Once again, there has been a great achievement of true alpinism in the Himalayas in Nepal: by “the three Bs.”
Felix Berg from Germany, Hervé Barmasse from Italy, and Adam Bielecki from Poland opened a new route through the approximately 1,000-meter-high South Face of the rarely climbed 6,958-meter-high Numbur in the Rolwaling Valley, not far from Mount Everest – and they did it alpine style: without bottled oxygen, without fixed ropes, without fixed high camps, and without Sherpa support.
“For me personally, it was nice to be able to do some alpine climbing again after recently being busy leading and guiding (commercial) tours,” says Felix Berg, managing director of expedition operatur SummitClimb. “I have to say, it’s one of my highlight tours in Nepal.”
The 44-year-old has already summited five eight-thousanders: Mount Everest twice (in 2004 and 2021) and Gasherbrum II twice (in 2018 and 2022), as well as Broad Peak (in 2014), Cho Oyu (in 2018), and Manaslu (in 2023).
Trust in teammates is essential
Their route on Numbur was “relatively challenging” in some places, says Felix. “And in the upper section, we had tricky terrain with snow conditions where you just have to trust each other. Because if one person slips there, all three are gone.”
They couldn’t really secure the last 200 to 250 meters to the summit, Felix says. “By then you’re already tired and have to have complete trust in each other.”
Hit by a stone
There were several critical moments during the ascent. Bielecki was not feeling well. He was vomiting, felt weak, and therefore asked the other two to climb the wall alone.
Felix argued in favor of a joint attempt. If it didn’t work, they could turn back and try again a few days later, he said.
During the course of the day, rock and ice began to fall. “That’s when, by sheer luck, a rock hit my shoulder instead of my head,” writes Hervé Barmasse on Instagram. “The pain was strong, but turning back under those conditions would have been even riskier. We went on.”
Bivouac without sleeping bags
Because the day was already well advanced and Bielecki was at the end of his strength, the trio decided to bivouac under a snow cornice. Without sleeping bags, which they had decided not to take because they had originally assumed they would ascend and descend in a single day.
“We only had a thin bivouac shelter bag with us, under which the three of us huddled,” reports Felix Berg. “We managed to survive the night reasonably well, with temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius and strong winds.” Barmasse describes it as “without doubt, the most difficult night since I started climbing.”
Barmasse: A “thriller ascent”
The next morning, the three climbers decided not to turn back, but to continue to the summit. “We were happy,” says Hervé, describing the moment they reached the highest point. “It was a ‘thriller’ ascent, technically splendid, humanly profound. An experience in which, for hours, we tested our resilience and our capacity to endure pain and cold.”
Barmasse, Berg, and Bielecki named their route “Nepali Ice Spa.” “Firstly, all three of us are fathers. So such an expedition is always a bit like a feel-good vacation,” says Felix, explaining the choice of name. However, the addition of “Spa” to the ice route is also meant ironically. “We didn’t call our bivouac site ‘Devil’s Suite’ for nothing, because it was devilishly cold and we had a pretty uncomfortable night.”
Enthusiastic welcome
When the three mountaineers returned from Numbur to the village of Takasindu, they received an enthusiastic welcome.
“The entire village community – from the village chief to a resident who had once competed for Nepal in the Winter Olympics – gathered to celebrate our ascent,” says Felix Berg.
Numbur was first climbed in spring 1963 by a Japanese expedition – via the Southwest Ridge. The Japanese Hiroshi Matsuo and the Nepalese Mingma Tshering Sherpa reached the highest point at that time. After that, according to the Himalayan Database, there were 15 more expeditions to the mountain in Rolwaling. Six of them were successful, all via the Southwest Ridge, the last one in fall 1991.
P.S.: Here – in Adam Bielecki’s Instagram post – you can see the trio’s route.
