Gukov’s position on the North Ridge of Latok I (see arrow)

Fingers crossed for Alexander Gukov! According to Anna Piunova from the website mountain.ru, the 42-year-old Russian climber is trapped at 6,200 meters on the North Ridge of the 7145-meter-high Latok I in the Karakoram. Gukov made an emergency call on Wednesday:  “I need help. I need to be evacuated. I’m hanging in the wall without equipment.” His 26-year-old climbing partner Sergey Glazunov fell to his death while abseiling, said Alexander.

Longline rescue?

Apparently, the two climbers had turned around on Tuesday at an altitude of almost 7,000 meters. Due to bad weather with rain and snowfall, a rescue helicopter of the Pakistan army has not yet been able to take off.  The rescuers want to get Gukov off the mountain by using a long line. Some climbers have offered to participate in the rescue operation – including Italian Herve Barmasse and German David Göttler, who want to tackle the Southwest Face of the 7,925-meter-high Gasherbrum IV this summer. They would have to be flown by helicopter to Latok I.

Two week on the mountain

Alexander Gukov (l., in 2014 with Aleksei Lonchinsky)

On 12 July, Gukov and Glazunov had set off to climb the North Ridge for the first time up to the summit. This goal has been so far a too hard nut to crack for many top climbers from all over the world. Since the legendary first attempt in 1978 by the Americans Jeff and George Henry Lowe, Michael Kennedy and Jim Donini, who were forced back by a storm about 150 meters below the summit, about 30 attempts to master the route failed. Gukov is well known in the climbing scene. In 2015, he was awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the Climbers”, together with his compatriot Aleksei Lonchinsky for their new route via the South Face of the 6618-metre-high Thamserku in Nepal.

With broken bones back from the North Face

Other members of the Russian Latok I expedition had tried to climb the North Face. They were forced back by rock fall. “(We) descended to Base Camp alive, but helmet, rib and bones are broken,” Victor Koval reported to Russia. “Finally, an avalanche hit us.” A Slovenian expedition is also on site to tackle the North Face. The two German climbers Thomas Huber (the older of the Huber brothers – the younger, Alexander Huber, is currently with Fabian Buhl en route on the 6,166-meter-high Choktoi Ri, in the Karakoram too) and Rainer Treppte as well as the South Tyrolean Simon Gietl have their bags packed. Their destination: the North Face of Latok I.

Update 27. Juli, 11 am: Alexander Gukov has contacted Anna again: “Damn! Where do all the avalanches come from? I can’t even boil water.” Meanwhile, it is being considered to supply the climber with equipment from the helicopter. It is possible that Alexander would then be able to descend on his own.

On the Rupal side (© David Goettler/The North Face)

Over an out. The Russian winter expedition on Nanga Parbat is finished. Nickolay Totmjanin, Valery Shamalo, Serguey Kondrashkin and Victor Koval decided to go home. “Today is exactly the 45th day since we left St. Petersburg, and, unfortunately, the time for our expedition runs to the end. The mountain is clear at last, for the first time in two weeks, but there’re still snow flags on the top due to the strong wind“, the four climbers told Russianclimb via SMS. “We pack Base Camp and are going down.“ A few days ago, they had reached Camp 4 at 7,150 meters on the Rupal (south) side of the mountain, but had been forced back by storm and cold. Thus, only the climbers on the Diamir (north) side are staying on Nanga Parbat. Meanwhile, Italian climber Daniele Nardi reached above Camp 3 an altitude of 6,100 meters on the Mummery Rib. The team of Basque climber Alex Txikon and the three Iranian climbers have to do a lot of tracking work on the Kinshofer route. “Just managed to fix until 5,800 more or less. Snow was too deep“, Alex wrote in his blog.

Simone’s secret

Simone Moro auf der ISPO

“I’m surprised“, Italian climber Simone Moro said when we met at the trade fair ISPO in Munich today and talked about the end of the Russian expedition. “I really thought they could make it.“ If Nanga Parbat remains unclimbed once more this winter, it would be an option for him to try again, Simone told me. Moro has already failed twice on Nanga Parbat in winter: with Russian Denis Urubko in 2012 and with German David Goettler in 2014. Simone will travel to the Himalayas next week. Only then he wants to disclose the secret about his upcoming winter climb. At the ISPO, I failed prising the secret out of him. We still have to wait a few days more.