The last meters to the summit of Lunag Ri (picture taken by a drone)

“I traverse the last few metres over wind packed snow that sticks to the granite on the Nepalese side of the mountain. Even though my head is full with the impressions that I absorb every moment up here, my thoughts are somehow empty. The knowledge that I must not make any mistake is constantly present and dominates all other feelings. It results in an intense, almost exhausting concentration – a feeling I know only from other solo ascents in the mountains,” Austrian top climber David Lama writes on his website about the moment when the 28-year-old was the first to set his foot on the summit of the 6,907-metre-high Lunag Ri about a month ago (see video below). The technically difficult mountain is located in the Rolwaling Himal on the border between Nepal and Tibet, more than 35 kilometers as the crow flies northwest of Mount Everest. “Having arrived at the very front of the summit spur, I stand still. It feels strange that suddenly I have no more further to go. I sink down to my knees, tired and happy, even though I wouldn’t be able to express it that way right now. Briefly I think about Conrad. He is the only one I would have liked to share this moment with.”

Successful in the third attempt

David Lama alone en route

In their first joint attempt in fall 2015, Lama and US climber Conrad Anker, who’s up to every Himalayan trick, had to turn back 300 meters below the summit because of a tactical mistake. A year later, Conrad suffered a heart attack on the mountain and had to leave early. David then tried a solo ascent reaching a point about 250 meters below the summit. After the 56-year-old Anker, meanwhile having recovered from his myocardial infarction, had cancelled for the third attempt this fall out of consideration for his family, David meticulously planned another solo attempt and was – as reported – successful on 25 October. Since then, the mountaineering scene had been eagerly awaiting further information from Lama.

“Quite close to my limit”

On the ridge

According to David, he fought his way up the mountain for three days in icy temperatures of up to minus 30 degrees Celsius and stormy winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour via the Northwest Ridge. In challenging combined terrain, Lama had to overcome steep snowfields and fragile ice as well as rock passages. David says, he belayed himself only in particularly exposed passages and climbed most of the time without rope. The Austrian spent two nights in the bivouac tent, after the summit success he descended in one go and reached the base camp in the dark. “On the last day I came quite close to my limit,” David says in retrospect. “The three days at Lunag Ri were sometimes the most intense time I have ever experienced on a mountain. Being alone has reinforced this feeling, as well as everything I have experienced since my first attempt with Conrad Anker in 2015.”

David Lama

It looks as if he has made it. David Lama is said to have succeeded the first ascent of the 6,895-meter-high Lunag Ri in Nepal.  I am even a little more cautious than many other media from all over the world, because the 28-year-old top climber himself has not yet confirmed his coup. Even his office at home in Austria is still in silence. My inquiry there remained so far unanswered. The only source so far is American climber Conrad Anker, who congratulated David a few days ago on the social networks, “on your successful solo ascent and descent of Lunag Ri. Third time is a charm!“

With light backpack

Lunag Ri

In the first two attempts in 2015 and in 2016, Lama and Anker had tried together to first climb the technically difficult mountain in the Rolwaling Himal at the border between Nepal and Tibet, about 35 kilometers as the crow flies northwest of Mount Everest. During their first try via the Northeast Ridge, they had had to turn around 300 meters below the summit. In the second attempt one year later Conrad had suffered a heart attack on the mountain and had had to leave the expedition prematurely. David had then tried it spontaneously solo, reached a little higher than the first time, but then returned. “It was no longer about reaching the summit – that would have been suicidal – it was about gathering my strength to descend safely,” David summed up his experiences at that time.

After Conrad Anker had cancelled his participation this time with consideration for his family, David Lama had prepared himself for a solo attempt from the beginning. He decided to climb up with as little material as possible in order to be able to climb long passages without rope.  Obviously his tactics worked. It seems extremely unlikely that Conrad Anker would congratulate him without having been informed on David’s success from a safe source.

