Summit of Annapurna I

Unpredictability is an essential part of adventure. And the more ambitious a mountain project, the greater is the uncertainty as to whether it really ends with a success. Thus the Italians Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro, who had planned to traverse the four summits of the Kangchenjunga massif without bottled oxygen, had to turn back without having reached a single summit. Two attempts ended at 7,200 meters, because Simone suffered from stomach ache. The German Thomas Laemmle returned empty-handed from Makalu, after four (!) failed summit attempts without supplemental oxygen and Sherpa support, always forced back by bad weather. And on the Northwest Face of Annapurna, the 33-year-old Pole Adam Bielecki, the 63-year-old Briton Rick Allen and the 36-year-old German Felix Berg had to capitulate halfway. “It was completely the right decision to turn around,” Felix tells me. “On the day of our descent, there was heavy snowfall. It would not have been possible with the weather.”

Alternative destination searched and found

Bielecki, Berg, Rousseau, Allen (from l. to r.)

From the beginning, the expedition was star-crossed. After the arrival in Kathmandu the team, at that time still including the 40-year-old Canadian Louis Rousseau, had to change their plan at short notice. Originally, the four climbers had wanted to open a new route through the Cho Oyu North Face, but the Chinese refused to issue entry visa for Tibet for all those who had stayed in Pakistan for more than a month without a break during the last three years. The difficult search for an alternative destination goal began. “Where can you find a beautiful wall on an eight-thousander?”, asked Felix and Co. They decided for the rarely tried Northwest Face of Annapurna, with the goal of finding a new, direct route to the summit. A first attempt to scale Tilicho Peak near Annapurna for acclimatization failed due to bad weather. Then Rousseau had to return home because his time budget for the expedition had run out. Bielecki, Allen and Berg managed in the second attempt to reach the summit of Tilicho Peak and finally tackled the Annapurna Northwest Face.

Tent torn, sleeping bag lost

On the second day in the wall

“We had food for eight days when we entered the wall,” says Felix. “It was continuously about 50 degrees steep, never less than 40 degrees. We had difficulties to find bivouac places.” For the first night, they managed to pitch up their tent on a small platform so that they at least could sit in a row next to each other. For the second bivouac, they had to use a small, sloping rock sledge at 6,500 meters. “By contrast, the sitting bivouac of the previous night had been luxurious,” Rick Allen wrote. “A portaledge would have been more appropriate than a tent,” says Felix. The tent tore, and through the hole, one of the sleeping bags fell into the depth. This was the final signal for turning around. Back in the Base Camp, the three climbers wanted to leave for Kathmandu. But first there were no helicopters available. “They were all on Everest, for rescue flights,” says Felix Berg.

After all, there was a helicopter that brought Bielecki, Allen and Berg back to Kathmandu. “It was an extremely spontaneous expedition,” says Felix. “But even though we were a rather mixed bunch of climbers, we got on and worked together very well. For sure we were not the last time together en route.”

Annapurna

The good weather window predicted for the coming weekend has not only led to a huge number of teams starting their summit attempts on Mount Everest. Also on other eight-thousanders climbers have left the base camps. On Makalu, for example, the German Thomas Laemmle, who is climbing solo and without bottled oxygen, has today pitched up his tent already far up, on Makalu La at 7,400 meters. On Dhaulagiri, the 78-year-old Spaniard Carlos Soria and his team-mates are planning to reach the summit on Sunday. On Annapurna, the Pole Adam Bielecki, the Briton Rick Allen and the German Felix Berg have started their summit attempt on Wednesday.

“Difficult Action”

Annapurna Northwest Face

As reported before, the trio wants to open a new route through the rarely climbed Northwest Face of the 8091-meter-high mountain. The fourth climber previously involved in the project, the Canadian Louis Rousseau, returned home at the beginning of May, because his time available for the expedition had run out. After he had left, Adam, Rick and Felix succeeded, in the second attempt, an ascent of the 7134-meter-high Tilicho Peak in order to continue their acclimatization. “We gained a glimpse of the NW face of Annapurna, our next objective”, Felix Berg wrote in his blog.

