Zsolt Torok (r.) on Pumori

“The Little Prince climbed a high mountain”, wrote the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in his world-famous story “The Little Prince”, published in 1943. “From a mountain as high as this one, he said to himself, I shall be able to see the whole planet at one glance, and all the people. But he saw nothing, save peaks of rock that were sharpened like needles.” Zsolt Torok, Teofil Vlad and Romeo (called “Romica”) Popa might have been less surprised when they stood on the 7,161-meter-high summit of Pumori last fall and saw nothing else but directly opposite the eight-thousanders Mount Everest and Lhotse as well as the seven-thousander Nuptse. The three climbers from Romania had just opened a new route through the Southeast Face in Alpine style – without the support of Sherpas, without bottled oxygen and without a chain of fixed high camps. They called it „Le Voyage du Petit Prince“ (The Little Prince‘s Journey). I asked Zsolt Torok why they chose this name.

Leaving the comfort zone

Torok, Popa and Vlad – and their route through the Pumori Southeast Face

“Because of the innocence and truthfulness of the heart of the Little Prince,” replies the 45-year old. “When he asked a question, he never gave up until receiving an answer. Was he stubborn? Or dedicated to truth? On his journey, he met many characters. Just like us on our journey. And also just like him, we needed to get out of the comfort zone in order to find out our essence. To find it on the Planet Pumori.”

Five bivouac nights in the wall

The mixed climbing between the foot of the Southeast Face at 5,600 metres and the exit to the summit ridge at 6,700 meters was comparable to the Eiger North Face, says Torok, “with similar elements like ‘The Ramp’, ‘The White Spider’ or ‘The Waterfall Chimney’”. The Romanian trio spent five nights in the extremely steep wall. There was a “lack of suitable places for bivouacs. That is why we were forced to fit in the most inappropriate places.” Zsolt had already tackled the route with his compatriot Vlad Capusan in spring 2017, but had then abandoned the attempt because of the danger of avalanches.

„No vertical arena, more of a sanctuary“

Hardly any space for a bivouac tent

This time the project was successful. Torok describes the first ascent of the route as „my biggest achievement now, because a world premiere is always more valuable than repeating a route”. Nevertheless, the 45-year-old doesn’t want to hang the coup of the Romanian trio too high: „I do not quite agree with the rush for the premieres, because mountains shouldn’t be regarded as a vertical arena. They are more of a sanctuary. Old routes are accomplished by great men and they are just like the evergreen music, always valuable.” The “romantic climbing” to which Zsolt, in his own words, feels drawn“slowly vanishes from people‘s souls, being replaced by the thirst for the extreme”.

On top of Nanga Parbat and Saldim Ri

In 2012, Torok scaled Nanga Parbat with his compatriots Teofil Vlad, Marius Gane and Aurel Salasan. It was his first summit success on an eight-thousander after failed attempts on Cho Oyu (in 2006) and K2 (in 2010). In 2016, he succeeded with Vlad Capusan the first ascent of the 6,374-meter-high Saldim Ri (also called Peak 5) near the eight-thousander Makalu in Nepal.

Actually, Zsolt also wanted to climb Mount Everest in spring 2015. But the season ended before it had really begun – after the devastating earthquake in Nepal and the resulting avalanche from Pumori, which destroyed Everest Base Camp and killed 19 people. Zsolt writes to me that he “completely banished” this experience during their ascent of Pumori: “It’ s like driving. Having the (steering) wheel in your hands gives you the trust and confidence of any journey…”

Everest remains a goal

Climbing with view of Everest

Mount Everest, which he could constantly see during the ascent on Pumori, remains a goal for Zsolt Torok, because “I, just like the Little Prince who never gave up, will not give up my dreams and my questions”. When the time comes, he wants to climb Everest via the normal route on the south side, the route of the first ascent, “because I am a romantic”, says Zsolt. He would then „to the disappointment of many“ use bottled oxygen, says Torok, “simply because my target is not to test the limits of my body, of my capability at an altitude of almost 9,000 meters. My target, in case of Everest, would be to reach an emblematic place, a place of meditation. I want to know how it feels to be there, the thoughts crossing one’s mind.”