Hansjörg Auer in the West Face of Lupghar Sar West

“It was very, very cool and intense,” Hansjörg Auer tells me. After his successful solo project in the Hunza region in northern Pakistan, the Austrian top climber is back in his native Ötztal. As reported before, the 34-year-old had first climbed the approximately 1,000-meter-high West Face of the rarely attempted 7157-meter-high Lupghar Sar West – solo. First Hansjörg climbed from the base camp to a bivouac site at the foot of the wall at about 6,200 meters. From there he left on 7 July at 5 am and climbed up to the summit in six and a half hours. At 8 pm, Auer was back at the base camp.

Hansjörg, you said in advance that you wanted to know what it’s like to be alone in the wall of a very high mountain. How did you experience it?

Lupghar Sar in northern Pakistan

Since our first ascent of the 7400-meter-high Kunyang Chhish East in 2013, I had asked myself this question again and again. I only waited for the right moment. This year the time had come. It felt very, very good. Of course, it was very different from climbing with a team. You are much more focused, you also feel stronger, as if you are drilled for a goal. Overall, it’s less emotional than I’m used to. But when it does get emotional, it’s much more intense because you are alone and have the strong urge to somehow manage it. 

What was the special challenge for you while solo climbing through this wall?

It wasn’t so much about climbing a difficult route, but really about being alone. In this altitude you are generally very exposed. This is multiplied if you are climbing alone and have no friend or rope partner as a kind of back-up. It’s also mentally more difficult. If you have a bad phase and begin to doubt, there is no one to support and motivate you. You have to do it yourself.

Selfie from the bivouac tent

Did you have moments of doubt?

Yes, sure. When I was lying in the bivouac that night, I was wondering if I could make it. Then I said to myself that I had already completed so many solo projects. That helped. Besides, I’m now in my mid-30s and have a lot of experience. This also helps, of course.

Did you have the exact route in mind before entering the wall?

I had two lines in my mind, in the left part of the wall part. I waited for my inner voice. Finally I decided for an icy couloir and several ice fields up to the Northwest Ridge, which I reached at about 6,900 meters. Then I climbed over the ridge to the summit.

How close were you to your limit?

View into the depths

It was running relatively smoothly. I had actually planned a second bivouac on the way up. But I made relatively rapid progress. At 6,700 meters, I found that the summit was not so far away anymore and that I should climb directly up. I had already thought beforehand that it might actually be possible to climb the wall non-stop. But because the weather was not so consistent and I was afraid that a snowstorm might catch me on the ridge, I took the tent with me. But then I deposited my backpack at 6,900 meters and climbed the last 250 meters up to the summit without any equipment.

The route through the wall was, of course, technically not as difficult as routes that can be climbed by a team. The ridge was exposed, with very loose rock, so I had to be careful. On the descent, I took my time. At the bergschrund, a snow bridge broke and I slipped 50 meters deep. Nothing happened because the snow was soft. In the end, everything went well.

What are you taking from this solo project in Pakistan? Will you be back with a team in the future? Or have you now tasted blood and think: How far can I get in climbing solo in high altitude?

On the summit

Of course, I always have many solo projects in mind. However, it’s important to me that the right moment comes and I don’t put pressure on myself. That’s why I cannot tell you anything about this at the moment. At this point, only so much: I will remain true to the technical lines at high altitude. Of course, it is also very challenging in a team to climb new routes on very high mountains, because in a rope team you can push the technical limits much further.

Generally speaking, it’s not easy for family and friends when I go for solo climbing. This time, nobody told me before the expedition that it was a bad idea. Shortly before my departure, Simon Anthamatten (Swiss climber with whom Hansjörg and his brother Matthias Auer scaled Kunyang Chhish East in 2013) called me and strengthened my vision. That felt good.  It would be a lot harder if everyone says: “Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

Will you put your feet up now?

