Marek Holecek gave himself an early present for his 50th birthday on 5 November. The Czech top mountaineer, together with 34-year-old Slovakian Ondrej Huserka, climbed the extremely challenging 2,200-meter-high East Face of the 7,227-meter-high Langtang Lirung for the first time. Holecek let it be known via satellite phone that it took them a total of five and a half days to complete the climb and that they reached the summit yesterday, Wednesday, at 11 am. The two were climbing in alpine style – i.e. without fixed ropes and without fixed high camps.
Marek Holecek hat sich selbst ein vorzeitiges Geschenk zu seinem 50. Geburtstag am 5. November gemacht. Der tschechische Topbergsteiger durchstieg nach eigenen Angaben gemeinsam mit dem 34 Jahre alten Slowaken Ondrej Huserka erstmals die extrem anspruchsvolle 2200 Meter hohe Ostwand des 7227 Meter hohen Langtang Lirung. Holecek ließ via Satellitentelefon wissen, dass sie insgesamt fünfeinhalb Tage für den Anstieg gebraucht und am gestrigen Mittwoch um 11 Uhr den Gipfel erreicht hätten. Die beiden waren im Alpinstil unterwegs – also ohne Fixseile und ohne feste Hochlager.
Mick Fowler (l.) and Viktor Saunders on the summit of Yawash Sar
They climb and climb and just keep going. The two British mountaineers Victor Saunders, 74, and Mick Fowler, 68, don’t care about their advanced age or health restrictions. This fall, they made the first ascent of the 6,258-meter-high Yawash Sar in the Karakoram. The remote mountain in the Karakoram – around 130 kilometers northeast of K2 as the crow flies – is the highest peak in the Khunjerab massif, not far from Pakistan’s border with China.
Two years ago, in fall 2022, a five-member British team cut their teeth on Yawash Sar – also known as the “Matterhorn of Khunjerab” due to its beautiful shape. In a total of three summit attempts via the southern flank of the mountain, the climbers had reached a maximum altitude of around 6,000 meters. The rock was too brittle, the technical difficulties too great, they said.
Complex wall, good conditions
Fowler and Saunders succeeded in climbing the Northwest Face. “The face was complex and we were fortunate to find good climbing conditions,” said Fowler. Before they got on, they studied the wall very carefully with binoculars so as not to end up in impasses, said Mick. In total, it took them seven days to climb up and down to the summit and back to their base camp.
Northwest Face of the 6,258-meter-high Yawash Sar
“A notable feature of the climb was a lack of good bivouac sites and at one point, we endured an excruciatingly uncomfortable hanging bivouac in strong winds,” said Mick. He spoke of “one of the best ascents that we have done together. It was absolutely brilliant!”
Three decades on separate paths
Fowler and Saunders had already climbed together in the Karakoram in the 1980s. In 1987, they caused a sensation when they mastered the 2,200-meter-high “Golden Pillar”, the Northwest Pillar of Spantik (7,027 m) for the first time. After that, the two went their separate ways as mountaineers for almost three decades.
Victor Saunders on the ascent
Saunders worked mainly as a mountain guide and expedition leader. He climbed the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on all continents. Between 2004 and 2013, Victor reached the summit of Mount Everest six times (with bottled oxygen). He stood on the eight-thousander Cho Oyu four times, once of which (in 1997) without a breathing mask. Fowler formed a powerful team with Paul Ramsden for a long time. Three times – in 2003, 2013 and 2016 – the duo was honored with the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of mountaineering”, for spectacular first ascents on six-thousanders.
Now he has made an astonishing comeback as an alpinist alongside Saunders. I got in touch with the two of them. Victor Saunders is still leading a trekking tour in Bhutan until the end of the month. So only Mick Fowler was able to answer my questions.
Mick, first of all congratulations on your great first ascent of Yawash Sar in Pakistan. Can you reveal the secret of why a 68-year-old (you) and a 74-year-old (Victor) are still able to achieve such impressive feats on the mountain?
Mick Fowler at the highest point
There is no secret. We are lucky to be reasonably healthy for our age but I think the main ingredients for success are motivation and willpower. And a basic level of ability of course. We spend a lot of time choosing a suitable objective and looking forward to it. All that anticipation helps motivate us and we are both the sort of people who will do our very best to succeed on something when we have set our heart on it. I suppose having climbed objectives like this for over 40 years also helps. We tend to know have a good idea of our ability and readily agree on when to push on or retreat.
