Elisabeth Revol at the press conference in Chamonix

“We could have saved Tomek.” With this sentence, the French mountaineer Elisabeth Revol has triggered a debate. Could her Polish rope partner Tomek Mackiewicz still be alive, whom, suffering from severe high altitude sickness and slowblindness after their summit success on Nanga Parbat, she had had to leave at 7,200 meters, if the rescue at the end of January had started faster? On the late evening of 25 January, Revol had made several emergency calls. “It’s a race against the clock when you set off a rescue,” Elisabeth said at a press conference in Chamonix on Wednesday. “It took, in fact, 48 hours for something to happen. So clearly I have a lot of anger inside of me – and Tomek could have been saved if it had been a real rescue carried out in time and organized.”

Price forced up
The anger of the 37-year-old is expressively directed neither against the climbers of the Polish K2 winter expedition, who had ascended in high speed and brought her back to safety, nor against the helicopter pilots, but against the Pakistani organizers of the rescue operation. Ludovic Giambiasi, a friend of Revol, had tried from France to launch the search for the two climbers in distress. He spoke of “delays and problems”. So the price was forced up from $ 15,000 to $ 40,000, “cash, on the table”, said Ludovic. According to their own information, the government of Gilgit-Baltistan province has set up a commission to investigate the allegations.

Climbers in difficulties have to descend

Revol was flown out by helicopter

Compared to Nepal, where helicopter rescue from the highest mountains is privately organized and now works with Western support quite professionally, Pakistan still lags behind. The Pakistani military has been strictly controlling the air traffic in the Northern Areas due to the tensions with India lasting for decades. Rescue Operations are conducted by Askari Aviation, a subsidiary of the Army Welfare Trust. The helicopters are provided by the army and flown by former air force pilots. For a rescue on the long rope from heights above 7,000 meters, as it is now practiced almost routinely on Mount Everest, the gutted special helicopters, used in Nepal, are missing as well as the staff specializing in this dangerous way of rescue. In 2005, a Pakistani helicopter team succeeded in bringing the Slovenian top climber Tomaz Humar on the rope from 6,000 meters in the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat down to safety. However, such operations are not routine in Pakistan. Expeditions, whose members have been running in great difficulties, are explicitly required by Askari Aviaton to make an effort to bring the climbers down to a safe height for helicopter landing below 5,500 meter.

Elisabeth Revol in a French hospital

The ridge is narrow at the highest mountains in the world, between luck and danger, between life and death. On Thursday of last week, Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz reached the 8,125-meter-high summit of Nanga Parbat. Elisabeth was the first woman to succeed a winter ascent of this eight-thousander, Tomek the first Pole to set foot on the highest point of Nanga Parbat in the cold season. In the seventh attempt Mackiewicz had finally fulfilled his big dream. For Revol, it was the third attempt, all together with Tomek. The two climbers did not have time to enjoy the second winter ascent of Nanga Parbat on the summit. They were late, it was already 6 pm local time and dark. That was still the smaller problem. “Tomek told me ‘I can’t see anything any more’,” Elisabeth reports from a French hospital, where her severe frostbite on her hands and feet is being treated. “He hadn’t used a mask because it was a bit hazy during the day and by nightfall he had ophthalmia (an inflammation of the eye). We hardly had a second at the top. We had to rush to get down.”

Tomek’s condition deteriorated rapidly

Nanga Parbat

Revol descended ahead, Mackiewicz followed clinging to her shoulder. Tomek’s condition deteriorated rapidly. The 43-year-old suffered from breathing trouble and frostbite. He was no longer able to reach their last high camp. Therefore, the two climbers ran for shelter in a crevasse at about 7,200 meters. At sunrise, “blood was streaming“ from Tomek’s mouth – a sign of an acute life-threatening high altitude edema. Elisabeth made several emergency calls, and some came through.

“They told me,‘If you go down to 6,000 metres, we can pick you up, and we can get Tomek at 7,200 meter’,” says Revol. “It wasn’t a decision I made, it was imposed on me.” To Mackiewicz, she remembers simply saying: “Listen, the helicopter will arrive late afternoon. I must go down, they’ll come to get you.”

Hallucinations with consequences

Denis Urubko (l.) and Adam Bielecki (r.)