Tomek Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat

Do you already have aching muscles from keeping fingers crossed? Your pain could become even stronger. Because the summit bid of the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol that was expected already for Sunday is delayed. “We are in Camp 3, (it’s) windy (with speeds of)  about 100 km/h,” Tomek is quoted today on his Facebook page. “Tomorrow Camp 4, summit push (on) 25 January. Good weather (is expected for) that day.” In fact, the weather forecast for the summit at 8,125 meters predicts for Thursday the lowest wind speeds this week: between 15 and 25 km/h. Assuming this forecast is correct, it will be almost calm, however with minus 42 degrees Celsius quite cold, some clouds are expected. Mackiewicz and Revol climb without bottled oxygen.

Urubko first climber in Camp 2

K2

Meanwhile, the climbers of the Polish winter expedition are making progress on K2. According to the Facebook page “Polski Himalaim Zimowy 2016-2020” (Polish winter climbing in the Himalayas 2016-2020), Denis Urubko has reached Camp 2 on the Cesen route at 6,300 meters and will spend the night there. Artur Malek and Marek Chmielarski are in Camp 1 at 5,900 meters, it says. K2, with 8,611 m the second highest mountain on earth, is the only eight-thousander that has never been scaled in winter so far.

After Pumori now Everest

On Mount Everest the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” and the two Nepalese Nuri Sherpa and Temba Bhote returned from their ascent of the 7161-meter-high Pumori – in their backpacks this small, but nice video:

This winter, Txikon and Ali, two of the three first winter ascenders of Nanga Parbat in 2016, want to reach the summit of Everest at 8,850 meters without breathing masks.

Nanga Parbat

It’s time for the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol this Sunday. According to Polish media information, the two climbers wanted to start at 2 a.m. local time (Saturday 10 p.m. CET) from their last high camp at 7,200 meters towards the summit. It will be their first and last attempt, it said. For Sunday, clear weather with temperatures of minus 33 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of about 60 kilometers per hour is expected for the highest point of Nanga Parbat at 8,125 meters. Mackiewicz and Revol are climbing without bottled oxygen.

Summit of Pumori reached

Txikon and Co. on the summit of Pumori

Meanwhile, the Spaniard Alex Txikon and the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” have scaled the seven-thousander Pumori vis-à-vis Mount Everest on Saturday. According to Txikons’ team, they reached along with the Nepalese climbers Nuri and Temba Bothe around noon local time the 7,161-meter-high summit. “The wind was very strong, but we all are fine,” Alex said. “A very technical and in some moments dangerous mountain.” After returning to the base camp, Txikon and Co. want to focus again on their actual goal, a winter ascent of Everest without bottled oxygen.

Polish climbers on K 2 above 6000 meters

On K 2, the second highest mountain in the world, the Polish winter expedition is slowly working their way upwards. On Saturday, a team of some climbers was busy securing the Cesen route above 6,000 meters with fixed ropes.

Elisabeth Revol (l.) and Tomek Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat

“We are acclimatized. We’ll try to reach the summit.” Tomek Mackiewicz is quoted on his Facebook page with these words. After about two weeks of strong winds, the weather on Nanga Parbat had improved, the conditions were good, it said. Tomek and his climbing partner Elisabeth Revol probably set off today towards their material depot at 6,700 meters.

Subsiding wind

Nanga Parbat

The 43-year-old Pole and the 37-year-old Frenchwoman want to complete the so-called Messner route – “the only possible Alpine style route in winter”, as Tomek wrote to me last November. In 2000, the South Tyroleans Reinhold and Hubert Messner, Hanspeter Eisendle and Wolfgang Tomaseth had opened the route through the Northeast Face up to an altitude of 7,500 meters. Meteorologists predict clear weather with decreasing wind for the coming days on Nanga Parbat. On Saturday, temperatures of minus 31 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of around 40 kilometers per hour are expected at the 8,125-meter-high summit. From next Tuesday, the wind is to continue to calm down, but then it should be a little colder again.

K2: Poles want to pitch up Camp 1

Entry of the Cesen route

The Polish team at K2 – the second highest mountain in the world, as well as Nanga Parbat located  in Pakistan – stayed in the base camp today. On Friday and Saturday, the climbers want to continue to fix ropes on the Cesen route and pitch up Camp 1 at 6,200 meters. The 8,611-meter-high K2 is the last remaining eight-thousander, which has never been climbed in winter. The Polish expedition led by old master Krzysztof Wielicki wants to change that.

