Posted: Sep 29, 2009 09:15 am EDT
(MountEverest.net/Madrid) Cho Oyu summit wave goes on today; Dream Guides’ team topped-out Manaslu and watched two of their mates skiing down the peak, while in BC Altitude Junkies’ team leader posted a clear-up note as soon as he learnt his climbers had actually stopped some meters shy from the true summit last Sunday.

Also, Everest serial-summiteer (and current Utah resident) Apa Sherpa is back to the Himalayas, aiming for an unclimbed peak. On a somber note, concerns grow for two Korean climbers missing on Hiunchuli.

Cho Oyu

“Mario topped-out Cho Oyu at 9:30am, Nepal Time today – Marco followed some 90 minutes later,” Merelli's home team’s Patrizia reported. Mario remarked it had been a long way from 7,100m, and mentioned there was an Austrian climber on top with him.

“Weather was rough when the climbers set off from C2 by midnight; conditions eventually improved though," Mario told his home team. "On the summit, the surrounding 8000+ summits raised above a see of clouds.”

Norwegian Kvitserk team leader Haavard Gjerdset, fellow Norwegians Erling Rosenstrøm, Frank-Jakob Sandbakk, Odd Tokle Sæbø, Petter Oppegård, Siv Eli Harstad and Danish Birgitte Frost Nøhr summited Cho Oyu around 3:00pm (local time?) today. According to the team, Birgitte is the first Danish woman to stand on top of that peak. Haavard reported on bitter cold during the night, followed by glorious sunshine at summit time.

Spanish José Antonio Tarí and Jaime Antón topped-out last Saturday, after 8 hours climbing from C3 without supplementary O2. The climbers only reported the news one day later, at reaching back ABC. Meanwhile, tour other team mates set off towards C1 on their own summit bid yesterday – they hope to reach the top tomorrow or Thursday.

"The expedition went as smooth as we could dream," Brazilian Manoel Morgado told ExplorersWeb. "Good team, wonderful weather, lots of laughter and 7 out of 8 in the summit!"

Manoel was a member in Victor Saunders' team (as well as the 3-member Maltas' Challenge8000 expedition). Besides the five of them, Andrea Cardona, Luis Antonio Felber and Lucas de Zorzi also topped-out Cho Oyu on September 24th around 7:00am. Update Oct 1st: Andrea, from Guatemala, has also become the first lady climber from Central America to summit any 8000er.

"Now we're stuck in horrible Nyalam due to a landslide before the border - dreaming with good food, nice hotel bed and lots of good beer," Manoel added.

Manaslu

“Rob Casserly logged in from Camp 2, to say that everyone summited, everyone is safe and sound, and Guy & Emma skied from the summit and are back at Base Camp,” Dream Guide’s home team reported yesterday. “The rest of the team are walking down and are currently at Camp 2. They'll be back at BC tomorrow.” Further details on the climb and the ski descent are expected soon.

With all team members safely back in BC, Altitude Junkies’ team leader Phil Crampton has taken a stand in order to clear facts, and openly stated his team actually stopped some meters shy from Manaslu’s true summit.

“The Sherpas who were working for the Chinese team fixed the rope on the final summit ridge,” Phil stated. “This included around 120 meters of 6 mm rope that we carried up to camp four. Samuli (AJ’s Sherpa) has showed us photos of where the fixed rope ended, which was around 30 meters linear and 15 meters vertical short of the true summit. He was the last and only climber who went slightly passed the fixed rope on the 27th. Both Samuli and Pasang Gumba said the conditions beyond where the fixed rope ended were unsafe for further travel along the ridge to the true summit. Going on Samuli’s reports, no ones reached the true summit on the 27th.”

“We just want to state that our climbers did not claim the true summit, but I stated the summit was reached based on radio transmissions that I had with our Sherpas on summit day. The Altitude Junkies climbers reached a point past the fore-summit but were 30 meters linear and 15 meters vertical short of the true summit. We apologize if we mislead anybody with our summit claims.”

