Normally the base camps at the eight-thousanders in Nepal and Tibet would be occupied by now, and the acclimatization phase would be underway. And for those teams that want to make their way to the eight-thousanders in Pakistan this summer, the final preparations would be made. But what is normal in these times of the…
He’s a humble knight. Actually, Sir Chris Bonington could stick his nose up. After all, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1996 for his great services to British mountaineering. But Chris does not stick up his nose or carry his title in front of him. Bonington has remained true to himself and has proven his…
The mountaineering scene mourns the loss of one of their greats. Joe Brown passed away peacefully at the age of 89 in his home in the village of Llanberis, Wales. In his eventful climbing career Brown opened more than 1,000 new rock climbing routes. Joe became known worldwide when he and George Band (1929-2011) made…
The people of Jalandhar could not believe their eyes. For the first time in decades, the inhabitants of the city in the northern Indian state of Punjab were able to see the mountains of the Dhauladhar Range in the Himalayas, which are more than 100 kilometers away and up to almost 6,000 meters high. Barely…
I wish you all and your loved ones Happy Easter – even in these strange days of the corona pandemic. And the “Picasso from the river Rhine” 😉 is confronting you with another easter riddle: Which mountain have I conjured onto the egg?
In Nepal too, life continues to stand still because of the Corona pandemic. The government extended the two-weeks-lasting “lockdown” in the Himalayan state until at least 15 April. Airplanes with “stranded” tourists continue to leave Nepal. Thus, the fourth and for the time being last return flight for German citizens is scheduled for Wednesday. The…
What some critics of commercial mountaineering on Mount Everest have demanded in the past is now being brought about by the corona crisis: only one team will be allowed to attempt the highest mountain on earth this spring. The Chinese-Tibetan authorities had closed Everest to foreign expeditions because of the Corona pandemic, but the ban…
It sounded like it was now or never. “For Australians in Nepal, this is a final call to anyone who wants to return to Australia,” Pete Budd, the Australian Ambassador Pete Budd in the Himalayan state, wrote on Twitter yesterday. “If you want to leave you must decide immediately, within next few hours. There will…
