Five days after the avalanche accident on the 7,932-meter-high Gasherbrum IV in the Karakoram, the two injured Russian mountaineers Sergei Mironov and Mikhail Mironov have been flown by rescue helicopter to a hospital in the northern Pakistani city of Skardu. “Their condition is satisfactory”, informed the Russian embassy in Pakistan, without giving details of the nature of their injuries. Initial reports had spoken of fractures.
According to the Russian mountaineering portal mountain.ru, the search for Sergey Nilov, who died in the avalanche, has been canceled. Too much fresh snow had fallen in the past few days, it said. The snowfall had also delayed the evacuation of the injured. Two days ago, a five-man rescue team had brought the two Russian climbers to a spot at an altitude of about 6,000 metres where a helicopter could land.
Tragedy on the almost eight-thousander Gasherbrum IV in the Karakoram in Pakistan: Five Russian mountaineers who had set out to recover the body of their compatriot Dmitry Golovchenko, who died in an accident a year ago, were hit by an ice avalanche. “As the team ascended the mountain, an ice formation, possibly a serac, collapsed, unleashing a catastrophic event. The unforgiving nature of Gasherbrum IV, known for its hazardous terrain, turned their noble mission into a fight for survival,” wrote Karrar Haidri, President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), in a press release.
It’s climbs like this that keep the belief in true alpinism alive. At the beginning of August, 33-year-old Briton Tom Livingstone and 42-year-old Slovenian Ales Cesen mastered the West Ridge on the 7,952-meter-high Gasherbrum III in the Karakoram in Pakistan for the first time. They climbed in alpine style to the summit, i.e. without bottled oxygen, without fixed ropes, without fixed high camps, without high porters.
On the descent, they traversed to the eight-thousander Gasherbrum II and used the fixed ropes on the normal route of the commercial teams – “which changed our style a little, but made sense,” Livingstone wrote on Instagram. It was the much safer option for the return to base camp.
Previously, it was considered the second highest unclimbed mountain in the world, but the highest accessible: the 7,570-meter-high Gankhar Puensum on the border between Bhutan and China is closed to climbers. In Bhutan, the mountains are considered the abode of the gods and are therefore not allowed to be climbed. Since 2004, only trekking has been permitted in the Himalayan state.
While the summer season has started in the mountains of the Karakoram in Pakistan, the past spring season is still being dealt with in Nepal. Nepalese mountaineering star Nirmal Purja is in a lot of trouble. According to the newspaper “The Himalayan Times”, the Department of Tourism within the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation recommended strict action against Purja and his commercial expedition company Elite Exped.
Both had violated several mountaineering rules of the Nepalese Tourism Act in the past season, it is said. “Now the ball is in the Ministry’s court,” the newspaper quotes a source from the Department of Tourism. Among other things, it is responsible for issuing permits to climb the high mountains of Nepal.
Symon Welfringer (l.) and Charles Dubouloz on the summit of Hungchhi
Ask anyone what name of a mountain spontaneously comes to mind and you will probably get the answer Mount Everest, with a few exceptions. Quite simply because the highest mountain is synonymous with mountains in general. This also explains the overwhelming interest of the general public in everything to do with the 8,849-meter-high mountain in the border region between Nepal and Tibet. The Everest hype still leaves a little attention for the other 13 eight-thousanders. But what happens below the magical but actually arbitrary limit of 8,000 meters is of little or no interest to the masses.
Yet for years, the real alpinism has been on the seven-, six- and five-thousanders. This is where the world’s best mountaineers not only find their technical playgrounds, but also the peace and quiet they need to face great challenges. Like the two Frenchmen Charles Dubouloz and Symon Welfringer this spring.
It was Gelje’s fourth attempt to reach the summit this way. In addition to him, Tenging Gyaljen Sherpa, Lakpa Temba Sherpa, Chhangba Sherpa, Lakpa Tenji Sherpa and Ngima Ongda Sherpa as well as their 19-year-old French client Alasdair Mckenzie stood on the highest point. For Mckenzie, it was the thirteenth of the 14 eight-thousanders. All the climbers used bottled oxygen. It was the first Cho Oyu summit success from the south since 2009, when Denis Urubko and Boris Dedeshko climbed a new route through the Southeast Face without breathing masks.
