Avalanche on Dhaulagiri Claims Two

Dhaulagiri
MountEverest.net is reporting the sad news that Spanish climbers Ricardo Valencia and Santiago Sagaste were killed in an avalanche yesterday at C2 on Dhaulagiri.

The two climbers were waiting out a storm in an attempt to make their summit bid when the avalanche swempt through camp. Teammate Javi Serrano and Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner were also at C2 at the time, but were unharmed by the snows that buried Ricardo and Valencia’s tent.

Gerlinde has since returned to BC where she radioed her team to let them know that she was alive and well, but at this time it’s hard to say if she will attempt to once again go up the mountain. Her climb has been plagued with difficulties having already retreated once before in order to get her sick climbing partner back to BC.

This is sad news indeed, and I want to once again express my condolences for the friends and family of these climbers. Our thoughts and prayers are with you in these difficult times.

Kraig Becker

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