Posted: May 15, 2009 12:39 pm EDT
(MountEverest.net) Only months after his virgin winter ascent of Makalu; Denis is done with his last 8000er - Cho Oyu's SE face climbed in alpine style for the first time.

Alexander Ruchkin and Mikhail Mikhailov have climbed an unnamed 6206 m top via a 1000 meter wall, RussianClimb reports.

Meanwhile Kangchenjunga BC has been deserted as all teams are on a massive summit push, hoping to top-out on Sunday. Summit pushes are also underway on Manaslu, and Dhaulagiri. Joao Garcia and the Indian Army team have sent over summit reports and images from these two peaks.

Greg Mortenson sent an update on the car accident last week in Pakistan where also the first mountaineering team, including the recent Annapurna survivor Elisabet Revol, now is leaving for Skardu.

Cho Oyu: Denis and Boris' SE face summit, alpine style

"All's OK," reported Denis Urubko in an SMS to RussianClimb earlier today. "We are back in BC - feeling OK. We summited on May, 11th."

"Some details: We spent the night at 6000m, sitting," Denis added in a later SMS. "Then had bad weather on the third day, with many avalanches. The storm hit the face from 7,600m for 15 hours. Descent took us three days, via the ascent's route. We haven’t eaten anything for two days."

Kazakhs Denis Urubko and Boris Dedeshko climbed Cho Oyu's SE face in alpine style via a new route - a remarkable finish of the 14x8000ers project for Urubko. Read more in a breaking news story published earlier today.

New line in Western Sichuan

Jannu North face 2002’s summiteers Alexander Ruchkin and Mikhail Mikhailov who hope to achieve the first alpine style ascent on 6618m’s E-Gongga ((Western Sichuan) via the peak’s SE face have climbed an unnamed 6206 m top via a 1000 meter big wall, RussianClimb reports.

“Our goal is to return the real spirit of adventure to mountaineering," the climbers stated before their departure, "to explore remote mountain areas, and to achieve first climbs on virgin peaks, by climbing in small teams, in alpine style.”

Pakistan: BP/K2double team off to Skardu

Elisabeth Revol, Antoine Girard and Ludovic Giambiasi are sharing permit for Broad Peak and K2 with another team and will fly to Skardu tomorrow morning. The trek starts May 18 - the small team's outfit agency reportedly told them they are first up, with the others expeditions to arrive later.

Their websites are:
www.himalaya.pro (the project); www.antoinegirard.info (Antoine); http://himalaya-light.over-blog.com/ (Eli).

Ben Clark - 10 days on Baruntse

"An epic and long e-mail will be coming soon. We are back in BC after 10 days on the mountain. We turned back short of the summit and with an amazing tale. A brief summation during an interview with CNN (video).

The team was stuck at 21,500 for a few days. A case of AMS prevented a ski descent so the climbers came back down their ascent route. Ben and Josh might go back up in a few days, the home team told ExWeb.

Kangchenjunga: Everybody in C3

“It was hot during the morning and we had to break trail all the way from C2, but we reached C3 at 12:30, local time,” Edurne told ExWeb over the sat-phone earlier today. “Everybody is here: Mi Sun Go’s Korean team; Spaniards Alberto Zerain, Patxi Goñi, Koke Lasa, Juanjo Garra; Polish Kinga Baranovska; Norwegian Jon Gangdal; a Dutch climber (don´t know his name), and Italian Nives & Romano.”

“Everything goes according to plans: Tomorrow we’ll pitch four tents at 7,800 meters as C4. We’ll rest for some hours there, before going out for the summit around midnight.”

“Forecasts show wind blowing up on Sunday, our planned summit day, but it seems to be hitting from the NE. Since we’re climbing on the mountain’s south side, we’ll be sheltered from it until we reach the upper slopes.”

Italian Manuel Lugli confirmed to ExWeb in an email this morning:

"Nives Meroi and Romano Benet set off yesterday from BC for their summit bid on Kanchenjunga. As always following their style: no oxygen, no Sherpas, all the stuff for high camps packed on their shoulders." (The climbers have no previous set high camps).

"In light of more and more ascents made along normal routes, supported by every technological and human help, it is worth remembering there are mountaineers who still climb by fair means."