However, bad weather delayed the rescue operation. Elisabeth had to spend also the next night in a crevasse, at 6800 meters. She was so exhausted that she hallucinated: She was convinced someone would bring her hot tea if she gave a shoe in return. For five hours, she spent in her icy refuge without a shoe and suffered heavy frostbite. When Revol heard a helicopter, but found that it could not land because of the strong wind, she decided to continue descending – with wet gloves and frostbite on her feet. She did not know then that Denis Urubko and Adam Bielecki were climbing up towards her, reports the 37-year-old. At about 3 am in the morning she reached a camp on the Kinshofer route. “And then I saw two headlamps arriving. So I started to yell. And I said to myself,‘OK it’s going to be ok,“ recalls Elisabeth. “It was incredibly emotional.“

Decision about life and death

Tomek Mackiewicz, R.I.P.

That applied also for the two rescuers. “It was a miracle,“ says Denis Urubko in an interview with desnivel.com. First, they got Revol in a tent and cared for her, then they rested until dawn from their exhausting speed climb. According to Denis, the rescue team was faced with a dilemma: “At that moment, we had to make a decision: either help Elisabeth to survive – or climb on, with very little hope of finding Tomek.“ After they had been informed by Revol about Tomek’s condition, and in addition, even worse weather was expected for the upcoming day, the rescuers decided with heavy heart not to continue the ascent and focus instead on the rescue of the Frenchwoman. They escorted Revol further down. At 4,800 meters, a helicopter landed and finally brought Elisabeth to safety. The search for Tomek was declared over because the rescue team saw no chance to find the 43-year-old Pole alive. She wants to “recover as soon as possible“ and then visit Tomek’s children, says Elisabeth. Mackiewicz leaves behind his wife and three children. For Tomek’s family, a fundraising was launched.

Given their all

For sure, a discussion will start now. Questions will be asked, like these: Should have Elisabeth and Tomek given up the summit and turn back earlier? Could the rescue operation have begun earlier? Would not a chance have existed to rescue Mackiewicz alive? Many who have never been on a high mountain will speak up now and do the moralizer. I think this should be answered: Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz have made their decisions self-responsible and only called for help when it became clear that they could not save themselves by their own efforts. In a short time and very unbureaucratically, a rescue operation was organized. The Pakistani helicopter pilots and the four climbers of the Polish K2 winter expedition, who were flown to the Nanga Parbat, risked a lot and gave their all to save Revol and Mackiewicz. All persons involved in the action are to be given thanks. That in the end only the Frenchwoman survived, but Tomek stayed forever on the mountain of his fulfilled dream is tragic, but was under the circumstances probably impossible to prevent. The ridge is narrow at the highest mountains in the world.

Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz

It’s a race against time. A rescue team of climbers from the Polish K2 winter expedition is trying to rescue the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol and the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz, who have fallen into difficulties during their summit bid on Nanga Parbat. According to the information available, the 43-year-old Tomek – suffering from snowblindness and frostbite – is staying in a tent at about 7200 meters. “I keep descending, please helicopter tomorrow,” wrote Elisabeth Revol in a text message from her satellite phone. The 37-year-old is said to be somewhere between 6200 and 6400 meters.

Don’t check Adam’s GPS tracker!

Hats off to Denis Urubko (l.) and Adam Bielecki (r.)

Denis Urubko and Adam Bielecki of the Polish K 2 team climbed the Kinshofer route, even in the dark. The two almost “sprinted” almost up the wall. In five and a half hours they overcame 1,000 meters of altitude. At around 18:45 CET they were already at just below 5,900 meters. An amazing performance of the two climbers! It is urged not (!) to check Adam’s GPS tracker. The server was overloaded. The team needs the tracker for the rescue, so stay away!

Fingers crossed!

Further down, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotrek Tomala are following with rescue equipment. The four climbers of the rescue team had been picked up by helicopter from K 2 base camp and flown to Nanga Parbat. The weather conditions on the 8,125- meter high mountain are difficult: the higher, the windier. So fingers crossed or pray or both for Elisabeth, Tomek and the courageous rescue team!