How much fun did you have on your first ascent, how much torment?
Mostly lots of fun. We were lucky in that the conditions above the bergshrund were excellent and gave really enjoyable climbing. I found wading up the glacier to the bergschrund something of a torment but Victor seems to like that sort of thing. We did have a sitting/hanging bivouac which was amongst the most uncomfortable we have ever had.
View from the hanging bivouac
But then with the benefit of hindsight it’s possible to view such an experience in a better light and derive some warped retrospective pleasure from it. We laugh now about our antics to try and alleviate the discomfort that night!
Have you set yourselves an age limit for your extreme tours?
No. We will carry on doing our best to choose and climb appropriate objectives for as long as we are able.
Mick, you’ve been climbing with a colostomy bag since your bowel cancer. How does this hinder you – especially on steep walls in freezing temperatures?
The main problem I have is that the surgeons removed most of the fat from my buttocks to fill the hole where my anus was. That means I have virtually no padding in my buttocks which makes sitting bivouacs excruciatingly uncomfortable. The colostomy bag itself is not a problem when all is going well. But my harness does go right across my stoma and poo squidging accidents inevitably occur when there is lots of output and it’s not possible to change the bag for any reason – usually for reasons of bad weather or sustained difficulties. There is also the hassle factor of having to carry lots of colostomy bags as I really don’t want to run out. And the adhesive doesn’t work so well in really cold temperatures which can cause problems.
There is a lot of talk about the increasingly poor climbing style on the world’s highest mountains – cue: fixed ropes to the summit on commercial expeditions. What is your position on this?
Mick and Viktor’s route
I don’t really have a strong opinion on them. If people want to get to the top that way then that’s up to them. It’s just a pity that such expeditions clog up certain routes with ropes and worse. It all looks very unpleasant and dangerous to me. And I can’t see how anyone can possibly call it climbing. But then it’s great that we are all different.
Mick Fowler (l.) und Viktor Saunders auf dem Gipfel des Yawash Sar
Sie klettern und klettern, machen einfach immer weiter. Die beiden britischen Bergsteiger Victor Saunders, 74, und Mick Fowler, 68, scheren sich nicht um ihr fortgeschrittenes Alter oder um gesundheitliche Einschränkungen. In diesem Herbst gelang ihnen im Karakorum die Erstbesteigung des 6258 Meter hohen Yawash Sar. Der entlegene Berg im Karakorum – rund 130 Kilometer Luftlinie nordöstlich des K2 – ist die höchste Erhebung des Khunjerab-Massivs, unweit der Grenze Pakistans zu China.
Vor zwei Jahren, im Herbst 2022, hatte sich ein fünfköpfiges britisches Team am Yawash Sar – wegen seiner schönen Form auch das „Matterhorn des Khunjerab“ genannt – noch die Zähne ausgebissen. Bei insgesamt drei Gipfelversuchen über die Südflanke des Bergs waren die Bergsteiger bis auf eine Höhe von maximal rund 6000 Metern gelangt. Zu brüchig war der Fels, zu groß die technischen Schwierigkeiten.
„I lifted up the sock and there’s a red label that has A.C. IRVINE stitched into it. We were all literally running in circles dropping F-bombs.“ This is how the US climber and filmmaker Jimmy Chin described to the magazine “National Geographic” the moment when he and his team discovered remains of Andrew Irvine on the Central Rongbuk Glacier at the foot of the North face of Mount Everest .
They found an old boot with a foot in it and the sock in question, which bore witness to who had once worn it. At the beginning of June 1924, the British mountaineers George Herbert Leigh Mallory, then 37 years old, and Andrew Comyn Irvine, 22 years old, had set off on a summit attempt on the then unclimbed Mount Everest. According to their expedition colleague Noell Odell, they were last seen on 8 June on the Northeast Ridge, after which their trail was lost. To this day, the mystery of how close they came to the highest point on earth at 8,849 meters is unsolved.
„Ich hob die Socke hoch, und da war ein rotes Etikett mit der Aufschrift A.C. IRVINE aufgenäht. Wir sind alle buchstäblich im Kreis gelaufen und haben ‚Heilige Scheiße‘ gerufen.“ So beschreibt der US-Kletterer und Filmemacher Jimmy Chin gegenüber dem Magazin „National Geographic“ den Augenblick, als er und sein Team auf dem Zentralen Rongbuk-Gletscher zu Füßen der Nordwand des Mount Everest menschliche Überreste von Andrew Irvine entdeckten.
