzl was among those who reached the top of Everest without bottled oxygen

This year, there had been simply no longer period of good weather on Everest, the meanwhile 70-year-old told me when I met him last weekend at the trade fair “Outdoor” in the German town of Friedrichshafen. “Normally we have a few days in a row between 15 and 25 May without jet stream, with relatively high temperatures and best conditions, this time not. Instead cumulus clouds, in the morning sunshine, in the afternoon again and again precipitation.” How unpredictable the weather was this season, proved the last weekend of May: Eight climbers set off towards the summit without bottled oxygen. Only three of them reached the highest point without using breathing masks, in worse weather than predicted.

Father-to-children relationship

Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the balance of climbers he had been advising, said Gabl. Thus the blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer had reached the top of Everest, the German David Goettler had climbed through the Shishapangma South Face. “Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro were insofar successful that they did not have to make the Kangchenjunga traverse and returned home healthy.” Charly fears with the extreme climbers. “They’re friends. I have almost a father-to-children relationship to them. I look after them, I am happy if they are successful and stay healthy.”

Climate change says hi

K 2

Gabl is again advising some climbers during the current summer season on the eight-thousanders in Pakistan, among others on K 2, the second highest mountain on earth. Do the summit aspirants – like in the past years – have to reckon with high temperatures in the Karakoram? “I believe that the generally accepted climate warming, which Donald Trump has not yet noticed, does affect mountains and glaciers,” replied the meteorologist. “Rockfall has increased.” Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had already pointed out after their failed attempts on the Pakistani south side of K 2 some years ago that the Abruzzi Spur, actually the normal route, had become life-threatening, said Charly, adding that also the Cesen Route via the Southsoutheast Ridge, which was considered to be safer, “is meanwhile with all guns blazing. There is rock and icefall. The climate warming doesn’t stop at any mountains of the world.”

Nanga Parbat

Nanga Parbat falls back into hibernation. After the 8125-meter-high mountain in Pakistan was bustling over the past years with expeditions who tried to climb it for the first time in winter, it now looks as if the “naked mountain” remains a lonely one in the coming months. This winter even the Polish climber Tomasz Mackiewicz will not change his living room – as he did in the last six years – with a cold tent on Nanga Parbat.

The main argument is gone

Successful team: Alex, Tamara, Simone and Ali (from l. to r.)

“The expedition to Nanga Parbat will be postponed to 2017/2018,” Tomek wrote on Facebook. In his words he has tried in vain to obtain financial support from the Polish government for another attempt. It shouldn’t have been easy for him to argue after the fall of the winter bastion Nanga Parbat: After numerous attempts the Italian Simone Moro, the Basque Alex Txikon and the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” finally succeeded the first winter ascent of the ninth highest mountain on earth at the end of last February. The fourth team member, the South Tyrolean Tamara Lunger, turned around just below the summit, because she was in poor health.

K 2 winter expedition not before 2017/2018

K 2

Not only on Nanga Parbat, but also on other eight-thousanders there is a winter low tide. An originally planned Polish expedition to K2, the only eight-thousander which is still unclimbed in winter, under the leadership of the winter old master Kryzsztof Wielicki, was also postponed for one year to 2017/2018. Also in this case, money was missing first. After all, financing by two state-owned companies seems to be now in the pipeline.

Pilot’s licence instead of winter climb

Tamara Lunger

Also maybe the winter after next, Tamara Lunger will try to climb Mount Everest. After her “almost Nanga summit in winter” it had been reported that the 30-year-old was now considering Mount Everest as a new winter goal. Already this year? “No,” Tamara writes to me. “I’m in America for taking my helicopter pilot’s licence.”

Secret about destination

And what else is going on? The Indian climber Arjun Vajpai has announced via Facebook a winter expedition to a seven-thousander in his home country. He still has not given notice which mountain he means. The 23-year-old has already climbed five eight thousanders: Mount Everest (as a still 16-year-old in 2010), Lhotse and Manaslu (both in 2011), Makalu in spring 2016 and Cho Oyu last October.