Update, 22.30 CET: Denis Urubko und Adam Bielecki have reached Elisabeth Revol at 6,100 m!  She is to be brought to lower altitudes. Well done, Denis and Adam!

R.I.P.

Update, 28 January: Elisabeth was flown to Islamabad where she was treated in hospital because of frostbite on her fingers and toes. The search for Tomek was called off due to bad weather that made a rescue impossible. It was reported that the 43-year-old was already in agony when Elisabeth left him for descent. Allegedly both had summited before. R.I.P., Tomek.

P.S .: Unfortunately, I will not be able to keep you up to date, because I will be on the road for a week from Sunday. So you need to find out elsewhere.

Tomek Mackiewicz

The internet is to blame. Today we are used to following expeditions on the highest mountains and in the remotest regions of the world almost in real time via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or blogs. Our perception has changed as well: Much faster than before, we assume something must have happened if we do not hear anything for longer than expected. So what’s up with Tomek Mackiewicz and Elisabeth Revol, who wanted to reach the summit of Nanga Parbat this Thursday? The answer is simple: We do not know yet.

No panic!

I contacted Tomek’s wife. “No news yet,” she replied. She could not confirm today’s posts on Twitter that Mackiewicz and Revol were climbing above 8000 meters. “I guess they are on their way down. With summit or without.” Maybe the battery of the satellite phone are down, she added, then we might not hear anything for a few days until they reach the base camp. She points out that it is a low-budget expedition, without spare batteries, without radio connection. Tomek’s wife does not panic: “I know him, and I know no news is rather good news…” So let’s wait and stay calm!

P.S.: Tomorrow I will be on the road all day long and most probably offline. Please do not jump to conclusions but try to inform yourself from other sources on Tomek and Elisabeth on Nanga Parbat!

Update 26.1., 9 a.m.: According to Janusz Majer, an old master of Polish Himalayan climbing, Tomei and Elisabeth got stuck at 7,400 m yesterday. He refers to information from France. A rescue operation was organized, it said.

Tomek Mackiewicz on Nanga Parbat

Ready, go! “We are at 7,300 (meters). Terrible fight,” Tomek Mackiewicz is quoted on his Facebook page in telegram style. “If weather permits, tomorrow summit.” If not now, when?, we could add. On Thursday, by far the lowest wind speeds this week are expected for the 8,125 meter summit of Nanga Parbat: 20 to 25 km/h. In addition a few clouds and temperatures of minus 42 degrees Celsius. Thereafter, the wind is to refresh again and reach storm strength at the weekend.

Keep cool!

The 43-year-old Pole Mackiewicz and his 37-year-old French climbing partner Elisabeth Revol, both en route without bottled oxygen, climbed via the still unfinished Messner route. In winter 2015, the two climbers had reached an altitude of 7,800 meters on Nanga Parbat, but had then been forced back by the cold and windy weather. “When I reached out, I could ‘feel’ the summit with the touch of my finger. It was very close,” Elisabeth later reported. “My heartbeat increased, but we were to remain calm.” She and Tomek should also keep cool in their current attempt.

Restless night in Camp 2 on K2

Denis Urubko in Camp 2

The Polish team on K2, with an altitude of 8,611 meters the second highest mountain on earth, has pitched up Camp 2 on the Cesen Route. Denis Urubko was the first to reach the ledge at 6,300 meters and spent one night there: “The tent was shaken strongly by the storm, but somehow I managed to sleep enough.” Denis then descended to the base camp. Three more teammates will be spending the night to Thursday in Camp 2 too, to further acclimatize. The team led by the old master Krzysztof Wielicki wants to succeed  the first winter ascent of K2. The mountain is the last remaining eight-thousander that has never been climbed in the cold season.

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.

Alex Txikon in Everest high camp (in the background on the right Pumori)

Alex Txikon is pleased with the progress made so far on his winter expedition on Mount Everest. On Sunday, the Spaniard and five Sherpas ascended from the base camp on the previously prepared route through the Khumbu Icefall, slept in Camp 1 at 6,050 meters and reached Camp 2 on Monday. “I am very happy, I did not think for a moment that we were going to reach Camp 2 at 6,500 meters in just one day and with a small team of only six people,” says the 36-year-old.

