In the Rupal Face

“To paraphrase Shakespeare: living on without summit or voting for death.” This is how Marek Holecek described the decision that he and his team mate Tomas Petrecek had to make last Sunday at the exit of the mighty Rupal Face, 300 meters below the summit of Nanga Parbat. Gusts of wind of up to 100 kilometers per hour blew over the 8,125-meter-high mountain in Pakistan, the ninth highest in the world. After six days in the wall, the two Czech climbers decided to turn around.

Like cabriolet trip without windscreen

Marek Holecek (l.) and Tomas Petrecek (r.) in base camp

“Now, it is a certainty that 4,000 meters can be climbed down, without one step with the forehead to the valley,” Marek described on lidovky.cz the descent through the extremely difficult south face of the eight-thousander. It was like a cabriolet trip without a windscreen in the ice storm, the 43-year-old said: “You’ll find out how frozen fish fillets feel.”

The main thing is to survive!

According to his words, they lost everything on the mountain, food, ice screws, bolts, rope, “many pounds of our weight, nerves”. But, said Marek: “We are back and still alive.” Holecek and Petrecek had planned to climb without bottled oxygen through the Rupal Face, traverse the summit of Nanga Parbat and descend into the Diamir Valley on the west side of the mountain – like the South Tyrolean brothers Reinhold and Günther Messner did in 1970. Günther Messner had died in the Diamir flank at that time.

In summer 2017, Holecek had opened a new route through the Southwest Face of the eight-thousander Gasherbrum I in the Karakoram, climbing in Alpine style with his compatriot Zdenek Hak.

Marek Holecek, in the background Gasherbrum I

Marek Holecek has fulfilled his great dream. In the fifth run, the 43-year-old Czech climber completed a new route via the Southwest Face of the eight-thousander Gasherbrum I. On Monday, Marek, according to his own words, reached together with his countryman Zdenek Hak the 8,080 meter-high-summit of the mountain in the Karakoram, which is also called Hidden Peak. Today they returned to the base camp safe and sound, but “dead tired, smelly, emaciated more than the world’s top models”, as Marek told the Czech website “lidovky.cz”.

Tragic accident in the second attempt

Route via the G I Southwest Face

In 2009 and 2013 Holecek had tried to open this new route on G I along with Zdenek Hruby. In their first attempt the two climbers had to turn around at 7,500 meters, because Hruby suffered from a ruptured gastric ulcer. The try in 2013 ended tragically: At almost 7,000 meters Hruby slipped and fell to death. Zdenek, who was then president of the Czech Mountaineering Association, died on his 57th birthday. Hruby was one of the most experienced climbers in his country, he had scaled eight eight-thousanders.

Frostbite on toes

In his third attempt in 2015, together with Tomas Petrecek, Holecek reached an altitude of 7,300, before bad weather stopped the two climbers. In 2016, Holecek returned to Gasherbrum I, this time with Ondra Madula. Then it was over at 7,700 meters, once again due to bad weather. Marek suffered frostbite at his toes. Even this couldn’t stop Holecek. Now he did it. Congratulations, Marek, your persistence has been rewarded!