The summit, seen form Camp 3

“Only five are left. We don’t give up now“, Tamara Lunger writes on Facebook. The 29-year-old South Tyrolean mountaineer and her Italian team partner Simone Moro hope for better weather on Nanga Pabat. Snowfall is predicted until the weekend, in addition a strong wind is blowing at the 8125-meter-high summit, which currently makes an ascent impossible. The other team still staying in Base Camp, the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italian Daniele Nardi and the Pakistani Ali Sadpara, are also waiting for an end of the bad weather.

The trio has secured the Kinshofer route, the normal route, with fixed ropes up to Camp 3 at 6,700 meters. “The hardest job is already done, we’ve got the route and our minds amplely prepared for going for summit push as soon as weather gives us a proper chance“, writes Alex adding that it will not be necessary to fix anything else further up to the summit “if conditions do not change“. But exactly that might be the problem if it should continue snowing heavily over the coming days.

Never again to Nanga Parbat?

The Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol have started their journey home. Both had reached an altitude of about 7,500 meters during their summit attempt late last week, before they had been driven back by the freezing cold. Tomek was afterwards so frustrated that he announced he would not return to Nanga Parbat any more and perhaps even give up his Himalayan mountaineering career. Mackiewicz had tried to scale the ninth highest mountain for six consecutive winters but had always failed. Meanwhile there is increasing information that the Polish “Nanga Dream“ team has also abandoned its expedition on the Rupal side of the mountain. Marek Klonowski and Pavel Dunaj had climbed up to 7,500 meters on the Schell route late last week.

Update 1 p.m.: Tamara Lunger and Simone will switch over to the Kinshofer Route and join forces with Alex Txikon and Co. “I think together we can help and motivate better and maybe we are able to do a big thing!“, Tamara writes on Facebook.

Tomek Mackiewicz on ascent

The first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat is in the air – say my gut instincts. Sunny days and clear nights are expected on the eighth highest mountain on earth until the weekend. The wind is to calm down, to a speed of just ten kilometers per hour on Friday. That sounds like ideal conditions for a summit attempt – if we can still speak of it in winter at all. After all, the temperature at the 8,125-meter-high summit is about minus 40 degrees Celsius. Maybe the reason for my optimistic gut feeling is simply that the teams on Nanga Parbat are currently rather stingy with information. Almost as if they are fully focused on climbing and don’t want to be distracted by „public relations“.

Short weather window

Elisabeth Revol in Camp 2

For days, we have not heard anything from the Italian duo Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger, who are ascending on the Messner route on the Diamir side of the mountain. The Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol, climbing on the same route, are more communicative. From Camp 2 at 6,000 meters, Tomek today talked via satellite phone with the Polish Radio journalist Bartosz Styrna. Gusts of wind with a speed of up to 100 km/h had pulled at their tent, Mackiewicz said. They plan to climb further up tomorrow. “We have only a very short time frame of two to three days maximum”, said Tomek. “We have to fight. It will be an uphill struggle.”

Bielecki and Czech left

The Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italian Daniele Nardi and the Pakistani Ali Sadpara are also expecting this hard fight on the Kinshofer route, the normal route. They have climbed up to an altitude of 6,500 meters and fixed the route where needed. Nardi got off lightly from a fall near Camp 2. The Polish climbers Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech, who had actually announced to join their forces with the trio, have meanwhile abandoned their expedition and left the Base Camp. Bielecki believed that he had no more chance to reach the summit due to his hand injury after an 80-meter-fall some days ago.
On the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat, the “Nanga Dream” team is working their way up the Southsouthwest ridge. Even from these mountaineers, we hear next to nothing. I am standing firm on this: There is something in the air.

Update 21 January: Tomek and Elisabeth pitched their Camp 4 at 7,200 meters. If things work out, they could reach the summit on Friday or Saturday. The calm winter weather is to continue. So keep your fingers crossed! Meanwhile Simone and Tamara descended to Base Camp.