Is Nirmal Purja going from national hero to unwanted person in Nepal? Rajendra Bajgain, a member of the opposition Congress Party, called in parliament in Kathmandu for Purja to be denied entry in future. The mountaineer, who lives in England, defames Nepal by sexually harassing female climbers, said Bajgain. The politician was referring to an article in the New York Times last week. In it, two female climbers make serious accusations against Purja.
Lotta Hintsa, a mountaineer and model from Finland, accused the Nepalese mountaineering star of sexually harassing her in a hotel room in Kathmandu last year. He began undressing her against her will and then masturbated in her presence, Hintsa said. The US physician April Leonardo stated that she had also been sexually harassed by Purja. During a 2022 expedition to K2, the second highest mountain on earth in Pakistan, he came into her tent, kissed her against her will and sexually harassed her, Leonardo said. She was a client of Purja’s company Elite Exped.
Purja denied the allegations “unequivocally” via an Instagram story: “These allegations are defamatory and false.” Backpack manufacturer Osprey was the first of Purja’s sponsors to draw conclusions from the affair. The mountaineer is no longer a brand ambassador, the US company announced in an Instagram comment.
Over two million Instagram followers, British knighthood
Purja made headlines around the world in 2019 when he climbed the 14 eight-thousanders in just six months – with bottled oxygen, a strong Sherpa team at his side, on the normal routes and by using helicopters to get from one mountain to the next as quickly as possible. By comparison, it took Reinhold Messner 16 years. In 1986, the South Tyrolean was the first person to scale all eight-thousanders. He climbed the world’s highest mountains in small teams, without breathing mask and mostly on new routes.
Netflix documentary increased Nims’ popularity
In 2021, Nims was also involved in the first winter ascent of K2, according to his own account he did without bottled oxygen. The Netflix documentary “14 Peaks – Nothing is Impossible”, which was released in the same year, had given Purja additional popularity. The 40-year-old has more than two million followers on Instagram.
The Nepalese mountaineer is a former elite soldier of the traditional British Gurkha Regiment. Nepalese soldiers have been earning their living in this brigade for over 200 years. Purja lives with his wife and daughter in the county of Hampshire in the south-east of England. In 2018, Queen Elizabeth II honored him with a British knighthood for his services to high-altitude mountaineering.
Other expedition operators distance themselves from Purja
Several Western commercial expedition operators distanced themselves from Purja. “We are shocked and deeply saddened,” announced Austrian operator Furtenbach Adventures on Instagram. “One of the most important role models in this community is credibly accused of sexual assault by several woman. We unequivocally condemn such behavior and affirm that it has no place in our community.”
Major story in today's New York Times where two women, Lotta Hintsa and April Leonardo, recount unwanted advances and sexual assault during their expedition by renowned climber Nirmal (Nims) Purja. Nims denies all allegations. https://t.co/a0dYwnV7sI
Sexual predation is “a danger we can not only mitigate,” wrote Adrian Ballinger, head of the US operator Alpenglow Expeditions. “We can join together to ensure we have zero tolerance for in our community.” Adrian added that the New York Times article showed that “this is not the first or only recent example of behavior like this is the climbing community. We must do better.”
The New Zealand expedition operator Adventure Consultants expressed similar sentiments on Instagram, writing that they support those who have now told their stories “with vulnerability and incredible braveness” and also those who have similar stories to tell: “Let’s come together as an industry to raise accountability and make the mountains a place of equality and inclusivity for all.”
Just the tip of the iceberg?
Apparently, a #MeToo debate in mountain sports is overdue. This is suggested by the Instagram post from AW Expeditions, a US operator of women for women: “Unfortunately we can state with confidence, based on many informal conversations, that this high-profile case is but the tip of the iceberg of a systemic issue in mountaineering.”
What's Next for Nirmal Purja after New York Times Article Alleging Sexual Harassment and Abuse?
Weinstein, Epstein, P. Diddy, etc. were brought down when a group of women realized there was safety in numbers & made coordinated complaints.
Renowned US mountaineer Melissa Arnot also draws attention to this. “Flirt back or be excluded. Go along with it and don’t cause problems,” says the 40-year-old, describing her first experiences as a young mountain guide. “I was called the ‘total package’ by a supervisor as he explained to clients why it was ok to rope up with a young, small girl. And I smiled and played my part.” Arnot summited Mount Everest six times, once without bottled oxygen.