According to Felix’ girl friend, yesterday’s weather on Annapurna was “not ideal” with a lot of wind. In addition, the three climbers reported a lot of snow and avalanches. They bivouacked on a small ice plateau in the wall at about 6,000 meters. “Difficult action, as expected,” it was said. “Quite exciting.” So keep your fingers crossed!

Gheychisaz on top of Lhotse

The Iranian climber Azim Gheychisaz, by his own account, reached today the 8516-meter-high summit of Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain on earth – thus completing his 14 eight-thousander-collection without breathing mask, as his team said on Facebook. According to the mountaineering website “Altitude Pakistan”, there are still questions marks over his ascent of Manaslu in 2012.

North side of Mount Everest

The ropes are fixed up to the summit of Mount Everest – at least on the north side of the highest mountain on earth. On Thursday, according to consistent reports, nine Sherpas of an Indian team, responsible for securing the normal route on the Tibetan side, reached the highest point at 8,850 meters. The Nepalese operator Arun Treks, who had organized the expedition, dedicated these first ascents of the Everest season to the Swiss climber Ueli Steck, who had fallen to death on Nuptse on 30 April.

Summit, pre-summit or even below?

Meanwhile, the situation on Makalu remains confused. Who was how far up? On Wednesday – as reported – some teams had reported summit successes on the fifth highest mountain on earth. The German climber Thomas Laemmle, who is staying in the Advanced Base Camp after he had canceled his own summit attempt, wrote on Facebook, these were “fake news”: “So far nobody summited Makalu this season! Not even the fore-summit was reached due to lack of 100m fixed rope.”

Elisabeth Revol on Makalu

The Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol had informed via Facebook: “We stopped at the antecime (pre-summit). To the main summit too much snow, wind patches and too much wind. We were only 3 without oxygen on 20 climbers.“ I asked her via email whether this applied to all of the 20 climbers she had mentioned. “Yes, everyone turned back on antecime … not safe to climb,” Elisabeth replied.

On Thursday, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, head of the Nepalese expedition operator Dreamers Destination, announced: “We are now on Makalu summit. Clear weather and great view.” On 30 April on Dhaulagiri, the 31-year-old Mingma had succeeded the first summit success on an eight-thousander this spring, along with two more Sherpas and two clients. If his success on Makalu is confirmed, it is Mingma’s tenth eight-thousander. Only on Mount Everest, which he has climbed already five times, he used bottled oxygen.

Thomas Laemmle on top of Mount Everest

He has a written proof. The China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) certificated that Thomas Laemmle reached the summit of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen on 23 May. As reported before, the German was among a handful of climbers who made it to the highest point at 8,850 meters without breathing mask this spring. “Finally, I took four breaths per step,” Thomas writes to me from Kathmandu, where he is waiting for the flight home. “But I was not at my limit. I was able to enjoy the climb, because it was almost windless and relatively warm. Unfortunately, the summit was wrapped in a cloud.”

Planned proposal

Per SMS and picture

On the top of Everest, he was even able to take off his gloves and write two SMS, says the 50-year-old. In one of them he asked his girlfriend Heike for her hand. The marriage proposal was not spontaneous but planned for a long time: “Otherwise I would not have had the sign with me.” Later Thomas took a picture of it on the highest point on earth. Actually, Laemmle had already planned to climb Cho Oyu and Everest without oxygen in 2015. “After four weeks the earthquake in Nepal put a spoke in my wheel,” writes Thomas.

