Posted: Jun 08, 2009 12:59 pm EDT
American climbers Micah Dash and Wade Johnson are missing in Sichuan while Jonathan Copp's remains have been found. Read more in a Monday update at ExWeb.

In other news: Pakistan is gearing up although in lesser numbers. Last-word debriefs still trickle in from the past Nepal/Tibet-Himalaya season; with reportedly also Cho Oyu claiming a victim last week.

Out on the ice; Skiers Arnaud Tortel and Charles Hedrich have carved a new Arctic route.

American climber found in avalanche debris In an eerie reminder of Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff lost in a 2007 Sichuan avalanche; Micah Dash, Jonathan Copp and Wade Johnson were reported missing on Sichuan’s E Gongga end last week. Fellow Boulder climbers were quickly dispatched to assist in the search; sadly Copp’s remains were found in avalanche debris at 4000 meters near BC this weekend.

Everest North side: Canadian Gabriel Fillipi and Peruvian Richard Hidalgo were two out of four climbers hoping for a last chance weather window on Everest’s North side last week. By Saturday, Gabriel had called his expedition off while news is still expected from the other climbers.

Dennis Verhoeve lost on Cho Oyu Dutch Dennis Verhoeve reportedly fell to his death while abseiling from Cho Oyu summit on June 2nd.

Broad Peak: Last weekend, Ludo and Eli climbed up a new variation route up Broad Peak, while Antoine climbed to just below C3 (7000m) on the normal route. “From 6,500 meters up, the route goes on hard ice, barely covered by 5-10cm of inconsistent snow. It was also extremely cold," Antoine reported. “Our first bivouac was improvised on the couloir," Ludo and Eli debriefed. "It was so steep, we had to sleep roped-up to a 3-point belay secured to a snow-mushroom, a piton and an ice-axe [...] After a second bivy, we faced one last obstacle separating us from BP’s plateau, which would lead to the summit – but there was no pass to be found." The climbers might be headed for a new summit attempt at this moment.

Laila & K2 Skys-kiers Swedish Fredrik Eriksson and Italian Michele Fait are off for Laila Peak, hoping to climb and ski down from its summit as a preparation for K2.

K2 and Broad Peak FTA has a permit both for K2 and Broad Peak. K2 will be led by Fabrizio Zangrilli, "serving more as a coach than a step-by-step guide,” he told Vail daily.

G1 & new route attempt on Gauri Shankar Recent Piolets d'Or winner Japanese Kazuya Hiraide will attempt G1 with Finnish Veikka Gustafsson before moving to Gauri Shankar(7134m), aiming for a new route on its SE face.

Triples French climber, ski-runner and 7Summits summiteer Philippe Gatta is attempting the GI+GII+Broad Peak triple header this season as an independent climber in a large team led by Altitude Junkies/Project-Himalaya's Phil Crampton, bringing with him three Sherpa fresh off the slopes of Everest.

14x8000ers racers for K2, Nanga and GI Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Joao Garcia hope to turn K2 and Nanga Parbat, respectively, into their lucky 13th, while South Korean 8000er female racer Oh Eun-sun is going for Nanga and GI, before her claimed last 8000er – Annapurna - planned for fall this year.

Kinga Baranowska: fresh from summiting Kangchenjunga, Polish Kinga hopes to turn GI and GII into her 7th and 8th 8000ers.

Final reports from Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri Bad weather prevented German Louis and Rupert from completing a ski descent from Dhaulagiri's summit. Spaniards Alberto Zerain and Koke Lasa were airlifted from Kangchenjunga with frostbite and AMS. "After summiting Kangchenjunga on his own, Alberto wanted to attempt Yalung Kang, but instead went up to Kangch’s high camps to check on his team mates," Kinga told ExWeb. "He suffered slight frostbite in the process which cost him the Yalung Kang attempt.”

Ben Clark: We’ll be back “We're coming back to finish the climb - Baruntse 2010,” American Ben reported from Kathmandu. “This route is incredible and something we're committed to working toward and completing,” Ben stated.

Ang Tshering writes from Nepal... Ang Tshering Sherpa is the major expedition organizer in Nepal, with experience dating back to the early history of Everest and Himalaya mountaineering.
He has made it a tradition to write reports from main events - check his latest at ExWeb last week.

Arctic wrap-up - the French made it! Skiers Arnaud Tortel and Charles Hedrich arrived at Cape Morris Jesup at 03h00 GMT on 6 June, 62 days after they left the North Pole for Greenland. With that the two men carved a new Arctic route; unsupported and unassisted.

Greenland: Danish Jesper Melin Ganc-Petersen and Erik Bruun Jørgensen traveled past the most northern point of Greenland, Cape Morris Jesup, on 23 May. Four Greenland horizontal crossing teams finished in good weather while a crossing led by Norwegian polar legend Sjur Mødre finished in only 12 days and 9 hours.

Gobi kiting: 10 days into the expedition Curtis had to leave due to family reasons, but Sarah and Eric carry on.

Australian Patagonia Expedition coming up Linda Beilharz and Rob Rigato are heading off to South America on 15 June on a Southern Patagonia Icecap expedition. They are on a mission to travel the four Icecaps of the world, Antarctica, Greenland, the Arctic and Patagonia.

SP, NP and Greenland in 12 months Antony Jinman plans to try and ski to the South Pole, the North Pole and Greenland in 12 months. He crossed Greenland during the past April and May.

Babes and GoNorth! arrived The Baffin Babes arrived at Pond Inlet on 31 May, 82 days after they were dropped north of Qikiqtarjuaq. The GoNorth! team arrived at Clyde River. They have also been on the Island since March.

Never-ending voyage update: Henk departed from Albany, Australia, where he did maintenance jobs on his boat. From there he sailed through the Great Australian Bight to Portland where he moored. From Portland he will start sailing through the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania to Sydney.

Indian Ocean update: Independent solo rower Sarah is closing in on 70 days. In the Indian ocean race; Bexhill Trust Challenger is still leading and has crossed the 2000 nm mark.

Read these stories - and more! - at ExplorersWeb.com

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