Annapurna

“Jae-Soo Kim is in good condition now - he was hit by an avalanche on the way to Annapurna’s C2, but resulted unharmed except for some bruises,” Kim’s sponsor Kolom Sport told exWeb’s Korea correspondent Kyu Dam-lee. “KBS’ cameraman Hyun-Han Shin, who was filming Kim’s progress at the moment, sustained a broken bone and was evacuated – he flew back to Korea yesterday for treatment in a Seoul hospital.”

Shisha Pangma North

“We’re all up here in C1 at 6357 metres/20,850 feet,” Dan Mazur reported earlier today. “Our plan is to go up to C2 today. We’re working our way up towards the high camp at C3. We hope to try for the summit on the 1st of October, probably leaving in the early morning hours.”

Back in BC after reaching Shisha’s central summit on Sunday, American Nick Rice is not yet done with the mountain. “Mario Panzeri and I decided that we would head up again after a few days of rest and try to summit the Main summit via the Iñaki route, as originally planned,” he stated yesterday. “It’s amazing that we are willing to go to this much trouble over a few meters of altitude difference between the Central and Main summits.”

Shisha Pangma South

Edurne and Al Filo team are back in BC after spending one night at the Scott Bivouac (located at 6,200m on the base of Shisha’s South face). “The face’s lower sections are extremely dry – instead of snow there is just rock and, sometimes, crystal ice,” Edurne reported. “Luckily, there is a snowy spell forecasted for the next few days, which may improve conditions.”

Otherwise, the team consider their acclimatization process completed. They may launch a summit push as soon as they get some rest and adequate weather conditions.

Dhaulagiri

“After 2 days of hard work, we managed to set up Camp 1,” Chileans Rodrigo and Andres reported. “There was no obvious route up the Eiger wall – we managed to find our way on wet, loose rock though, and pitched an interim camp on a heavily crevassed section at 5,400m. On the following day we proceeded up to C1’s location at 5,900m.”

“We are now back in BC for some rest before our next trip up – to C2,” they added.

Hiunchuli

While details are sketchy, concerns grow for Korean climbers June-Hong Min and Jong-Sung Park, members in Ji-Jik expedition and aiming for a new route on Hiunchuli. Min and Park have been missing for four days already.

Hiunchuli (6.441m) is located between Annapurna South and Machappuchare, right in front of Annapurna’s south side Sanctuary. News on the missing climbers have been reported by Kim Jae-Soo's team on Annapurna I (climbing from the North side).

Nepal’s unnamed peak

After 19 Everest summits and 15 years climbing in spring season, Apa Sherpa (49) is changing goals. Accepting an invite from Swiss Stephane Schaffter, with whom he climbed Everest twice, Apa will give a shot to an unnamed and previously unclimbed peak, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"I have no idea what to expect," Apa told SLT. “The peak is two days [walking] from my house in Thame. We used to walk by it with the yak trains when I was a young boy. I had no idea I would ever be trying to climb it. On Mount Everest I know every step – this time will be different.”

Schaffter’s team will also include Adbul Karim from Pakistan.

Links to Himalayan fall 2009 expeditions:

Everest:
Basque team Hornbein expedition

Makalu:
Ueli Steck

Annapurna:
Oh Eun-sun

Shisha Pangma:
Edurne Pasaban
Ferran Latorre
Andrew Lock
Kinga Baranowska
Juanito Oiarzabal
Carlos Pauner
Nick Rice's dispatches
Romanian Expedition
Piantoni's Italian expedition
SummitClimb

Dhaulagiri
Chilean expedition

Manaslu:
Mexicans Badia & Mauricio
Altitude Junkies
Chilean Ski expedition
Guillaume Hintzy
Dream Guides team

Cho Oyu
Simone Moro - Cho Oyu SW face
Cho Oyu SW face Czech team
Mario Merelli
Argentinean team
Malta's Challenge8000
Alpine Ascents
Hvitserk
Adventure Consultants
IMG
Jagged-Globe
Reto Everest

Himalayan 7000ers:

FTA - Satopanth
Fabrizio Zangrilli - Pumori
Peak Freaks - Pumori

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