"Today the Italian climbers should reach 7.200 meters and then attempt the summit, if weather allows, in the next two days." Manuel also noted that the climbers will try to be back by May 18th, when the jet stream has been forecasted to enter the Kangchenjunga area.

Manaslu: dangerous summit push in heavy snow

In spite of deep snow burying the route and wrecked high camps, some Manaslu teams have launched a summit push: “The Andalusia girls, Japanese, Swiss and some individual climbers are going up,” the girl’s home team reported earlier today. “Inma, Lina and Tamara are heading up to C1 tomorrow – their Sherpas are already there, trying to save as much as they can from the snow-buried camp.”

“The climbers hope to reach C4 on Sunday, and then go for the summit later that night. Should the wind blow too strong, they may wait for one extra night in C3, in order to attempt the summit on Tuesday.”

Manaslu: summit pics

Meanwhile Joao Garcia, already back in Portugal, has sent over some pics from his recent ascent on Manaslu. “I was 3 hours behind the Korean team so I did not summit with them,” Joao explained. “The pic I posted on my blog one day after topping-out was shot below the summit, but that day it was too windy to unfold my sponsors’ flags anywhere higher. After taking that photo, I traversed to the actual summit."

"Again, it was too windy to shoot a self-portrait, but I did take a picture of the bamboo pole I had left behind (in the place where the first pic was shot).”

Lhotse: Gerl & Co up

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Ralf Dujmovits, David Göttler and Hirotaka Takeuchi are preparing to set off from BC towards Lhotse’s summit. “We’ll wait for a further confirmation forecasts tomorrow, but all going according to plans we will leave BC on Sunday,” Ralf reported earlier today.

Dhaulagiri: Some trying, some debriefing

While Louis Stitzinger’s and other teams are currently pushing for the summit, the Indian Army expedition members are back home, from where they’ve sent over a summit report and pictures to ExWeb.

Four days after a failed first attempt on May 2nd due to bad weather, the team launched a second push. Six members topped-out on May 8th at 11:30am (on 02). “They were not able to express the emotions for the weather pushed them down,” the team reported. The descent was tough, since a storm unfolded long before they reached C3, forcing the climbers to remain huddled behind a rock for two hours. They reached high camp by 5.30pm and moved down to Base Camp "with limping feet, trembling fingers and oscillating emotions.”

News from Pakistan: American photographers recovering – obituary for driver Raza Khan

Journalist Tim McGirk has published a long obituary of Raza Khan in Time Magazine. The Pathan driver was killed in a car accident on Saturday, May 9th, on the treacherous highway from Peshawar to Islamabad, while driving Teru Kuwayama (a freelance photographer) and Lynsey Addario (New York Times photographer). Read the story here.

”Both photographers are no longer in critical condition at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, and will be evacuated back to USA later this week,” CAI’s Greg Mortenson told ExWeb in an email. "Teru had multiple contusions and head trauma, while Lynsey sustained a broken collarbone and other injuries.”

Kangchenjunga:
Edurne Pasaban
Jon Gangdal
Kinga Baranowska
Nives Meroi & Romano Benet

Makalu:
Zangrilli's blog
Zangrilli's guiding blog
Roland Hunter's expedition blog
News on Vallejo, Iñurrategi, Zabalza - EiTB blogs

Annapurna:
Martin Minarik
Elisabeth Revol's blog
Valeri Babanov

Lhotse:
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner - news
Ralf's Amical Alpin
Hirotaka Takeuchi's blog
David Göttler's website
Xavi Arias' blog
News on Mondinelli on Montagna.org

Manaslu:
Joao Garcia's expedition blog
Windhorse Trekking - News on KOrean Dynamic Busan
Andalusian female team - news
Lina Quesada
Carlos Pauner
Nick Rice's dispatches
Mario Merelli
Radek Jaros

Dhaulagiri
Piotr Morawski - news
Peter Hamor
Polish Tatra Rescuers team
News on Mehdi Etemadfar -MountainZone.ir
Luis Stitzinger - news
Nobukazu Kuriki - English blog

Cho Oyu
Al Filo Spanish team's website
Belgian expedition's website

Shisha Pangma
Romanian Expedition

Lesser Himalayan peaks:

Polish Nanda Devi East expedition
Moran's British Nanda Devi East expedition
Puryear and Gottlieb on Lunag Ri
Ben Clark - Baruntse updates
News on Russian Pumori and E-Gongga teams on RussianClimb

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