Foot off the accelerator

Alex (l.) and his comrades

“I think I have to take my foot off the accelerator and dose the speed. After all, this is not a 100-meter run but a long marathon. Six very hard days are behind us and we are very proud of them.” Txikon and the Pakistani climber Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” want to scale Everest without bottled oxygen. Together with the Italian Simone Moro, they had made the prestigious first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in February 2016.

Waiting in K2 base camp

Wind vane on K 2

The jet stream is currently raging on Pakistan’s eight-thousander. For K2, wind speeds of up to 125 kilometers per hour were expected today on the summit at 8,611 meters, on the highest point of Nanga Parbat at 8,125 meters of up to 110 km/h. The storm is to calm down not before next weekend. That means for the winter expeditions on both eight-thousanders: Waiting in the base camp. On Sunday some climbers of the Polish team had ascended on the second highest mountain on earth up to 5,700 meters on the Cesen route. For today’s Tuesday it was actually planned to pitch up Camp 1 at 5,900 meters. However, there was no move shown on the GPS tracker of the expedition. K2 is the last remaining eight-thousander that has never been climbed in winter.

Nanga Parbat: Material depot at 6,700 meters

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

From Nanga Parbat, the Pakistani expedition operator “Alpine Adventure” informed that the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol had returned to base camp because of the strong wind and extreme cold. Previously, they had deposited equipment at 6,700 meters. They would rise again as soon as the conditions permit, it said. That should be probably towards the end of the week.

Polish K2 team at Concordia

Three winter expeditions to eight-thousanders, three different phases. In Pakistan, the Polish team led by Krzysztof Wielicki today reached Concordia after trekking over the Baltoro Glacier and is expected on Tuesday to pitch their tents in the base camp at the foot of K2, the last remaining unclimbed eight-thousander in winter. Already six days ago, the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” and their Nepalese Sherpa team had reached the base camp on the south side of Mount Everest. They are fixing a route through the Khumbu Icefall. Like last year, Alex participates in the work (as the video below shows).

How high were Revol and Mackiewicz?

The latest information on the winter expedition on Nanga Parbat is not yet confirmed. The website “russianclimb.com” tweeted yesterday, the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol had already reached Camp 3 at 7,300 meters on the so-called “Messner route”. According to russianclimb, the information comes from an employee of the Pakistani agency that organized the expedition for the two mountaineers from the west.

Strong winds

Nanga Parbat

Tomek’s wife could not confirm this information to me. She had learned on Friday that Mackiewicz and Revol had ascended to an altitude of 6,600 meters and then returned to the base camp. There they wanted to wait until the strong winds calm down in a few days. That would coincide with the current weather forecast for Nanga Parbat. It predicted for today on the 8125-meter-high summit wind speeds of 80 to 90 km/h, for the next three days even from 100 to 135 km/h. The Polish-French duo had reached the base camp on the Diamir side of the mountain already before Christmas.

Tomasz Mackiewicz

Tomek’s love for Nanga Parbat almost verges on mania. Six winters in a row, from 2011 to 2016, the “Naked Mountain” in Pakistan dismissed Tomasz Mackiewicz. But the 42-year-old climber from Poland just does not give up. He wants to make his way to Nanga Parbat for the seventh time this winter – if he is able to finance the expedition. Tomek has again launched a crowdfunding campaign on the internet. “Money is always a problem,” Mackiewicz writes to me. “I’am poor.”

Others succeeded the first winter ascent

Group picture 2016 – with Tomek (r.)

Even before and during his last Nanga Parbat expedition in winter 2015/2016, the father of four, who earns his living as a car mechanic, had collected donations for his project on the Internet. At that time he had reached an altitude of 7,500 meters with his French team partner Elisabeth Revol. After Mackiewicz and Revol had abandoned their expedition, the Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italian Simone Moro and the Pakistani Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” had succeeded the historic first winter ascent of  Nanga Parbat on 26 February 2016. Mackiewicz had subsequently doubted the summit success and also accused Moro that he had wanted to boycott Tomek’s expedition in Pakistan.