Sie fanden einen alten Schuh mit einem Fuß darin und die besagte Socke, die bezeugte, wer sie einst getragen hatte. Anfang Juni 1924 waren die britischen Bergsteiger George Herbert Leigh Mallory, damals 37 Jahre alt, und Andrew Comyn Irvine, 22 Jahre alt, am damals noch unbestiegenen Mount Everest zu einem Gipfelversuch aufgebrochen. Expeditionskollege Noell Odell hatte sie nach eigenen Angaben zuletzt am 8. Juni am Nordostgrat erblickt, danach verlor sich ihre Spur. Bis heute ist das Rätsel ungelöst, wie nahe sie dem höchsten Punkt der Erde auf 8.849 Metern kamen.
Another top alpinist has been lost forever in the mountains. Mike Gardner fell to his death last Monday on the still unclimbed 7,468-meter-high Jannu East (also known as Kumbhakarna East) in eastern Nepal. Mike was only 32 years old.
Together with his friend and rope partner Sam Hennessey, the mountain guide from the US state of Colorado had attempted to climb the extremely challenging 2,400-meter-high North Face of Jannu East in alpine style – i.e. without bottled oxygen and without fixed high camps – for the third time after 2019 and 2023. It is still unclear exactly how the fatal fall occurred.
Hennessey had alerted the French climbers Benjamin Vedrines, Leo Billon and Nicolas Jean, who had also attempted the wall in alpine style. The French trio had already decided to turn back because Billon was not feeling well. Together with Hennessey, the Frenchmen abseiled down to the base of the wall. Their search for Gardner – on foot and with the help of a drone – was unsuccessful. They only discovered some of the fallen climber’s equipment.
Wieder ist ein Topalpinist für immer in den Bergen geblieben. Mike Gardner stürzte am vergangenen Montag am noch unbestiegenen 7468 Meter hohen Jannu East (auch als Kumbhakarna East bekannt) im Osten Nepals in den Tod. Mike wurde nur 32 Jahre alt. Der Bergführer aus dem US-Bundesstaat Colorado hatte zum dritten Mal nach 2019 und 2023 gemeinsam mit seinem Freund und Seilpartner Sam Hennessey versucht, im Alpinstil – also ohne Flaschensauerstoff und ohne feste Hochlager – die extrem anspruchsvolle 2400 Meter hohe Nordwand des Jannu East zu durchsteigen. Wie genau es zu dem tödlichen Absturz kam, ist noch unklar.
Hennessey hatte die französischen Bergsteiger Benjamin Vedrines, Leo Billon und Nicolas Jean alarmiert, die sich ebenfalls im Alpinstil an der Wand versucht hatten. Das französische Trio hatte sich bereits zuvor entschlossen umzukehren, weil es Billon nicht gut ging. Gemeinsam mit Hennessey seilten sich die Franzosen zum Wandfuß ab. Ihre Suche nach Gardner – zu Fuß und mit Hilfe einer Drohne – blieb erfolglos. Sie entdeckten nur einige Ausrüstungsgegenstände des Abgestürzten.
Shishapangma, the only eight-thousander located entirely in Tibet
Today the list of people who have stood on all 14 eight-thousanders has virtually exploded – it has grown by 15 names. The reason was a successful summit day of commercial expeditions on the 8,027-meter-high Shishapagma in Tibet. According to the largest Nepalese operator Seven Summit Treks, 29 team members reached the summit of the lowest eight-thousander. Twelve of them completed their collection of eight-thousanders: Nepalese Nima Rinji Sherpa, Mingtemba Sherpa and Lakpa Temba Sherpa, Pakistani Sheroze Kashif, Japanese Naoko Watanabe, Polish Dorota Rasinska-Samocko, British Adriana Brownlee, Russian Alina Pekova, Taiwanese Ko-Erh (called “Grace”) Tseng, French Alasdair McKenzie, Romanian Adrian Laza and Italian Mario Vielmo.
The expedition operator Climbalaya also reported three team members who had now stood on all 14 eight-thousanders after their summit success on Shishapangma: Dawa Yangzum Sherpa and Mingma Tenzing Sherpa from Nepal as well as the Chinese woman He Jing.
