Image of Annapurna's south side courtesy of Piotr Morawski (click to enlarge).
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Avalanche hit Japanese team on Annapurna – one casualty
Posted: Oct 27, 2006 06:30 am EDT
(MountEverest.net) When the Italian team led by Silvio Mondinelli applied for a climbing permit for Annapurna this fall season, they were told there wouldn’t be any other team on the mountain. However, a Japanese team led by Yamada Yoshichika reached the peak later in the season – to face the avalanche-prone south side. On October 22 a snow slide swept the expedition’s C2, killing the team’s Sirdar: Lakpa Rita Sherpa, 25.
Expedition over?
The Japanese expedition started on September 29 – counting on a 75 days-long climbing permit, according to Nepal's Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation. It is unclear though, whether the team called off the attempt after the avalanche struck, or resumed the climb afterwards.
Curiously enough, the most awe-inspiring of the 8000ers was also the first to be summited.
In 1950, French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal used only a rough map as a guide, and picked their way up an unattempted route to the summit. Their descent turned into a hellish nightmare, leaving them near death, with their extremities completely deadened by frostbite. Lachenal lost all his toes. Herzog lost all his toes as well as all his fingers.
Herzog and Lachenal survived their ordeal, but too many others have tragically lost their lives over the years. On Christmas Day 1997, Anatoli Boukreev was killed in an avalanche, an event that shocked the mountaineering community. The strong climber had survived the deadliest season on Mount Everest the year before, and aided three other climbers to safety in a brutal storm.
In 2005, a falling serac killed Italian Christian Kuntner, who had already summited 13 8000ers. Three other climbers were severely injured in the accident.
This year Annapurna was summited, in spring, by Peter Hamor, member of Piotr Pustelnik’s team, and by Kazakh climbers Maxut Zhumayev and Vassiliy Pivtsov. In autumn Italians Silvio Mondinelli, Marco Confortola, Marco Camandona and a Sherpa summited on October 12.
At 8,091m, Annapurna I, most commonly known as Annapurna, is number 10 on the list of the fourteen 8,000m peaks, and is the ninth highest Himalayan peak in the world. It is located in north central Nepal, flanking one end of the Annapurna massif which includes Annapurna II (7937m), Annapurna III (7,555m), Annapurna IV (7,525m), Gangapurna (7,455 meters) and Annapurna South (7219 meters).
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