Luis Stitzinger

According to his own words, Luis Stitzinger has reached the 8,080-meter-high summit of Gasherbrum I in the Karakoram yesterday (Wednesday). He was on his descent, the 49-year-old German climber informed via Facebook today. For Luis, it is his eighth eight-thousander success after Cho Oyu (in 2000), Gasherbrum II (in 2006), Nanga Parbat (in 2008), Dhaulagiri (in 2009), Broad Peak (in 2011), Shisha Pangma (in 2013) and Manaslu (in 2017). He climbed all of them without bottled oxygen, six of them together with his wife Alix von Melle.

Success after all

Luis (2nd from left) the day before our summit bid on Kokodak Dome (in 2014)

As reported, Stitzinger had previously abandoned the planned first ascent of the 7,082-meter-high Urdok Kangri II because of the masses of fresh snow on the mountain. Luis had led the expedition of the German operator “Amical alpin”, in which Alix had also participated. While Alix turned back home along with the other members, Luis decided to tackle Gasherbrum I.

I am particularly pleased about his success, as we have a common past: In July 2014, Luis led the Amical expedition to Kokodak Dome, which ended with the first ascent of the 7,129-meter-high mountain in western China. Since then I can also call myself a first ascender. I never would have made it without Luis.

Death on 7000er in India

R.I.P.

Sad news is reported from the 7,416-meter-high Saser Kangri IV in the Indian part of the Karakoram: The search for Pemba Sherpa was called off after five days. The 45-year-old Nepalese had fallen into a crevasse when a snow bridge had collapsed.  It is believed that he fell into the icy meltwater at the bottom of the crevasse. Pemba had scaled Everest eight times and another five eight-thousanders.

Stitzinger on his ski descent from G I

Update July 24: Luis has published some details of his successful ascent of Gasherbrum I. According to his own words, he ascended together with 52-year-old Italian Gianpaolo Corona in Alpine style. On the summit day they had to break the trailthrough calf-deep fresh snow. After more than 13 hours they reached the highest point. Luis tried a ski descent from the summit, but had to interrupt it in the so-called “Japanese Couloir” due to too great avalanche danger. “A decision I found very difficult. After all, you don’t like to leave the fillet. But in this case there was no discussion,” reports Stitzinger and concludes:  “A happy ending to an extremely difficult season in the Karakoram: After several weeks of almost uninterrupted snowfall at the beginning of the season in June, many expeditions had to leave empty-handed. Even after the weather had calmed down again, the snow masses and the bad conditions allowed only a few summit successes on the Pakistani eight-thousanders as it has rarely been. So we are all the happier that we made it despite all this, just the two of us!”

Alex Txikon in high camp on Everest

Danger welds together. When Alex Txikon returned to Base Camp after six exhausting and exciting days on the slopes of Mount Everest, he hugged every Sherpa who had accompanied him. “In this team everyone knows what needs to be done,” the 35-year-old Basque writes in his blog. The appreciation is mutual. In Alex’ words, Norbu Sherpa told him during the descent: “I believe that for more than 20 or 30 years, no westerner has done what you are doing.” Like the six Sherpas, Txikon had carried up loads of more than 30 kilograms through the Khumbu Icefall and further up.

Weaker and weaker

During the six days, there had been several critical situations. At first, Txikon’s Spanish team partner Carlos Rubio had to be flown out by rescue helicopter due to lung problems. The 28-year-old, who – like every team member – had been involved in the material transport, had suddenly become weaker and weaker. “When we walked for ten minutes, it took Carlos five times more,” Alex writes. “One more night at this height would have been very hard for Carlos and I think he would not have had enough strength to descend to Base Camp.”

With courage and luck

In the Western Qwm

After the successful rescue operation, Alex climbed with the Sherpas Norbu, Nuri and Chhepal to Camp 3 at 7,400 meters. After an ice-cold, windy and therefore sleepless night, Chhepal descended, the other three continued their ascent. “Oh my God, what a mistake going out without sun!”, said Alex. At 7,800 meters, the trio turned around. On further descent towards Base Camp, the climbers found that on their route through the Khumbu Icefall some seracs had collapsed. With courage and luck, they made their way back and reached the Base Camp unharmed. I’ve sent Alex three questions. He replied promptly.

Alex, you have now already been at 7,800 meters. How were the conditions on the mountain and how did you feel?

The conditions on the mountain were hard. But fortunately we are a good team with six Nepali climbers: Norbu, Nuri, Chhepal, Phurba, Lakpa and Pemba. With people like them Everest is possible in winter. The conditions are hard but I am super happy with these Nepali climbers, with such an amazing team. We have to say thanks to the company Seven Summits and the helicopter crew because they did an incredible rescue mission for Carlos Rubio.

Dangerous way down

Your companion Carlos had to abandon the expedition due to health problems. Do you have to re-plan now?

Of course Carlos was an important climber. But as I told you before, the other team members are incredibly strong. The most important thing is the friendship. And with these six Nepali climbers I am super happy. We have a very good feeling. Now, of course, we need to check the next plan. Before we try to tackle the summit, we should make a meeting and speak to each other. This is the best team that could happen to me on expedition.

Are you still confident to be able to reach the highest point?

To reach the summit of Everest without oxygen is another step. We do it with passion and our biggest effort day by day. And I think that we can reach the summit. But we will see. I think we will have the possibility. But first we need to relax and to focus, to learn and understand how the winter is going on, how the wind will be. I feel positive. We will do our best, but of course we will have very few possibilities.

