The line between triumph and tragedy can be very thin on eight-thousanders. Yesterday, Thursday, the second winter ascent of Makalu was celebrated; today, a Nepalese mountaineer who lost his life is being mourned.
In addition, Iranian mountaineer Abolfazl Gozali is missing. At least, that is what the Nepalese portal “The Tourism Times” reports, citing unspecified sources.
Search operation for Iranian mountaineer Gozali
According to this information, a few hours after Gozali and his mountain guide Sanu Sherpa, his brother Phurba Ongel Sherpa and another Nepalese mountaineer also reached the summit of the fifth highest mountain on earth at 8485 meters. During the descent, Phurba died in a fall above Camp 4 at around 7500 meters, it said.
Sanu wanted to rush to his brother’s aid and asked his client Gozali to wait for him. However, when he returned, the Iranian was no longer where they had parted ways, reports the Tourism Times. Sanu then descended to base camp and launched a search and rescue operation.
A statement from expedition operator Makalu Adventure is still pending. According to the company’s website, Phurba Ongel Sherpa had previously summited five eight-thousanders: Mount Everest (twelve times), Manaslu (twice), Annapurna I and Dhaulagiri in Nepal, and K2 in Pakistan.
Update 17 January: The operator 8K Expeditions has sent four Sherpas to Makalu to support the Makalu Adventure team in the search and rescue operation. In the meantime, a clearer picture of how the accident happened has emerged. According to Nepalese media reports, Sanu Sherpa and his Iranian client Gozali, as well as Phurba Ongel Sherpa and Lakpa Rinji Sherpa, reached the summit at around the same time on Thursday.
During the descent, Phurba Ongel and Lakpa Rinji were a little ahead of the other two. “I saw Lakpa Rinji crying a few meters below, and I asked him what happened. He told me that Phurba Ongel had fallen from that area,” Sanu reported, according to The Tourism Times. Sanu and Lakpa Rinji decided to search for Phurba Ongel and asked Gozali to stay where he was. “But Gozali said he would slowly descend on his own,” Sanu said. “We then located Phurba Ongel at around 7,500 meters after staying in the area for about an hour.” They had expected to find Gozali at Camp 3, but he was neither there nor at Camp 2.
According to Makalu Adventure, eight Nepalese climbers are participating in the search and rescue operation. “They are now (at) Camp 2 around. If weather permits tomorrow they will go till camp IV,” Mohan Lamsal, head of the expedition operator, wrote to me at 2 p.m..
Update 18 January: Makalu Adventure reports that strong winds and falling temperatures prevented an ascent to Camp 4 today. There is still no sign of Iranian mountaineer Abolfazl Gozali, it said.
Update 20 January: Due to bad weather on Makalu with strong winds and very low temperatures, the rescue operation remains suspended. Makalu Adventure informs, that the team is waiting at base camp for the wind to die down so that the rescuers can ascend again. According to meteorologists’ forecasts, a brief weather window could open between Wednesday afternoon local time and Thursday. However, the wind on Makalu is expected to pick up again on Friday. With each day of weather-forced inactivity, the chances of finding the missing Iranian mountaineer Abolfazl Gozali alive continue to dwindle to zero.
