with Stefan Nestler
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.
Continue reading “Makalu winter expedition: Tragedy reported during descent”
It shouldn’t surprise me anymore, because it’s nothing new. And yet I am always astonished at how quickly and comprehensively the media avalanche rolls in as soon as Mount Everest comes into play.
That wouldn’t be so tragic if those involved in the information industry would take the trouble to check the facts before blasting out their news films, videos, and reports on all channels – accompanied by sensationalist headlines and flanked by lurid posts on social networks. On Monday, it happened again.
Continue reading “Mount Everest: A little less drama, please!”
Translated, the 7,439-meter-high mountain on the border between Kyrgyzstan and China means “Victory Peak” in both Kyrgyz (Jengish Chokusu) and Russian (Pik Pobeda). But these days, there are no victors on Kyrgyzstan’s highest mountain.
On 11 August, Russian climbing legend Nikolai Totmyanin – winner of the Piolet d’Or award for the first ascent of the North Face of Jannu (7,710 m) in eastern Nepal in 2004, among other achievements – died at the age of 66 in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, after most likely suffering from high altitude sickness while descending from the summit of the seven-thousander. But that was only the beginning of the drama.
In the days that followed, two Iranian and one Italian climbers lost their lives on Pik Pobeda. It is highly doubtful whether a female Russian climber, who has been stranded on the summit ridge at around 7,200 meters with a broken leg for two weeks, is still alive. And even if she is, it will probably be of no use to her. According to Anna Piunova from the Russian mountaineering portal mountain.ru, the rescue operation was finally called off yesterday due to bad weather with snowfall and temperatures dropping to minus 30 degrees Celsius at night.
Continue reading “Drama on Kyrgyzstan’s highest mountain – rescue operation called off”
Following the tragic death of German mountaineer Laura Dahlmeier on the 6,096-meter-high Laila Peak in the Karakoram in Pakistan, many are asking themselves: Should the body of the deceased be recovered after all? Or should her last will be respected?
Laura had written in her will that her body should remain on the mountain if others had to risk their lives to recover it.
This was exactly the case immediately after Dahlmeier’s death: the rockfall that had claimed Laura’s life at around 5,700 meters continued and would have posed a potentially fatal danger to the members of a recovery team.
And if conditions on the mountain improve? Even then, it would remain a dangerous undertaking, Dan Stretch of the US organization Global Rescue informs me.
Continue reading “Pakistan: When a body needs to be retrieved from the mountain”
Laura Dahlmeier, one of the world’s best biathletes of the last decade, has suffered a serious accident on the 6,069-meter-high Laila Peak in the Karakoram in Pakistan. “Laura Dahlmeier was climbing in alpine style with her female rope partner on 28 July when she was hit by falling rocks. The accident happened around noon local time at an altitude of around 5,700 meters,” informed the 31-year-old German mountaineer’s management team. “She is very seriously injured, at the very least.”
“Her climbing partner immediately made an emergency call, and the rescue operation was launched straight away,” it said. Due to the “remoteness of the area,” a rescue helicopter did not reach the scene of the accident until Tuesday morning.
Continue reading “Mountain accident on Laila Peak in Pakistan: Great concern for former biathlon star Laura Dahlmeier”
There is a fine line between triumph and tragedy on the world’s highest mountains. Three days after the news of the first ascent of the extremely challenging East Face of the seven-thousander Langtang Lirung in Nepal by the Czech Marek Holecek and the Slovak Ondrej Huserka, there is bad news: Ondrej fell into a crevasse on the descent two days ago, reports Slovakian mountaineer Eva Milovka, who is part of Huserka’s home team, on Facebook.
“His partner – Marek Holecek – was not able to recover him and after shouting to him and hearing no response, he assessed that Ondrej is dead and descended alone to the base camp. Yesterday was a helicopter rescue flight and nobody was willing to descent onto to glacier due to some objective dangers of the place. We have hope that Ondrej is still alive.”
Continue reading “Drama on Langtang Lirung: Concern for Slovakian climber Ondrej Huserka”
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.
Continue reading “Gasherbrum IV: Injured Russian climbers rescued, mourning for Sergey Nilov”
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.
Continue reading “Avalanche drama on Gasherbrum IV – Nilov missing”
Even if it is difficult, it makes no sense to turn a blind eye: Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima paid for their adventure on K2, the second highest mountain on earth, with their lives. In consultation with the families of the two top Japanese climbers, the rescue operation on the second highest mountain on earth was halted yesterday – because the terrain where Hiraide and Nakajima had been located is too steep and too dangerous.
