Bad media?

In recent days, some climbers in Diamir Base Camp have not been sparing with criticism of the media, complaining about those who, “sitting with their butts in the warmth”, report or, even worse, speculate on what’s happening on Nanga Parbat thus providing discord and strife in Base Camp. Such a sweeping criticism annoys me. The protagonists of the soap opera themselves made their dispute public – via their own websites. They had to be aware that they could trigger a media avalanche. But whenever people are doing it this way and after a while realize that they are going to lose control, they blame “the media”. The cap doesn’t fit and I’m not wearing it! The controversy was already published when I started to report on it. I have always tried to give all sides a word in and to get first-hand information.

From now, only sport

But honestly, I just don’t want to report on this feud any more. I can only appeal to all those involved: Resolve your problems together and concentrate on climbing again! Even without soap opera, winter climbing on Nanga Parbat is extremely exciting. And I’ll continue to report on great mountain sport in my blog.

P.S.: It’s really a coincidence that I’ll leave for a one-week holiday in the mountains after writing this post. Then I’ll be back for you.

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.

Rupal side of Nanga Parbat (© The North Face)

“He who says patience, says courage, endurance, strength”, Baroness Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach once wrote. Of course the Austrian writer, who lived from 1830 to 1913, meant it generally. But with her words she described almost exactly the characteristics that are needed to climb an eight-thousander such as Nanga Parbat in winter. After more than two dozen unsuccessful winter expeditions, courageous, persistant and strong climbers try again to scale the ninth highest mountain on earth this winter. Currently, the attempt of the Russians Nickolay Totmjanin, Valery Shamalo, Serguey Kondrashkin and Victor Koval on the Rupal side, the south side of Nanga Parbat, seems to be the most promising try. After all, they worked up to an altitude of 7150 meters. “The whole route is about eight km. We fixed already 700 meters of very hard winter ice”, the four climbers from St. Petersburg wrote on Twitter. They said they encountered that type of ice almost everywhere above 6,000 meters. Dangerous blue ice was also one of the reasons why Tomek Mackiewicz from Poland and German David Goettler had returned on this route at 7,200 meters in winter 2014.

In short: Too risky

Elisabeth Revol in Camp 4 at 7,000 meters

This year, Tomek switched to the north flank of the mountain that looked more promising. His summit attempt with the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol on the Diamir side ended – as reported – at 7,800 meters. Only Zbigniew Trzmiel from Poland climbed 50 meter higher on Nanga Parbat in winter, during his failed attempt in 1997.
“We had no chance to reach the top”, Mackiewicz said. “Too cold, too windy, the weather too unpredictable – in short too risky”, Revol summarized after her return to France the reasons why they turned around 300 meters below the summit.  “When I reached out, I could ‘feel’ the summit with the touch of my finger. It was very close. My heartbeat increased, but we were to remain calm. It was frustrating; wasn’t easy to turn around, especially when you look at all the progress made ​​so far.” When  descending a snow bridge collapsed under Tomek, the climber from Poland fell 50 meters deep into a crevasse. Mackiewicz was lucky. He survived with thigh muscle and rib injuries and was able to free himself out of the crevasse with Elizabeth’s help. For Mackiewicz and Revol the expedition was completed. Both travelled home. The Italian Daniele Nardi stays on the Diamir side. He will be now joined by an Iranian team as well as by the Basque Alex Txikon who – in a team with two Pakistani climbers – also wants to scale Nanga Parbat first time in winter. Will there be enough courage, endurance and strength? So far, the mountain has held even the most patient winter candidates at bay.

Nanga Parbat (seen from Diamir basecamp)

Does Nanga Parbat show its teeth again? More than 20 winter expeditions already failed on the 8125-meter-high mountain in Pakistan. Beside K 2, Nanga Parbat is the only eight-thousander which has still not been scaled in winter. That’s why the “Naked Mountain” has been an attractive destination for professional mountaineers over the past years. The Polish climber Tomasz called Tomek Mackiewicz is trying to climb the  ninth highest mountain on earth for the fifth consecutive year. After having reached an altitude of about 7200 meters with the German mountaineer David Goettler on the south side of the mountain (Rupal side) last year, Tomek is now climbing on the northwest side (Diamir side). Today he and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol returned safely from a summit attempt to base camp.

Tomasz Mackiewicz

Fall into a crevasse

They had climbed on the still unfinished route on the northern flank, which the South Tyroleans Reinhold Messner and Hanspeter Eisendle had opened up to an altitude of 7500 meters in 2000. Mackiewicz and Revol reached 7800 meters, not too far below the summit. For days there had been no contact with them. Now the Italian Daniele Nardi, who shares the base camp with Tomek and Elisabeth gave the all-clear via Facebook: “They’re fine. Tomek has a small problem in the leg because he fell into a crevasse. Nothing to worry about.“

One more aspirant: Alex Txikon

Alex Txikon

Two other expedition teams are on their way to the Diamir side. The Iranians Mahmood Hashemi, Reza Bahadorani and Iraj Maani are expected in base camp this weekend. There, Alex Txikon will pitch his tent too. After Chinese authorities refused to give a permit for his planned K 2 winter expedition with the Russian Denis Urubko and Adam Bielecki from Poland, the Basque decided to tackle Nanga Parbat. He will be joined by the Pakistani climbers Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Khan. Both come from villages in Baltistan: Ali from Sadpara, Khan from Machulu. “They’ve climbed many high mountains in the Himalayas, they are experienced and strong men, and I’m sure they will be very good partners”, Alex writes on his website.
On the Rupal side, a team from St. Petersburg in Russia is currently working up the mountain. Last news came five days ago saying that Nickolay Totmjanin, Valery Shamalo, Serguey Kondrashkin and Victor Koval had left base camp to push ahead the route.

Way back to basecamp

Ralf Dujmovits’ concerns were not deceptive. The day after he and his Polish companion Darek Zaluski had decided to cancel their winter expedition on the Diamir side of Nanga Parbat, they narrowly escaped an ice avalanche. The two climbers had just build down their Camp 1 at 4900 meters below the Kinshofer route and were on their descent when the avalanche went down. “We were very lucky!”, Ralf writes to me. The 52-year-old and Darek arrived in basecamp safe and sound. As reported Dujmovits had abandoned his plan to climb Nanga Parbat via the Messner route because of the high risk of ice avalanches.

Daniele’s second attempt

The basecamp on the Diamir side will remain empty only for about two weeks. Then the Italian Daniele Nardi will pitch up his tent there. The 37-year-old from the town Sezze near Rome will try to climb Nanga Parbat solo and in Alpine style via the Mummery ridge. He is starting his expedition so late because he wants to avoid competitive situations on the mountain, says Daniele: “I don’t want to climb with the idea to run on the mountain, the most important thing is the style.” Last winter Nardi had climbed on Nanga Parbat in a team with the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol. They had reached a height of 6000 meters.

First night in Camp 1

Simone climbing up to Camp 1

Meanwhile on the Rupal side the Italian Simone Moro and the German David Goettler are acclimatizing. The two climbed up to Camp 1 to spend a first night at 5100 meters. The Polish team “Justice for all”, the first expedition this season in Pakistan, had reached a height of 5500 meters already on 26 December.