Expeditions Updates – 2018/2019 Winter Climbs

There is progress on K2, but I got the confirmation that the two teams are working independently. The two local mountaineers quit on Nanga Parbat and avalanches end Manaslu effort.

K2
Russian, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Team – Chimney House

The Russian team is back at Base Camp after a few rotations up the mountain and after 7 days of weather delays. They have slept at 6,800m (22,310ft), where usually Camp 2 is located on the Abruzzi route.

Michael Danichkina gave an interview to the Polish site Wspinanie.pl, and he said that all is as a summer climb:
“We locate all camps in usual places. Except some intermediate camps, while fixing up ropes. C1 and C2 are set well already. We have 5 tents redfox cave, on the route. Ropes enough for the whole route, snow anchors, ice screws, pitons.
Food and gas we bring just enough amount for every trip plus little deposit for emergency cases. All garbage is brought down to BC.”

He also said that there are no plans to work with Alex Txikon, and in fact the Russian team is fixing the ropes parallel to his: “We have neutral relationship with Alex team. We do our tasks and they do their task. Mutual plans have not been discussed.”

You can follow them on Instagram but Russian Climb ) is the best source.

Spanish/Galician Team – Injuries

Alex Txikon team continues to make plans and build igloos but there are some issues with ice and rock fall taking two members of the mountain by helicopter: Waldemar Kowakewski and Marek Klonowsk.

“Two people from the Base Camp’s support team (NO mountaineers) have descended from the Base Camp; one of them, for an injury he has had for several days and the other one just to help him. There was no urgency but we decided it just to avoid unnecessary risks. On the other hand, as I said yesterday, the Polish Waldelmar has also descended after being hit by an ice block. Marek who has been with antibiotics, has also gone down to recover and climb up again with our doctor Josep Sanchis !! ;);)”

Now that Alex finally decided what route they will be climbing, they are making progress, after spending about two weeks on the mountain.

“We have equipped up to Camp 2 at 6700 meters in just 2 days. It is a real success and we are very happy. I am very proud of the whole team, we have equipped a new route line. After equipping with 1,100 meters of rope until Camp 1, we have taken another 1,200 meters of rope with us. The weather has been quite good although the strong wind has not helped much. However, we have worked well and we still don’t believe what we have achieved.”

You can follow their movements on Alex’s GPS tracker, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Nanga Parbat – Tents Disappear

Danielle Nardi and Thomas Ballard continue to climb but the two local mountaineers, Rehmatullah Baig and Karim have left, giving up after too much snow and winds up high. They have established Camp 3 at 5,714m (18,746ft) with a cache of gear but upon their return found their tents blown away with no trace.

Manaslu – Over

Simone Moro and Pemba Gyalje Sherpa have given up.
“Finally a good weather window has opened today, and again Karl Gabl was right. Obviously with the sun, the avalanches have increased, they also approached and reached our base camp. Fortunately shortly after this photo a helicopter came to rescue us. Over the last few days the aim of reaching my fifth summit in winter was transformed into surving in this situation! It would take at least 2 to 3 weeks of sunshine to settle 6 meters of powder snow, but the forecast is far from good. Sometimes giving up is an essential ingredient for future success and with this decision I want to honor the nickname “winter maestro” I have been given.”

Same old story – When does winter end?

If you remember last year there was a lot of controversy over when winter ends during thw winter K2 attempt. Dennis Urubko feels that it ends on February 28th, and not in the spring equinox on March 20th. It seems that this year, teams are taking the long view.

Now we have to wait and see if during the next weeks (bad weather is in the forecast) the climbers can climb up to 8,000m (26,246ft) and establish sustainable high camps for a summit push.

Good luck to them!
To the top!
Alex