Climbing Pumori in preparation for Everest

Alex Txikon on ascent on Pumori – in the background Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse (from l. to r.)

In Nepal, meanwhile, the Spaniard Alex Txikon has left his base camp at the foot of Mount Everest in the opposite direction. The 36-year-old Basque climbed today with the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” and the Nepalese Nuri and Temba Bhote on the 7,161-meter-high Pumori up to Camp 2 at 6,200 meters. According to Alex, the trio wants to climb the mountain “in a minimalist and fast style” in order to further acclimatize. Subsequently, Txikon and Co. will return to the actual goal of climbing Everest without bottled oxygen. Last Monday, the Spaniard had ascended with five Sherpas to Camp 2 at 6,500 meters on the highest mountain on earth.

The avalanche from Pumori

The quite inconceivable really happened. A huge avalanche from Pumori, triggered by yesterday’s earthquake in Nepal, hit the Base Camp at the foot of Mount Everest at full force. The seven-thousander is located just opposite the highest mountain in the world. But hardly anyone had expected that an avalanche from Pumori would reach the edge of the Khumbu Icefall. “I ran and it just flattened me. I tried to get up and it flattened me again. I couldn’t breathe, I thought I was dead,” said George Foulsham, a mountaineer who lives in Singapore. The 38-year-old marine biologist was lucky and survived. It is not yet totally clear how many climbers lost their lives in Base Camp. An official of the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism said that so far 22 bodies have been recovered from the region around the highest mountain in the world: 17 directly from the Base Camp, five out of lower areas. About 200 people were still missing in the area.

Collapsed like a house of cards

Even further down the valley, Saturday’s earthquake has caused major damage. “Hardly a house that is still habitable,” writes the South Tyrolean journalist Walther Luecker from the 4371-meter-high village of Pheriche. “In the ruins, people are digging for their remaining belongings. Broken walls; roofs of corrugated iron collapsed like a house of cards; furnishing no longer in its place; frightened people wandering between the walls. And above their heads the helicopters, which bring new injured climbers.” In Pheriche, the Himalayan Rescue Association has been running a small clinic for many years. The injured from Base Camp were first flown there and to Lukla.

Aftershocks felt on the north side

Pumori (l.), Everest Base Camp is located in the valley basin to the right

On Monday, the helicopter rescue flights on Everest will resume. Then more climbers will be flown from the high camps above the Khumbu Icefall down to Base Camp. Today a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale hit the Everest region – but this time without significant consequences. The shocks were also felt on the Tibetan north side of Mount Everest. “We were almost more shaken by the aftershock than by the main earthquake yesterday”, Ralf Dujmovits told me by satellite phone from the Intermediate Camp at 5700 meters. “But nothing happened. Sherpas told me that an avalanche hit the North Col after yesterday’s earthquake. No one was hurt.” When I informed Ralf about the latest casualty figures from Nepal, he only said: “Terrible!” The most successful German high altitude mountaineer wants to climb Everest without bottled oxygen this spring. The Chinese authorities requested all climbers to return to Base camp until the aftershocks stop. Also on Cho Oyu all mountain activities were forbidden.

Kathmandu airport opened again

There is little information from other regions of Nepal. In Pokhara, a city of about 250,000 inhabitants, the damage reportedly was significantly lower than in the capital Kathmandu. The center of Saturday’s earthquake measuring 7.8 was located between the two cities. Also from the nearby area around the eight-thousanders Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and Manaslu, there are only a few messages. This circumstance makes us hope that not too much has happened in the region. A representative of the environmental protection agency ACAP, which is issuing the permits for the Annapurna region, told the British broadcaster BBC, there were no reports of avalanches or stranded climbers and trekkers.

Kathmandu airport, which had been closed temporarily, was meanwhile re-opened. The death toll in Nepal has risen to over 2,500 (as of 19:00 CEST). It still aims, in particular, to rescue people in the earthquake area and to save as many lives as possible. As long as this situation persists nobody should discuss the issue whether the climbing season in Nepal will end prematurely – as it already did in 2014.

P.S. I receive more and more inquiries regarding people who were traveling in Nepal at the time of the earthquake. Please turn to the International Committee of the Red Cross (https://www.icrc.org/en) or to similar searches offered in Internet, for example https://google.org/personfinder/2015-nepal-earthquake.