Moro criticizes low-budget tactics

Tomek Mackiewicz on ascent

The Italian rejected the accusation in an interview with the Polish website “mountainportal.com” – pointing out that some of Tomek’s declarations were “often given under the evident influence of drugs and/or alcohol”. Not a very fine reply, after all, considering that Mackiewicz makes no secret of the fact that he was heroin-addicted as a young adult and that it took him years of rehabilitation to get rid of the drug. In his recent book, “Nanga in Winter”, Moro also criticized the low-budget tactics of the Polish climber, who “fanatically forgoes any kind of accommodation”: “There is not much point in setting off in bad weather, getting yourself into trouble and, for example, spending a week in an emergency bivouac in the snow without food, if you can avoid it.”

“Pure Alpine style”

Moro and Mackiewicz will probably not become best friends again.  When I ask the Pole for his motivation, after Txikon, Moro and Ali “Sadpara” have made history with their first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, Tomek answers with a side-swipe at the Italian: “My motivation to climb Nanga was a long time before Simone arrived there. His motivation was to be first. My one is to climb it in pure Alpine style in winter.”

On Buhl’s track

Hermann Buhl

As in 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, Mackiewicz wants to complete the so-called “Messner route”, according to Tomek “the only possible Alpine style route in winter”. 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. Further up there are two options, says Tomek: “My dream is to continue on the Hermann Buhl route (the Austrian Buhl succeeded the first ascent of Nanga Parbat in 1953, solo climbing the last 1,300 meters in altitude) to the summit.” As an alternative, the Polish climber considers to cross over to the right to the Kinshofer route and to reach the highest point on the normal route.

Again with Revol?

Elisabeth Revol and Tomek

Mackiewicz wants to climb again (as on his last two attempts on Nanga Parbat) with Elisabeth Revol. Tomek did not want to (or was not allowed to) confirm, that the Frenchwoman has already promised to join him. Revol herself does not yet want to reveal her plans for the upcoming winter. But if I had to, I would bet on another team Mackiewicz/Revol on Nanga Parbat. This year, Elisabeth had tried in vain to climb the Manaslu in winter. In spring, she climbed on Makalu up to the 8,445-meter-high pre-summit, reached the 8516-meter-high summit of Lhotse and returned on Everest – ascending as always without bottled oxygen – in bad weather halfway between the nearly 8000-meter-high South Col and the highest point at 8,850 meters.

Departure for summit attempt: Ali, Alex, Tamara and Simone (from l. to r.)

The weather window on Nanga Parbat opens. “Looks like the window is here, the good one, the definitive one”, Igone Mariezkurrena writes from the Base Camp on the Diamir side of the 8,125-meter-high mountain in Pakistan. “The one that, if everything goes OK and bodies respond, can give Alex Txikon, Ali Sadpara, Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger the chance for pushing for this still unclimbed Nanga Parbat winter summit.” Early this morning the quartet set off from Base Camp and climbed on the Kinshofer route directly to Camp 2 at 6,100 meters.

Low wind

After three weeks of bad weather in Base Camp that had reduced the climbers more or less to inaction, weathermen expect stable winter weather on Nanga Parbat without precipitation. Starting Wednesday, the strong wind in the summit region should slow down. Alex, Ali, Simone and Tamara hope that the storm has blown most of fresh snow out of the upper parts of the route. In recent days, many avalanches have swept down (watch the video below). But the climbers will obtain assurance only on their ascent. The same applies to the question of how well acclimatized the four summit aspirants still are.

Heading home

There are no more candidates left on Nanga Parbat. Last week – when I, absolutely offline, had a good romp skiing in Tyrol – Tomek Mackiewicz abandoned his plan to return to Base Camp and dare another summit attempt. The Pole, for whom a crowdfunding campaign brought in nearly 6,000 Euro, is now heading back. Reportedly, the Brazilian-born US citizen Cleo Weidlich has also decided to strike the tent on the Rupal side after two of her three Nepalese Climbing Sherpas have left the expedition. We can only speculate about the reasons. Cleo, Pema Tshiring Sherpa, Temba Bhote und Dawa Sangay Sherpa had arrived on Nanga Parbat only at the end of January. Shortly afterwards, the bad weather had begun. Like the climbers on the Diamir side, Weidlich and the three Sherpas should hardly have left the Base Camp.