Update 5 June: Meanwhile, a court in Sacramento, California, sentenced 40-year-old US professional rock climber Charles Barrett to life imprisonment for multiple sexual assaults on women in Yosemite National Park. “He used his status as a prominent climber to assault women in the rock-climbing community, and when his victims began to tell, Barrett responded by lashing out publicly with threats and intimidation,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. “This case is a testament to the courage of the victims who reported these crimes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to investigate and prosecute violent crimes in National Parks like Yosemite.”
Shishapangma, the only eight-thousander located entirely in Tibet
An unusually large number of foreign eight-thousander climbers have been staying in the Langtang National Park, around 50 kilometers north of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, these days. The reason was obvious: the border to Tibet is close by and the five- and six-thousanders of Langtang are ideal for acclimatization. The teams were waiting for entry and climbing permits for China, where they wanted to try their hand at the eight-thousanders Shishapangma and Mount Everest this spring.
All those who wanted to climb the 8,027-meter-high Shishapangma received disappointing news today: the lowest of the 14 eight-thousanders remains closed. “After 17 days of waiting for an answer about the possibility of climbing Shishapangma in Tibet, we were informed that climbing in the region will not be allowed this year,” wrote Brazilian Moeses Fiamoncini on Instagram. “Now is the time to rethink our plans and redirect our energy towards exploring new challenges.”
Everest permits only after the Chinese holidays
Fiamoncini has already summited seven eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen; Shishapangma was to be number eight. Several dozen climbers had applied for permits for this eight-thousander. “It’s cancelled for this season,” confirms Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, head of the expedition operator Imagine Nepal, “but Everest will happen.” Mingma expects the permits for the highest mountain on earth “on May 6 or 7, maybe even earlier”.
Tibetan north side of Mount Everest (in spring 2005)
While Labor Day is celebrated worldwide on 1 May, in China all stores, offices and schools remain closed until 5 May to mark the occasion. Other expedition operators told ExplorersWeb that 7 May would be the date on which the border will open for the Everest teams. In return, the season should last longer than usual: until 11 June. Lukas Furtenbach, head of the Austrian operator Furtenbach Adventures, disagrees. The season also ends in Tibet on 1 June, he writes to me. Part of his team on the north side is now moving to the south side, says Lukas. The remaining clients continue to wait.
After a four-year break, the foreign expeditions want to return to the north side of Mount Everest this year. It is shaping up to be a comeback with obstacles. Meanwhile, the Nepalese government has so far (as of 22 April) issued 364 permits for the south side of Everest. Last year at this time (21 April 2023), there were already 454 climbing permits. A decrease of 23.8 percent.
Update 24 April: After the British operator Adventure Peak, the Dutch expedition leader Arnold Coster, who lives in Nepal, has also pulled the ripcord and sent his team to the south side of Nepal. “The Chinese authorities keep delaying our entry date and now I feel like waiting any longer is too risky,” Coster writes on Instagram. “After more than a dozen Everest North expeditions I simply think the gamble on a late summit is too big. Yes, there been years when people summited late, but I have also seen years when the season just abruptly stops when the monsoon arrives.”
Update 25 April: The field of teams that wanted to ascend via the north side of Everest is getting smaller and smaller. Now Andreas Neuschmid, expedition leader of the Swiss operator Kobler & Partner, has also announced that his team switches to the Nepalese south side.
Norrdine Nouar has scaled his second eight-thousander without bottled oxygen. Last Sunday (14 April), the 36-year-old German mountaineer stood on the 8,091-meter-high summit of Annapurna I in western Nepal. In spring 2023, Nouar had already scaled the 8,516-meter-high Lhotse. Norrdine did not join any large teams on either occasion, but went it alone – on the normal routes, which were secured with fixed ropes by the commercial teams.
Nouar was a late bloomer when it came to mountaineering. Neither his family nor his friends were drawn to the mountains. He is the son of a native Algerian who came to the former GDR as a guest worker and met his future German wife there. Norrine grew up in the southern German state of Franconia, studied International Technology Management and spent his free time playing computer games rather than going out into nature.