Two summit attempts on Cho Oyu

Training on Kilimanjaro

This year again the sports scientist, who is living in the German town of Waldburg in Baden-Wuerttemberg, first went to Cho Oyu for acclimatization. Previously he had already breathed thin air on 5895-meter-high Kilimanjaro in March. He had reached the summit of the highest mountain in Africa three times within a week. On Cho Oyu, he made two summit attempts along with a friend, Laemmle reports. The first one on 7 May ended at 7,500 meters, the second one on 13 May in difficult conditions at 7,850 meters. “My friend was aware that we had only the first half of May for climbing Cho Oyu. I did the guiding for free.”

Terribly cold

Thomas, in the background Cho Oyu

Well-acclimatized, Thomas reached Everest Base Camp on 16 May. His plan: regeneration below 5,700 meters regenerate and then directly the summit attempt. To avoid being stuck in traffic jams on the Northeast Ridge – “About 100 climbers were waiting in the wings.” – Laemmle, in consultation with the Austrian meteorologist Charly Gabl, decided to make his final summit push on 23 May – two days after the date that most of the other mountaineers on the north side of Everest had chosen. But there were also some traffic jams on 23 May, says Thomas: “Until sunrise on the ridge at 5.30 a.m., I was terribly cold due to lack of oxygen. My boot heater was running on full blast. Then I finally found a sunlit rock on which I could wait until the jam at Second Step had dissolved.” There were two more short jams behind this key point. Finally, he reached the summit at 2 p.m. – as last climber from the north side. An hour later, Thomas started his descent.

Concern for fingers and toes

Certificate of the Tibetan Mountaineering Association

In the evening, in Camp 3 at 8,300 meters, it began to snow, and snow penetrated into the tent. “Shortly thereafter, the stove was not working any more,” says Laemmle. “I had no chance to do something against dehydration. In order to prevent a pulmonary edema, I spent the night sitting in the tent and awake.” When it got warm again the next morning, he managed to light the stove and melt snow for half a liter of water. However, because strong wind was predicted, he finally breathed bottled oxygen. “I thought the risk of frostbite due to dehydration and strong wind was too great,” writes Thomas. “I decided to use the emergency oxygen to save fingers and toes from frostbite during the descent.” At an altitude of 7,400 meters, the bottle was empty. From there, he continued to descend without supplementary oxygen again.

Not on the list

Lammle’s success will hardly be listed in Everest statistics as an ascent without bottled oxygen because he used a breathing mask on his descent. It doesn’t make any difference to Thomas. He will return home physically unharmed. And after all, he has a certificate that he made it to the summit of Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen.

Thomas Laemmle in Chinese Base Camp

Who could say no? On the summit of Mount Everest at 8,850 meters, Thomas Laemmle popped the question to his partner, via GPS messenger: “Heike, will you marry me?” Her answer was not (yet) spread on the Internet. Thomas today reached the highest point on Earth via the normal route on the Tibetan north side – without oxygen. For the 50-year-old from the German town of Waldburg in Baden-Wurttemberg Everest is the fifth eight-thousander he has scaled. Previously, the high altitude climber and sports scientist from the Allgaeu region had successfully climbed Cho Oyu (in 2003), Gasherbrum II (in 2005 and 2013), Manaslu (in 2008) and Shishapangma (in 2013). This spring Laemmle had abandoned a summit attempt on Cho Oyu due to bad weather.

“Tremendous feeling”

North side of Everest

Juergen Landmann was another German on the summit of Everest today. “It is a tremendous feeling,” Juergen said in a radio interview that he gave via satellite phone at the top. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Landmann had abandoned his original plan to climb without bottled oxygen. The 46-year-old from the municipality Langenwetzendorf in Thuringia had scaled Cho Oyu in 2013. A year later, he reached the 8035-meter-high foresummit of Broad Peak in Pakistan.

One dead and two missing Indians

From the south side of Everest, another death was reported, the third within three days. Indian Subhas Pal died while descending from the South Col, apparently from exhaustion. The fate of two other members of the Indian Expedition is still unclear. They are reported missing – which is elusive in light of the heavy traffic on the normal route during the good weather window. This spring so far more than 350 climbers have reached the summit from the Nepalese south side.