Top of Everest (from the Northeast Ridge)

The Everest wave rolls, at least on the Tibetan north side of the mountain. According to an Indian operator, six clients of their commercial expedition team reached the summit on Saturday, accompanied by ten Sherpas. Among those who stood on the highest point on 8,850 meters was reportedly also Lhakpa Sherpa. It was her eighth summit success on the highest mountain on earth. The 43-year-old Nepalese who lives in the USA remains the woman with the most Everest ascents. Other commercial expeditions have started their first summit attempt.

No rope to the main summit

“That lower summit is Makalu summit on 10 May. We opened route from there to main summit on 11 May,” writes Mingma.

Meanwhile, there is more clarity about the ascents on Makalu last Wednesday. As the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol did before, Masha Gordon, who was born in Russia and lives in London, also confirmed that they climbed only up to the lower pre-summit. “We all reached the foresummit deeming the last few meters of the corniced ridge too fragile and hyper dangerous to cross,” the 43-year-old wrote to me via Twitter. Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, who said, he reached the summit of Makalu one day later, on Thursday, described the situation on Facebook as follows: “Rope was not fixed to the main summit.” He did it himself, says Mingma adding that afterwards his two companions, Tashi Sherpa and a Chinese client, climbed up to the highest point. “I felt like it’s completely nonsense to say Makalu is one of the easy 8000ers.”

Makalu

Still, it is only news snippets. But it looks as if today for the first time this spring climbers have reached the summit of Makalu. With an altitude of 8,485 meters, Makalu is the fifth-highest mountain on earth. “We had summits!” twittered the British expedition operator Altitude Junkies from Makalu. “Everybody is safe.” Details are to be published on Thursday. The newspaper “BonDia” from Andorra reported that Domi Trastoy, a 36-year-old climber from the mini-state, had reached the summit without the use of supplemental oxygen. For him, Makalu was the second eight-thousander after Mount Everest, it was stated.

“First Russian woman”

Maria, also called Masha Gordon sent via satellite a success message of her “Grit & Rock” team, writing that she had become the first Russian woman to have climbed Makalu. The 43-year-old businesswoman, born in the Russian region of North Ossetia, lives with her husband and two children in London. In 2016, Masha had completed the so-called Explorers Grand Slam in just seven months and 19 days, means she had scaled the “Seven Summits” (the highest mountains of all continents, including Mount Everest) and reached the North and South Pole on last degree expeditions (on skis from 89 degrees latitude to the poles).

Honest Elisabeth

Elisabeth Revol on Nanga Parbat (in 2016)

The Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol, known in the scene for her winter attempts on Nanga Parbat and latest on Manaslu, did not quite make it to the top of Makalu. “We stopped at the antecime (pre-summit). To the main summit too much snow, wind patches and too much wind,” Elisabeth wrote on Facebook. “We were only 3 without oxygen on 20 climbers. I’m blown up! Big wind & super cold.” Hats off to her honesty! The last fall season on Manaslu has proved that many climbers are tending to bend the truth. It turned out that most of the approximately 150 supposed “summiteers” had not set their feet to the – admittedly not easily accessible – highest point of Manaslu and had taken their “summit pictures” close by.