Tamara Lunger

The adjourned game on Nanga Parbat continues. 15 centimeters of fresh snow cover the Base Camp on the Diamir side. Alex Txikon, Ali Sadpara, Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger may be forced to postpone their acclimatization climb they actually planned for Sunday. A reconciliation between the Spaniard Txikon and the Italians Daniele Nardi seems unlikely. “YES, cooperation is finished”, Alex writes to me from Base Camp. “Although tried to give more than one chance to this cooperation, it was finally impossible.” The dispute also stresses Tamara Lunger. The 29-year-old South Tyrolean has already climbed two eight-thousanders: In 2010, as the youngest woman ever, Lhotse (with supplementary oxygen) and in 2014 K 2 (without breathing mask). On Nanga Parbat, she once again forms a team with the Italian Simone Moro. Last year, both had to abandon their attempt on Manaslu due to heavy snowfall. I have contacted Tamara in Nanga Parbat Base Camp.

Tamara, the bad weather has forced you to stay in Base Camp for days. How do you spend your time and keep yourself fit?

I had to cope with some health problems because I had a bad cough. So it was not so bad for me that everything went like that. And then, of course, we tried every day to keep the trail to Camp 1 open. But in fact your physical condition doesn’t get better if you only sit in Base Camp doing nothing. Your body is getting more ponderous. On the days without any chance to go out, I always have the opportunity to write my book, to film, just enjoy the sun or talk to all the men here about women. 

On winter expeditions, patience is even more in demand than during expeditions in the other seasons. Is it hard for you to wait?

I must honestly say: yes. But it’s so important for me to reach this summit in winter that I actually take three months to achieve my aim and don’t put myself under any pressure. I am here to stand on top of Nanga Parbat. I’ll try anything, and I know that Simone Moro is the best climbing partner I can have. In this last period, I’ve already learned a lot from him, particularly concerning winter climbing. We get along very well, and I’m happy to be here and to have this opportunity.

Doing the trail-breaking

You both have given up your plan to ascend on the Messner route. Tomek Mackiewicz and Elisabeth Revol had climbed on this route within striking distance to the summit. What caused you to change your plan?

When Tomek and Elisabeth tried to reach the summit, we were along with them in Camp 2. We had to wait there for two days because of the weather, and unfortunately our food ran short. Despite the good weather window, we decided to go down. Upon their return from the summit attempt, Tomek and Elisabeth advised us against climbing the route because there was a dangerous serac that could collapse at any moment.

What conditions do you expect now on the Kinshofer route?

It should be quite good and hard. We have tried to maintain the trail up to Camp 1. From Camp 1 to Camp 3 it’s quite icy. The strong wind was very helpful there.

Simone and you joined forces with Alex Txikon and Co. Does that also mean that you’ll do the summit push together? Or will you then try to reach the highest point in separate rope parties?

It’s too early to tell. Anyway, we’ll set off together, and we are already looking forward to doing it. We all are on the ball and have a lot of fun together.

Three teams have already left the mountain. How much time are you willing to spend on Nanga Parbat?

Until the end of winter. I feel quite a lot of positive things. Until now, we had to fight numerous problems, but here it’s more a love story: The prince has to fight for a long time until he gets his princess. But hold your horses!

Lunger, Moro, Sadpara, Txikon (from r. to l.)

Many commentators in the media – by the way I don’t – talk about a race on Nanga Parbat. What do you think about that?

If there was one, then it’s over now! And I am very happy and looking forward to whatever comes. And the media are really taking the easy way. Some of them construe their own reality putting things together, listen to just one opinion or speculate, but don’t know what they are doing here. Many of the disputes, disagreements and differences here in Base Camp arose thanks to and for the media. Climbers are reported from outside as being good or evil, behaving right or wrong. And we ourselves who sit here in Base Camp are only astonished, but don’t have any influence of some things that happen.

But I must say, it has opened my eyes. This is not the right place for climbers who only come here to please the world outside, to report exciting stories to get as many likes, clicks or God knows what else. Among other things, we have to struggle to survive. In the icy cold, a stupid mistake may lead to death. And your comrades will hardly be able to help. Everything we do here has its value. But we too have a certain value which sometimes seems really fragile.

How do you deal with the disagreements between Alex and Daniele, which the Spaniard has made public?