Hansjörg Auer

Last week, I felt very tired. It just takes time to recover – even mentally. But now I’m going to climb in the Alps again. For example, I plan to open a new route in the South Face of Marmolada. For me, one expedition at high altitude per year is enough. I think to myself, the devil never sleeps. Of course, you never want to stop doing what you like to do. But in order to minimize the risk, you should focus more on quality than quantity.

Mount Everest

No more permits for solo climbers, blind and double amputees – following the argument of the Nepalese government, this makes the highest mountains in the world safer. A look at the facts shows that a sledgehammer is to be used to crack a nut. For example, let’s take a look at what’s happening on Mount Everest. The Himalayan Database (now freely accessible to all, thus also to the government of Nepal) has so far recorded 1967 expeditions to the highest mountain in the world. Of these, only six – say 0.3 percent – were classified as solo expeditions.

Only Marshall’s solo attempt in 1987 ended fatally

Reinhold Messner’s ascent in summer 1980 on the Tibetan north side was the first and only successful one so far. In summer 1986 and spring 1987, the Canadian Roger Gough Marshall tried in vain to climb through the North Facel. In the first attempt he made it to 7,710 meters – in the second to 7,850 meters; on the descent, he fell to death from 300 meters above the Central Rongbuk Glacier. In winter 1992, the Spaniard Fernando Garrido abandoned his solo attempt on the Nepalese south side at 7,750 meters.

In addition there are the two failed attempts of the Japanese Nobukazu Kuriki in fall 2016 (up to 7,400 meters on the North Face) and in spring 2017 (up to 7,300 meters) on the Tibetan north side. His other “solo” attempts on the south side and on the West Ridge are not listed as solo climbs, because he had ascended on the route through the Khumbu Icefall which had been prepared by the “Icefall doctors”, in some cases other members of his expedition had joined him up to Camp 2.

0.3 percent climbers with handicap

Kim Hong Bin who lost all his fingers is among the listed disabled climbers

The number of disabled mountaineers on Everest is statistically negligible too. According to the Himalayan Database, there were only 44 climbers with a handicap among the 13,952 registered Everest expedition members, this is 0.3 percent – all types of disabilities are grouped here, e.g. also Kuriki’s nine amputated fingers. 15 of the listed disabled mountaineers reached the summit at 8,850 meters. Two died: in 2006, the visually impaired German Thomas Weber (at 8,700 meters on the Northeast Ridge probably due to a stroke after he had returned just below the summit) and in 2014 Phur Temba Sherpa, whose disability is not specified in the database (he died in the avalanche incident in the Khumbu Icefall on 18 April 2014).

So if you add the deadly fall of solo climber Marshall, we have a maximum of three deaths from the “risk group” identified by the government of Nepal – which is about one percent of the total of 290 dead on Everest so far.

Double amputee sticks to his Everest plan

Hari Budha Magar wants to scale Everest

Hari Budha Magar is one of the mountaineers who, according to the new regulations, will not receive a permit this spring. The 38-year-old Nepalese lost both legs above his knees as a soldier of the British Gurkha Regiment during a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2010. On Facebook, Hari described the decision of the government of Nepal as “discriminating”  and a “violation of human rights”. He is not willing to give up his plan. “I’ll look at all of the options,” said Budha Magar. “If I need to climb from Tibet I’ll do that, if I need to go to the courts I’ll do that.”

Hari received public backing by the US Ambassador in Nepal. “Ability not perceived ‘disability’ must guide rules on who can trek Mt. Everest,” Alaina B. Teplitz posted on Twitter. “Climbers like Hari Budha Magar shouldn’t be banned because of false assumptions about capabilities.”

The route Mingma wanted to take on Chobutse

The next Sherpa coup in the Himalayas, again in Rolwaling Valley. After Nima Tenji Sherpa, Tashi Sherpa and Dawa Gyalje Sherpa – as reported – had first climbed three six-thousanders within three days at the beginning of October, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa now succeeded in doing an amazing solo ascent. The 29-year-old stated that he reached the 6685-meter-high summit of Chobutse (also called Tsoboje) climbing alone and for the first time through the West Face. He had two cold bivouacs in the wall causing frostbite at his leg. Chobutse was first climbed by the Germans Wolfgang Weinzierl, Peter Vogler, Gustav and Klaus Harder in spring 1972, via the Northeast Ridge. Several attempts to climb through the West Face had failed.