Alex Txikon: We can reach the summit

Annapurna I

Dead and gone. Why only are single deaths of Sherpa climbers in the Himalayas swept under the carpet so quickly? Almost as if it was just a work accident. According to the motto: It’s sad, but unfortunately it sometimes happens. The most recent example was the accident on the eight-thousander Annapurna four weeks ago. In the days that followed, many obits of the 36-year-old Finn Samuli Mansikka were published. For sure, he had deserved each of them. Samuli was not only an excellent climber – Annapurna was his tenth eight-thousander, eight of which he climbed without bottled oxygen – but, according to all reports of his mates, a cool guy, always up for fun or ready for party. However, we learned next to nothing about the other climber who died. It was 35-year-old Pemba Sherpa, was said in a few reports. Allegedly he was born near the eight-thousander Makalu and was called “Technical Pemba” due to his technical climbing skills. About what Pemba had previously done as a mountaineer, the information diverged widely. I was not content with this confusion.

Common name

The research proved difficult. In expedition reports Sherpas are often passed over in total silence. Not uncommonly their names are missing completely, almost as if they were only numbers, not flesh and blood people. Is it because the authors are embarrassed about having used the support of Sherpas? Or is it due to the fact that Sherpa names are confusingly similar or quite frequently identical? In Nepal many Sherpas bear the Tibetan name “Pemba”. Actually it only means that this man first saw the light of day on a Saturday.

Billi Bierling

I made a request to the Kathmandu based expedition operator Dreamers Destination for whom Pemba Sherpa had worked – however, as it turned out later, for the first time. My questions remained unanswered as well as those to the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). Fortunately I could ask Billi Bierling for assistance, a German mountaineer and journalist, living in Kathmandu. She is working for the Himalayan Database, the chronicle of the legendary American Elizabeth Hawley. Thus she has always a finger on the pulse of mountaineering in the Himalayas. At first Billi was groping in the dark too. Almost everyone she asked for the Sherpa who had died on Annapurna seemed to mean another Pemba. The information about his age, his origins and achievements as a high altitude mountaineer diverged topsy-turvy. The data that she received didn’t fit to any Pemba Sherpa in the Himalayan Database.

Four times on top of Everest

Billi was sticking to her guns. After about two weeks, she succeeded in lifting the fog. To her research, Pemba Sherpa who died on Annapurna is listed in the archive of Miss Hawley as Pema Tshering. He was born on 16 June 1970 at upper Walung in the Makalu-Barun National Park. Until 2014, Pem(b)a made twelve ascents to the summits of eight-thousanders: Four times Mount Everest (in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2013), three times Dhaulagiri (in 2005, 2009, 2012), twice Kangchenjunga (in 2009, 2011), twice Annapurna (in 2010, 2012) and once Lhotse in (2008).

With Oh Eun-Sun and Cleo Weidlich

It is striking that he often accompanied female climbers to the summits of eight-thousanders: three times each the South Korean Oh Eun-Sun and the US-Brazilian Cleo Weidlich. In 2010 “Miss Oh” war the first woman to complete her 8,000er collection, though her success on Kangchenjunga in 2009 is listed in the Himalayan Database as “disputed” to this day. Unlike another member of her five-strong Sherpa team, Pemba stated that Oh Eun-Sun and he had really reached the top of the third highest mountain in the world. A year later, Pemba also joined the Korean on her way up to the summit of Annapurna, her last eight-thousander. In 2014, he accompanied Cleo Weidlich, with whom he had previously reached the summits of Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and Kangchenjunga, in her attempt on Lhotse. The expedition made headlines around the world because Cleo (like the Chinese Wang Jing) flow to the high camp above the Khumbu Icefall by helicopter.

Amateurish? Not hardly!

Pemba’s 13th eight-thousander ascent, his third on Annapurna, was fatal for him. We will probably never know what exactly happened to him and Samuli Mansikka during the descent. Their bodies were discovered in a crevasse at 7,200 meters. It seems to me too hasty to accuse the Sherpa and the Finn of “amateurish behavior” and “carelessness”, as an expedition member did after the accident. Like Samuli, Pemba was a very experienced high altitude mountaineer, anything but an amateur. Pem(b)a Tshering Sherpa was 44 years old. He leaves behind a wife and a four-year-old daughter.

Update: It looks as if we were wrong. Mingma Sherpa, owner of Dreamers Destination, told me the Sherpa who died on Annapurna was Pemba Sherpa from Sankhuwasava: “He has climbed Annapurna in 2009,2010,2012 and 2015, Kangchenjunga from India, Dhaulagiri in 2012, Makalu in 2011. He was on K2 in 2009 and 2014. I met him on K2 last year and I was surprised by his work because he alone made all the way from Camp 2 to Camp 4 on the Senchen Route. He was a really experienced and technical climber so named technical Pemba.”

Early summit successes

Annapurna

Unusually early in the season, the 13 climbers of the expedition had reached the highest point on Tuesday: Six Sherpas, three Chinese, a Turk, a Macedonian, an Iranian and the Finn Mansikka. They had taken advantage of low snowfall in the period before the beginning of spring to set up the high camps. Annapurna is the eight-thousander with the highest fatality rate, usually there is extreme avalanche danger in spring. “We had a good weather with little cold wind on summit. On the way back to last camp, we lost one foreign climber and good Nepali friend”, expedition leader Mingma Gyalje Sherpa reported from Camp 4, the last camp below the summit. “I don’t how they slipped.”

Annapurna was Samuli Mansikka’s tenth eight-thousander. In 2014, he had summited Kangchenjunga and K 2, both without bottled oxygen. Only on Mount Everest and Lhotse, the climber from Finland had used a breathing mask. Samuli and Pemba, R.I.P.!