Heute ist die Liste der Menschen, die auf allen 14 Achttausendern standen, geradezu explodiert – sie wuchs um 15 Namen. Grund war ein erfolgreicher Gipfeltag kommerzieller Expeditionen an der 8027 Meter Shishapagma in Tibet. Nach Angaben des größten nepalesischen Anbieters Seven Summit Treks erreichten 29 Teammitglieder den Gipfel des niedrigsten Achttausenders. Zwölf von ihnen hätten ihre Achttausendersammlung komplettiert: die Nepalesen Nima Rinji Sherpa, Mingtemba Sherpa und Lakpa Temba Sherpa, der Pakistaner Sheroze Kashif, die Japanerin Naoko Watanabe, die Polin Dorota Rasinska-Samocko, die Britin Adriana Brownlee, die Russin Alina Pekova, die Taiwanesin Ko-Erh (genannt „Grace“) Tseng, der Franzose Alasdair McKenzie, der Rumäne Adrian Laza und der Italiener Mario Vielmo.
Auch der Veranstalter Climbalaya meldete drei Teammitglieder, die nun nach dem Gipfelerfolg an der Shishapangma auf allen 14 Achttausendern gestanden hätten: Dawa Yangzum Sherpa und Mingma Tenzing Sherpa aus Nepal sowie die Chinesin He Jing.
At first it was an apprehension, now it is a sad certainty: five Russian climbers with whom radio contact was lost on Sunday on the eight-thousander Dhaulagiri in western Nepal are dead. According to the newspaper “The Himalayan Times”, the crew of a rescue helicopter discovered the bodies of the five missing mountaineers at an altitude of around 7,100 meters. It is assumed that Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko and Dmitrii Shpilevoi fell around 500 meters to their dead, it said.
Erst war es eine Befürchtung, jetzt ist es traurige Gewissheit: Fünf russische Bergsteiger, zu denen am Sonntag am Achttausender Dhaulagiri im Westen Nepals der Funkkontakt abgerissen war, sind tot. Nach Angaben der Zeitung „The Himalayan Times“ entdeckte die Besatzung eines Rettungshubschraubers die Körper der fünf Vermissten auf einer Höhe von rund 7100 Metern. Es werde vermutet, dass Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko und Dmitrii Shpilevoi rund 500 Meter tief abgestürzt seien, hieß es.
Now she’s in double figures. Last Saturday (5 October), Anja Blacha and Ngima Dorchi Sherpa scaled the 8,188-meter-high Cho Oyu via the Tibetan north side, her fourth eight-thousander this year – “Ngima with, me without a breathing mask,” as Anja writes to me. “It was a bit windy, but otherwise the conditions were great.“
For the 34-year-old German, it was the tenth of the 14 eight-thousanders, the ninth without bottled oxygen. “I know my body well enough by now to know how it reacts to altitude and that it can usually cope with it. So why not do without this aid if I can?,” Blacha wrote to me at the end of September after her summit success on Manaslu.
Jetzt ist sie zweistellig. Anja Blacha hat am vergangenen Samstag (5. Oktober) gemeinsam mit Ngima Dorchi Sherpa den 8188 Meter hohen Cho Oyu über die tibetische Nordseite bestiegen, ihren vierten Achttausender in diesem Jahr – „Ngima mit, ich ohne Atemmaske“, wie mir Anja schreibt. „Es war etwas windig, aber ansonsten top von den Bedingungen.“
Für die 34 Jahre alte Deutsche war es der zehnte der 14 Achttausender, der neunte ohne Flaschensauerstoff. „Ich kenne meinen Körper mittlerweile gut genug, um zu wissen, wie er auf Höhe reagiert und dass er meist damit umgehen kann. Wieso dann nicht auf dieses Hilfsmittel verzichten, wenn es mir möglich ist?“, hatte mir Blacha Ende September nach ihrem Gipfelerfolg am Manaslu geschrieben.
The first summit successes of the fall season on the eight-thousanders in Tibet are now perfect. The expedition operator Imagine Nepal announced that an eleven-member team led by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa reached the summit of Shishapangma at 8,027 meters today. Five team members had completed their eight-thousand-meter collection, it said: the Nepalese Mingma Gyalje Sherpa and Dawa Gyalje Sherpa, the US-American Tracee Lee Metcalfe, the Japanese Naoki Ishikawa and the Pakistani Sirbaz Khan.