On top of seven eight-thousanders

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa grew up in Rolwaling. He is the head of the Kathmandu-based expedition operator Dreamer’s Destination and one of the strongest climbers in Nepal. The list of his mountain achievements is long. He stood on top of Mount Everest four times, twice each from the Tibetan north (in 2007 and 2010) and the Nepalese south side (in 2011 and 2012). Mingma has climbed six other eight-thousanders so far: Manaslu (three times), Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Kangchenjunga, K2 and Annapurna. In addition he opened new challenging routes on the six-thousanders Cheki-Go and Bamongo.

Passion for climbing

Even before he set off, the 29-year-old called his solo climb on Chobutse “the most important for my entire life”. Never before a Nepalese climber had done a solo ascent, Mingma wrote: “Sherpa are well known for their hard job in the Himalayas. The trend is changing. There are many young Nepalese climbers who have been doing so many climbing for themselves.” Recently, Swiss top climber Ueli Steck also enthused about the strong young Sherpa climbers: “It’s nice to see how a ‘new’ generation of Sherpas is growing up, who are really interested in climbing and not just in business. I think that’s awesome!” I think so too.

P.S.: Ueli Steck has meanwhile returned from Nepal to Switzerland – after a failed attempt on the South Face of Nuptse. “Winds were too strong. There was a lot of drifting snow at 7,000 meters. It was hopeless”, Ueli writes to me.

Ueli in his tent on Annapurna

Ueli did it. Just what exactly? The Swiss climber Ueli Steck is keeping us in suspense after his adventure on Annapurna. “Successful mission!”, is said on his homepage. “Don (Bowie) and Ueli are on the way to Pokhara. Updates will follow in the coming days.” Quite honestly, if I could I would run to meet them on their trekking. I’m bursting with curiosity. Has Ueli really climbed  solo via a direct route through the South Face to the 8091-meter-high summit of Annapurna? Is the rumor true that the Swiss, who celebrated his 37th birthday a week ago, needed only 28 hours to climb up and down?

The Swiss takes his time

My gut feeling is telling me that Ueli again did a real great climb. For certain he has got the information that the internet has run hot since yesterday with breaking news about his solo ascent. If it was a hoax, he surely would have denied the reports by SMS. And in one respect Ueli fulfils the cliché of the slow Swiss: In contrast to his speed of climbing he is slowing down when he has to inform the public about his adventures. Even two years ago when Ueli climbed solo via the Shishapangma South Face he took up plenty of time before he published details of his spectacular climb.

Great comeback

In the South Face

By now, I warmly congratulate Ueli, even if I still do not know exactly on what. I am delighted that he has obviously come to terms with his horrible experiences on Mount Everest at the end of April and is now again making headlines as a top climber. After the Sherpa attack against him, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith it temporarily even looked as if Ueli would withdraw completely from Himalayan mountaineering. Now he has celebrated his comeback – and I’m almost sure it was a great one. Jon Griffith, Uelis teammate and fellow sufferer on Everest, on Facebook got to the heart of it:  “Holy crap. If the news from Annapurna is true then Ueli Steck you are truly one hell of a machine. I don’t think anyone will be able to comprehend what kind of an accomplishment that is.”

Update 12.10.: Robert Boesch, photographer and mountaineer from Switzerland, says that he has spoken to Ueli Steck on satellite phone after his climbing of Annapurna. According to Robert Ueli has climbed solo on a new route through the South Wall directly to the summit. Steck needed 28 hours for ascent and descent, says Robert: “His climb opened a new dimension in high altitude mountaineering.” You can take a first look on the route here.