So why did the mountain fever take hold of him at some point? “Ever since I can remember, I have been driven by an insatiable curiosity, a thirst for adventure and the constant urge to take on a new challenge,” Norrdine writes on his website. “I couldn’t help but opt for an uncertain adventure. So I went to the mountains, albeit late.” He reached his first summit at the age of 23. He later climbed four-thousand-metre peaks in the Alps, in the High Atlas in Morocco and also high mountains in the Caucasus and other mountain regions around the world. Nouar has stood on the summits of Mont Blanc, Elbrus and Kilimanjaro, among others. He lives in the municipality of Oberstaufen in the Bavarion region of Allgäu.
After his summit success on Annapurna, Norrdine, currently in Kathmandu, answered my questions.
Norrdine, congratulations on your summit success on Annapurna I. What was going through your mind on the summit?
The commercial climbing season on Nepal’s eight-thousanders has begun. The first summit successes of the spring were reported from two mountains higher than 8,000 meters – in both cases it was initially the teams of local climbers who fixed the ropes to the highest points.
According to Mingma Sherpa, head of Nepal’s largest expedition provider Seven Summit Treks (SST), an eight-man team led by Lakpa Sherpa reached the summit of Makalu at 8,485 meters yesterday, Thursday. The eight-thousander not far from Mount Everest is the fifth highest mountain on earth.
It stinks to high heaven. This is now to be a thing of the past on the highest mountain on earth. Anyone who wants to climb Mount Everest or the neighboring eight-thousander Lhotse from the Nepalese south side from this spring onwards must buy so-called “poo bags” at base camp and use them if they need to relieve themselves on the mountain.
“Our mountains have begun to stink,” Mingma Sherpa, head of the local administration of the Khumbu region, told the BBC: “We are getting complaints that human stools are visible on rocks and some climbers are falling sick. This is not acceptable and erodes our image.”
Ascent and descent route by Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller on Surma-Sarovar in western Nepal
Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller have done it again: the two Brits managed another first ascent of a six-thousander in Nepal this fall – in alpine style (without bottled oxygen, without Sherpa support, without fixed ropes and without fixed high camps) and on a difficult route. Paul and Tim climbed the North Face of Surma-Sarovar in the far west of the country. The 6,574-meter-high mountain is located in the Salimor Khola Valley in the Gurans Himal, close to Nepal’s border with Tibet and India. “Possibly the most remote location I have ever been to, and we managed to climb a great route,” Paul wrote to me after his return from Nepal. He and Miller have thus achieved yet another feat of alpinism.
I had actually sent Paul some questions three weeks ago on the occasion of the Piolets d’Or award ceremony in Briancon on 15 November. Paul’s wife then informed me that he and Tim were still in Nepal. Ramsden and Miller will receive the “Oscar of Mountaineering” – as reported – for their first ascent of the 6,563-meter-high Jugal Spire in Nepal last year. Paul is the first mountaineer to be awarded the prestigious prize for the fifth time. Here are the answers from the 54-year-old top climber from Yorkshire in northern England.
Congratulations, Paul, on the fifth Piolet d’Or of your mountaineering career. What does the award mean to you?
Cho Oyu (in the center of the picture the mentioned rock tower)
For the time being there is no new route on the Nepalese south side of the eight-thousander Cho Oyu. A five-member Russian team abandoned its attempt to reach – without bottled oxygen – the summit at 8,188 meters via the still unclimbed South-Southwest ridge and headed home.
For weeks, Vasiliev, Viktoria Klimenko, Vitaly Shipilov, Sergei Kondrashkin and Kirill Eizeman had worked their way up – repeatedly stopped by bad weather that forced them to retreat. Their highest point reached was around 7,350 meters, below a high rock tower.
Matt Cornell, Alan Rousseau and Jackson Marvell (from l. to r.) on the summit of Jannu.
It’s projects like this that show that alpinism is far from dead – even if the crisis of meaning in eight-thousander mountaineering sometimes makes it seem that way. The U.S. Americans Alan Rousseau, Jackson Marvell and Matt Cornell opened a new route on the 7,710-meter-high Jannu in eastern Nepal through the extremely steep, demanding and therefore rarely climbed North Face. It was the first time the 2,700-meter-high so-called “Wall of Shadows” had been mastered in alpine style – that is, without bottled oxygen, fixed high camps, fixed ropes or Sherpa support.
“So for three years I’ve been trying to climb the North Face of Jannu in alpine style with Matt and Jackson,” Alan Rousseau writes on Instagram. “We finally got it done! In a 7 day push BC (Base Camp) to BC.” The three climbers christened their route “Round trip ticket”.