I am, or rather, those who are still here are suffering from these disagreements. A particular person has played a dirty game and now has to live with the consequences.

Is it for you a special situation as the only woman among men on the Diamir side?

I have Igone (Mariezkurrena), the girlfriend of Alex, as my support here. Sometimes it is quite pleasant to be only among women. With the men you can only talk about the same two themes: women and what’s hanging between men’s legs.

Update 8 February: Italian Daniele Nardi abandoned his expedition and left Nanga Parbat Base Camp.

Tomek Mackiewicz

Will his “Never again Nanga Parbat” turn into a “Now more than ever”? The Pole Tomek Mackiewicz announced that he would return to the Base Camp on the Diamir side. After their summit attempt two weeks ago, that had failed at an altitude of about 7,300 m, Tomek and his French team partner Elisabeth Revol had departed. Mackiewicz had said in an interview that after his seventh faild attempt he would definitely not try again to climb the ninth highest mountain in the world for the first time in winter and that he would perhaps even say finally good-bye to the Himalayas and the Karakoram.

A Tumbler

Some recovery days later that sounds quite different: “There is still a chance and I’m super acclimatized” Tomek wrote from the town of Chilas, located on the river Indus, nearly 50 kilometers from Nanga Parbat. Mackiewicz doesn’t clarify what exactly he is planning: “Secretly “ The Polish “ice warrior” (thus Polish winter climbers on the highest mountains in the world have been called for decades) apparently has regained his motivation. However, he has not enough Money. Tomek launched a crowdfunding campaign with the aim of collecting the equivalent of around 25,000 euros.

“Good communication”

Meanwhile in Base Camp on the Diamir side, Italian Daniele Nardi has denied that there are unbridgeable differences between him and the Spaniard Alex Txikon. “We have a good communication”, Daniele wrote on Facebook. He recalled that he had been on expedition with Alex already four times and that they together had reached an altitude of 7,830 meters on Nanga Parbat in 2015: “This year, I have considered him to be more than just a partner”, said Nardi. “We will find the best solution.”

Today a big avalanche swept down the Diamir slopes of Nanga Parbat. Watch the video that Simone Moro made:

Elisabeth Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz

Reporting about what happened today on Nanga Parbat was a bitl like fishing in murky waters. I tried to make out from the wildly swirling information on the Internet where the climbers on the mountain currently were. The sun has long since set in Pakistan, so I’m assuming that the mountaineers have sought protection in their tents. It is still unclear how far the Pole Tomek Mackiewicz and the Frenchwoman Elisabeth Revol have climbed up during their first summit attempt. The Pakistani Arslan Ahmed, who had joined the team but had to leave because of health problems, had contact with Tomek for the last time at 10.30 local time. “They were at 7400 meters, and he said we are close”, Arslan writes to me. Since then, all attempts to call Mackiewicz and Revol by satellite phone have been unsuccessful. Reportedly, the two climbers had left the Messner route and turned to the Buhl route towards the summit – the long way that Hermann Buhl took during the first ascent in 1953. On his legendary solo climb, Buhl had overcome an altitude of 1,300 meters on his summit day and afterwards survived a bivouac below 8,000 meters just standing.

“Nanga Dream” team at 7,200 meters

On the other side of the mountain, the Rupal side, the Polish “Nanga Dream” team has made good progress on the Schell route today. Their GPS tracking device shows that they have climbed up to 7,200 meters – that is until the Mazeno Ridge, from where they can look down to the Diamir side of the mountain. If everything works perfectly, the team could reach the summit tomorrow, Saturday.

The Spaniard Alex Txikon, the Italians Daniele Nardi and the Pakistani Ali Sadpara today climbed on the Kinshofer route in one go from Base Camp to Camp 2 at 6,100 meters. The Italians Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger, who had ascended on the Messner route, have returned to Base Camp. They said, the wind picked up and the bad weather might come sooner than expected. Actually, the stable winter weather on Nanga Parbat should continue until Sunday. It remains exciting.

Update 17.30: Arslan Ahmed was able to contact Tomek and Elisabeth. They “are fine, resting in Camp 4. They are very tired”, Arslan writes on Twitter, adding that he is not allowed to say more.