Everest summiteer Jake Norton at the airport (click to enlarge).
Kinga washing up in a lonely Dhaulagiri BC.
A few days from now, Nives (image) and Romano will try their first and only summit push. (Click to enlarge).
“Before setting up C3 we discussed whether the serac was stable or not, and what could happen if it eventually fell. In such case, the avalanche would run down the gully right below the serac, but the snow could also jump over a small snow ridge, and land right on C3 (marked by the red dot)." Ama Dablam image courtesy of Artur Hajzer (click to enlarge).
"It really is too much snow," Nives reports from Makalu.
Kinga and Dodo's image of the Dhaula route.
Kids holding in BC. Dodo (right) and Kinga (left) escaped avalanche on Dhaulagiri.
Another Cho Oyu summit was bagged by Ricardo Guerrero from the Cordoba Everest 2008 expedition, in image hanging out in Kathmandu with mega mountaineer Juanito Oiarzabal (far right) just back from a wrecked Shisha attempt with Edurne Pasaban. (Click to enlarge) All images courtesy of the expeditions.
LINKS
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Himalaya wrap-up: Ama Dablam kick-off, Makalu summit push and a snare drum for Slim Jim
Posted: Oct 10, 2007 09:39 am EDT
(MountEverest.net) With most climbers gone from the 8000ers, Himalaya is entering a new stage. One year after the tragedy, folks are again flocking to Ama Dablam. Parts of 'Everest Rocks' is in KTM, Kinga and Dodo hang on Dhaula, Cho Oyu had scattered summits and summit push is next on Makalu.
In the news
A debate is raging in Canada on whether or not the country's first Everest summit was cool. Following the 1982 expedition, Messner reportedly said the climb accomplished “nothing new and nothing special.” Pat Morrow (one of the summiteers) told the Vancouver Sun, “It’s not something we should be proud of as Canadians. We put Canadians on the summit, but not by an unclimbed route.”
Others disagree, pointing out that it was an inspiration to other Canadian climbers, who went on and did tougher climbs on the peak.
Nepal
Since the Maoists managed to force a postponement of elections for an indefinite period, chief Prachanda has become bolder. Now he says that unless Maoists demands are met, they could bring down the interim government altogether. The world hurries to aid the weak Nepal leadership. International protests have been been made and India is sending a senior diplomat to push for an early election and a return to democracy.
Everest
Everest Rocks!
In Shannon’s latest dispatch, you'll find all you need to know about how to do the following in Kathmandu: Find a full fledge recording studio; a snare drum for Slim Jim Phanton; design a flyer to post in tea houses along the Everest route informing other trekking groups about the concert above Base Camp (Kala Patthar October 21st), set up the sat phone, test the solar panels, locate a car battery and generator, and...buy a handbag!
40 musicians will hit the road to Everest south side BC for a huge gig led by Mike Peters and James Chippendale next week. The journey is captured by a documentary team headed by Alex Coletti (producer of MTV’s ‘Unplugged’ series), and the band will pass surrounding peaks such as Ama Dablam.
Ahead of the musicians, Shannon and Jake Norton left Denver Saturday, met James Chippendale in LA, and watched "Blades of Glory" on the plane to Bangkok.
"In Bangkok we connected with our second guide, Ade Summers, and were finally off to Kathmandu. We were greeted by Roland and Tulsi of The Mountain Company and whisked off through unbelievably crowded streets to an oasis, Yak and Yeti Hotel, in the middle of Kathmandu. Sadly, without luggage for James and Jake!"
Go and check the rest of the report on the expedition website (links section).
Jannu
"Yesterday Olga Babanova had a birthday!" says the 10.10 dispatch. Who's she? Babanov's wife! The climbers report they found the way up to the snow plateau and reached 5100 meters.
Makalu
Nives & Romano - it's now or never
Nives and Romano are in ABC after managing to reach 7100 m. The remarkable snow load made it impossible to go higher. The couple will now rest for 3 days in BC, and then shoot for their first and only summit attempt. "There really is too much snow," Nives emphasizes, "we sink at every step."
"We hoped that conditions would be better higher up, but no luck. As Romano and I are alone, we must make all the tracks and one such attempt is all we will manage." Good news is that Indra was released from the hospital 2 days ago.
Dhaulagiri
Kinga and Dodo
The young climbing mates are back and holding in BC, after turning at about 5100m due to several big avalanches.
Ama Dablam
Ama Dablam made sad headlines last year. In winter, a Spanish expedition lost their team mate Guillermo Mateo who perished on the mountain shortly after reaching the summit. Guillermo fell down the west face; his body ending up somewhere on a crevassed glacier making a rescue attempt impossible.
“To our disbelief, back in Kathmandu our garbage deposit was refused to us,” a member in the team reported to ExplorersWeb. “Apparently, dead bodies which can not be retrieved are considered garbage!”
The accident followed shortly after the night of November 13, when a large part of a serac collapsed on the upper slopes of the peak. The falling chunk of ice hit Camp 3 on the normal route, sweeping six sleeping climbers (one Brit, two Swedes and three Nepalese Sherpas) off the peak.
The big accident sparked a debate between mountaineers, on whether the peak is safe with all the overcrowding during high season on the normal route. Nevertheless, lots of teams are in place again, some reports say that only Summit Climb have no less than 45 climbers on the peak.
Cho Oyu
Seven Summits Club and Cordoba SUMMIT
Few expeditions are left on Cho Oyu. But this morning, six climbers from the Seven Summits Club – Alpindustria expedition summited the peak. Alex Abramov, Yuriy Beloyvan, Konstantin Zhelezov, Dmitry Moskalev, Alexander Chesnokov (all from Moscow), Evgeny Semenov (from Sakhalin, Far East) were on top at about 9:00 Tibet time 10.10.2007. Alex called home straight from the summit to deliver the news, and the team plans to reach camp 1 this evening.
Another Cho Oyu summit was bagged by Ricardo Guerrero from a Spanish expedition including Ricardo Guerrero, Jose Baena, Juan Antonio Navarro and Javier Berrueco. Find the Cordoba Everest 2008 (Desafio Cordoba 8000) website in the links section.
Links to teams on Himalayan peaks:
Everest rocks
Love hope & Strength dispatches
Jannu
Valeri Babanov’s website
Makalu
Nives Meroi – Makalu reports (Italian)
Dhaulagiri
Dutch Dhaulagiri expedition blog | Kinga's and Dodo's expedition | Fredrik Ericsson's website| Sagaste and Valencia’s tribute expedition (Spanish) | Inaki Ochoa (Spanish) | Kari kobler expeditions (German)
Cho Oyu
Field Touring Alpine’s Cho Oyu dispatches | Abramov’s 7Summits-club news | Cordobaeverest.com
Ama Dablam
Alpine Ascents’ Cho Oyu cybercasts | Adventure Consultants Cho Oyu dispatches | Jagged Globe | Summit Climb - news | Fieldtouring.com
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